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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/34846-8.txt b/34846-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc0373a --- /dev/null +++ b/34846-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11543 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Robert Tournay, by William Sage + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Robert Tournay + A Romance of the French Revolution + +Author: William Sage + +Release Date: January 4, 2011 [EBook #34846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT TOURNAY *** + + + + +Produced by Bethanne M. Simms, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + ROBERT TOURNAY + + A Romance of the French Revolution + + BY WILLIAM SAGE + + + _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + ERIC PAPE AND MARY AYER_ + + BOSTON AND NEW YORK + + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + + The Riverside Press, Cambridge + 1900 + + COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY WILLIAM SAGE + + AND HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + TO MY MOTHER + TO WHOM I OWE EVERYTHING + I LOVINGLY DEDICATE + THIS STORY. + + +[Illustration: "A CHEER FOR THE GODDESS OF LIBERTY"] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. HOW TOURNAY CAME TO PARIS + +II. A LITTLE BREAKFAST AT ST. HILAIRE'S + +III. THE BAKER AND HIS FAMILY + +IV. THE "BON PATRIOT" + +V. A BROKEN DOOR + +VI. A MAN AND A MARQUIS + +VII. GAILLARD GOES ON A JOURNEY + +VIII. PÈRE LOUCHET'S GUESTS + +IX. PRISON BOAT NUMBER FOUR + +X. OVER THE FRONTIER + +XI. UNDER WHICH FLAG? + +XII. THE FOUR COMMISSIONERS + +XIII. THE SWORD OF ROCROY + +XIV. SOMETHING HIDDEN + +XV. THE PRESIDENT'S NOTE + +XVI. BENEATH THE MASK + +XVII. PIERRE AND JEAN + +XVIII. THE LUXEMBOURG + +XIX. TAPPEUR AND PETITSOU + +XX. UNCLE MICHELET + +XXI. CITIZENESS PRIVAT + +XXII. CITIZENESS PRIVAT'S CARD + +XXIII. TOURNAY'S VISITOR + +XXIV. TWO WOMEN + +XXV. NO. 7 RUE D'ARCIS + +XXVI. THE END OF THE TERROR + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"A CHEER FOR THE GODDESS OF LIBERTY" + +DE LACHEVILLE FACING A YOUNG WOMAN + +"STOP!" CRIED TOURNAY + +ADJUSTED THE NECKCLOTH TO HIS SATISFACTION + +"WOULD YOU MURDER ME?" + +A MOMENT THEY STOOD IN SILENCE + + + + +ROBERT TOURNAY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +HOW TOURNAY CAME TO PARIS + + +The Marquis de Lacheville sat in the dining-hall of the château de +Rochefort. In his hand he held a letter. Although it was from a woman, +the writing was not in those delicately traced characters which suggest +the soft hand of some lady of fashion. The note-paper was scented, but +the perfume, like the color, was too pronounced; and the spelling, +possibly like the lady's character, was not absolutely flawless. + +A smile played about the cold thin lips of the marquis; he carelessly +thrust the missive into his pocket, as one disposes of a bill he does +not intend to pay, and lifting his eyes, allowed his gaze to wander +through the open window toward the figure of a young girl who stood +outside upon the terrace. + +She was watching a game of tennis in the court below, now and then +conversing with the players, whose voices in return reached de +Lacheville's ears on the quiet summer air. + +A few minutes before in that dining-hall the Baron de Rochefort had +betrothed his daughter Edmé to his friend and distant kinsman, Maurice +de Lacheville. In the eyes of the world it was a suitable match. The +marquis was twenty-five, the girl eighteen. She was an only child; and +their rank and fortunes were equal. + +They did not love each other. The marquis loved no one but himself. +Mademoiselle had been brought up to consider all men very much alike. +She might possibly have had some slight preference for the Marquis de +St. Hilaire, who was now playing tennis in the court beneath; but it was +well known that he was dissipating his fortune at the gaming-table. +Mademoiselle did not lack strength of will; but, her heart not being +involved, she allowed her father to make the choice for her, as was the +custom of the time. + +De Lacheville continued sitting at the table, now looking +dispassionately at the woman who was to become his wife, now looking +beyond toward the wide sweep of park and meadow land, while he +calculated how much longer his cousin, the baron, would live to enjoy +possession of his great wealth. + +What the young girl thought is merely a matter of conjecture. She was as +fresh and sweet as the pink rose which she plucked from the trellis and +gayly tossed to the marquis below. He caught it gracefully and put it to +his lips--while she laughed merrily with never a thought for the marquis +within. + +Near the tennis court stood another man. He was tall and well-made, +with dark eyes and a sun-browned face. Beyond furnishing new balls and +rackets when required, he took no part in the game, for he was the son +of the intendant of the château and therefore a servant. + +He watched the rose which the lady so carelessly tossed, with hungry +eyes, as a dog watches a bone given to some well-fed and happier rival. +At the call from one of the players he replaced a broken racket, then +took up his former post, apparently intent upon the game, but in reality +his mind was far afield. + +It was in the early summer days of the year 1789. Looking out over the +baron's noble estates through the eyes of a girl like mademoiselle, the +world was very beautiful. Glancing at it through the careless eyes of +the prodigal St. Hilaire, it seemed very pleasing; but in spite of these +waving crops, and wealthy vineyards, in spite of the plenty in the +baron's household and the rich wines in his cellar, throughout France +there were many who had not enough to eat. Men, and women too, were +crying out for their share of the world's riches. + +A new wave of thought was sweeping over France. A thought as old as the +hills, yet startlingly new to each man as he discovered it. Books were +being written and words spoken which were soon to cause great political +changes in a land already seething with discontent. Change and Progress +at last were in the saddle, and they were riding fast. As the careless +noblemen batted their tennis balls back and forth, thinking only of +their game; as the young girl leaned over the rose-covered terrace, +thinking of the sunlight, the flowers, and the beauty of life, Robert +Tournay, the intendant's son, pondered deeply on the "rights of man" +while he ran after the tennis balls for those who played the game. + +As if wearied by the contemplation of his prospective married bliss, +Monsieur de Lacheville yawned, arose from his seat and strolled +leisurely from the room, descended the staircase and came out into the +park in the rear of the château, unobserved by the tennis players. The +note in his pocket called him to a rendezvous; and the marquis, after +some deliberation, had decided to keep it. Once in the wooded park and +out of sight of the house, he quickened his pace to a brisk walk; +proceeding thus for half a mile he suddenly left the driveway and +plunging through the thick foliage by a path which to the casual eye was +barely visible, came out into a shady and unfrequented alley. + +A few minutes after de Lacheville's disappearance into the woods, the +other noblemen, wearied of their sport, retired into the house for +refreshment. + +This left young Tournay free for the time being, and he availed himself +of the opportunity to go down toward a pasture beyond the park where +some young horses were running wild, innocent of bit or bridle. It was +Tournay's intention to break one of these colts for Mademoiselle de +Rochefort. She was a fearless rider, and it gave the young man pleasure +to be commissioned to pick out an animal at once gentle and mettlesome +for the use of his young mistress. + +The Tournays, from father to son, had been for generations the +intendants of the de Rochefort estate. With the baron's permission +Matthieu Tournay had sent his son away to school, and he had thus +received a better education than most young men of his class. He was of +an ambitious temper, and this very education, instead of making him more +contented with his lot in life, increased his restlessness. It only +served to show him more clearly the line that separated him from those +he served. In his own mind he had never defined his feeling for +Mademoiselle de Rochefort. He only knew that it gave him great pleasure +to serve her; and yet, as he did her bidding, he felt a pang that +between them was the gulf of caste; that even when she smiled upon him +it was merely the favored servant whom she greeted; that although he +might be as well educated as the Count de Blois, a better horseman than +St. Hilaire, and a better man than de Lacheville, _they_ could enter as +equals into the presence of this divine being, while such as he must +always take his place below the salt. + +It was with such thoughts as these revolving in his brain that the +intendant's son walked through the woods of the park. He followed no +path, for he knew each tree and twig from childhood. Suddenly he was +interrupted in his reverie by the sound of voices, and stopping short, +recognized the voice of the Marquis de Lacheville in conversation with +a woman. Tournay hesitated, then went forward cautiously in the +direction whence the sound came. Had he been born a gentleman he would +have chosen another way; or at least would have advanced noisily. +Indeed, such had been his first impulse,--but a much stronger interest +than curiosity impelled him forward; and drawing near, he looked through +a gap in the hedge. + +On the other side stood de Lacheville facing a young woman. Her cheeks +were flushed, and the manner in which she toyed with a riding-whip +showed that the discussion had been heated. Although she was handsomely +dressed in a riding-habit and assumed some of the airs of a lady, +Tournay recognized her at once as a young girl who had disappeared some +months before from the village of La Thierry, and whose handsome face +and vivacious manner had caused her to be much admired. Near her stood +the nobleman, calm and self-composed. Before men, de Lacheville had been +known to flinch; but with a woman of the humbler class the marquis could +always play the master. + +"And now, Marianne," said the nobleman slowly, "you had better go,--and +do not make the mistake of coming here again." + +Although she had evidently been worsted in the argument, a defiant look +flashed in her dark eyes as she answered him: "If I believe you speak +the truth I shall not come here again." + +[Illustration: DE LACHEVILLE FACING A YOUNG WOMAN] + +"Of course I speak the truth," replied de Lacheville lightly. "I shall +marry Mademoiselle de Rochefort"-- + +The young woman winced, but she did not speak. + +De Lacheville went on slowly as if he enjoyed the situation--"In a year +or two--I am in no hurry. She is very beautiful"--here he paused +again--"but I prefer your style of beauty, Marianne; I prefer your +vivacity, your life, your fire; I like to see you angry. My engagement +to Mademoiselle de Rochefort need make no difference in my regard for +you. That depends upon yourself." Here the marquis stepped forward and +kissed her on the lips. + +Tournay controlled himself by a great effort, his heart swelling with +the resentment of a man who hears that which he holds sacred insulted by +another. And this man who held Mademoiselle de Rochefort in such slight +esteem was to be her husband. + +"And now, Marianne," said the nobleman, "you must ride away as you +came," and suiting the action to the words he swung her into the saddle. +She was docile now and gathered up the reins obediently. "And, +Marianne," continued the nobleman, "never write letters to me. I am +rather fastidious and do not want my illusions dispelled too soon. +Good-by, my child." + +She flushed as he spoke, and a retort seemed about to spring to her +lips; but instead of replying she shrugged her shoulders, gave a sharp +cut of the whip to the horse, and rode off down the pathway. + +De Lacheville laughed. "She has spirit to the last. She pleases me;" and +turning, beheld Robert Tournay in the path before him. + +For a moment neither spoke; then the nobleman asked sternly, "Have you +been spying upon me?" + +"I have heard what has passed between you and that woman," replied +Tournay with a significance that made the marquis start. + +"You villain," replied the nobleman hotly, "if you breathe a word about +what you have seen I will have you whipped by my lackeys." + +Tournay's lips curled defiantly. + +"Or," continued the marquis, "if one word of scandal reaches the ears of +Mademoiselle de Rochefort"-- + +Before the words had left his lips, Tournay sprang forward and had him +by the arm. + +"Do not stain her name by speaking it," he cried fiercely. "I have heard +you insult her; I have seen how you would dishonor her; you, who are not +worthy to touch the hem of her garment. What right have you to become +her husband? Your very presence would degrade her. You shall not wed +her." + +White with rage, if not from fear, the marquis struggled to free himself +from Tournay's grasp, but he could neither throw off his antagonist nor +move his arm enough to draw his sword. Finding himself powerless in the +hands of the stronger man, he remained passive, only the twitching of +his mouth betraying his passion. + +"And you would prevent my marriage," he said coldly. "So be it. Go to +the baron; tell your story. Go also to mademoiselle, his daughter; +repeat the scandal to her ears; say, 'I am your champion;' and how will +they receive you? The baron will have you kicked from the room and +mademoiselle will scorn you. Championed by a servant! What an honor for +a lady!" + +The truth of what he said struck Tournay harder than any blow; his arms +dropped to his side, and he stepped back, as if powerless. + +The marquis arranged the lace ruffle about his neck. Placing his hand +upon his sword he eyed Tournay as if debating what course to pursue. He +smarted under the treatment he had received, and his eyes glittered +viciously as if he meditated some prompt reprisal. But above all the +marquis was politic, and he also knew that in his biting tongue he +possessed a weapon keener than a sword. + +He stooped and plucked a flower from the border of the path, and as he +spoke a sarcastic smile played mockingly about his lips. + +"I shall marry mademoiselle," he began, slowly dwelling on each word, +while he plucked the petals from the flower, and tossed them, one by +one, into the air. The gesture was a careless one, but there was a +vicious cruelty about his fingers as he tore the flower. "And you," +continued the marquis,--"you, who one might think had dared to raise +your eyes toward the lady's face"-- + +Tournay stood dumb before his inquisitor. His heart raged and he writhed +as if under the lash, but still he stood passive and suffering. + +"And you shall be our servant," ended the nobleman, with a laugh, +turning and walking haughtily up the path, but with his hand still on +his sword-hilt lest he should be again taken by surprise. + +As the heels of the marquis crunched the gravel-walk Tournay felt the +truth of each word that he had spoken borne in upon his mind with +overwhelming force. It was not fear of the marquis's sword that had kept +him silent. It was the hopelessness of his own position. What right had +he to speak? And who would listen to him? + +Silently the young man slipped into the forest as if to seek consolation +from the great murmuring trees. As he walked slowly beneath their green +arches as under some cathedral roof, a quiet strength came to his soul. +He seemed to feel that the day would come when his voice would be heard +and listened to. Until then he must bide his time; and in this frame of +mind he went back to the château. + +When Tournay reached the house he was greeted by an order from the +baron. The tracks of a boar had been recently discovered in the forest +by one of the gamekeepers, and the intendant's son, who was himself a +keen huntsman, was directed to escort the party of gentlemen through the +woods to a glade where the animal was supposed to have his lair. + +After he had collected the guns and ammunition, called up the dogs and +ordered the grooms to bring round the horses, Tournay went to the front +of the château to await the pleasure of the young gentlemen who intended +participating in the hunt. + +There were half a dozen of them standing under the porte-cochère, and +Tournay disliked them all in greater or less degree; excepting perhaps +the Marquis de St. Hilaire. St. Hilaire was the eldest of the group, the +tallest and the handsomest. He rarely addressed any remark to Tournay, +but when he did, it was with perfect politeness. When the Marquis de St. +Hilaire rode his horse he did it with a grace none could surpass; when +he shot, he hit the mark. He had the reputation of being one of the most +dissipated young noblemen in the kingdom. He certainly spent money more +lavishly than the most prodigal. This reputation was at once the envy +and admiration of a host of young followers; and yet if asked, no one +could mention any particular debauchery of which he had been guilty. +When his companions, under the excitement of wine, committed extravagant +follies and excesses, St. Hilaire, although by no means sparing of the +winecup, maintained a certain dignity essentially his own. At the +gaming-table it was always the Marquis de St. Hilaire who played the +highest. He won a fortune or lost an estate with the same calm and +outward indifference. On every occasion he was the cool, polished +gentleman. + +As Tournay approached the group of noblemen, the Marquis de Lacheville, +determined to keep him in a state of submission, greeted him with an +arrogant rebuke. + +"You have kept us waiting a pretty length of time." + +"I only received notice of your intended hunt a short time ago, and +various preparations had to be made," was the rejoinder. + +"Make no excuses," continued the marquis,--"you always have plenty of +those upon the end of your tongue." + +Tournay bit his lip to keep from replying. + +"Whose horse is that?" called out the marquis a moment later, pointing +out one of the animals among the number which were being led up by the +grooms. + +"My own, monsieur le marquis--a present from the baron." + +"Well, it is by all odds the best one among them; I will ride it." And +the marquis swung himself into the saddle without waiting for a reply. + +Tournay made no audible reply, but the color deepened on his cheek, as +he quietly took another horse. + +"We shall never see that boar if we delay much longer," called out St. +Hilaire, who was long since in the saddle. "Are you ready, gentlemen?" + +With one accord they all started down the avenue at a swift gallop; +Tournay following a short distance behind them. + +For a mile or so they swept along the parkway until they arrived at the +gate which led into the wood. De Lacheville had been correct in his +judgment of the horse, and was the first to reach the gate. This seemed +to make him good-natured for the time being; and as they cantered +through the forest he allowed Tournay, who was best acquainted with the +ground, to ride in advance. + +On approaching the entrance to the glade, the party dismounted and the +horses were fastened to the trees. The Counts d'Arlincourt and de Blois +went to the right; the Marquis de St. Hilaire to the left; Tournay took +two dogs and went toward the northern end; while de Lacheville remained +near the entrance. + +It was arranged that Tournay with the dogs should rout the animal from +its lair in the upper end of the dale, and, the thicket being +surrounded, one of the gentlemen would be sure to bring it down with a +shot as it ran out. + +Tournay had not gone half the distance when he heard a noise in the +underbrush, and looking in the direction whence it came, saw the boar +making its way leisurely down the glade, snuffing from time to time at +the roots of trees for acorns. + +Tournay tried to work down ahead of the animal and drive him off to his +right in the direction of the Marquis St. Hilaire, as he was the best +shot in the company, and with a sportsman's instinct Tournay wanted to +give him the opportunity to win the tusks. One of the dogs, however, +upset this plan by slipping the leash and bounding off in the direction +of the boar; that animal took the alarm at once and started on a run +down the glade with Tournay and the two dogs after him in full pursuit. + +"The Marquis de Lacheville will be the one to shoot him," thought +Tournay bitterly. + +The boar, plunging through a thicket, made straight for the spot where +the horses had been tied, and where the Marquis de Lacheville had taken +up his position. + +"Why does he not fire?" was Tournay's mental inquiry as he followed the +trail at full speed, with ear alert in the momentary expectation of +hearing the sound of a gun. "Can it be that the marquis is going to risk +attacking him with the knife?" And he dashed into the thicket, +regardless of the brushwood and briars that impeded his progress, to +come out on the other side, leaving a portion of his hunting blouse in +the grasp of a too-persistent bramble. + +Here he beheld so ludicrous a sight that it would have moved him to +merriment, had it not overcome him with wonder. The marquis lay +sprawling on the grass, his eyes rolling with terror and his loaded gun +lying harmlessly by his side. The horses were straining at the tethers +and neighing with fright, while in the wood beyond, the boar was +disappearing from sight with the dogs upon his haunches. + +As Tournay approached, the marquis struggled to his feet. For a moment +he stood silent and then said gruffly:-- + +"The brute sprang through the bushes before I expected him; my foot +slipped and I fell, so he got by me." + +In the instant it flashed through Tournay's mind that the marquis had +fallen in trying to avoid the boar. He received the explanation in +silence, his face clearly betraying his suspicion. + +The marquis eyed him savagely. "Where are the others?" he demanded. + +"They have evidently missed all the sport," was the curt rejoinder. + +The marquis scowled, but his anxiety to conceal the mishap from his +companions led him to overlook the ring of sarcasm in Tournay's voice. + +"Did they hear or see the boar?" he inquired. + +"I fear not. The animal started too near the centre of the glade, and +luckily for him made straight for you." + +"We have not seen him, either," was the cool rejoinder. + +"But I saw him," exclaimed Tournay with open-eyed astonishment. + +"Up in the thicket beyond? Possibly," admitted the marquis, who had now +regained his self-possession and had resolved to put the best possible +face on the matter. + +"No! Right here in the open, as he ran into that clump of beeches." + +"You are mistaken. I did not see him," the marquis insisted, approaching +his horse and untethering him. + +"Monsieur le marquis was possibly not looking in the right direction." + +De Lacheville mounted his horse. He bent down from the saddle, saying +fiercely, "Twice this day you have ventured to oppose me. Have a care! +You will rue the hour when you dispute any statement of mine." + +Tournay looked up at him defiantly, and with a significance too deep to +be misconstrued, said: "I will not lie at your bidding, Monsieur de +Lacheville." + +"You insolent villain!" and the marquis' whip fell viciously across the +defiant brow. The next instant the nobleman was dragged from the saddle +and his riderless horse galloped off through the woods. + +For a moment the two men stood looking at each other. + +Tournay was the first to speak: "You will fight me for that blow, +Monsieur de Lacheville." + +The marquis gave a harsh laugh: "We do not fight lackeys--we whip them." + +"We are alone, and man to man you shall fight me with my weapons, +monsieur le Marquis." Tournay spoke with a certain air of dignity and +with a suppressed fierceness that made the marquis draw back; yet such +was the nobleman's contempt for the man of humble birth that he made no +response beyond flicking the whip which he still retained in his hand, +and looking at him disdainfully. + +"You have a hunting-knife at your side; arm yourself," commanded Tournay +sternly, at the same time drawing from beneath his hunting-blouse a +long, keen blade. + +The marquis turned pale. "I do not fight with such a weapon," he +faltered, looking about him as if in hopes of succor from his friends. + +"Then for once the low-born has the advantage," replied Tournay +pitilessly, "and unless Heaven intervenes, I shall kill you for that +blow." + +The blow itself was forgotten even as he spoke, and he felt a fierce joy +as he whispered to himself, "If heaven so wills it, you shall never +marry her, Marquis de Lacheville." + +There was no fire of revenge in his eyes as he advanced, but the marquis +saw the light that burned there and, realizing his pressing danger, drew +his own hunting-knife. + +There was a thrust and parry. Tournay closed in upon him, and the +nobleman fell backward with a groan. + +The next instant Tournay threw aside the knife and stood looking with +awe upon the prostrate body. The bushes behind him parted with a rustle +and he looked over his shoulder to see the Marquis de St. Hilaire +standing by him. + +"What's the matter?" inquired the latter sternly. "Has the marquis +injured himself?" + +"He struck me," exclaimed Tournay, his face, except for a bright red +line across the brow, deadly pale. "And I--I have killed him." + +St. Hilaire stooped down and undid the marquis's waistcoat, Tournay +giving way to him. "He's not dead," said St. Hilaire, after a short +examination. "Your blade struck the rib. He is not even fatally hurt, +but has fainted." + +Tournay stood passive and silent. + +St. Hilaire rose to his feet and proceeded to cut some strips from his +own shirt to make a bandage for de Lacheville's wound. + +"As far as you are concerned, you might as well have killed him," he +said as he bound up the wound. "The penalty is the same." + +"I'm not afraid of the penalty." + +"Young man," said St. Hilaire, busying himself over the wound, "mount +that horse of yours and ride away from this part of the country as fast +as you can. I shall not see you." + +"I'm not a coward to run away." + +"Don't be a fool and stay," replied St. Hilaire sharply, without looking +up from his occupation. "You have acted as I would have done had I been +in your place, but I should not stay afterward with all the odds against +me. Come, you have only a minute to decide. I'll see the marquis has the +proper care." + +In another minute Robert Tournay was on his horse's back riding swiftly +away from the scene. He only thought of one point of refuge and that was +the city of his dreams, the great city of Paris. Toward it he turned his +horse's head. When he had gone far enough to no longer fear pursuit he +dismounted and turned the horse loose, knowing that a man riding a fine +animal could be more easily traced; so the rest of his journey of a +hundred miles was made on foot. + +It was about the noon hour, July 12, 1789, when he entered the southern +gates of the city. He had been walking since early morning, yet when +once in the town he was not conscious of any fatigue. + +It seemed to him that there was an unwonted excitement in the air, and +the faces of many people in the crowded streets wore an anxious or an +expectant look. Several times he was on the point of stopping some +passer-by to ask if there was any event of unusual importance taking +place, but the fear of being thought ignorant of city ways deterred him. +So he wandered about the streets in search of some cheap and clean +lodging suitable to the size of his purse, where he could be comfortably +housed until his plans for the future matured. He went through narrow, +ill-smelling streets, where strange-looking faces peered at him +curiously from low wine-shops. Thence he wandered into the neighborhood +of beautiful gardens, where he marveled at the splendid buildings, any +one of which he fancied might be the home of the Marquis de St. Hilaire. +Finally, he came upon a number of people streaming through an arcade +under some handsome buildings. Judging that something of unusual +interest was going on there, and being moved by curiosity, he pushed his +way in with the rest, and found himself in a quadrangle of buildings +enclosing a garden. This garden was filled with a dense crowd. Turning +to a man at his elbow, he asked the reason of such an assemblage. + +"The king has dismissed Necker," was the reply, "and the people are +angry." + +"I should think they might well be angry," replied Tournay, who admired +the popular minister of finance. "Did the king send away such a great +man without cause?" + +"I know not what cause was assigned, I do not concern myself much with +such affairs, but I know the people are very wroth and there has been +much talk of violence. Some blood has been shed. The German regiments +fired once or twice upon a mob that would not disperse." + +"The villainous foreign regiments!" said Tournay. "Why must we have +these mercenary troops quartered in our city?" He had been in the city +but a few hours, but in his indignation he already referred to Paris as +"our city." + +"The native troops would not fire when ordered, and were hurried back to +the barracks by their officers. Worse may come of it. There is much +speech-making and turmoil; I am going home to keep out of the trouble;" +and the stranger hurried away. + +Tournay elbowed through the crowd. Standing upon a table under one of +the spreading trees, a young man was speaking earnestly to an excited +group of listeners that grew larger every moment. Tournay pressed near +enough to hear what he was saying. + +He was tall and slender, with dark waving hair and the face of a poet. +He spoke with an impassioned eloquence that moved his hearers mightily, +bringing forth acclamation after acclamation from the crowd. He +denounced tyranny and exalted liberty till young Tournay's blood surged +through his veins like fire. He had thought all this himself, unable to +give it expression; but here was a man who touched the very note that he +himself would have sounded, touched the same chord in the heart of every +man who heard his voice, and by some subtle power communicated the +thrill to those outside the circle till the crowd in the garden was +drunk with excitement. + +"Citizens," cried the young man, "the exile of Necker is the signal for +a St. Bartholomew of patriots. The foreign regiments are about to march +upon us to cut our throats. To arms! Behold the rallying sign." And +stretching up his arm he plucked a green leaf from the branch above his +head and put it in his hat. + +The next instant the trees were almost denuded of their leaves. Tournay, +with a green sprig in his hat, swung his hat in the air, and cried, "To +arms--down with the foreign regiments--Vive Necker!" + +He struggled to where the orator was being carried off on men's +shoulders. "What is it?" he said, in his excitement seizing the young +man by the coat,--"what is it that we are to do?" + +"Procure arms. Watch and wait,--and then do as other patriots do," was +the reply. + +The crowd surged closer about him. The coat gave way, and Tournay was +left with a piece of the cloth in his hand. Waving it in the air with +the cry of "Patriots, to arms!" he was forced onward by the crowd. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A LITTLE BREAKFAST AT ST. HILAIRE'S + + +The Marquis Jean Raphael de St. Hilaire was giving a breakfast-party. It +was not one of those large affairs for which the marquis was noted, +where a hundred guests would sit down in his large salon to a repast +costing the lavish young nobleman a princely sum. This being merely the +occasion of a modest little déjeuner, the covers were laid in the +marquis's morning cabinet on the second floor, which was more suitable +for such an informal meal. + +There were present around the table the Count and Countess d'Arlincourt; +the old Chevalier de Creux; the witty Madame Diane de Rémur; the Count +de Blois, dressed in the very latest and most exact fashion; and the +Marquis de Lacheville, with the pallor of recent illness on his face. At +the lower end of the board sat a young poet who was riding on his first +wave of popularity; and next to him was a philosopher. + +The guests, having finished the dessert, were lingering over a choice +vintage from the marquis's cellar. + +The host, leaning back in his chair with half-closed eyes, listened +carelessly to the hum of conversation while he toyed with a few sugared +almonds. + +"And so you think, chevalier," said the Countess d'Arlincourt in reply +to a remark by the old nobleman, "that our troublesome times are not yet +over?" + +"Not yet, my dear countess, nor will they be over for a long time to +come." + +"Oh, how pessimistic you are, chevalier; for my part I do not see how +affairs can be worse than they have been for the last year." + +"For a longer period than that," remarked her husband, the Count +d'Arlincourt. + +"Well, I remember particularly, it was a year ago when you first told me +that you could not afford to make me a present of a diamond crescent to +wear in my hair at the Duchess de Montmorenci's fancy dress-ball. You +had never used that word to me before." + +"You have been extremely fortunate," said the Chevalier de Creux, +turning a pair of small, bright eyes upon the countess and speaking with +just the slightest accent of sarcasm. "Even longer ago than a year, many +persons were in need of other necessities than diamonds." + +"Oh, yes, I know," interrupted the countess hastily, anxious to show +that she was not as ignorant as the chevalier's tone implied,--"bread. +Why don't they give the people enough bread? It is a very simple demand, +and things would then be well." + +"My dear child," put in Madame de Rémur, "it would do no good to give +them bread to-day; they would be hungry again to-morrow. The trouble is +with the finances. When they are set right everything will go well; and +the people can buy all the bread they want, and you can have your +diamond crescent," and the speaker smiled at the chevalier and shrugged +her white shoulders. + +"Yes, but," persisted the countess, raising her pretty eyebrows, "when +_will_ the finances be set right? The people cannot go forever without +bread." + +"Nor can women go forever without diamonds," laughed Madame de Rémur. + +"Women with your eyes, fair Diane, have no need of other diamonds," said +the Marquis de St. Hilaire debonairely. The lady smiled graciously at +the compliment. She was a young and attractive widow and she looked at +St. Hilaire not unkindly. + +"We have frequently had financial crises in the past," said +d'Arlincourt, "and gotten safely over them; and so we should to-day, +were it not for the host of philosophical writers who have broken loose; +who call the people's attention to their ills, and foment trouble where +there is none. Of course you will understand that I make the usual +exception as to present company," he added, bowing slightly to the +philosopher. But the latter seemed lost in thought and did not appear to +hear the count's remark. The poet took up the conversation in a low +tone. + +"Should we not look to these very men, these philosophers, these +encyclopædists, to point the way out of the difficulty?" and he turned +from one to the other with a shrug. + +"Bah, no! They are the very ones to blame, I tell you," repeated +d'Arlincourt. + +"My dear count," cried Madame d'Arlincourt, "I cannot permit you to +speak slightingly of our philosophers. They are all the fashion now. The +door of every salon in Paris is open to them. The other night, at a +great reception given by the Duchess de Montmorenci, half the invited +guests were philosophers, poets, encyclopædists. They say that even some +of the nobility were overlooked in order to make room for the men of +letters." + +The Marquis de St. Hilaire threw a small cake to the spaniel that sat on +its haunches begging for it. + +"We cannot very well overlook this new order of nobility of the +ink-and-paper that has exerted such an influence during the last +generation," he said carelessly. + +"I should not overlook them if I had my way," cried the Count +d'Arlincourt. "I should lock them safely up in the Bastille." + +"Oh!" cried the ladies in one breath; "barbarian!" + +"These men are doubtless responsible for the inflamed state of the +public mind," said St. Hilaire, again taking up the conversation. + +"Of course they are," agreed the count. + +"And so are Calonne and Brienne," continued the marquis. "They +mismanaged affairs during their terms of office." + +Here the philosopher smiled an assent. + +"But the blame rests more heavily upon other shoulders than those of +scribbling writers or corrupt officials," and the marquis paused to look +around the table. + +"I am all attention," cried the Countess d'Arlincourt, prepared for +something amusing. "Upon whom does it rest?" + +"Upon the nobility themselves," answered St. Hilaire. + +For a moment there was silence; then came a storm of protests from all +sides, only the chevalier and the philosopher making no audible reply, +although the latter said to himself:-- + +"You are right, monsieur le marquis." + +"St. Hilaire is in one of his mad fits," de Lacheville exclaimed. + +"If it were not for the nobility there would be no poetry, no wit," +murmured the poet. + +"The nobility is the mainstay of the throne, the vitality of the +country," said d'Arlincourt. + +"What have _we_ done?" cried the ladies in concert. "We ask for nothing +better than to have everybody contented and happy." And they shrugged +their pretty white shoulders as if to throw off the burden that St. +Hilaire had placed there. + +"Look at me," exclaimed St. Hilaire, rising and speaking with an +animation he had not shown before. He was a man of twenty-five with a +face so handsome that dissipation had not been able to mar its beauty. +"I am a type of my class." + +"An honor to it," said the poet. + +"Thank you; then you will agree that the cap which I put on will fit +other heads as well. I have wasted two fortunes." + +"St. Hilaire is in one of his remorseful moods," whispered de Lacheville +in the ear of Madame de Rémur. + +"I have spent them in riotous living with men like myself." Here he +looked at de Lacheville. + +"I feel deeply honored, my dear marquis," said the latter, bowing. + +"When I wanted more money I knew where to get it." + +"Happy fellow," called out de Lacheville with a laugh. + +"I went to the steward who managed my estates. I have estates, or rather +had them, for they are now mortgaged to the last notch, in Normandy, +Picardy, Auvergne and Poitou--I would say to my steward, 'I need more +money.'" + +"'Very well, monsieur le marquis, but I must put on the screws a little +to get it.' + +"'Put on a dozen if you like, but get me the funds.' + +"'It shall be done, monsieur le marquis.' + +"Again and again I went to him for money. He always responded in the +same manner, but each time the screws had to be turned a little tighter. +Do you suppose my peasants love me for that? No, they hate me just as +yours hate you, de Lacheville, and yours hate you, d'Arlincourt." De +Lacheville laughed, and the count lifted up his hand in denial. "I knew +that the day of reckoning would come," St. Hilaire went on. "Every time +I went to Monsieur Rignot, my steward, every time he put on the screws +at my request, I knew it was bringing us nearer the final smash." + +"Us!" repeated d'Arlincourt, with a gesture of impatience. + +"Yes, us," said St. Hilaire; "we are all in the same boat, but we have +all done the same thing in a greater or less degree. We shall all have +to pay the penalty." + +"There is where I differ with you, my dear marquis," said the Count +d'Arlincourt; "I am willing to take what responsibility falls to me by +right, but I emphatically refuse to pay the penalty of your follies." + +"My follies are but those of my class. You may have been an exception +yourself, d'Arlincourt, but that will not save you." + +"What penalties must we pay? Save him from what?" demanded the pretty +countess, looking at St. Hilaire with her large blue eyes. + +"From the revolution," was the answer. There was a general exclamation +of surprise. D'Arlincourt took up the word. + +"Like all men given to excess,--pardon the remark, marquis, but you have +yourself admitted it,--you exaggerate the present unquiet state of +affairs. The people will not revolt. They have no real cause. If you had +made such a statement twenty years ago during the ascendancy of the +infamous du Barry I might not have contradicted you. But now the people +as a mass are loyal. They love their king." + +"I still affirm," said St. Hilaire, "that the time is ripe for a +revolution. Sooner or later it must come." + +The chevalier from the further end of the table said quietly; "It _has_ +come." + +"Surely you are not serious," said d'Arlincourt, turning to the +chevalier, "in calling the disturbance of the past few days a +revolution. Why, I have seen more serious revolts than this blow into +nothing. Our Paris mob is a fickle creature, demanding blood one moment +and the next moment throwing up its cap with delight if you show it a +colored picture." + +"The disturbance of to-day will become great enough to shake France to +its centre," said the chevalier. + +"One would think that you possessed the gift of second sight," laughed +de Lacheville. + +"I do," replied the old man impressively. + +"Give us an example of it, then," demanded d'Arlincourt. "What part am I +to take in the new revolution?" + +"I see behind you, my dear d'Arlincourt," replied the chevalier, leaning +back in his chair and looking in the count's direction through +half-closed eyelids, "the shadow of a scaffold." + +Unwittingly the count turned with a start, to see Blaise standing behind +him in the act of filling his glass with wine. There was a general +laugh. + +"Madame de Rémur will bare her white shoulders to the rude grasp of the +executioner. De Lacheville will escape. No, he will not. He will die by +his own hand to cheat the scaffold." + +"And I," interrupted the Countess d'Arlincourt, "shall I share their +fate?" + +The chevalier looked at her with a peculiar expression in his eyes. "My +sight fails here," he said. "I cannot foretell your fate. Yet you may +live; your beauty should save you. People do not kill those who please +them; those who bore them are less fortunate." And he turned his +snapping brown eyes in the direction of the gentle poet and the +venerable philosopher. + +"St. Hilaire's sudden and great interest in the people's welfare may +prove of service to him," remarked d'Arlincourt significantly. + +"It will not save him," replied the chevalier. "He will finally come to +the same end. The shadow of the scaffold is behind him also." + +St. Hilaire laughed as he cracked an almond. "Though I may sympathize +somewhat with a people who have been oppressed and robbed, I should feel +unhappy indeed to be left out in the cold when so many of the +illustrious had gone before. But you have overlooked yourself. That is +like you, chevalier, unselfish to the last." + +"Oh, I am too old to be of importance; I shall die of gout," said the +old nobleman. + +"You have disposed of us effectually," said the poet, "and I shall be +greatly honored at being permitted to leave this world in such good +company. But may I ask, are we to be the sole victims of your +revolution?" + +"Far from it," answered the old chevalier, closing his eyes and speaking +in an abstracted manner, as if talking to himself, while his friends +listened in rapt attention, half inclined to smile at the affair as at a +joke, and yet so serious was he that they could not escape the influence +of his seriousness. + +"I can see," he continued, "a long line of the most illustrious in +France. They are passing onward to the block. They are princes of the +blood; aye, even the king's head shall fall." + +"Enough!" cried out the voice of d'Arlincourt, above the general +exclamations of horror that the chevalier's pretended vision called +forth. "You overstep the line, Chevalier de Creux. I do not object to a +pleasantry, but when you go so far as to predict the execution of the +king you carry a jest too far. It is time to call a halt." + +"But was it a jest?" asked the chevalier dryly. + +"A very poor one," said de Lacheville. + +"My dear friend," said the chevalier in his blandest tone, "I am not +predicting what I should like to have take place. Not what ought to be, +but what will be." + +The count scowled and de Lacheville turned away with a shrug and began a +conversation with Madame de Rémur. + +"We all know that the chevalier is a merry gentleman, yet no jester," +said St. Hilaire. "What will be, will be. I, for one, am willing to +drink a toast to the chevalier's revolution. Blaise, bring out some of +that wine I received from the Count de Beaujeu. I lost fifty thousand +livres to him the night he made me a present of this wine; it will be +like drinking liquid gold." + +Blaise filled the glasses amid general silence. + +St. Hilaire rose to his feet, holding his wine-glass above his head. + +"What, my friends, you are not afraid?" he exclaimed in a tone of +surprise, looking about the table where only the chevalier and the +philosopher had followed his example. "Is it possible you have taken the +chevalier's visions so much to heart?" + +They all rose from their places, ashamed to have it thought that they +had taken in too serious a vein the little comedy played by the +chevalier. + +"Any excuse to drink such wine as this," said de Lacheville, with a +forced laugh. + +"We drink to the revolution!" cried St. Hilaire in his reckless +manner--and he touched glasses with Madame de Rémur and then with the +Countess d'Arlincourt. As the glasses clinked about the table, a heavy +booming sound fell upon the ears of the revelers. + +"What noise is that?" cried the countess nervously. They stopped to +listen, holding their glasses aloft. The booming ceased, then followed a +roar like that of the angry surf beating upon a rockbound shore. + +"It is the chevalier's revolution," exclaimed Madame de Rémur. + +"Are we to be frightened from drinking our toast by a little noise?" +cried St. Hilaire. "What if it be the revolution? Let us drink to it. +Come!" and they drained their glasses to the accompaniment of what +sounded like a volley of musketry. + +The ladies looked pale and were glad to quit the table for the salon, +where they were joined by the poet and the philosopher, leaving the +others still at their wine. + +The Marquis de Lacheville took another glass, and then a third. + +"You had best be careful how you heat your blood with this rich wine, de +Lacheville, while that wound in your side is scarcely healed," remarked +d'Arlincourt. + +"Confound the wound, and curse the young villain who gave it me," +growled de Lacheville. "I have been forced to lead the life of an +anchorite for the past fortnight; but such nectar as this cannot +inflame, it only soothes," and he reached out his hand toward the +decanter. As he did so, the sound of guns reverberated again through the +room, making the windows rattle and jarring the dishes on the table. The +ladies in the adjoining room cried out in alarm, and d'Arlincourt rose +and went to reassure them. + +"I will go with you," said the chevalier, and he joined the count. + +De Lacheville threw his napkin down upon the spot of wine that had +splashed from his upraised glass upon the damask cloth. + +"The devil take them!" he cried petulantly; then filling his glass again +with an air of bravado, "will they not permit a man to breakfast in +peace?" + +"Your nerves must be badly shaken, de Lacheville, if you permit such a +slight thing to disturb you," laughed St. Hilaire, filling a glass to +the brim. + +D'Arlincourt entered from the next room hurriedly. "I am going to see +what all this firing means," he said. "Will you accompany me, +gentlemen?" + +"I make it a point never to seek for news or excitement, but rather +allow them to come to me," said St. Hilaire leisurely. "You would better +sit down and let me send a servant to ascertain the cause of this +turmoil." + +"Why leave the house in search of truth when we have with us an oracle +in the shape of the chevalier?" interposed the Marquis de Lacheville. + +"I shall be able to bring a more accurate account," replied d'Arlincourt +with an impatient shrug. + +"As you will," said St. Hilaire. "Blaise, give the Count d'Arlincourt +his hat and sword. Are you quite sure you do not want some of my lackeys +to accompany you?" he asked. + +D'Arlincourt declined the offer and hastily left the room. + +The two marquises were left in possession of the dining-room and the +wine. They both continued to drink, each after his own fashion. With +each successive glass, de Lacheville became louder in voice and more +boastful, while as St. Hilaire sipped his wine, he became quieter and +more indifferent. + +Within ten minutes d'Arlincourt returned to them, his face betraying +great excitement. + +"A mob has attacked and captured the Bastille. The multitude is surging +through the streets. They will pass before this very door." + +"It is impossible that they could have taken the Bastille!" exclaimed de +Lacheville, rising to his feet and steadying himself by holding to the +back of his chair. + +"There are thirty thousand of them," replied d'Arlincourt, "and through +some treachery they have obtained arms. In order to save bloodshed +Governor Delaunay surrendered the fortress on receiving the promise of +the insurgents that the lives of all its defenders should be spared. +They are now dragging him through the streets, crying out for his blood. +The man was mad to trust the word of such a rabble." + +"Let us go into the salon," remarked St. Hilaire quietly. "There we can +reassure the ladies and also view this interesting spectacle." + +The three gentlemen entered the room which fronted upon the street, +d'Arlincourt with compressed lips and flashing eyes; de Lacheville, +unsteady of gait and with wine-flushed face, murmuring maledictions +against the beast multitude; and St. Hilaire, cool and calm as was his +wont. + +In the salon they found the chevalier entertaining Madame de Rémur with +an anecdote which was the occasion of much laughter on her part. + +The poet was reciting some of his own verses to the countess, while the +philosopher was asleep in an arm-chair. + +"The crowd have torn down the Bastille," cried de Lacheville, speaking +in a thick voice, "and they are now coming down this street, seeking +whom they can devour." + +The ladies cried out in terror. + +"Marquis, you have interrupted one of my best stories," said the +chevalier petulantly. + +"But, chevalier, the mob have taken the Bastille." + +"Couldn't you have allowed them two minutes more to complete their work? +However, what you say is very interesting, though it does not surprise +me. I have been expecting it." + +"You forget that the chevalier is gifted with second sight," said the +count, with a slight sneer. + +"I have been expecting it for some time," continued the chevalier, +"though what they wanted to take it for, I cannot imagine. If they +should attack the Hôtel de Ville or the Louvre, or march against +Versailles, I could understand it." + +Madame de Rémur and the philosopher, who had awakened from his nap, had +approached to hear the news; and the Marquis de Lacheville repeated it +to them as if he had been an eye-witness of the whole affair. + +"For my part," he said in conclusion, "I think this disturbance amounts +to very little; the Baron de Besneval has but to give the order to his +troops, and the valiant mob will disperse like chaff. I have seen such +fellows run before this. It is amusing to see what a steel bayonet will +do toward accelerating the pace of the canaille." + +"They say that the French Guards are not loyal," remarked the chevalier. + +"The French Guards be hanged!" shouted the Marquis de Lacheville hotly. +"I would not trust them further than the canaille itself; they are a +white-livered lot in spite of their gaudy uniforms. Thank heaven, we +have other troops who are good and loyal, and who will put down these +disorders in a trice." + +"We shall look to you, then, marquis," said the cavalier, "to restore +peace and quiet for us at once." + +"I would not soil my hands with such dirt," replied de Lacheville +haughtily, and scowling at what he thought was a disposition on the part +of the chevalier to ridicule him. + +"Is there really danger?" inquired the Countess d'Arlincourt of her +husband. + +"The situation is grave, but I hardly think there is great cause for +alarm," he answered. "The king has too many loyal subjects to permit +anarchy and riot to exist for any length of time." + +"Let us go out upon the balcony," interrupted St. Hilaire; "the show is +about to pass under our windows." He threw open the windows and ushered +his friends out upon the balcony with a gesture as if he were bidding +them welcome to his box at the opera. + +Down the street, with a roar that drowned all other sounds, came the +surging mass like a torrent that had burst its bounds. In the front +ranks, carried on the shoulders of a dozen, were two men dressed in the +uniform of the French Guards. They were greeted on all sides with +acclamations. + +"See how the Guards fraternize with the mob," said de Lacheville. "Down +with the French Guards! Down with the rabble!" he cried in his +excitement, shaking his fist over the railing. + +St. Hilaire gripped his arm. "I don't care how much you expose your own +life, but as I do not wish to bring insult or danger upon the ladies +under my roof, perhaps you had better refrain from expressing your +opinions for the present." + +"Do you think they would dare attack this house?" demanded de +Lacheville, turning pale. + +"Men who have successfully stormed a prison are not likely to hesitate +before the walls of a house, even though it does belong to a marquis," +replied St. Hilaire. "Look at that!" he exclaimed suddenly, pointing up +the street. Then turning to d'Arlincourt, he said, "Get the ladies +inside as quickly as possible." The count had no sooner followed his +directions, than along the street, borne on long poles on a level with +the very eyes of those on the balcony, appeared two heads dripping with +blood. + +"Dear me, whose are those?" exclaimed the chevalier, adjusting his +eyeglasses. "By my soul, it's poor Delaunay's head. They have treated +him most shabbily. Can you make out the other, St. Hilaire?" + +"No," answered the marquis, "I was never good at recognizing faces," and +he stepped to the window to reassure the ladies in the salon. + +The chevalier leaned over the railing and called out to one of the men +in the crowd:-- + +"My good fellow, will you have the kindness to tell me whose head they +are carrying on the second pole?" + +The man, thus addressed, looked up. He was tall and broad-shouldered, +with face browned from exposure to the sun. With one arm he supported a +member of the French Guards who had been wounded. + +"Flesselle's," he answered. "He has betrayed the people again and again. +He has received a terrible punishment." + +The man who had given the chevalier this answer did not move on +immediately, but stood looking up at the balcony. The old nobleman, +following this look, saw that it rested on the Marquis de Lacheville. + +The latter, meeting the man's eye at the same moment, recognized Robert +Tournay. He started forward as if about to speak, then noticing the +weapon in Tournay's hand and remembering the recent warning of St. +Hilaire, he checked himself. Neither spoke, but the marquis could not +repress a look of hatred, which was answered by a look of defiance by +Tournay. Then the latter turned away with his companion leaning on his +shoulder. The crowd closed up and he was soon lost to sight. + +"They have killed Flesselle, the mayor of Paris," said the chevalier, as +St. Hilaire joined him a moment later. "Well," he continued, as if in +answer to St. Hilaire's shrug, "Flesselle was a fool, but I am sorry for +poor Delaunay. Come, St. Hilaire, let us go in, the crowd is thinning +out now; in a short time the streets will be passable and I must be +going. I have to thank you for a most enjoyable day, marquis." + +"The pleasure has been mine," replied the Marquis de St. Hilaire, +bowing. + +"Are you going to the duchess's to-night?" inquired the chevalier. + +"No, I think not," answered St. Hilaire, putting his hand upon the +window-bar. "After you, my dear chevalier," indicating the way into the +salon. As he was about to step into the room the chevalier turned and +took a final look at the street. The main body of the mob had passed and +their shouts were heard receding in the distance; although underneath +the window were still a number of persons, coming and going in restless +excitement. + +"I think, marquis," he said, with his curious smile, "that your friends +need soap and water badly." + +"They do, chevalier," said the other, returning the smile, "and the +smell is sickening. Come to my bedroom; I will give you a new perfume." + +That evening, after the departure of his guests, the Marquis de St. +Hilaire called in his man of affairs. + +"Rignot," he demanded carelessly, "have I a single estate that is +unencumbered?" + +"Unfortunately no, monsieur le marquis." + +"Think again, Rignot. Is there not some little estate still intact? Some +small farm heretofore overlooked by us?" + +"Not a cottage, monsieur le marquis." + +"What bills are unpaid?" + +"Some three hundred thousand livres are rather pressing." + +"Is that the sum total of all my liabilities? I want a full statement +to-night." + +"You owe about eight hundred thousand francs, monsieur le marquis." + +"Pay them at once." + +"But, monsieur le marquis, it will be impossible. Where shall I get the +funds?" + +"You may sell my furniture, personal property"-- + +"What, everything, monsieur le marquis?" + +"Yes, everything; and after paying all my debts, if there is anything +left, take out a commission for yourself and give me the balance;" and +then he turned to the window and looked out on the lights of the city of +Paris, indicating that the interview was at an end. Rignot withdrew. + +"Assuredly," said the Marquis de St. Hilaire with a yawn, "this +revolution arrives in good time. I should soon have become a beggar." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BAKER AND HIS FAMILY + + +The Count d'Arlincourt had just left the palace at Versailles. + +He had been present at the reception to the Royal Flanders regiment. He +had heard their vow of fidelity to the king. He had been among the +officers and the nobles of the court who had trampled under foot the +tricolor of Paris and decorated their coats with the white cockade, and +now he left the royal presence with his sovereign's thanks and +commendations ringing in his ears. + +As he proceeded through the courtyard three gentlemen entered at the +main gate. A shade of annoyance passed over the count's brow as he +recognized St. Hilaire and two other noblemen, all members of the States +General, and all reputed to lean somewhat too radically toward the +popular side in politics. He had hardly seen St. Hilaire since the +breakfast party at the house of the latter three months before. The +toast of the marquis and his expressed sympathy with revolutionary +orders had caused a decided estrangement. + +Indeed, St. Hilaire and the two noblemen who were with him had become +alienated from their order, and many of their former friends among the +nobility had refused to speak or hold any relations with them whatever. + +The count could not avoid meeting them, but he was undecided whether to +ignore them entirely or pass them with such a slight inclination of the +head as to be equally cutting. + +The cordial bow of the Marquis de St. Hilaire, however, for whom he had +always felt a peculiar and inexplicable regard, caused him to change his +mind. + +He saluted the three gentlemen politely, though with a certain reserve +of manner natural to him, and addressed St. Hilaire. + +"A word with you, marquis," he said, "if I may be pardoned for taking +you from these gentlemen for a few minutes?" + +St. Hilaire turned to his companions: "With your permission, messieurs, +I will join you in five minutes in the palace." + +The gentlemen bowed in assent and walked toward the palace, leaving the +count and the marquis alone in the centre of the court. + +"You were not present at the reception in the palace. We missed you +greatly, marquis," the former began, with an attempt at cordiality of +manner, having resolved to make one last appeal to his friend. + +"Thank you, my dear d'Arlincourt, for your kindness in saying so," +replied the marquis affably, "but I must tell you frankly that even if +affairs in the Assembly had not claimed my time, other circumstances +would have rendered my presence at this banquet impossible." + +"The king," continued d'Arlincourt quietly, "inquired for you several +times and seemed much disturbed at your absence." + +"I am now on my way to wait upon his majesty," replied St. Hilaire. + +The count's face lighted up. "A tardy apology is better than none at +all, for I presume you are going to explain your absence." + +"The two gentlemen who have left us, and myself, have been sent by the +convention as a committee to urge his majesty to sanction their latest +decrees,--the bill relating to popular rights," replied St. Hilaire +quietly. + +"For the love of Heaven, Raphael!" burst out the count, "can it be +possible that you intend to persist in championing the popular cause, +like the Duke d'Orleans, or the Marquis de Lafayette? Your present +position is that of a madman. Come back to our side now. To-morrow it +may be too late." + +"For the life of me, André," replied St. Hilaire lightly, "I cannot tell +you to-day what my line of action will be to-morrow, but in any case I +beg you will not compare me either with the duke or Lafayette. I am +neither as dull as the one nor as virtuous as the other. Why not permit +me still to resemble only the Marquis de St. Hilaire?" + +"Then," replied the count warmly, "I tell you that as the Marquis de St. +Hilaire, your duty to the king should have brought you to the reception +in honor of the Flanders regiment." + +The marquis dropped his air of levity suddenly. "Do you know, count," +he said slowly, "I have just come from the Assembly, where news reached +us a little while ago that a mob of forty thousand was marching from +Paris toward Versailles." + +The count started with surprise, but betrayed no other emotion. + +"Is it a fitting time to be fêting a regiment composed of mercenaries? +Is it a fitting time to be clinking glasses and drinking toasts when +forty thousand men and women are approaching with their cry for bread?" + +The count drew himself up as he replied,--"What more fitting time could +there be for the loyal nobles to gather about their sovereign than in +the hour of danger? I, for one, would not let the fear of any Paris mob +keep me from the king's side at such a moment." + +St. Hilaire flushed deeply. "Count d'Arlincourt," he said quickly, "I +pass over that insinuation because it comes from an old friend. But know +this: that I am one of the members of the Assembly who have sworn to +support the constitution and enforce the rights of man. I should indeed +have been false to my trust had I participated in a fête to these +foreigners where oaths were openly made to defeat that constitution." + +"Our ideas of duty evidently differ," replied the count stiffly. "My +duty is to my king." + +"They do differ," said St. Hilaire. "My first allegiance is to the +nation. Count d'Arlincourt, I respect you and your opinions, but I also +have a regard for my oath. I have chosen my path and I shall follow +it." + +"Good-day, Marquis de St. Hilaire," said the count, in his usual cold +manner. + +"Farewell, Count d'Arlincourt," was the polite rejoinder, and raising +his hat St. Hilaire passed onward in the direction of the palace. + +Forty thousand men and women were marching from Paris to Versailles. +They had forced a king to recall a banished minister. They had sacked a +prison fortress,--razing to the ground walls that had frowned on them +for ages, wiping out in one day a landmark of tyranny that had been +standing there for centuries. Now they were coming to see their king at +his palace. They had heard of the banquet at Versailles, given in honor +of the royal Flanders regiment, where wine had flowed like water and +where food was in abundance. At such a banquet, they argued, there must +be bread enough for the whole world; and they were coming to get their +share of it. + +Although it was in the month of October, the sun was hot and the road +dusty. In the front rank, amid all the dust and sweat and noise, walked +Robert Tournay. He carried no weapon, nor did he seek to lead; but +animated by curiosity and by sympathy, he felt himself drawn into this +great heaving mass of people who had decided to correct these abuses +themselves, even if to do it they had to take the laws into their own +hands. + +Hearing a shout and rumble of wheels behind him, Tournay looked over his +shoulder to see a cannon coming through the crowd, which parted on each +side to let it pass, and then closed up behind it. This cannon was drawn +along the road by a score of men, whose bare feet, beating the dust, +sent up a pulverous cloud that blew back into the faces of those behind +like smoke. + +Seated upon the gun carriage, her hair streaming in the wind, was a +young woman wearing the red cap of liberty, and waving in her hand a +blood-red flag. The cannon stopped under the shade of some poplar trees, +and men stood around it wiping the perspiration from their foreheads. + +"A cheer for the Goddess of Liberty," cried a voice in the crowd. A +shout went up that made the poplars tremble. + +"Citizens," cried the girl, in response, standing erect and flinging her +flag to the breeze, "you want bread!" + +"Bread! Bread!" was the answering shout. + +"The women of Paris will lead you to it. Then you shall help +yourselves." + +"Show us where it is and we'll take it fast enough," was the answering +cry. + +"Where should it be but in the king's palace? There they are feasting +while the people in Paris are starving. They shall give the people of +their bread!" + +"What if they have eaten it all?" asked another voice. + +"Then shall the king bake more," answered the girl--"enough for every +one in his kingdom. He shall be the nation's baker, and his wife shall +help him knead the dough, and their little boy shall give out the +loaves." + +There was a laugh at this and cries of "Good! Good!" + +"My friends," she continued, taking off her cap and swinging it by the +tassel, "this marching is hot work, and talking is dry business. Has any +one a drink for La Demoiselle Liberté?" + +A number of bottles were instantly proffered her. + +"This _eau de vie_ puts new life into one," she exclaimed, throwing back +her head and putting a flask to her lips. With an easy gesture she took +a deep draught of the liquor, to the increasing admiration of the +bystanders. On removing the bottle from her lips, she said with a nod: +"How many of you men can beat that? Here goes one more." She was on the +point of repeating the act when she caught sight of Tournay, who had +drawn near and stood by the wheel of the truck looking at her intently. + +"Here, friend, you look at this liquor thirstily; take a good pull at +it. You're a likely youth, and a sup of brandy will foster your +strength! What! You will not drink? Bah, man! I would not have it said +that I was a little boy, afraid of good liquor. But why do you stare at +me like that, without speaking? Have you no tongue?" Tournay put aside +the proffered bottle and said:-- + +"I stared at you because I know you. You are Marianne Froment, the +miller's daughter, who left La Thierry a year ago. And you should +remember Robert Tournay." + +The young woman shook her head with a decided gesture. + +"You mistake, friend; my name is not Marianne Froment. I know no miller, +and have never heard of the place you speak of." + +Tournay remembered when he had seen her last in the alley of the park. +He felt no animosity toward her; instead he felt compassion for the +silly girl whose head had been turned by the flattery of a nobleman who +had already grown tired of her. + +"It is you who are mistaken, Marianne," he replied quietly, "although +when I knew you at La Thierry, drinking strong liquor was not one of +your practices." + +"I am La Demoiselle Liberté," replied the girl defiantly, throwing her +brown curls back from her forehead and replacing her cap. "I have drunk +such liquor as this from my cradle. So here's to you! May you some day +grow to be a man." + +Tournay stayed the bottle in its course to her lips, and took her hand +in his. + +"You are Marianne Froment," he persisted, "and it would be much better +for you to be in the quiet country of La Thierry. Why not go back?" + +"If Marianne did go back, who would speak to her? Who among all those +who live there would take her by the hand?" she asked. + +"Have I not taken you by the hand just now?" asked Tournay. + +"I believe you would be the only one," she replied, stifling a sigh. +"Not even my father would do that. But you are no longer at La Thierry. +What are you doing here, and what sent you away from home? Are you going +back?" + +Tournay shook his head. "There are reasons," he replied slowly, "why I +can never return." + +"Neither can Marianne Froment," rejoined the girl. "Therefore, +compatriot, drink with me to our future good comradeship. And pass the +bottle to your neighbor. Then let us go on together. _En avant_, my +friends," she cried out in a loud voice. "The sooner we start again the +earlier we shall reach our bakery. Follow the carriage of La Demoiselle +Liberté, and she will lead you to it." + +A score of brawny arms grasped the ropes attached to the truck, and with +a heavy rattle the cannon was drawn through the crowd, which cheered it +on its way. + +The forty thousand swept into Versailles in an overpowering tide, +finding nothing to stop their triumphant course. + +The crowd choked up the streets of the town, filling the public square +and invading the Assembly chamber. + +The Assembly, with all the gravity and dignity of its recent birth, rose +to its feet to greet as many of the Paris deputation as could crowd into +the room, steaming with the sweat and dust of the march. Outside the +door another crowd remained, clamoring noisily. + +The president of the Assembly addressed them in a few words full of +dignity. "I have just learned," he said in his quiet way, "that the +king has been pleased to accord his royal sanction to all the articles +of the Bill of Popular Rights which was passed by your Assembly on the +5th of August." + +"Will that give the people more bread?" asked La Demoiselle, looking up +at Tournay with an inquiring expression in her brown eyes. Despite her +red cap, her swagger, and her boisterous talk, she was very pretty and +child-like. As he looked down upon her standing by his side her brown +head did not reach his shoulder. + +"Whether it gives them bread or not, it is a glorious thing for the +people," exclaimed Tournay with enthusiasm. + +A few minutes later the demoiselle yawned. "The old fellow is too +tiresome," she said; "let us go to the palace and get our bread." + +Evidently the same thought moved the rest of the deputation. They began +to file out, while President Meunier was still addressing them, with a +restless scuffling of their feet, and a murmuring among themselves, "To +the palace! To the palace!" + +The last Tournay saw of Demoiselle Liberté she was pushing through the +crowd that made way for her right willingly, while she cried out: "I +will show you the bakery, my brave people; I am now on my way to +interview the chief baker." + + * * * * * + +The forty thousand got their bread. They got their bread and more. They +pressed in so close upon their monarch, they were so menacing, so +determined in their way, that he promised to dismiss his royal Flanders +regiment and go back to Paris with his beloved subjects. And so the +hungry, sullen, desperate mob became a shouting, happy, victorious one. +They cheered their monarch, who had sworn to be a father to his people; +they cheered the royal family, even the queen; but most of all they +cheered the loaves of bread which were distributed among the eager +multitude. Every shop in the town was soon depleted of its stock, and +all the bakers were working over-time to supply the food. + +"Did I not tell you I would lead you where bread was plenty?" demanded +the Demoiselle de la Liberté gayly of those gathered around. "The king +is a capital baker; we have only to keep him with us and we shall have +food at all times." And she dipped her crust in a cup of wine. + +"We will take our baker back with us to Paris," cried one. + +"Aye, and the baker's wife and his little boy," cried another. At this +there was a laugh. + +Tournay, who had aided in the distribution of the food, approached the +group, relieved by the thought that all were satisfied and contented, at +least for the moment. + +"Ah, there is my handsome compatriot," exclaimed the demoiselle as soon +as she set eyes upon him. "Wilt thou join us in our supper, compatriot?" +she called out. She was seated carelessly on the truck of the +gun-carriage, with a cup of wine in one hand and a half-loaf in the +other, her face flushed with excitement. Unlike most of the women who +stood about her, she was of graceful form, with hands and arms +unblackened by hard toil, and the skin of her throat soft and white. She +wore her red cap in a rakish manner on the side of her head, its tassel +falling down over her forehead between her eyes. Every little while she +would throw it back by a quick toss of the head. + +Tournay took the cup from her outstretched hand, and put it to his lips. +"Marianne," he said in a low tone, "it would be better if you were at +home among your own people." + +"Why do you still call me by that name?" she asked in a tone of +suppressed passion. "_My_ home is Paris. _These_ are my people. They +never question who I am nor whence I came. There is not one in La +Thierry who would deal thus with me, unless it be yourself. You took my +hand this morning. And for that I will take yours and call you my +compatriot." Then changing to her usual tone of gayety, she cried aloud, +"Come, compatriot! This has been a glorious day. The people of Paris +have captured their king and are about to take him to Paris. Give us a +toast!" + +Tournay felt that what she had said was true. Probably not one of those +who had known Marianne in La Thierry would speak to her should she +return there. He turned to those who stood around the gun. "Friends," he +cried, "I drink to freedom! May all among you who love it as I do live +for it and be ready to die for it." There was a shout as he turned away +and left them, and over his shoulder, looking back, he saw the +demoiselle dancing on the cannon, cup in hand. + +He left the crowded part of the city to find some quiet spot as a change +from the noise and tumult of the past two days. Turning a corner he came +face to face with a man whom he had seen among the crowd in the Assembly +hall,--a man of gigantic stature with deep-set eyes. His appearance was +so striking that he could have passed nowhere unnoticed, and even in the +crowded hall Tournay's gaze had returned to him constantly. As they met, +Tournay again looked at him earnestly. The man stopped with the abrupt +question:-- + +"Why did you come to Versailles?" + +"Because," answered Tournay, "when I saw great numbers of people in +Paris starving, and heard of the banqueting here, my blood boiled. This +Flanders regiment, which is feeding fat at the people's cost, must be +sent away. We cannot pause on our way to freedom with the destruction of +the Bastille. The king must come to Paris where the people need him, and +not spend his time here under the influence of a corrupt nobility." + +"The king," mused the other; "do you believe in kings?" + +"How do you mean?--'Do I believe in kings'?" + +"Seventeen years ago," said the giant, "when only a boy, I stood in the +cathedral at Rheims while the coronation of the king was taking place. +I had never seen a king before, and moved by a strong desire to see a +being so exalted, I had walked many leagues to gratify my curiosity. +When I saw a pale-faced stripling kneel before the archbishop to receive +the crown, I could hardly keep from bursting into loud laughter at the +thought that such a puny creature could hold the destiny of a great +nation in his hands. I have often thought of it since, and to this day +it is as absurd as it was then." + +"I think a nation should have a king," said Tournay, after a few +moments' thought. "But he should reign in the interests of his people. +And of all the people, not a small part." + +"And so you came down here to see that our little king did his duty," +suggested the large man, smiling. + +"I came here, as I have already said, because in my humble way I wanted +to do something for my country." + +"For your country?" repeated his companion interrogatively; "for the +people?" + +"Yes," answered Tournay, "the people,--the common people, to whom I +belong; those who have never had a voice lifted up to speak for them, +nor a hand to fight their battles." + +"There is a voice to speak for them at last," replied the giant, his +eyes shining with a fierce light. "France is full of them. From north to +south, from east to west, they have been called and are answering. In +the Assembly their voices are heard. In every street in Paris their +voices are heard. I can speak for them and I will; aye and fight for +them too," and he lifted his massive arm with a gesture which in its +force seemed to indicate that alone he could fight for and win the +people's cause. "Throughout France there are millions of arms which like +mine are ready to strike down tyranny. Have no fear, my friend. The +nation has found a champion in itself! The people have taken up their +own cause!" The power of the man, his earnestness and energy, stirred +Tournay to the depths of his soul. He looked with admiration at the +lion-like figure standing before him. Then grasping the man's hand he +said with earnestness:-- + +"I too am one of them,--I may not be of much use, still I am one. Will +you show me how I can be of more service?" + +"A stout arm and a brave heart are always worth much," replied the +giant. "I like you, friend; your voice has the true ring in it. And +where Jacques Danton likes he trusts. Come with me and I will tell you +more." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE "BON PATRIOT" + + +Colonel Robert Tournay of the Republican army sat over his coffee in the +café of the "Bon Patriot" one December morning in the year 1793 of the +Gregorian Calendar, and the year 2 of the French Republic. + +The four years that had passed since the July afternoon, when he first +entered Paris through the southern gate, had been full of stirring +events in which Tournay had taken such an active part as to make the +time equal to many years of an ordinary lifetime,--years which had drawn +lines upon his forehead that are not usual upon the brow of twenty-six. +His figure was considerably heavier, but even more elastic and muscular, +telling of a life of constant bodily exercise. + +Shortly after his return to Paris from Versailles on the eventful day +when the Demoiselle de la Liberté, accompanied by her forty thousand, +brought the baker and his family back to their people, Tournay had +enrolled himself in the National Guard to protect Paris and the country +against foreign invasion. + +From Paris to the army at the front was the next step, where he served +with such bravery as to gain promotion to his present rank. Promotions +were rapid in those days, and men rose from the lowest social ranks to +the highest military positions, if they proved their fitness by valor +and ability. + +By the winter of '93 Tournay had won the shoulder-straps of a colonel, +and had now been sent to Paris by General Hoche with dispatches to the +National Convention. His dispatches had been delivered and he was +waiting impatiently for the reply which he was to take back to the +front. More than eighteen months had passed since he had been in Paris, +and the scenes in the city streets had a new charm for him. It was with +a feeling of pride that he looked out from the windows of the "Bon +Patriot" and saw the active, bustling crowds on the boulevards and +realized that the Republic was an accomplished fact and that he had done +his part toward creating it. And yet there was some sadness mingled with +his pride. Although an ardent Republican he could not sympathize in all +the horrors of the Revolution,--indeed he had been greatly shocked by +them. Yet his long absence from Paris had prevented him from witnessing +the worst phases of the reign of terror, and thus he could not fully +realize them. He was, moreover, first of all, a man of the people. He +had resented from childhood the cruelty and oppressions under which they +had suffered, and his joy at the abolition of unjust laws, his pride in +the assertion of equality for all men, overweighed his regret for the +bloodshed that had accompanied the triumph of their cause and the +gaining of the Republic. + +Sitting over his coffee, he recalled his early life at La Thierry. Since +the day of his flight, he had never returned there, and with the +exception of an annual letter from his father, who although a Royalist +could not quite make up his mind to cast off his only son, he had no +communication with the inhabitants of the château. From these occasional +and brief epistles he had learned that the Baron de Rochefort had gone +to England almost at the outbreak of the Revolution. In a more +roundabout way he learned the cause of the baron's departure to be a +secret mission to the Court of St. James on behalf of the tottering +French monarchy. The mission had come to naught; the baron had fallen +ill in London and died there a few months after his arrival. + +Edmé, his only child, was therefore left at La Thierry, where she lived +in great seclusion, with Matthieu Tournay still in faithful attendance. +The marriage with the Marquis de Lacheville had never taken place. As +the Revolution progressed and the de Rochefort fortune dwindled, the +marquis's ardor, never at glowing heat, cooled perceptibly, and during +the past two years nothing had been heard of him at the château. It was +thought that he had either gone abroad or was living in seclusion in +Paris. + +Tournay had sometimes felt a little anxious as to the safety of +Mademoiselle Edmé and his father, but the letters he received from old +Matthieu were reassuring, and as the place was a secluded one and the +family not known to have shared actively in the royalist cause, his +anxieties had for some time been allayed and he thought of them now as +likely to escape suspicion and to remain there in quiet obscurity. + +Tournay was roused from his reverie by the conversation of two men at an +adjoining table, or, more strictly speaking, a man and a boy, for the +younger was not over seventeen years of age. His face was quite innocent +of any beard. On his yellow curls he wore the red nightcap of the +Jacobins and his belt was an arsenal of knives and pistols. Taking up a +glass of beer he blew off the froth with a quick puff of the lips. + +"Thus would I blow off the heads of all kings," he said in a voice that +courted attention; "I give you a toast, comrade: death to every tyrant +in Europe." + +"I'll drink that toast willingly," answered the other, a big fellow, who +despite his swagger and insolent manner, had a face bearing considerable +traces of good looks. "But I should prefer to drink confusion to each in +a separate glass, seeing that you are standing treat for the day," and +he laughed at his own wit. + +"The Revolution does not march quick enough to suit my fancy," he went +on, turning his glass upside down to indicate that it needed +replenishing, and then wiping the froth from the ends of his drooping +brown mustache. "The convention is too slow in its work of purging the +nation. Were it not for Robespierre we should make no progress. Why are +there still aristocrats walking in the broad light of day?" + +"Very few come out in the daylight, citizen," remarked the boy. "They +creep out at night generally." + +"Well, why are they allowed to live at all, young friend?" said the +elder man, striking the table with his fist. + +"Be patient, good Citizen Gonflou; the Committee of Public Safety has +sent out a good batch of arrests within the last twenty-four hours," +said the lad knowingly. "I have it from my brother, who has been charged +with the execution of one." + +"Your brother, Bernard Gardin?" inquired the other as he drained his +glass. "Who is it now?" + +"Bernard has gone down to our old home in the village of La Thierry to +arrest a young aristocrat by the name of Edmé de Rochefort," replied the +boy. + +"Oh, oh, a woman!" laughed Gonflou. "Well, I'm glad I've not got your +brother's work. I'm too tender-hearted when it comes to be a question of +women." + +Tournay uttered an exclamation of surprise. The next instant he tipped +over his coffee-cup with a clatter to cover up the betrayal of interest +in the conversation, and in replacing it, managed to draw his chair +nearer to the two men. + +"When did he start?" was the inquiry of Gonflou. + +"This morning at six. He will return in four days." + +Recovered from the first shock, Tournay's resolution was immediate. Edmé +de Rochefort must be saved from arrest--and from the death that was +almost certain to follow. + +He was a man of action, accustomed to think quickly, and he began at +once to devise means to save her. His first thought was of Danton. On +this man's friendship he felt sure he could rely. His ability and +willingness to assist him he resolved to test immediately. + +The conversation between the two men at the adjoining table took another +turn and he saw he was likely to hear no more on this subject, so he +rose from his seat and hurried from the café. Ten minutes later he +climbed the dark stairway that led to Danton's lodging. Here he found +the Republican giant in his shirtsleeves,--a short pipe between his +lips, bending over his writing table. He did not look up as Tournay took +a chair at his elbow, but a nod from the massive head showed that he was +aware of his presence. + +"Jacques," asked Tournay abruptly, "was an order for the arrest of a +certain Citizeness Edmé de Rochefort signed by the committee last +night?" + +Danton looked at him for a moment while he stroked his chin +thoughtfully. + +"Hum--de Rochefort? A daughter of the Baron Honoré who went to England +as emissary from the late monarchy? Yes, I believe the woman is to be +arrested," was the reply. + +"If I furnish you with abundant reason for it will you have the order +rescinded at once?" + +"I cannot," was the answer. + +"Is there any other charge against the Citizeness de Rochefort except +that she is the daughter of her father?" + +"None that I know of." + +"Why arrest a young woman merely because her father went to England as +an emissary of Louis Capet more than three years ago?" + +Danton shrugged his shoulders. Tournay continued. + +"In view of the length of time which has elapsed, in view of the +absolute lack of result from the baron's mission, in view of the youth +and innocence of this girl, will you not endeavor to have this order +rescinded?" + +"Why do you desire it so strongly?" demanded Danton, laying down his pen +for the first time. + +"Because I have known her from a child. I was born on the de Rochefort +estate," was the prompt reply. + +"Is that all?" asked Danton. + +"No, it is not the only reason. I abhor this dragging of the weak and +innocent into the political whirlpool. We do not need to make war upon +women. I have protested against this before now, and I tell you again +that we are disgracing the Republic by the crimes committed in its name. +You are all-powerful with the masses, Jacques, your voice is always +listened to,--why do you not put an end to the atrocities, which instead +of decreasing, are growing worse daily? Where is your eloquence? Where +is your power? How can you sit passively by and see these horrors? Are +they done with your sanction? Can it be that a man with your strength +can take a pleasure in crushing the weak and defenseless?" + +"Would to God that I had the power to stop it," cried Danton. "Do you +think that I take pleasure in the arrest of innocent young women? Do you +think that it is with delight that I see our prisons crowded with +thousands whose only crime is to have been born among the aristocrats?" +He rose and paced the floor savagely. "You talk of my power with the +people. You say they listen to my voice. To keep that power I must +remain in advance. If once I lag behind it is gone forever. We have +given life to this terrible creature the Revolution, and we must march +before it. If we falter it will crush us too." + +"Let it crush us then," cried Tournay, springing to his feet. "I will no +longer be driven by it." + +Danton looked at him a moment with kindly eyes, then shook his head and +said mournfully: "And France, what would she do without me? All I have +done has been done for her sake. And I do not regret what has been +done," he continued, resuming his former manner. "No, when I see what we +have done I regret nothing. That the innocent have perished, I know, and +I deplore it. That the innocent must still perish is inevitable. But +what is the blood of a few thousand to wash out the cruelty of ages? +What are the cries of a few compared with the groans of millions +throughout the centuries! Even now the allied armies of all Europe are +thundering at the doors of France. We cannot pause now. They have dared +us to the combat, and in return, as gage of battle, we have hurled them +down the bleeding head of a king. We must go on." + +Then sinking into his seat, he said quietly, "No, Robert, my friend, let +Robespierre and his followers have their way in these small matters for +a little while longer. What are the lives of a few peachy-cheeked girls +weighed against the destiny of a nation?" And he took up his pen. + +Tournay sat in silent thought for a few minutes. He saw that it would be +useless to say more. After Danton's pen had labored heavily over a few +pages, he exclaimed, "Jacques!" + +"Well?" + +"Will you procure me a passport from the Committee of Public Safety +which will take me to the German frontier?" + +"Are you going to run away?" asked Danton, still busy over his work. + +"Whatever happens, I shall never leave France," replied Tournay quietly. + +"Very well," said Danton, ringing a bell. "I never shall suspect your +patriotism, but there are those who might if you talked to them as you +have to me." + +As his secretary appeared in answer to the summons, he took up a sheet +of paper to write the order. + +"Make it for Colonel Robert Tournay and wife," said Tournay carelessly, +leaning over his shoulder. + +Danton looked up at him suddenly. "I did not know you were married," he +said. + +Tournay made no reply. + +Danton wrote a few lines rapidly. "Take this to the secretary of the +Committee of Public Safety," he said to his clerk, "and return with an +answer in half an hour." + +In less than that time the man returned with the information that the +secretary was away and would not return until two o'clock that +afternoon. + +"Will that do?" asked Danton, turning to Tournay. + +"And it is now ten," said Tournay rather impatiently. "It will have to +do, I am afraid." + +"I will send it to your lodgings the moment it comes in," said Danton, +resuming his work. + +"Very well, do so, and many thanks. If I am not there have it left with +the friend who shares my lodgings." Tournay quitted the office and +hastened home, stopping on the way at a stable where his horse was +quartered, to give instructions that the animal be saddled and brought +to his door without delay. + +Reaching his house, he ran up the four flights of stairs that led to the +little suite of rooms which he was sharing with his friend Gaillard. + +Gaillard was a versatile fellow; he had been a poet, an actor, and a +journalist. Sometimes the one and sometimes the other, as inclination +prompted or destiny decreed. + +Shortly after Tournay's first arrival at Paris, he had met Gaillard, who +was then a journalist, at a public meeting. The chance acquaintance led +to friendship. He had found the young writer in some financial straits +and had rendered him such assistance as his own slender purse could +afford. + +Gaillard, who never forgot the favor, was devoted to his friend. He +watched his career as a soldier with interest and pride, and now that +Tournay had come to Paris for a few days, Gaillard had insisted that his +small chambers should have the honor of sheltering the gallant officer +of the Republic. + +Gaillard was at present amusing crowds nightly at the Theatre of the +Republic, where he was playing a series of comedy rôles. + +It was with satisfaction that Tournay, as he ascended the stairs, heard +Gaillard's voice in the room, repeating the lines of his part for that +evening's performance. + +"Well, my brave colonel, how goes the convention to-day?" said Gaillard, +as Tournay entered the room. "Has the Tribunal done me the honor to +request that I be shaved by the guillotine?" + +"I have not been to the convention to-day. Other business has +prevented," replied Tournay, going into his bedroom and taking a pair of +pistols from his wardrobe. + +"No? then I must wait until I get to the club before I learn the exact +number of the nobility who are to patronize the national razor to-day." + +"Are you in the piece for to-night, Gaillard?" asked Tournay, hardly +hearing what his friend was saying. + +"I am." + +"That's unfortunate, for I wanted to ask a great service of you," said +Tournay, as he proceeded to clean and load the weapon. + +"Tell me what it is; I may be able to help you." + +"I am going at once to La Thierry." + +"La Thierry?" inquired Gaillard. + +"Yes. It is my birthplace. I am going there on an important errand. I +must start instantly. I cannot even wait for a paper which is to be sent +to me here by Danton. I am perfectly willing to let you know that it is +a passport to the frontier, for myself and one other. The paper will not +arrive until two o'clock, several hours after I am on the way. I must +have a swift messenger follow with it and join me at the inn in the +village of La Thierry." + +"I will see that this is done," replied Gaillard. "Is that all?" + +"That is all," said Tournay, hurrying from the room. On the threshold he +turned. "Are you positive that you will be able to find a trustworthy +messenger? Failure would be fatal." + +"I swear to you to have it there," cried Gaillard, lifting up his arm +and striking a dramatic attitude. + +Tournay knew that, despite his apparent frivolity, Gaillard possessed +not only a loyal heart, but a clear head, and he felt that he could +trust him thoroughly. Much relieved in mind, he descended the stairway +and sprang upon his horse at the door. Since leaving Danton he had been +thinking out a plan which he hoped would successfully save Mademoiselle +Edmé de Rochefort, but to carry it into effect he must reach La Thierry +before Gardin. So putting spurs to his horse, he dashed through the +streets at a pace which threatened the lives of a number of the good +citizens. In a short time he was out of the gates, galloping along the +road toward La Thierry at a tremendous pace. Then suddenly recollecting +that the road to be traveled was a long one, he drew a tighter rein on +his horse and slackened his speed. + +"Thou must restrain thy ardor," he said, leaning forward and stroking +the sleek neck of the animal affectionately; "thou hast a long journey +before thee and must not break down under it." + +At ten o'clock that night he drew up before the inn at Vallières, just +half the distance to La Thierry. He reluctantly saw that his horse had +entirely given out. As for himself, he would have gone on if he could +have obtained a fresh beast. He looked critically at those in the stable +of the inn, and realized that with four hours' rest his own horse would +bring him to his journey's end more readily than any of the sorry +animals the landlord had to offer. Having come to this decision he threw +himself fully dressed on a bed for a short sleep. He slept until two in +the morning. Then, after a hasty cup of coffee, he was again in the +saddle and continuing his journey. + +He rode steadily on with the advancing day, passing some travelers, none +of whom he recognized. At noon he entered the village of Amand. Thence +there were two roads to La Thierry. One, the more direct, led to the +right over the hill; the other, to the left and along the river, was the +longer but the better road. If his horse had been fresh, Tournay would +have taken the short-cut, going over hill and dale at a gallop, but his +tired beast decided him to choose the river road. + +Toward the end of the afternoon he saw in the distance the spire of the +church of La Thierry. He felt positive by this time that Gardin must +have taken the upper road or he should have overtaken him before this, +so rapidly had he traveled. + +Every step of the way was familiar to him. Every bend in the river, +every stone by the wayside was associated with his boyhood. Just before +he came to the village of La Thierry, he left the main road and turning +to the right followed a lane that made a short cut to the château de +Rochefort. It was about two miles long and in summer was an archway of +shaded trees and full of refreshment. Now the branches were bare, and +the flying feet of his steed sank to the fetlocks in the carpet of damp, +dead leaves. + +As he approached the château on the right he heard a sound that caused +him to draw rein in consternation. Springing from his horse he fastened +him to a sapling by the wayside, seized his pistols from his holsters, +and hurried forward on foot. At every step he took the sounds grew +louder. There was no mistaking their meaning. + +The lane terminated about a hundred yards from the house. Tournay threw +himself flat upon the earth and working his way to a place where he was +sheltered by the overhanging branches of some hemlock trees, looked +cautiously out toward the château. + +An attack was being made on the château at the front. Half a score of +men armed with clubs and various other weapons were endeavoring to break +down the iron-studded oaken door. A gigantic figure with shirt open to +the waist, whom Tournay recognized as the blacksmith of La Thierry, was +dealing blow after blow in rapid succession with a huge sledge-hammer. +The door, which had been built to resist a siege during the religious +wars of the sixteenth century, groaned and trembled under the blows of +the mighty Vulcan, but still held fast to the hinges. A man, standing a +little apart from the others and directing their movements, Tournay knew +to be Gardin. Seeing that they were making little headway, the latter +ordered his men to desist, evidently to form a more definite plan of +attack. In the mean time Tournay was working along the line of the +hemlocks towards the rear of the house. Suddenly three or four men +detached themselves from the attacking party and approached him. Fearing +that he had been discovered, he lay perfectly quiet. He soon saw that +they were making for the trunk of a sturdy ash-tree which had been +recently felled by a stroke of lightning. This they soon stripped of its +branches, and hewing off about thirty feet of the trunk they bore it +back on their shoulders with shouts of triumph. Here was a battering-ram +which would clear a way for them. + +Seeing them again occupied with the assault, Tournay continued to crawl +cautiously along the edge of the grove until he was in a line with the +rear buildings. Here were the servants' rooms, the business offices of +the estate, and at one corner the office and the rooms occupied by +Matthieu Tournay, the steward. This, the oldest part of the building, +was covered thick with old ivy, by whose gnarled and twisted roots he +had climbed often, when a boy, to the little chamber in the roof which +had been his own. From this he knew well how to reach the apartments in +the main building. The repeated blows of the ash-tree against the doors +warned him that they could not resist the attack much longer. He climbed +quickly up until he reached the well-known little window under the +eaves. Dashing it open with his fist he swung himself into the +attic-room which he had known so well in his boyhood. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A BROKEN DOOR + + +"Open, in the name of the Republic." + +No answer. + +Crash! Crash! Blow followed blow upon the door of the old château. + +"Again, citizens, once again! Brasseur! bring fagots, we'll fire the old +trap. Forgons, take this sledge-hammer in your big hands. At it, +man!--we'll soon have the lair of the aristocrats down about their ears. +Defour, Haillons, and you others, take up that ash-tree and let it +strike in the same place as before." + +Amid a pandemonium of shouts and curses the blows continued to rain upon +the iron-studded outer door of the château de Rochefort, and the tree, +used as a battering-ram, poised upon the shoulders of a dozen men, was +dashed forward with a force that made the hinge-bolts start from their +sockets and the oaken panels fill the air with splinters. + +The besieged had taken refuge in one of the large salons on the second +floor. There were only four of them: an old man, a priest, and two +women. + +"They have nearly forced the outer door," cried old Matthieu Tournay, +wiping the perspiration from his brow with trembling hand. + +"But the inner one," exclaimed the priest, laying his hand on Matthieu's +arm. "How long will that keep them off?" + +"They'll break through that easily. Nothing can save us now; we are all +lost," replied the old man. + +"May the Blessed Virgin preserve us from the monsters," murmured the +priest, looking towards the woman. + +Edmé de Rochefort stood near the window. The terrifying sounds which +echoed through the lower part of the building would have unnerved her, +had not anger supplied a sustaining force, and brought a deep flush to +supplant the pallor on her cheeks. The spirit of her race was roused +within her. Had she been a man she would have charged alone, sword in +hand, against the mob; but being only a woman she stood waiting the +issue. Trembling slightly, she stood with her small hands clenched and +white teeth firmly set. At her elbow was Agatha, her maid. She was paler +than her mistress, but it was not for herself she feared. Her devotion +made her fear more for Edmé's safety than for her own. + +As the shouts redoubled Edmé saw the two old men turn, pallid and +trembling, towards her. + +"They seek me only," she said resolutely. "Why should I endanger your +lives by remaining here? I will go to meet them!" + +"You shall not go!" cried Agatha, placing herself in front of her +mistress. + +"It can only be a question of a few minutes at the longest. Let me go, +Agatha." + +"Listen," cried the priest, "they are in the house! They are coming up +the stairway now!" + +"No," cried old Matthieu, "I can still hear them down there in the +courtyard." + +Nevertheless a quick footstep was heard approaching from the corridor. +The portières at the further end of the room were thrown apart, and a +man, wearing the uniform of the Republican army, entered the salon. + +"Robert!" came in a glad cry from old Tournay's lips. + +Tournay did not wait to exchange words with his father, but approached +Edmé. + +"I have ridden from Paris to prevent your arrest, mademoiselle; thank +God I have arrived in time. Only do as I direct and I shall be able to +save you." + +"How are we to know that we can trust you?" she said, looking at him +fixedly. + +He caught his breath as if unprepared for such a question. "You _must_ +trust me, mademoiselle." + +Edmé laughed scornfully. + +The color which rose to his cheek showed that her laugh cut even deeper +than her words. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "if you"-- + +She interrupted him passionately. "Are not those men below who seek to +destroy my château your friends? They have been clamoring for admittance +in the name of the Republic." And she looked significantly at the +tricolored cockade in his hat. + +"And because I am a Republican and wear the uniform of the nation do +you really think that I could have anything in common with those +ruffians? You do me great injustice; I am here with one object, to +protect this household." + +Edmé continued to look steadily at him. + +"You say nothing, mademoiselle. You condemn me by your silence. I will +prove to you how deeply you wrong me even if it take my life. I would +give that gladly only to prove it to you. But there is more than my life +at stake. There is your safety--and the safety of these, your servants. +My father--mademoiselle!" + +Edmé's look softened a little as she answered:-- + +"Although since you left our house we have only thought of you as an +enemy, still I believe your father's son would be incapable of +treachery. As for saving us, listen to the mob below. One man is +helpless against so many." + +"I can save you--but it depends upon yourself. No matter what I may say +or do, you must trust me implicitly." + +"Oh! do as my son says, mademoiselle!" interposed old Matthieu, joining +his hands beseechingly. "For your sake, for all our sakes, listen to and +be guided by him." + +"If you can really protect us in this dreadful hour I should be guilty +if I risked the lives of those who have faithfully remained at my side, +by refusing your aid. I will follow your father's and your counsel," +said Edmé quietly. + +"Is the door of the salon barred?" asked Tournay of his father. + +"With such slight fastenings as we have," answered the old man. + +"See that it is fast," said Tournay. "It will give us a few minutes. +Then listen to me." + +There was a crash--louder than any that had yet been heard, and the mob +poured into the lower part of the château. + +Here they paused for a moment to recover breath and wipe the +perspiration from their brows. Then some of the party began again their +work of destruction among the pieces of furniture, while others brought +up wine from the cellar to refresh themselves and their thirsty +companions. + +Gardin, anxious only to make the arrest, stormed at this slight delay. + +"Cannot you leave your wine until your work is done, citizens?" he +called out impatiently. "The aristocrat is above stairs--follow me!" + +Through the large hall of the château and up the broad staircase, on the +heels of their leader, swarmed the mob, yelling and cursing. + +Gardin and Forgons, like bloodhounds who scent their prey, made direct +for the door of the great salon, where the little party awaited them. +Gardin shook the door violently, then threw himself against it to force +an entrance. + +"Here, citizen, we have already proven that two pair of shoulders are +better than one at that game," laughed Forgons, adding his strength to +that of Gardin. Under their combined weight the door yielded with a +suddenness that precipitated both men into the room,--Gardin on his +hands and face while Forgons fell over him,--and the two rolled +together in the middle of the floor. Amid a shout of rough laughter from +the men in the rear the two leaders regained their feet. + +The scowl on Gardin's face vanished in a look of astonishment when he +found himself face to face with a man in the uniform of a colonel of the +French army. + +Matthieu and the old priest had retreated to the corner of the room at +their entrance. Beside the chimney-piece stood Edmé de Rochefort. The +sight of the frenzied mob, the knowledge that it was her arrest alone +they sought; the shrinking dread which the thought of their rude touch +inspired, made her heart sink with sickening terror. Yet beyond +trembling slightly, she gave no sign of fear. + +Gardin had expected to find a frightened girl, surrounded possibly by a +few servants who remained faithful. The sight of Tournay's tall figure, +his resolute face, above all his uniform, standing between him and the +object of his search, made him hesitate. + +"There she is! That's the aristocrat!" exclaimed Forgons, as Gardin +hesitated. "Let me get my hands upon her." He rushed forward, but before +he could touch Edmé, Tournay pushed him backward with a force that sent +him reeling into the group of men behind. + +"A thousand devils," cried Forgons, when he regained his equilibrium, +"what is the meaning of this, citizen colonel? Are you defending the +little aristocrat?" + +"Keep back, will you, Forgons," interposed Gardin, fearing that his +dignity as leader would be usurped. "Leave me to manage this affair. I +am here," he said, addressing Colonel Tournay, "to apprehend the person +of an aristocrat, and shall brook no interference on the part of any +one." + +"Let me look at your warrant," demanded Tournay, in a tone of authority. + +"I am not obliged to show that to you," replied Gardin doggedly. + +"Let me see it, I say!" was the determined rejoinder. + +Gardin slowly drew a document from the breast of his coat and handed it +over with a sullen "Well, there's no harm in your seeing it." + +Tournay read it carefully. Then folding it up with great deliberation he +returned it. + +"It seems quite regular." + +"Regular," repeated Gardin, with a laugh,--"well, I like that. Of course +it's quite regular,--signed and stamped by the Committee of Public +Safety." Then with a show of mock politeness: "Now if the citizen colonel +will condescend to step aside I will conduct this young citizeness from +the room." + +"That order of arrest calls for a certain citizeness de Rochefort, does +it not?" asked Tournay, without moving. + +"Certainly it does. The Citizeness Edmé de Rochefort who stands there, +right behind you." + +"You will not find her here," replied Tournay. + +"None of your jests with me, citizen colonel; why, as I said before, +she's standing behind you. I should know her for an aristocrat by the +proud look on her face if I had not seen her a hundred times here in La +Thierry." + +"This is not Citizeness de Rochefort." + +"That's a lie," replied Gardin bluntly, "and in any case she is the +woman I am going to arrest." + +"That woman is Citizeness Tournay, my wife. You cannot arrest her on +that warrant, Citizen Gardin." + +As the colonel spoke these words, which he did slowly and deliberately, +Mademoiselle de Rochefort drew a quick, short breath. + +"It is a trick," cried Gardin savagely; "you are trying to save her by a +subterfuge." + +Tournay repeated coolly, "She is my wife, and I am Robert Tournay, +colonel in the Army of the Moselle. Again I advise you not to try to +arrest her without a warrant." + +"And I say again it is a lying trick," cried Gardin, beside himself with +rage. "You cannot save your aristocratic sweetheart this way, citizen +colonel. The Republic demands her arrest and I mean to take her." + +"Citizen Ambrose," said Tournay, turning to the priest, "is not this +woman my wife?" + +"Most certainly," said the old priest, coming forward with dignity; +"this lady is Madame Robert Tournay." + +"Madame!" cried Gardin, repeating the word in a rage. "There are no +ladies in France now, and all priests are liars. This is a trick, and +you, citizen colonel, shall answer for it. Out of my way!" He grasped +Tournay by the lapel of his coat, and twisting his fingers into the +cloth endeavored to force the colonel to one side. There was a sharp +struggle, then Tournay threw him off with such violence as to send him +staggering across the room. His head struck the sharp edge of a mahogany +cabinet as he reeled backward, and he rolled senseless to the floor. + +With a shout of rage at the assault upon their leader the mob rushed +forward to close about Tournay. But he was too quick for them; the +muzzles of a pair of pistols met them as they advanced, one covering +Forgons, who was in front, the other leveled at the men behind him. + +The mob cowered and fell back a little. Clubs, hammers, and knives were +their only weapons, which they still brandished threateningly. If +Tournay had shown the least sign of flinching he would have fallen the +next moment, beaten and crushed to death. He advanced a step forward. +Before the threatening muzzles of the steadily-aimed pistols, the men +recoiled still further, and were quiet for a moment. Tournay seized the +opportunity to speak. + +"This fellow," he cried in a loud voice, pointing to Gardin, "has dared +to lay hands upon an officer of the Republican army. In doing so he has +insulted the nation and deserves death. Is there any man here who would +repeat this insult?" + +The mob, taken by surprise, looked at their fallen leader and then at +the two shining pistol-barrels that confronted them, and remained +irresolute. Tournay thought he heard Edmé catch her breath quickly when +the answer from the mob drowned everything. + +"No, no! There are none here who would insult the nation!" + +"Citizens, I am of the people, like yourselves. I am also a soldier of +France. I have fought its battles, I wear its colors. See!" he went on, +taking off his hat and pointing to the tricolor cockade--"here is the +tricolor. If you do not respect that, you insult the Republic. Is there +any one here who would dare to insult the Republic?" + +"No, no!" came in quick response. "Long live the Republic!" + +"But all who wear the tricolor are not our friends," muttered Forgons +uneasily. + +"Citizens," continued Tournay, affecting not to hear, "Gardin has no +warrant to arrest this woman, who is not an aristocrat, since she has +become my wife, the Citizeness Tournay. As for Gardin, he has insulted +the Republic. He has forfeited the right to lead you. In the name of the +Republic I appoint you, Forgons, the secretary of this section. To-night +I return to Paris and will see that the confirmation of your appointment +is sent you at once. Now, citizens, take up this fellow," he said, +pointing to Gardin. "He shows signs of returning consciousness. A little +cold water pumped over his head will bring him back to life. Come, +follow me, I will be your leader for the present." + +The mob took up the body and bore it off, cheering loudly for the +Republic. Forgons went with them slowly, shaking his head, with a +puzzled expression on his face. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A MAN AND A MARQUIS + + +Colonel Tournay accompanied the crowd of zealous Republicans who had +been the followers of Gardin, until he saw them dispersed to their +various homes or noisily installed in the wine-room of the village inn. +Then he rapidly retraced his steps to the château. + +He found Mademoiselle Rochefort seated in the salon, contemplating half +mournfully, half disdainfully, the evidences of the mob's incursion, +which surrounded her in the shape of costly pieces of furniture from the +drawing-room, now marred and broken; and bottles from the wine cellars, +shattered and strewn upon the floor. + +She did not make any movement as Tournay entered the room, but seemed +occupied with her own thoughts; and for a few moments he stood in +silence, hesitating to speak, as if the communication he had to make +required more tact and diplomacy than for the moment he felt himself +master of. + +Finally, approaching her, he said: "Mademoiselle, the immediate danger +is past. You have nothing to fear for the present. As soon as you have +recovered sufficiently I would like to speak with you." + +She let her hand drop from her forehead and looked up at him. Her face +was very pale, but she was quite composed and the voice was firm with +which she answered:-- + +"I am able to hear you now, Robert Tournay." + +He drew a sigh of relief. "She has the de Rochefort spirit," he thought. + +"All is quiet now," he said. "But when Gardin fully recovers +consciousness I fear he will excite his followers to further violence. +It will be unsafe for you to remain here." As she did not answer, he +continued,--"I have made arrangements, mademoiselle, to conduct you to +the German frontier. Can you prepare to accompany me at once?" + +"I am prepared to leave here at once--but--I cannot go with you. It is +better that I go alone," Mademoiselle de Rochefort replied. + +"Alone! It would be folly in you to attempt it. Do you suppose that I +could stand quietly by and see you incur such a danger?" + +Mademoiselle de Rochefort's eyes, at all other times so frank and +fearless, did not meet his earnest gaze; she answered him hastily, as +one who would have an unpleasant interview come to a speedy end:-- + +"You have saved me from a great danger. Believe me, I am not ungrateful. +You have already done too much. I cannot accept anything more from you. +Pray leave me now to go my own way." + +"That is impossible, mademoiselle; I shall only leave you when you are +across the frontier. Traveling as my wife, under the passports that I +have secured, the journey can be made in comparative safety, provided +always that we start in time." + +At the words "my wife" Mademoiselle de Rochefort started, but she only +repeated:-- + +"I cannot go with you." + +"But," ejaculated Tournay, "I don't understand; it was agreed"-- + +She looked up at him. "I agreed to permit you to tell those wretches +that I was your wife, Father Ambrose, your father, and you, all +protesting that it was the only way to prevent them from destroying the +château and those within it. But you also said that the marriage would +not be considered valid, and as soon as the danger was over you would go +away." + +"I said," answered Tournay quietly, "that I should in no way consider +the marriage valid; that when I had once taken you to a place of safety +I should leave you. But until then I shall remain by your side." + +"Some one said you would go away at once, either your father or the +priest, and so I yielded. Now you tell me I must go away with you, +and"--she hesitated at the words, "be known as your wife." + +"But no one will know who you are," said Tournay earnestly. "The +carriage will be a closed one--you shall have Agatha with you. No one +shall be allowed to intrude upon you. Three or four days will bring us +to the frontier. As soon as you are there, and in the care of some of +your friends who have already emigrated, I will leave you. Cannot you +trust me three days?" he asked sorrowfully. + +"I cannot go with you," she repeated. "You are of the Republic--I have +already accepted too much from your hands. Can I forget that those hands +which you now stretch out to aid me have helped to tear down a throne? +that like all the Republicans, you share the guilt of a king's murder?" + +"I am only guilty of loving France more than the king. I did help to +destroy a monarchy, but it was to build up a Republic." + +"Then, instead of aiding, you should denounce me. I am of the Monarchy +and I hate your Republic," she said defiantly. "I will accept protection +from one of my own order or trust to God and my own efforts to preserve +me." + +"Where are those of your own order?" demanded Tournay bitterly. "They +are scattered like leaves. Some have taken refuge in England or in +Prussia. Some are hiding here in France. Your own class fail you in the +time of need." + +"They do not fail," cried Edmé. "If none are here it is because they are +risking their lives elsewhere for our unhappy and hopeless cause; or +languishing in your Republican prisons where so many of the chivalry of +France lie awaiting death." + +As if the thought goaded her to desperation she added fiercely, "Where I +will join them rather than purchase my freedom at the price you +propose." + +"Mademoiselle," said Tournay calmly but with great firmness, "listen to +reason. There is no time for lengthy explanation. I am actuated only by +a desire for your safety. You must accompany me hence. I shall take you +away with me." + +Edmé arose and confronted him with a look of scorn. "I stood here a +short time ago," she said, "and before all that rabble heard myself +proclaimed your wife; I, Edmé de Rochefort, called a wife of a +Republican--one of their number. Oh, the shame of it! What would my +father have said if he had heard that I owed my life to a man steeped in +the blood of the Revolution? That his daughter consented to be called +the wife of her steward's son! a man of ignoble birth, a servant"-- + +"Stop!" cried Tournay, the blood mounting to his forehead. "Stop! It is +true that those of my blood have served your family for generations. It +was one of my blood, I have heard it told, who in days gone by gave up +his life for one of your ancestors upon the field of battle. Was that +ignoble? My father served yours faithfully during a long life; was that +ignoble? So have I, in my turn, served you. I was born to the position, +but I served you proudly, not ignobly. In speaking thus, you wrong +yourself more than you do me, mademoiselle." + +[Illustration: "STOP!" CRIED TOURNAY] + +The suddenness of his outburst silenced her. He saw that her bosom +heaved convulsively. He could not guess the conflicting emotions in her +breast; her pride struggling with her gratitude; her horror and +detestation of the Republic contending with her admiration for his brave +bearing in the face of danger; but as he looked at her, slight and +girlish, standing there before him with flushed cheeks, as he saw the +fire flash in her eyes although her hands trembled, he realized keenly +how young, how defenseless she was, and his sudden burst of anger +subsided. Her very pride moved him to pity by its impotence, and his +heart yearned to be permitted to protect her from all the dangers which +threatened her. + +In a voice that trembled with emotion he went on:-- + +"Mademoiselle, I have known you since you were a child, and I have +served you faithfully. Your wishes, your caprices have been my law. It +was no galling servitude to me, mademoiselle, for mine was a service of +love." He uttered the last words almost in a whisper, then stopped +suddenly, as if the avowal had slipped from his lips unwittingly. + +Mademoiselle de Rochefort started; while he spoke she had turned away; +so he could not see her face, but he could imagine the look of disdain +and scorn with which she had listened. + +"Yes, I dared to love you," he continued. "I never meant to tell you, +but now that the avowal has slipped from my lips I would have you know +that I always loved you. That is why I am here now, pleading with you, +not for your love, for that I know never can be mine, but for your +safety, your life." She remained silent, and he continued, speaking +rapidly,--"You have said that a king's blood is upon my hands. His death +was necessary and I do not regret it." Edmé shuddered and letting +herself sink back into a chair sat there with her head resting on her +hand, while she still kept her face turned from him. "I do not regret +it, because it has given us the Republic. I glory in the Republic which +has made me your equal." Bending over her, he said in a low voice, "I +love you and am worthy of your love. Mademoiselle, listen to me. Come +with me while there is yet time. Give me but the right to be your +protector. I will protect you as the man guards the object of his +purest, his deepest affection." In his fervor he bent over her until his +lips almost touched her hair. "I will win a name that even you will be +proud to own. Edmé, come with me. It is the love of years that speaks to +you thus--Come!" and he took her hand in his. As his fingers closed upon +hers she sprang to her feet. + +"Do not touch me," she cried, with a tone almost of terror. "I will hear +no more. I cannot bear it. I cannot bear to see you. Go! for the love of +heaven, leave me." + +For a moment Tournay stood still. Her words wounded him to the quick, +yet as they stabbed deepest, he loved her the more. Without speaking +again he turned and left her. As he descended the stairs and passed out +through the broken doorway he vowed within himself that despite her +pride, despite what she might say or do, he would yet find means to +save her. + +An hour passed, and Edmé remained in the salon where Tournay had left +her. The spirit she had shown a short time before seemed much subdued. +Darkness had settled down over the room, and she felt herself alone and +deserted. A current of air, coming through the broken doorway, swept up +the stairs into the apartment, chilling her with its cold breath. She +wondered what had become of Father Ambrose and old Matthieu, and whether +Agatha had deserted her. Yet she did not seek for them. Indeed, she did +not know where to find them, for the house had all the silence of +emptiness. + +She tried to plan what she should do in case she had been entirely +abandoned, but her brain, usually so active, seemed benumbed. She could +not think. Conscious that she must shake off this feeling of +helplessness, she was about to rise and go in search of a light, when +she heard a footstep outside in the corridor. "Agatha has come back," +she thought, and stepped forward to meet her maid. The sound of +footsteps approached until they reached the door of the salon; there +they seemed to hesitate. + +Edmé was on the point of calling Agatha by name, when the door was +pushed open and a man entered and passed stealthily across the floor of +the salon into the ante-chamber without noticing her presence. Edmé +thrust her hand over her mouth to stifle the cry that was upon her +lips. + +The man was evidently familiar with the surroundings, for almost +immediately the light of a candle shone out from the ante-room, throwing +a faint glow upon the polished floor of the salon. Edmé had seen him +very imperfectly in the darkness. She was uncertain whether he was one +of the mob, returned alone for plunder, or one of the lackeys of her +household who had got the better of his terror and returned to the +château. + +Unable to bear the suspense, she advanced toward the door of the +ante-room. Her heart beat rapidly as she placed her hand upon the door, +which had been left ajar. She hesitated one moment, then summoning up +the courage that had sustained her during the whole of that terrible +afternoon, she boldly pushed the door open and looked into the room. To +her amazement she saw, bending over a cabinet, her cousin, the Marquis +de Lacheville. The marquis held a candle in one hand while he searched +hurriedly for something in the drawer of the cabinet. In his haste and +anxiety he threw out the contents of each drawer as he opened it till +the floor was littered with papers. So intent was he upon his search +that he did not hear Edmé's approach. + +"Monsieur de Lacheville!" she said in a low tone. Upon hearing his name, +the marquis uttered a cry like that of a hunted animal, and turning, +confronted her. + +"Mademoiselle de Rochefort, you here! How you startled me!" he +exclaimed, endeavoring to control himself; but his knees shook, and his +lips twitched nervously. + +"Your coming gave me a start also, monsieur. You glided across the floor +of the salon so like a phantom, I did not know who it was, nor what to +think." + +"I have just arrived from Paris, where I have been in hiding for +months," he stammered. "Upon seeing the doors all battered down and the +frightful disorder in the lower halls, I thought the château must be +deserted and that you had sought some place of refuge. Knowing that in +times past the baron, your father, was in the habit of keeping money in +this old secretary, I have been ransacking it from top to bottom. I have +need of a considerable sum; but I find nothing here--not a sou." + +Edmé noticed that his dress was in great disorder and that his face was +pale and haggard. Every few moments he put up his hand in an attempt to +stop the nervous twitching of the mouth which he seemed unable to +control. + +"My nerves have been much shaken lately," he said, as she looked at him +with wonder. And then he laughed discordantly. The sound of the +mirthless laughter, accompanied by no change in the expression of his +face, was painful to Edmé's ears. + +"I have been pursued," he said, "hunted in Paris like a dog, but I have +given them the slip; they shall not overtake me now." The wild look in +his eyes became more intense. "I am going to leave France; I have a +friend whom I can trust waiting for me near at hand. Together in +disguise we are going to the frontier--either to Belgium or Germany. We +shall be safe there. But I must have some more money, money for our +journey." His fear had so bereft him of his reason that he apparently +forgot the presence of his cousin, the mistress of the house, and turned +once more to the old writing-desk to recommence his search with feverish +haste. + +"To Germany!" cried Edmé joyfully. "You are going to Germany? then you +can take me with you. We can leave this unhappy blood-stained country +for a land of law and order." + +The marquis turned upon her sharply. + +"Why did not your father take you with him to England?" he demanded. + +"Why? You have no need to ask the question. He went upon some secret +business for King Louis. He went away unexpectedly. When he left he +imagined that I, a woman, living in quiet seclusion, would be perfectly +safe, notwithstanding the disordered state of the country even at that +time." + +"Can you not find a place of refuge with some friend here in France?" +asked de Lacheville. "The journey I am about to undertake will be full +of danger and fatigue." + +"I am not afraid of danger," replied Edmé, "and as for fatigue, I am +strong and able to support it." + +"But," persisted de Lacheville, "if you could find some suitable refuge +here it would be so much better." + +"I cannot," retorted Edmé, in a decided tone of voice, "and I prefer to +accompany you to Germany, although it seems to me that you offer your +escort somewhat reluctantly." + +"The fact is, Cousin Edmé," replied the marquis, "I cannot take you with +me. Alone, my escape will be difficult; with you it will be impossible." + +Edmé looked at him for a moment with open-eyed wonder, then she repeated +the word. "Impossible! Do you mean to tell me that you, a kinsman, are +going to leave me here to meet whatever fate may befall me, while you +save yourself by flight?" + +"No, no, you do not understand me," the marquis replied, his pale face +flushing. "It is for your own sake that I cannot take you. It will mean +almost certain capture. If, as I said before, you could remain in some +place of safety in France for a little while"-- + +"I am ready to run whatever risk you do," replied the girl coolly. "When +do you start?" + +"Mademoiselle, this is madness," exclaimed de Lacheville, pacing the +floor. "Can you not listen to reason?" + +The sound of shouting in the distance caused him to stop suddenly and +run to the window. The candle had burned down to the socket and went out +with a few last feeble flickers. The cries of Gardin's ruffians were +borne to him on the wind. + +The slight composure which he had managed to regain during his talk with +Edmé left him again, and he turned toward her, the trembling, shaking +coward that he was when she had first discovered him. + +"Do you hear that?" he whispered, his hand shaking as he put it to his +lips. + +"I have heard it in this very room to-day," replied Edmé, looking at him +with disdain. + +"They are coming here again," he whispered hoarsely. "But they shall not +find me," he exclaimed fiercely, clenching his fist and shaking it in a +weak menace toward the spot whence the sound came. "I have a swift horse +in the courtyard beneath. In an hour I shall be safe from them," and he +prepared to leave the room. + +The ordeal of the afternoon had told on Edmé's nerves and the thought of +being left alone again made her desperate. + +"You shall not leave me here alone," she cried, seizing his arm. "You +were born a man--behave like one. Devise some means to take me from this +place at once. Do not leave me alone to face those wretches again, or I +shall believe you are a coward." + +De Lacheville roughly released himself from her grasp. + +"I care not what you think of me," he snarled. "It is each for himself. +I cannot imperil my safety for a woman. I must escape." And he rushed +from the room. + +She heard the crunching of his horses' feet upon the gravel, and going +to the window saw him ride rapidly away. The remembrance of the young +Republican leader offering to risk his life for her, and the cowering +figure of her cousin, indifferent to all but his own safety, flashed +before her in quick contrast. She turned away from the window to find +herself in the arms of Agatha, who had at that moment returned. + +"Agatha," she exclaimed, "do your hear those hoof-beats? Monsieur de +Lacheville is running away. He, a nobleman, is a coward and flies from +danger, while another man, a Republican--oh, Agatha, Agatha, what are we +to do? whom are we to believe; in whom should we trust?" + +"Calm yourself, mademoiselle," replied Agatha, "and think only of what I +have to tell you. Listen to me closely. We must leave at once. I have a +plan of flight. I have been making a few hurried preparations." + +"True, Agatha, in my bewilderment and anger, I forgot for the moment the +danger we incur by remaining here. Where are Father Ambrose and +Matthieu?" + +"Matthieu is here in the château; he says he will never desert you as +long as you can have need of his poor services. Father Ambrose has +disappeared, but I think he is in a place of safety. But now you are to +be thought of. Will you trust me?" + +"How can you ask that, Agatha? Have you not always proved faithful?" + +"I mean, can you trust me to lead, and will you follow and be guided by +my suggestions?" + +"I will do just as you may direct. I know you have a wise head, Agatha." + +"This is my plan, then," continued the maid; "listen carefully while I +tell it to you." + +An hour later the two women, dressed as peasants, with faces and hands +brown from apparent exposure to the sun in the hayfield, left the park +behind the château de Rochefort, and made their way along a hedge-bound +lane that wound through the fields. As they reached the crest of a hill +they stopped and looked back at the château. A red glow appeared in the +eastern sky. + +"Look, Agatha," said Edmé, "morning is coming, the sun is about to +rise." + +Suddenly the glow leaped into a broad flame which lit up the whole sky. + +"'Tis the château on fire!" cried both women in one breath, and clinging +to each other they stood and watched it burn. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GAILLARD GOES ON A JOURNEY + + +The first object that Robert Tournay saw as he rode into the inn yard at +La Thierry was a horse reeking with sweat. The next moment he was +greeted by the smiling face of Gaillard, who came out of the inn. "Have +you brought the passport?" cried Tournay eagerly, as he grasped his +friend by the hand. + +For reply Gaillard took a paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and +disclosed the seal of the Committee of Public Safety. "Am I in time?" he +asked. "I have ridden post haste to get here with it. Can I serve you +further?" + +"Come into the inn, and I'll tell you," replied Tournay. "I am almost +exhausted and must have something to eat." + +Ordering some supper and a bottle of wine, which were brought at once, +Tournay helped Gaillard and himself bountifully. They ate and drank for +a few minutes in silence, Gaillard waiting for him to speak. + +Gaillard was rather short in stature, with a pair of broad, athletic +shoulders. His face was freckled, and animated by a pair of particularly +active blue eyes. A large mouth, instead of adding to his plainness, was +rather attractive than otherwise, for on all occasions it would widen +into the most encouraging, good-natured smile, showing two rows of +regular, white teeth, firmly set in a strong jaw. + +After he had partaken of a little food and drink, Tournay recounted to +Gaillard the substance of what had taken place at the château, leaving +out most of his final interview with Edmé de Rochefort, but dwelling on +her flat refusal to accept his escort to the frontier. + +The actor listened to him intently and in silence; his face, usually +humorous, expressive of deep and earnest thought. + +"Now what do you advise?" asked Tournay, as he pushed back his plate and +emptied the last of the wine into Gaillard's glass. + +"What plan have you?" questioned Gaillard. + +"I mean to take her away from here at all hazards," answered Tournay. + +"Quite right," nodded Gaillard. + +"But I can't very well pick her up and carry her off bodily," continued +Tournay. "And if I did she would be quite capable of surrendering +herself into the hands of the first committee in the first town where +they stop us to examine our passport." + +"Then we must induce her to go of her own free will." + +"Which she will not do," replied Tournay gloomily. + +"It seems to me," said Gaillard, speaking slowly, while he held his +glass of wine to the light and inspected it minutely, "that if some one +should approach Mademoiselle de Rochefort, purporting to come from some +of her friends who have already gone abroad, and should say he was sent +secretly to conduct her to them, she would be willing to go with him." + +"Unless she suspected him to be an impostor, she might possibly go," +replied Tournay. + +"He will have to convince her that he is not an impostor, and after a +night spent in the château alone she is more likely to believe in him," +was Gaillard's reply. "How about Gardin," he asked suddenly. "Do you +anticipate any further trouble from that quarter?" + +"I hardly think so," replied Tournay. "I shall go back to the château at +once and remain in the vicinity all night unknown to Mademoiselle de +Rochefort. See if you cannot procure a carriage here suitable for a long +journey. Then come up the château road. I shall be in waiting for you at +the entrance to the park. We will confer together as to a plan of action +to be carried out at daylight." + +"Good," replied Gaillard; "I will set about my part of the work at +once." + +The two men rose from the table; Gaillard went to the inn stables and +Tournay mounted his horse and rode toward the château. + +He had not made half the distance between the village and the château +when he heard a footstep crunch on the gravel of the road, and reined +in his horse just as the figure of a man crept by him. + +"Who is there?" cried Tournay, clicking the hammer of his pistol. + +"A good citizen," was the reply in a timid voice. + +"Father, is it you?" exclaimed Tournay, springing from his horse and +approaching the figure. "Is all well at the château?" + +"It is my son, Robert," cried the old man. "I did not recognize your +voice until after I had spoken; but I am no good citizen of your present +disorderly Republic." + +"Is all well at the château?" repeated Robert Tournay. + +"Well? How can we all be well when the doors are broken in and the +furniture strewn about the place in pieces? Can I call all well when"-- + +"Mademoiselle Edmé?" interrupted Robert, with impatience, "how about +her?" + +"She has gone," said Matthieu Tournay. + +"Gone!" cried Robert, clutching his father by the shoulder. "Gone--how +and where?" + +"You need not be alarmed for her safety," said the old man; "she is with +Agatha,--a brave, clever girl, capable of anything. They set out this +very night to seek a refuge with some relatives of Agatha who will keep +them in safety." + +"And you permitted them to go?" demanded the younger Tournay, almost +shaking his father in his excitement. + +"Permitted them? Yes, and encouraged them. I would myself have gone with +them if I had not feared that my feebleness would impede rather than +assist their flight. As it is, you need have no apprehension; when +Agatha undertakes a thing she carries it through, and mademoiselle also +is resolute and strong-willed. They will be safe enough, I warrant." + +"Where did they go?" asked Robert. + +"I've promised not to tell," said the old man doggedly. + +"Father," exclaimed young Tournay, "do you not see how important it is +that I should know where they have gone? If you have any affection for +mademoiselle you will tell me. Cannot you trust your own son?" + +"Will you promise not to prevent their going?" replied the old man. + +Tournay thought for a moment. "Yes." + +"To La Haye, in the province of Touraine, near the boundary of La +Vendée." + +"Will they reach there in safety?" inquired Tournay, half to himself. + +"You need have no alarm on that score. They have disguised themselves as +peasants; no one will be able to recognize them. Look!" he added +suddenly, pointing in the direction of the château. + +A tongue of flame shot into the night air, then another and another +followed in quick succession. + +"Is the château on fire?" cried Robert in consternation. + +As if in answer the flames burst fiercely forth, and the noble old pile +stood revealed to them by the light of the fire that consumed it. + +The surrounding landscape became brilliant as day, and the great oaks of +the park waved their bare branches frantically in the direction of the +edifice they had sheltered so many years; seeming to sigh pityingly as +one turret after another fell crashing to the ground. + +Young Tournay looked around to see if any of the attacking party were +still lurking in the vicinity; but with the exception of himself and his +father, no human eye was witness of the burning. + +"Gardin's men must have ignited that during their drunken invasion of +the wine-cellar," he exclaimed excitedly. Then in the next breath he +added, "Thank God! Mademoiselle has been spared this sight." + +Old Tournay stood looking at the conflagration in silence; then turning +away with a sigh, he said simply, "There goes the only home I have ever +known; where my father lived before me and where you were born, Robert. +I must now find a new place to pass what few days of life remain to me." + +Tournay laid his hand on his father's arm. "Will you come with me to +Paris?" he asked. + +"No, no," replied his father. "I am not in sympathy with Paris, Robert, +nor with your ways. I don't understand them, boy. It may be all right +for you. I know you are a good son, you have always been that, but I +shall find a shelter in La Thierry. None will molest an old man like +me." + +Leading his horse by the bridle, Tournay walked back to the village with +his father. On the way they were met by Gaillard, who had seen the +flames and had guessed their meaning. + +Robert Tournay explained the situation to him as they all went back to +the inn. Greatly in need of rest, Robert threw himself down to wait +until the morrow. + +They were up with the dawn, when Gaillard had a new suggestion to offer. + +"You must return at once to Paris, my friend, for you must arrive there +before Gardin. You will need all the influence of your own military +position and the aid of your most powerful friends to enable you to meet +the charges that man will bring against you for frustrating the arrest. +I will try to find mademoiselle at La Haye, and will meet you at our +lodgings as soon as possible." + +Robert grasped his companion's hand warmly. + +"I shall never forget your friendship, Gaillard." + +"You may remember it as long as you like if you will not refer to it. I +can never repay you for your many acts of friendship toward me." + +"But your profession," interrupted Tournay, "how can you leave the +theatre all this time? How will your place be filled?" + +"Oh, it will be filled very well. I arranged all that before leaving; +whether I shall find it vacant or not when I return is another matter. +But it does not trouble me; let it not trouble you, my friend." And with +a cheerful wave of the hand, Gaillard departed. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PÈRE LOUCHET'S GUESTS + + +In the southern part of the province of Touraine, in the village of La +Haye, lived Pierre Louchet, or as his neighbors called him, Père +Louchet. + +Logically speaking, Louchet, being a bachelor, had no right to this +title, but as he took a paternal interest in all the young people of the +village, they had fitted him with this sobriquet, partly in a spirit of +gentle irony and partly in affectionate recognition of his fatherly +attitude toward them. + +Père Louchet lived alone in a little cottage that was always as neat and +well-kept as if some feminine hand held sway there. Indeed, if he fell +sick, or was too busy with the crops on his small farm to pay proper +attention to his household duties, there were plenty of women from the +neighboring cottages who were glad to come in and make his gruel or +sweep up his hearth, so it was not on account of any unpopularity with +the gentler sex that he lived on in a state of celibacy. + +In a society where marriage was almost universal, such an eccentricity +as that exhibited by Pierre Louchet in remaining single did not escape +comment. Indeed at the age of fifty he was as often bantered on the +subject as he had been at thirty. But neither the raillery and +innuendoes of the neighbors nor the entreaties, threats, and cajoleries +of his sister, Jeanne Maillot, had ever moved him to take a wife. + +"It's a family disgrace," said Jeanne, putting her red hands on her +hips, and regarding her elder brother with a look of scorn. "Here am I +ten years younger than you, and with five children. And Marie who lives +at Fulgent has eight. And you, the only man in our family, sit there by +the chimney and smoke your pipe contentedly, and let the young girls of +La Haye grow up around you one after another, marry, settle down, and +have daughters who are old enough to be married by this time; and you do +nothing to keep up the name of Louchet." + +"'T is not much of a name," replied Pierre. + +"It is one your father had, and was quite good enough for me, until I +took Maillot." + +"If I should marry, there would be less for your own children when I am +gone." + +"I'm sure it was your happiness I was thinking of before all," replied +Jeanne, mollified at this presentation of the case. + +"If it's my happiness you are thinking about, let me stay as I am. I and +my pipe are quite company enough, and if I want more I only have to step +across a field and I can find you and your good husband Maillot." And +Père Louchet's eyes would twinkle kindly while his pipe sent up a +thicker wreath of smoke. + +One young woman once declared maliciously that Père Louchet squinted. +But those who heard the remark declared that it was because he was +always endeavoring to look in any direction except towards her who +sought to attract his attention, and after that the slander was never +repeated. + +One morning in December the neighborhood of La Haye was set all in a +flutter of curiosity by a sudden increase in the family in Père +Louchet's cottage. + +As an explanation of it he remarked with his eyes twinkling more than +usual: "I am getting old and need help about the place, and that is why +a nephew and a niece of my brother-in-law Maillot have come to live with +me." + +Paul and Elise Durand were natives of "up north" and had never before +been as far south as La Haye. The woman was about twenty-five years old, +brown as a berry, with a sturdy figure and strong arms. Her brother was +tall and slender. He said he was nearly twenty, yet he was small for his +age and his entire innocence of any beard gave him a still more boyish +appearance. He spoke with a softer accent than most country lads in +those parts, but that was because he came from the neighborhood of +Paris; and then he and his sister had both been in the service of a +great "Seigneur" before the Revolution. + +In the neighboring province of La Vendée the peasants, led by the +priests and nobles, were threatening to take up arms in support of the +monarchy. But the inhabitants of La Haye took little interest in +political affairs, and although they shared somewhat the sentiment of +opposition in La Vendée to the new government in Paris, they busied +themselves generally with their vineyards and their crops and took no +active part in politics. Paul and Elise were content in the fact that +their new home was so quiet and so remote from the strife that was +raging so fiercely all about them. + +One morning, shortly after her arrival, Elise was resting by the stile +which divided the field of Père Louchet from that of his brother-in-law. +She had placed on the stile the bucket containing six fresh cheeses +wrapped in cool green grape leaves, while she herself sat down upon the +bottom step beside it, to remove her wooden sabot and shake out a little +pebble that had been irritating her foot. The wooden shoe replaced, she +took up her pail and was about to spring blithely over the stile, when +she drew back with a little cry of surprise mingled with alarm. Standing +on the other side, his arm resting on the top step, leaned a young man +who had evidently been watching her closely. + +Drawing a short pipe from between a row of white teeth, his mouth +expanded in a wide grin. + +"Did I frighten you?" he said, in a slight foreign accent but with an +extremely pleasant tone of voice. + +"Not at all," answered Elise, looking at him frankly. "I'm not easily +frightened. If you will move a little to one side, I can cross the stile +and go about my affairs." + +"What have you in the pail?" asked the man, as he complied with her +request. + +"Cheeses," she answered, as he came lightly over the wall. "It's clear +you're not of this part of the country or you would never have asked +that question." + +"I am not from this part of the country," said the stranger. "You ought +to know that by my accent." + +"Where is your native place?" asked Elise, her curiosity aroused. + +"A long distance from here--Prussia. Have you ever heard of that +country?" + +"Yes." + +"We are most of us against the Republic--there," said he. "I am, for +one," and he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. She made no +reply. "Let me carry your cheeses," he said, laying his hand upon the +bucket. + +"They are not heavy," said Elise, "and I must hurry home." + +"All ways are the same to me and I will go along with you," he said, +taking the bucket from her. "It's heavy for you." + +"It's no burden for me, and as I don't know you I prefer to go home by +myself," she said frankly. + +"Oh, I'm a merry fellow--you need not fear me. I am your friend." + +"I have no way of being sure of that," was the reply, "though you don't +look as if you could be an enemy." + +"I should be glad for an opportunity to prove myself your friend. And I +could prove that I am no stranger by telling you a good deal about +yourself and your brother Paul." + +"Indeed," was all Elise vouchsafed in reply, but she looked a little +uncomfortable. + +"I might tell you of an order of arrest that was not carried out; of a +château burned; of the midnight flight of two women and the arrival at +La Haye of a woman and her younger brother; all this I might tell you, +with the assurance that these secrets are safe in the keeping of a +friend." + +"How will you prove that you are a friend?" Elise said in a low voice +with apparent unconcern, although she felt her heart beating with fear. + +"The fact that I have just told you what I know and shall tell no one +else, should be one proof," he said. Elise did not answer, but looked at +him with a keen expression as if she would read his thoughts. + +He had a frank, open face, the very plainness of which bespoke the +honesty of the man. + +"Suppose I should say that I came from Hagenhof in Prussia and that I +was sent here by friends of your brother who have gone there. Suppose I +should say that they wanted you to join them and that I could take you +there with little risk to yourselves, would you be inclined to trust me +then?" + +"What risk do we incur by remaining where we are?" inquired Elise, +without answering his question. + +"You will always run the risk of discovery while in France," he replied. +"But tell me, are you inclined to trust me?" + +"Yes," answered Elise, stopping and looking him full in the face. "I +am." + +"Good," he cried, setting down the pail and extending his hand. + +"I am disposed to trust you," she went on, "but in order to do so fully +I should wish to see a letter from the friend you speak of." + +"It is dangerous to carry such a writing," he replied significantly. + +"True, but you can mention names." + +"I can, and will,--names your brother will know well. The Baron von +Valdenmeer, for instance. Besides, if I were your enemy I need not come +thus secretly. Your enemies can use open means." + +"I said"--Elise hesitated--"I am disposed to believe you are what you +claim to be, but I can do nothing without the consent of my brother." + +"Good! will you obtain his consent?" + +"I will try." + +"Good again. You will succeed. Talk with him and get his consent to +leave here. And as soon as possible I will make all the arrangements for +the journey so that we may leave in a week or at the latest a fortnight. +Then if you have not persuaded your brother that it is for his interest +to go with me, I will try and add my arguments to yours." + +"I trust you will find us ready," said Elise; "but in the mean time +shall you remain here?" + +"No, I must go to Paris," was the Prussian's answer. "If you should have +occasion to communicate with me, a word sent to Hector Gaillard, 15 Rue +des Mathurins, will reach me. But do not send any word unless it is of +the greatest importance, and then employ a messenger whom you can +trust." + +"Is that your name?" asked the woman. + +"That is my name while in France. Can you remember that and the +address?" + +"I can." + +"Then good-by. And a word at parting," he said--turning after he had +leaped the fence. "It is perhaps needless to caution you, but my advice +would be that your brother should not go too often to the village. His +hands are too small. Good-by." And he walked off up the lane smoking his +short pipe, and whistling gayly. + +Two days later Gaillard joined his friend Tournay in Paris. He found +Tournay much more hopeful than when he had left him, and his spirits +rose still more as he heard Gaillard's news. + +"It is Wednesday," Tournay said. "On Saturday the convention has +promised to send me back with my dispatches. Can you be ready for La +Haye by Saturday morning?" + +"Yes," said Gaillard, "twelve hours earlier if necessary." + +"It is agreed then for Saturday, unless the convention delays." + +Three days after her meeting with Gaillard, Elise, on returning from a +neighboring town where she had gone to dispose of some butter, found the +kitchen deserted and the fire out. She had expected to find a bowl of +hot potato soup and a plate of sausage and garlic. Instead she found a +cold hearthstone and an empty casserole. + +As usual, the first thought of the devoted sister was of Paul, and she +called his name loudly. It did not take long to ascertain that the house +was empty, and with her heart beating wildly with anxiety she ran +outside the cottage crying, "Oh, Paul, my child,--my brother, Paul!" +There was no answer save from the cattle in the outhouse who shook their +stanchions, impatient for their evening meal. She looked about for Père +Louchet. He also was absent. Evidently he had driven in the cows and had +been prevented from feeding them. Something serious had happened, and it +must have occurred within an hour, for at this time the cattle were +usually feeding. + +Elise sat down for a moment on an upturned basket to collect herself. +Her first thought was to go to Maillot's in search of them. They might +be there, yet it would take an hour to go to Maillot's and return. And +then what if Louchet and Paul were not there! What if the couple had +been murdered and the bodies were still on the farm? Elise shuddered at +the thought, and called loud again, "Paul, Paul, my brother, art thou +not here?" + +From the hay in the loft above came a smothered sound. With a glad cry +Elise sprang up the stairs, to see Père Louchet's head and shoulders +emerging from under a pile of clover. + +"Where is Paul?" cried Elise, pouncing upon him before he had freed +himself from the hay, and almost dragging him to his feet. He blinked at +her for a moment while he picked the stray wisps of straw from his hair +and neck. + +"Gone," he said laconically. + +"Gone! Where?" cried Elise, frantically taking him by the shoulders and +shaking him so that the hayseed and straw flew from his coat. "Père +Louchet, what is the matter? I never saw you like this before; have you +been drinking?" + +"No," he said slowly, and then as if the thought occurred to him for the +first time, he went toward a cask of cherry brandy which stood in a +corner of the granary and drew almost a tin-cupful. + +With blazing eyes Elise saw him measure out the liquor slowly, with a +hand that trembled slightly, and put the cup to his lips. She felt as if +she must spring upon him and dash the cup from his hands, but she +controlled herself with an effort. Louchet drained off the brandy to the +last drop, straightened up, and looked at Elise. He acted like a +different man. + +"Paul was taken from here about an hour ago by three men. They had +papers and red seals and tricolor cockades enough to take a dozen." + +"And you let them take him?" cried Elise. + +Père Louchet looked at his niece quizzically with his twinkling eye. + +"There were three of them, Elise, my child, and they had big red seals +and swore a great deal." + +"Of course," admitted the woman hastily, "you could do nothing by +force." + +"I did try to prevent them from going upstairs where Paul was," the old +man replied, "but one of them knocked me on the head and into a corner +where I lay like a log." + +"Oh that I had been here," moaned Elise, as she and Louchet went toward +the house. "If I could only know where they have taken Paul!" + +"To Tours," replied Père Louchet with decision. + +"How do you know?" asked Elise quickly. + +"I remember it plainly now. When I lay in the corner with a kind of +dazed feeling in my head, not wishing to get up and stir around, I saw +one of the men--not the one who hit me, but a smaller man with a larger +hat and more cockades and more seals, take a paper out of his pocket and +read it to Paul. I tried to make out what it said, for although I could +hear every word that was uttered, I could not get an idea in my head +that would hold together; but I was able to catch the word Tours; I am +sure they have gone to Tours." + +"How is your head now, Père Louchet?" asked Elise with feverish +eagerness. + +"As clear as a bell," was the reply. "Let me have one little nip more of +that brandy and it will be clearer." + +"Can you ride?" + +"Like a boy." + +"Good! Make up a bundle of food and clothing for a two-days' journey and +I'll have a horse at the door by the time you are ready." + +Ten minutes later Père Louchet, with a bundle of necessities strapped on +his back, was mounted on one of his best horses which Elise had saddled +for him. + +"Now, where am I to ride to?" he demanded, directing his twinkling eye +down upon his niece. + +"Ride to Paris. Seek out Gaillard, 15 Rue Mathurins; give him this +letter. That is all I ask of you." + +"And you--what are you going to do?" said Père Louchet, putting the +letter in his inside breast pocket with a slap on the outside to +emphasize its safety. + +"I ride toward Tours," replied the intrepid woman. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +PRISON BOAT NUMBER FOUR + + +Paul Durand was confined in the prison at Tours. The prison was so +crowded that he had to be placed in a small room at the top of the +building adjoining the quarters occupied by the jailer and his family. + +Paul was paler than usual, the result of fatigue from the long, rapid +ride from La Haye, but he showed no signs of fear and held up his head +bravely as the jailer entered the room. The latter carried a bundle +under his arm. + +"You are to take these clothes," he said, "go into the adjoining room, +and put them on in place of the garments you have on." + +Paul took the bundle and went into the next room. For fifteen minutes +the jailer sat upon the one chair the room contained, humming and +jingling his bunch of keys. Then the door into the outer corridor was +thrown open and a large man entered. The jailer sprang to his feet with +alacrity. + +"Where's the prisoner, Potin?" demanded the newcomer in a harsh voice. + +"In the next room, Citizen Leboeuf," replied Potin. + +Leboeuf strode toward the door and laid his hand upon the latch. + +"I beg your pardon, Citizen Leboeuf, but the prisoner may not be ready +to receive you." + +"Well, there's no particular reason to be squeamish, is there?" asked +Leboeuf, screwing his fat face into a leer. + +"If you will wait another minute I think the prisoner will come out," +suggested Potin deferentially, jingling his keys. + +"Bah, you show your lodgers too much consideration, citizen jailer; you +spoil them." Nevertheless Leboeuf allowed his hand to drop from the +latch and took a few impatient strides across the floor. + +The door opened and, turning, Leboeuf saw Mademoiselle de Rochefort +standing on the threshold. She was thinner than when she left La +Thierry: but her eyes had lost none of their fire, and she looked +Citizen Leboeuf in the face without flinching. His dull eyes kindled +while he looked at her some moments without speaking. + +"Do you know who I am?" he inquired in his thick, husky voice. + +"Yes, I overheard the jailer call you Citizen Leboeuf." + +"Right. I am Citizen Leboeuf; and do you know why you have been +brought here?" + +"A paper was read to me last night which pretended to give some +explanation," was her quiet rejoinder. + +"In order to save time and expense your trial will take place at Tours, +rather than at Paris. I am one of the judges of this district." + +Mademoiselle Edmé looked at him with an expression of indifference. + +"You do not appear to be afraid." + +"I am not afraid," was the quiet reply. + +Leboeuf eyed her with evident admiration. + +"Why did you put on boy's clothes?" he asked abruptly. + +"In order to avoid detection," she answered frankly, coming forward and +seating herself in the chair which Potin had vacated upon her entrance. +Leboeuf was standing before her, hat in hand, an act of politeness he +had not shown to any one for years. + +"And you did it well," he said. "You threw them off the track +completely. Had it not been for me, your hiding-place would never have +been discovered. It was a splendid trick you played upon those bunglers +from Paris." And he slapped his thigh in keen appreciation of it, and +laughed hoarsely. + +"I will take your boy's clothes with me," he continued as he prepared to +leave the room, "lest you should be tempted to put them on again from +force of habit. We don't want you turning into a boy any more. No, you +make too pretty a woman." Then going up to the jailer he said something +to him in a low voice which Edmé could not hear. Potin seemed to be +remonstrating feebly. Leboeuf scowled, and from his manner appeared to +insist upon the point at issue. + +"Are you sure you are not afraid?" he said again abruptly to Edmé as he +went to the door and stood with one hand on the latch looking back into +the room. + +"No!" + +He looked at her admiringly. + +"Remember you are a woman now and have a perfect right to be afraid; +also to kick and scream when anything is the matter." + +Edmé made no reply. + +"In case you should ever feel afraid," he said significantly, "just send +for Leboeuf, that's all," and with this he left the room. + +Edmé remained in Potin's charge for two days. The jailer treated her +with great consideration, and she congratulated herself upon having +fallen into such kindly hands. She momentarily expected to be summoned +before the Tribunal. She did not know what the result would be; but she +looked forward to her trial with impatience. In any event it would end +the suspense in which she was living. + +On the afternoon of the second day Potin entered her room, accompanied +by one of his deputies. + +"You must prepare to go with this man, citizeness," said the little +jailer. + +"Has the Tribunal sent for me? she inquired. + +"Not yet. But you are to be transferred to another prison." + +"I prefer to stay here," she said. "Cannot you ask them to allow me to +remain?" + +"You have no choice in the matter, nor have I; I have only my orders." + +"From whom did the order come? From that man Leboeuf who came here the +other day?" she demanded quickly. + +"I am not at liberty to say," replied Potin, shifting his feet uneasily. + +"Are you forbidden to tell me where I am to be taken?" was her next +question. + +"To prison boat Number Four. The city prisons are so full," he +continued, in answer to her look of surprised inquiry, "that great +numbers have to be lodged in the boats anchored in the river. Number +Four is one of the largest," he added as if by way of consolation. + +In company of the deputy Edmé was conducted to the floating prison on +the Loire. As they stepped over the side they were met by a little +round-shouldered man with splay feet. His face was wrinkled and brown +almost to blackness; his dress showed that he had a fondness for bright +colors, as he wore a purple shirt with a crimson sash, a bright yellow +neckcloth, and a red cap. The deputy turned over his charge to him, +received his quittance, and went away. + +Edmé was conducted to a room in the stern of the vessel. It was a small +room and to her surprise she found it furnished comfortably, almost +luxuriously. On a table in the centre stood a carafe of wine and a +basket of sweet biscuit. Two or three chairs and a couch completed the +equipment of the room. At the extreme end, the porthole had been +enlarged into a window which looked out over the river. This window was +closed by wooden bars. Otherwise the place looked more like the +comfortable quarters of some ship's officer than a jail. + +"Is this where I am to remain?" she asked of her new jailer. + +The man nodded and withdrew, locking the door after him. + +Edmé threw herself into a chair. It was intended that she should at +least be comfortable while in prison, and this thought helped to keep up +her spirits. She rose, took a glass of wine and some of the biscuit, and +then after finishing this refreshment, feeling fatigued, she lay down +upon the couch and fell asleep. + +It was nearly dark when she awoke. Lying on the couch she could see the +dying light of the short December day shining feebly in at the window, +reflected by the metal of a swinging lamp over the table. As she lay +there she became aware of a noise that had evidently awakened her. It +was the sound of wailing and lamentation, accompanied by the creaking of +timber and the swash of water. + +Rising from the bed she went to the window and looked out over the +river. + +Going down the stream were two other prison boats. They were scarcely +fifty yards away and proceeded slowly with the current, the water +lapping against their black sides. They were old vessels, and creaked +and groaned as if they were about to fall apart from very rottenness. +From between their decks came the sound of human voices raised in cries +of fear, despair, and lamentation; all mingled in a strange, horrible +medley, which, borne over the water by the sighing night wind, struck a +chill into Edmé's heart. + +The vessels, stealing down the river with their sailless masts against +the evening sky, looked like phantom ships conveying cargoes of +unrestful, tortured spirits into darkness. The sight so fascinated Edmé +that she stood watching them until they drifted out of sight and the +cries of those on board grew fainter and fainter in the distance. So +absorbed had she been as not to hear the lock click in the door and a +man enter the room. She only became aware of his presence on hearing a +heavy sigh just behind her, and turning her head she saw Leboeuf's +heavy face at her shoulder. She gave a startled cry and stepped nearer +the window. + +"It is a sad sight, is it not," he remarked, with a look of sympathy +ill-suited to the leer in his eyes, "and one that might easily frighten +the strongest of us." + +"It is your sudden appearance, when I thought I was entirely alone, that +startled me," replied Edmé, regaining her composure with an effort. "I +was so intent upon looking at those boats that I did not hear you come +in." + +"I see you didn't. I may be bulky, but I'm active and can move quietly," +and he gave a chuckle. + +Edmé thought him even more repulsive than at the time of his visit to +the prison. His face seemed coarser and more inflamed, and his eyes, so +dull and heavy before, shone as if animated by drink. + +"Where are they taking those poor people?" she asked; "for I presume +those are prison boats." + +"They are," was the reply in a thick utterance. "Just like this. Are you +sure that you want to know where they are being taken?" + +"Would I have asked you otherwise?" + +"Are you sure you won't faint?" + +Edmé gave a shrug of contempt. She saw that he was trying to work upon +her fears, and felt her spirit rise in antagonism. + +The look of admiration that he gave her was more offensive than his +pretended sympathy. Leaning forward he whispered, "They are going down +the river for about two miles. There they will get rid of their +troublesome freight and return empty." + +"What do you mean?" asked Edmé. "Where do they land the prisoners?" + +"They don't land them, they water them," and he gave a low, inward +laugh. "They drown every prisoner on board. Tie them together in +couples, man and woman, and tumble them overboard by the score." + +Edmé gave a cry of horror. "It is too horrible to be true. I don't +believe it!" + +"Why not?" asked Leboeuf; "drowning is an easy death, and every one of +them has been fairly and honestly condemned. This boat is to follow in +its turn. Every prisoner here has looked upon the sun for the last time, +though not one of them knows just when he is to die." + +The idea of such wholesale murder seemed so utterly impossible to her +that in her mind she set down Leboeuf's whole account as a fiction of +his drink-besotted brain, called up to frighten her. Yet at the moment +when she turned from him in disgust to look out of the window, she saw +that their own vessel had begun to move slowly through the water. + +"We have started," said Leboeuf, as if he were mentioning a matter of +the smallest consequence. + +"You say that every one upon this boat is a condemned person," said Edmé +quietly, repressing her terror with an effort. + +Leboeuf nodded. + +"But I am not. I have not even had a hearing." + +"No?" exclaimed Leboeuf in a tone of surprise. "Then those jailers +have made another mistake." + +Edmé advanced toward him one step, and in a tone which made the huge man +draw back, said:-- + +"I was brought here by your order!" + +"Oh, no, I knew nothing of the change. It was that villain Potin." + +"I was brought here by your order," she repeated. "I demand that I be +taken where I can have a trial." + +"Potin has made another mistake," was all Leboeuf would vouchsafe in +reply. + +"If there has been any mistake, it is yours. I demand that you set it +right." + +"It is too late!" + +"There must be some one aboard this vessel who has the power to do it, +if you have not. I will go and appeal for aid," and she took a step +toward the door. + +Leboeuf interposed his bulky body between her and the means of exit; +closed and locked the door on the inside. + +"I will cry aloud. Some one will hear me," she said in desperation. + +"Who will hear you above all that noise?" he inquired tersely. + +The prisoners on the boat, now fully aware that their time of execution +had come, were crying out against their fate,--some praying for mercy, +some calling down the maledictions of heaven upon their butchers, while +others wept silently. + +"Merciful Virgin, protect me. I have lost all hope," cried Edmé, turning +from Leboeuf and sinking despairingly upon her knees. + +"Ah, now you are frightened!" exclaimed Leboeuf, "admit that you are +frightened!" + +"If it is any satisfaction to have succeeded in terrifying a woman +unable to defend herself, I will not rob you of the pleasure, but know +that it is not death, but the manner of it, that I fear." + +"But you are afraid; you have confessed to it at last, and now Leboeuf +will see that they do not harm you." He gave a grim chuckle as if he +enjoyed having won his point. Rapidly pushing the table to one side, +turning back the rug that covered the floor, he stooped; and to Edmé's +astonished gaze lifted up a trap door in the floor of the cabin. Edmé +drew back from the black hole at her feet. + +"It is large enough to afford you air for several hours," Leboeuf +said. "By that time I will get you out again. Quick, descend the steps." + +Edmé, fearing further treachery, drew back in alarm. "I prefer to meet +my fate here." + +Leboeuf struck a light and by the rays of the lamp a ladder was +revealed. + +"I tell you it is certain death to remain here fifteen minutes longer. +Even I could not save you then. The more they throw into the water the +more frenzied they become for other victims. They will ransack the +entire boat; but they won't find you down there. Leboeuf alone knows +this place. Quick! If you would live to see the sun rise to-morrow, go +down the steps of that ladder." + +He took her by the shoulder to assist in the descent. His touch was so +distasteful to her that she threw off his hand and went down the ladder +unaided. "Make not the slightest sound, whatever you may hear going on +up here above you, and wait patiently until I come to release you." + +With these words the door was shut down and Leboeuf went out and up to +the deck alone. + +The vessel had reached a point in the river just outside the city. Here +the stream narrowed and ran swiftly between the banks. + +The sky was windy; and between the rifts of the high-banked clouds the +moon shone fitfully. To the east lay the city of Tours, its spires +standing out in sharp silhouette against the sky. On the river bank the +wind swept over the dead, dry grass with a mournful, swaying sound and +rattled the rotting halyards of the old hulk, which with one small sail +set in the bow to keep it steady, made slowly down the river with the +current, hugging the left bank as if fearful of trusting itself to the +swifter depths beyond. + +A rusty chain rasped through the hawse-hole, and the vessel swung at +anchor. + +In a small and close compartment in the ship's depths, totally without +light, and with her nerves wrought upon by Leboeuf's appalling story, +Edmé could only guess at what was happening above her head. + +She knew that something terrible was taking place. She could hear a +confusion of cries and trampling of feet; of hoarse shouts and commands; +and she pictured in her imagination scenes quite as horrible as were +actually taking place above her. In every wave that splashed against the +vessel's side she could see the white face of a struggling, drowning +creature, and every sound upon the vessel was the despairing death-note +of a fresh victim. Through it all she could see the large face of +Leboeuf leering at her with his bleary eyes. To have exchanged one +fate for a worse one was to have gained nothing, and in her mental agony +she almost envied those who a short time ago had been struggling +helplessly in the hands of their executioners, and whose bodies now were +quietly sleeping in the waters of the flowing river. + +A quiet fell upon the vessel. The last cry had been uttered, the last +command given, and no sound reached Edmé's ears but the soft plash of +the water as it struck under the stern of the boat. + +Then the remembrance of Leboeuf's face and look became still more +vivid. She feared him in spite of all her courage; in spite of her pride +that was greater than her courage, she feared him. The knowledge that he +was aware of his power and took delight in it made the thought that she +would soon have to face him there alone more terrible than her dread of +the worst of deaths. + +A footfall sounded on the floor above her head. That it was not +Leboeuf's heavy tread, Edmé was certain. Rather than fall into his +hands again she would trust herself to the mercies of the worst ruffian +among the executioners, and she struck with her clenched hand a +succession of quick knocks upon the trap. + +The footsteps ceased, and in the stillness that followed Edmé called out +to the man above her and told him where to find the opening. In another +instant the door was lifted up and she came up into the cabin. + +"Kill me," she cried out; "throw me into the river if it be your +pleasure, but I implore you, do not let"-- + +The man's hand closed over her mouth, and lifting her in his arms he +carried her across the cabin. The room was dark; either Leboeuf had +put out the light when he left, or the newcomer had extinguished it, but +Edmé saw that he bore her toward the window from which the lattice had +been removed. She closed her eyes to meet the end. She felt herself +swiftly lifted through the window, and then instead of water her feet +struck a firm substance. + +"Steady for one moment," said a voice in her ear as she opened her eyes +in bewilderment to find herself standing on the seat of a small skiff, a +man supporting her by the arm. Her face was on a level with the window, +and looking back into the cabin she saw a light at the further end, as +the bulky form of Leboeuf appeared at the door, lantern in hand, his +heavy countenance made more ugly by an expression of surprise and rage. + +Voices were heard in hot dispute, then came two pistol shots so close +together as to seem almost one. A figure leaped through the smoke that +poured from the window, and Edmé from her seat in the skiff's bow where +she had been swung with little ceremony, saw a man cut the line, while +the other bent over his oars and made the small craft fly away from the +vessel, straight for the opposite shore. The man who had leaped from the +window took his place silently in the stern. Placing one hand on the +tiller, he turned and looked intently over his shoulder at the dark +outline of the prison ship, which was rapidly receding into the gloom. + +His hat had fallen off, and in the uncertain light Edmé saw for the +first time that it was Robert Tournay. + +Before a word could be uttered by any of them, a tongue of flame shot +out from the vessel behind them, followed by a loud and sharp report. +The dash of spray that swept over the boat told that the shot had struck +the water close by them. + +The man at the oars shook the water from his eyes and redoubled his +efforts. "Head her down the river a little," he said. + +"But the carriage is at least two miles above here," replied Tournay. + +"No matter," answered Gaillard. "The shore here is too steep. We must +land a little further down." + +Tournay altered their course and steered the boat slantingly across the +current. + +They were now nearing the right-hand shore, which rose abruptly from the +river to a height of some twenty feet. The current here was swifter, and +the greatest caution had to be exercised. A second flash flamed out from +the prison ship, a sound of crashing wood, and the little skiff seemed +to leap into the air and then slide from under their feet, while the icy +water of the Loire rushed in Edmé's ears,--strangling her and dragging +her down, until it seemed as if the water's weight would crush her. Then +she began to come upward with increasing velocity until at last, when +she thought never to reach the surface, she felt her head rise above the +water and saw the cloudy, threatening sky, which seemed to reel above +her as she gasped for breath. + +Another head shot to the surface by her side, and she felt herself +sustained, to sink no more. The words: "Place your right hand upon my +shoulder and keep your face turned down the stream away from the +current," came to her ears as if in a dream. Instinctively she obeyed. +With a few rapid strokes Tournay reached the shore. The bank overhung +the river and under it the water ran rapidly. + +With only one arm free he could not draw himself and Edmé up the steep +incline. Twice he succeeded in catching a tuft of grass or projecting +root, and each time the force of the current broke his hold upon it, and +twirling them round like straws carried them on down the stream. + +Gaillard, who had been struck by a splinter on the forehead, was at +first stunned by the blow, and without struggling was swept fifty yards +down the river. The cold water brought him back to consciousness, and he +struck out for the shore. He noticed, some hundred yards below, a place +where the river swept to the south and where the bank was considerably +lower. Allowing himself to be borne along by the current, he took an +occasional stroke to carry him in toward the shore, and made the point +easily. + +Drawing himself from the water by some overhanging bushes, he shook +himself like a wet dog, and sitting on the river's edge proceeded to +bind up his injured eye, while with the other he looked anxiously along +the river-side. Suddenly he bent down and caught at an object in the +water. + +"Let me take the girl," he said quickly. "Now your hand on this +bush--there!" And with a swift motion he drew Edmé up, and Tournay, +relieved of her weight, swung himself to their side. + +For a short time they lay panting on the bank. Gaillard was the first to +get upon his feet. + +"We shall perish of cold here," he exclaimed, springing up and down to +warm his benumbed blood, while the wet ends of his yellow neckerchief +flapped about his forehead. + +"Can you walk, Mademoiselle de Rochefort?" + +Edmé placed her hand upon her side to still the sharp shooting pain, and +answered "Yes." + +"Good; the road is only a few rods from here, but we must follow it at +least two miles to the west." + +"I shall be able to do it!" + +As she uttered these words the pain in her side increased. She felt her +strength leave her, and but for the support of Tournay's arm she would +have fallen to the ground. + +"She has fainted," cried Tournay in consternation. + +"No," she remonstrated feebly, struggling with the numbness that was +overpowering her. "It is the cold. Let me rest for a moment; I shall be +better soon." + +"Mademoiselle, you must walk, else you will die of cold," exclaimed +Tournay. "Take her by the arm, Gaillard." + +Instead of complying with the request, Gaillard stood with head bent +forward peering up the road into the night gloom. + +"Gaillard! man, do you not hear me?" + +"The carriage! I hear the rattle of its wheels," cried Gaillard +joyfully. "Agatha can always be depended upon to do the right thing at +the right moment!" + +"Hurry to meet her," cried Tournay; "tell her we are here!" + +Gaillard sprang rapidly forward, shouting as he ran. + +"Courage but a little moment longer," whispered Tournay, and taking Edmé +in his arms he followed Gaillard as fast as his burden permitted. + +She had not entirely lost consciousness, but cold and fatigue had +combined to enervate and render her powerless of motion. + +In a half swoon she felt herself carried she knew not whither. She felt +Tournay's strong arms about her, and a sense of security came over her +as she faintly realized that each step took her further away from the +dreaded Leboeuf. + +Tournay hastened toward the carriage. The wind swept freshly over the +marshes, and he held Edmé close as if to shield her from the cold. Her +hair blew back into his face, covering his eyes and touching his lips. +As he felt her soft tresses against his cheek his heart throbbed so that +he forgot cold, fatigue, and danger.... Where they blinded him he gently +put the locks aside with one hand in a caressing manner and looked +tenderly down into the white face pressed against his wet coat. + +The sound of wheels upon the frozen road came nearer. Lights flashed +around a turn in the road, and Tournay staggered to the carriage door as +the vehicle drew up suddenly. + +"Hurrah!" cried Gaillard from the box, where he had taken the reins from +the driver. "We have won!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +OVER THE FRONTIER + + +In the carriage Agatha related to her mistress what had occurred after +her disappearance from La Haye. How she had sent Père Louchet with the +message to Gaillard at Paris, and then had followed on to Tours and +discovered where her mistress was imprisoned. Tournay and Gaillard, +coming post haste to Tours, had reached there on the same day that saw +the transfer of Mademoiselle de Rochefort to the prison-ship upon the +Loire. Together with Agatha, they had formulated a plan of rescue and +put it into immediate execution. + +The two men had approached the vessel in a small skiff on the river, +while Agatha had awaited them in a carriage on the other side. The +moving of the prison ship down the river might have disconcerted their +plans had not the watchful Agatha seen the movement, and following along +the shore reached them when they had almost succumbed from the exposure +and cold. + +The carriage was a commodious one and well equipped for the long +journey, and in a few minutes Agatha had her mistress in a change of +warm clothing. As soon as Edmé was able, she bade Agatha call Tournay to +the carriage door. + +"Thanks are a small return for what you have done," she said as he rode +by her side, "yet they are all I have to give." Then she stretched her +hand out to him with an impulsive gesture,--"Robert Tournay, I misjudged +you when you were last at La Thierry. Will you forgive it?" + +It was the first time she had spoken to him as one addresses an equal, +and it moved him greatly. He leaned forward and took the hand she gave +him, looking down at her with a smile that lit up his face, as he +said:-- + +"Mademoiselle, I forgave the words you spoke as soon as they were +uttered. It is happiness enough to know that I have saved you." Before +he released it, he thought he felt the hand in his tremble a little. + +The remembrance flashed through her mind, how, years before, she had +once noticed Tournay's manly bearing as he rode into the château-court +upon a spirited horse. She had at that time thought him handsome, with +an air about him superior to his station, and then had dismissed him +from her thoughts. As he rode before her now, the water still dripping +from his clothing, hatless, with damp locks clinging to his forehead, +she thought she had never looked upon a nobler figure among all the +gentlemen who in the old days frequented the château of the baron, her +father. + +"Where are we going?" she asked, with more emotion than such a simple +question warranted. + +"To the German frontier," was the reply. "We must travel rapidly night +and day. I shall hardly dare to stop for rest until you are safely over +the border." + +"I leave myself in your charge," she said, leaning back in the carriage. + +He gave a word of command and the coach rushed forward through the +night. + +Tournay's words had recalled vividly to Edmé her unhappy situation. +Although innocent of all crime, she was proscribed and forced to fly +from her own country to take refuge among those who were invading it. +And the man who rode by the side of her carriage, and had undertaken to +convey her in safety across the border, was a soldier, fighting for the +government that persecuted her. Laying her head upon Agatha's shoulder +she felt her heart swell with bitterness. For hours, during which Agatha +imagined that she slept, she watched in silence through the window the +dark outlines of the swiftly moving landscape. Finally long after +Agatha's regular breathing announced her slumber, Edmé, worn out by the +excitement and fatigue, leaned back in the opposite corner and slept +like a tired child. + +For five days the coach rolled toward the frontier, Tournay and Gaillard +riding on horseback. + +Through Blois, Orleans, Arcis sur-Aube to Bar-le-Duc and on toward Metz +they went, stopping only to exchange their worn-out horses for fresh +ones, and for such few hours of rest as were absolutely indispensable. + +During all the journey, Tournay saw little of Mademoiselle de Rochefort, +although her comfort and her safety were his constant care. The +passport with which he was provided prevented all delay; and it was +thought best that mademoiselle should remain as secluded in the carriage +as possible. When she did step out for a breath of air or a few hours' +rest at some inn she always wore a veil to hide her features. Whenever +he approached her to inform her as to the route they traveled he always +did so with the greatest deference, showing marked solicitude for her +health and comfort; expressing deep regret that the nature of their +journey rendered the great speed imperative. + +One afternoon as they crossed the little stream of the Sarre, Tournay, +who had been riding some fifty yards in advance, drew rein and waited +for the carriage to come up to him. + +"In an hour, mademoiselle," he said, as in obedience to his signal the +vehicle drew up by the roadside, "we shall be across the frontier, and +in Germany. At Hagenhof resides the Baron von Waldenmeer, who I think is +known to you as your father's friend." + +"He was one of my father's friends," Mademoiselle Edmé acquiesced. + +"I remember having often heard his name mentioned at La Thierry," said +Tournay. "So I took this direction rather than further south, which +would have been somewhat shorter. A few hours will bring us to Hagenhof, +where you will be able to put yourself under the baron's protection." + +"And you?" inquired Edmé, "what are you going to do?" + +"I shall return to France." + + * * * * * + +The armies of Prussia and Austria, three hundred thousand strong, were +drawing in on France, to help to crush out the Republic and restore the +old régime. + +The Baron von Waldenmeer's division was already on the frontier, +quartered at Falzenberg--waiting for other troops to come up before +joining the Austrian army at Wissembourg, near which the French had +concentrated a large force. + +On a cold December afternoon two batteries of Prussian heavy artillery +were proceeding through the wood on the road going east from Inweiler, +whence they had been sent to join the main body of troops at Falzenberg. +It was snowing and at five o'clock darkness was already settling down on +the woodland road. Over the snow-carpeted leaves the wheels of the gun +carriages rolled almost noiselessly. + +"Paff," growled Lieutenant Saueraugen, wiping the flakes from his +eyelashes for the twentieth time, as he thought of the hot sausages at +that moment being devoured in the mess-room at Falzenberg, and ten miles +between it and him. "A pest on such weather and such slow progress! at +this rate we shall not be at Falzenberg before midnight." + +"_Donnerwetter!_ what is this?" he cried with his next breath, as along +the road that crossed from the north came a two-horse carriage at a +rapid gait. The driver of the vehicle saw the battery on the other road, +and tried to check the speed of his horses. The rider on the nigh leader +of the caisson whirled his horse to the left, but it received the +carriage pole on the right foreleg and went to the ground, dragging its +mate with it. Then followed a snorting of frightened animals and a +rattling of harness, flavored with the shouts and oaths of the +lieutenant and his men as they tried to bring order out of the +entanglement. + +Two men on horseback rode up from behind the carriage, and with their +assistance the fallen horses were brought to their feet and the broken +harness repaired. + +"Who the devil are you that tear through these woods like this?" +demanded the German, examining the abrasure on the leader's leg. "Come, +give account of yourselves." The two riders had remounted and seemed +anxious to be off. + +"We are bound for Hagenhof," replied one of them. "We are in a great +hurry, and regret this accident, for which we are entirely to blame. +Name the amount which you think a proper compensation for your injured +horse and broken harness and we will gladly pay it." + +He had spoken in German and in the easy, careless manner of one who +deemed the matter too trivial to be the cause of any controversy. + +"You are French!" exclaimed the lieutenant, looking at the party +closely. + +"We are," replied the man who had spoken before. + +"You must accompany me to Falzenberg," said the German officer, "and +interview the general there." + +"What does he say?" inquired the second Frenchman of his companion. + +"Come, you had best not chatter your French before me," put in the surly +lieutenant, as one of the Frenchmen proceeded to interpret to the other. +"You may be spies for all I know, but that we shall find out when we get +to Falzenberg." + +The dark eyes of the second Frenchman looked inquiringly at his comrade. +The other again translated the officer's words. + +"We are most unfortunate, Gaillard, to have fallen in with this +imbecile," was the reply. + +"My friend commends your prudence and judgment," repeated the +interpreter, his mouth widening and showing his white teeth, "and +desires me to tell you that we have important business at Hagenhof. If +you will send us there under an escort, we shall be able to prove that +we are not spying upon the movement of your troops." + +The lieutenant scowled. "Can so few words of your language stand for all +that in German?" he demanded. + +The Frenchman laughed lightly as he replied, "Our language is very +flexible." + +"So perhaps may be your necks," said the officer brutally, a suspicion +entering his mind that he was being laughed at. "But you must come with +me to Falzenberg, and there's an end of it." + +"Why not to Hagenhof?" persisted Gaillard with perfect good-humor. + +"To Falzenberg!" roared the Prussian officer, swearing roundly, "and +before we start, let me see what sort of freight you are carrying along +the road." He approached the carriage with the intention of opening the +door. + +Tournay wheeled his horse between him and the coach with a suddenness +that made the German jump aside to avoid being trodden upon by the +animal. + +"We are going to General von Waldenmeer at Hagenhof," he said, speaking +his own language, "and if you prevent or delay our journey you may rue +it." + +The lieutenant, infuriated at this interference, caught Tournay's horse +by the bridle with one hand, while the other flew to his belt; but the +mention of General von Waldenmeer's name and the ring of decision in the +speaker's voice caused him to pause. + +"General von Waldenmeer at Hagenhof," repeated Tournay slowly and +distinctly, as if he were speaking to a person of defective hearing. + +"Who is making so free with the name of Waldenmeer?" cried a voice in +the French tongue but with a strong German accent; and half a dozen +Prussian officers came riding out of the wood, the fresh-fallen snow +flying from the evergreen branches like white down as their horses drove +through them. + +They circled round the group by the carriage, drawing their animals up +with a suddenness that threw them on their haunches. + +"Who is it that claims the friendship of von Waldenmeer?" repeated one +of the number, this time speaking in German. He was a young man about +twenty-two, with short, dark red hair, and a small mustache. He rode a +black horse that pranced and curvetted nervously. + +"These people, my colonel," said the lieutenant, growing suddenly +polite. "I was about to tell them"-- + +"Never mind what you were about to tell them, Lieutenant Saueraugen," +replied the colonel haughtily, "but inform me as briefly as possible +what has occurred." + +Confused by the thought that possibly he had been rude to friends of +General von Waldenmeer, the lieutenant stammered through a recital which +was far from clear. + +While the lieutenant was speaking, the young Prussian colonel was +slapping his boot sharply with his riding-whip, or checking the +impatient pawing of his horse. + +"_Potstausend!_" he exclaimed, interrupting the unhappy lieutenant in +the middle of his story. "I cannot make head or tail of your account, +Saueraugen. Broken harness, and French spies, closed carriage, and +injured horses." Then, turning to Tournay, he addressed him in French:-- + +"I understand you are on your way to find General von Waldenmeer,--he is +in the field, quartered at present at Falzenberg. You can accompany me +there." + +"We are bound for General von Waldenmeer's castle at Hagenhof," replied +Tournay politely, "and with your permission we will proceed there." + +"Do you know the general?" inquired the Prussian colonel. + +"I have not that honor." + +"I am his son, Karl von Waldenmeer, and I think it would be best for you +to accompany me to Falzenberg, where I am going to join my father." + +"Perhaps if the baroness is still at Hagenhof it would better suit the +inclination of the lady whom I escort, Mademoiselle de Rochefort, to go +forward rather than be compelled to go to Falzenberg." + +Colonel von Waldenmeer sat in thought during the long space, for him, of +five seconds. "I think you would better come with me as far as +Falzenberg," he said. + +"As you command," answered Tournay. + +"Did I understand you to say that the occupant of that carriage was a +Mademoiselle de Rochefort?" asked the young von Waldenmeer, as Tournay +spoke aside to Gaillard. + +"Yes." + +"What is the nature of your business with the baron my father?" was the +next question, abruptly put. + +"Will you permit me to discuss that with the baron himself?" + +"As you will," answered the Prussian colonel with hauteur. Then turning +to the group of officers who had sat motionless upon their horses, he +said:-- + +"Gentlemen, you will please accompany this carriage to Falzenberg. +Lieutenant Saueraugen, bring up your batteries with all possible speed +and report to me. Franz von Shiffen, you will please come with me." He +gave his black charger a slight touch with the spur, the spirited animal +sprang forward, and he was seen galloping down the road, with Franz von +Shiffen riding hotly after him. + +Baron von Waldenmeer, general of the division of the Rhine, was seated +with a beer mug before him and his pipe freshly lit, enjoying his +evening smoke, when word was brought to him that the party of Frenchmen, +encountered by his son and some other members of his staff on the road +from Inweiler, had arrived at Falzenberg, and was now awaiting his +pleasure in the room below. His son, who had come in some time before, +had told him of the incident of the meeting. + +The baron blew a cloud of smoke out of his capacious mouth. + +"Show the entire party up here at once. We can then hear their story and +decide as to the probability of it. You, Karl, send word to General von +Scrappenhauer that I shall have to defer our party of Skat for an hour. +Ludwig, have your father's beer mug replenished. Would you have his +throat become like the bed of a dried-up stream? And now send up your +Frenchmen; I am waiting for them." + +Ludwig von Waldenmeer, who was the picture of his younger brother Karl, +except that he was heavier in build and larger of girth, passed the +beer flagon from his end of the table to his father. + +Karl gave a few commands to an orderly, then took a seat by the +general's side. The latter was a man of about sixty. Around his shining +bald pate was a fringe of grizzled hair that had once been red. His +mustache was a bristling, scrubby brush of the same color. Although not +of great height he was broad of chest and still broader about the +waistband; and even in his lightest boots he rode in the saddle at two +hundred pounds. + +An orderly opened the door and ushered in the four French travelers. +Mademoiselle de Rochefort entered first. She paused for a moment at the +sight of a room full of officers. Then she took a few steps into the +room and stood awaiting the baron's command. The baron took one look at +the figure before him, then rose suddenly to his feet and came toward +her; the other officers took the signal and rose from their places at +the table and stood beside their chairs. + +"You are the daughter of Honoré de Rochefort. One has no need to ask the +question, it is answered by your face." And General von Waldenmeer took +Edmé by the hand and led her to a seat by his side. Agatha kept at her +mistress's elbow like a faithful guardian. + +Tournay and Gaillard, travel-stained and splashed with mud from head to +foot, remained standing by the door. + +"If you have come, as I surmise, to find in Prussia a home denied you by +your native land, let me say that nowhere will you find a warmer +welcome than under the roof of von Waldenmeer," and the general put her +hand to his lips. + +"I have come," she replied, "to find a refuge from the persecution which +follows me in my own unhappy country. Thanks to the devotion of these +friends," and she turned toward Tournay with a look of gratitude, "I +have been able to reach here in safety, to throw myself upon your +protection, and to ask your advice as to my future movements." + +"If you will pardon this reception in a rough soldier's camp, +mademoiselle, and can put up with such poor accommodation as this house +affords, to-morrow you shall be escorted on to Hagenhof, where my wife +will receive you as one of her own daughters." And he bent over her hand +for the second time. + +This unusual show of gallantry on the part of their general caused Franz +von Shippen to place his hand before his mouth to hide a smile, while +Ludwig von Waldenmeer looked up at the ceiling. + +"Franz," called out the general, "interview the good lady whose house we +occupy and see that the best room she has is prepared for Mademoiselle +de Rochefort. Ludwig, to-morrow you shall have the honor of escorting +this lady to Hagenhof. There you shall be welcome, mademoiselle, as long +as you choose to honor us with your company. But rest assured it will +not be long before your own country will be rescued from the miscreants +who are devouring it. All Europe is in arms to avenge outraged royalty; +the Prussian army of two hundred thousand men is now prepared to march +on Paris. With us are thousands of your own nobility. We make common +cause against anarchy and murder. We shall not rest until we have +restored the monarchy and chastised these insolent Republicans." + +Edmé looked quickly in the direction of Tournay, fearful lest the +baron's words should stir him to make a reply, but he and Gaillard stood +listening imperturbably. From their quiet and unobtrusive demeanor the +general had taken them for servants of Mademoiselle de Rochefort and had +not given them a second look. + +"But you are fatigued, mademoiselle," said von Waldenmeer. "To-morrow +morning will be a more fitting time to discuss your affairs. The good +hausfrau by this time is preparing your quarters. I will conduct you to +them. Your followers will be comfortably cared for outside." + +Edmé, glad of an opportunity to escape further conversation, was about +to thank the general for his permission to retire to her room, when the +outer door opened and a number of French noblemen, officers of the +general's staff, entered the room. + +Among them was the Marquis de Lacheville. His quick roving eye caught +sight of Edmé instantly. He stopped in the middle of a conversation with +a companion and looked over his shoulder hastily as if he would retrace +his steps without attracting attention; but it was too late. The deep +voice of General von Waldenmeer sounded in his ears. + +"Ah, here are some of your brave countrymen, mademoiselle, who deem it +no disgrace to serve under the flag of Prussia in order to reconquer the +throne for their rightful sovereign." + +The door behind de Lacheville was closed by the Count de Beaujeu, who +was the last to enter, and the marquis, drawing a deep breath between +his set teeth, stepped forward as one who suddenly resolves to take a +desperate chance. + +"Cousin Edmé!" he exclaimed, coming up to where she was seated and +endeavoring to take her hand. "Thank Heaven you have escaped!" + +"Yes, I am in a place of safety, thanks to a brave gentleman," she +replied, drawing back her hand. "But do not call me cousin. I ceased to +be your kinswoman when you deserted me at Rochefort. There are no +cowards of our blood." And she turned from him with a look of +unutterable contempt as if he were too mean an object to deserve her +passing notice. She had spoken in a low voice, yet so distinctly that +all in the room heard what she had said. A murmur of surprise ran round +the entire group of officers. The marquis drew back under the rebuff, +his face deadly pale, while he darted at Edmé a look of hatred as if he +could have killed her. + +"What's that?" roared the general as soon as he could master his +astonishment. "One of my aides a coward?" + +De Lacheville gave a quick glance around the room, as a hunted man, +brought suddenly to bay, might seek some weapon to defend himself. As he +caught sight of Tournay, his eyes gleamed wickedly. + +"This mad girl," he exclaimed, pointing to Mademoiselle de Rochefort as +soon as he could control his voice, "was once my affianced bride, but +she has found a mate better suited to her liking. She has been traveling +with him throughout France, and now she seeks to extenuate her own +conduct by slandering me, whom she has wronged." + +"If you are not the coward mademoiselle has called you, you will answer +to me for that lie," said Tournay, throwing Gaillard's restraining hand +off from his arm and advancing toward the marquis threateningly. + +De Lacheville drew back. He remembered the duel in the woods at La +Thierry. He looked again into the dark eyes of the stern man who +confronted him, and his mouth twitched nervously. Then with an effort he +turned to the French gentlemen at his side and said, speaking rapidly, +"This fellow is a Republican, one of those who clamored for King Louis's +death. Shall we forget our oath to kill these regicides wherever we may +find them?" + +Before he had finished speaking, three swords were out of their +scabbards and three infuriated French noblemen sprang at Tournay. + +"Gott in Himmel!" shouted General von Waldenmeer, as his Prussian +officers beat down the points of the excited Frenchmen, "will you spill +blood here under my very nose? Colonel Karl von Waldenmeer, place those +French gentlemen under restraint, and let there be quiet here while I +examine into these charges." + +The Marquis de Lacheville had taken up a position near the door. + +"He is Robert Tournay, an officer of the Republican army!" he cried out +as he sheathed his sword. "While he is here in the disguise of a lackey +in waiting to Mademoiselle de Rochefort, his intention is to play the +spy and return with his information to France. For your own sake, +General von Waldenmeer, you should place him where he can do you no such +injury." + +"What answer have you to make to this?" said the old general, addressing +Tournay. "Are you a servant of Mademoiselle de Rochefort, or are you a +spy of those Republican brigands? Speak! I condemn no man unheard." + +Tournay looked round the room before replying. + +"I am a colonel in the Republican army," he said quietly. "But I came +here solely to bring mademoiselle to a place of safety; not to spy upon +your army, which as a matter of fact I thought twenty miles further +east." + +General von Waldenmeer broke the silence that followed this avowal. + +"You admit that you are an officer in the Republican army. You are +within our lines under very peculiar circumstances. You may have taken +advantage of Mademoiselle de Rochefort's confidence in you to play the +spy. Until it is proven to the contrary, I must take the ground that +both you and your companion are spies, and treat you accordingly. +Colonel von Waldenmeer, you will send for a file of soldiers and place +these two men under arrest." + +"General von Waldenmeer!" said Edmé de Rochefort, turning toward the old +baron with an appealing gesture, "you are about to commit an act of +grave injustice. Colonel Tournay is guiltless of the charge of being a +spy. The charge was brought against him out of malice and revenge by the +man who has just slandered me so basely." + +She did not look at the Marquis de Lacheville, but under the general +gaze which was directed toward him as she spoke, he quailed and shrunk +from the room, shivering as with ague. + +"This gentleman," she went on, looking at Tournay gratefully, "has +incurred great danger and endured much privation in order to bring me +here in safety. He has been brave and devoted when others cravenly +deserted me; and if he should be treated by you as a spy it would be as +if I had decoyed him here only to destroy him." + +"No, mademoiselle, no," said Robert Tournay in a low tone. + +By a quick gesture she bade him be silent. + +"General von Waldenmeer, you are a brave soldier. You have professed the +greatest friendship for your old friend's daughter. She now asks you to +release these gentlemen. As a soldier and a gentleman you are bound to +grant her prayer." + +She spoke the words simply and in the tone which was natural to her, as +if the request admitted of no denial; and laying her hand upon the +general's arm looked into his rough face. + +For a moment he sat in silence. His heavy brows came down until they +shaded his eyes completely. Then taking the hand that rested on his +sleeve, he said:-- + +"At the risk of neglecting my duty as a soldier, I will grant your +request. These men shall go free, but," he added hastily, as though his +consent to their liberation had been given too quickly, "they must be +kept under surveillance here until to-morrow, and then they shall be +escorted back over the frontier. Colonel von Waldenmeer," he continued, +addressing his son, "I leave you to conduct these French gentlemen to +their quarters. I make you responsible for their keeping." + +Edmé held out her hand to Tournay. "Good-night, Colonel Tournay," she +said. "It is a great joy and relief to know that you are to come to no +harm through having brought me here. And you, who have done so much for +me, will surely overlook this last and slight indignity which you are +called upon to endure for my sake." + +"Mademoiselle," he replied, bending over her hand and speaking in a tone +so low that none other in the room could hear, "there is nothing in the +world I would not endure for your sake. To have you speak to me like +this repays me a thousand-fold. Adieu, mademoiselle. Now, Colonel von +Waldenmeer, I am ready;" and with Gaillard at his side he followed young +von Waldenmeer from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +UNDER WHICH FLAG? + + +As the three men came out into the corridor, the large outer door opened +and a sergeant of artillery stepped over the threshold, saluted the +colonel, and stood awaiting orders. The fine snow drifted past him into +the hall, stinging the faces of von Waldenmeer and his two prisoners. + +The colonel turned toward the Frenchmen, and addressing them in his +quick way, said:-- + +"It is a vile night. Give me your word not to leave the quarters to +which I assign you until sent for, and I will permit you to pass the +night more in comfort under this roof." + +Tournay gladly assented, the young von Waldenmeer spoke a few words of +command to the sergeant, who turned on his heel and repeated the order +in guttural tones to some snow-covered figures behind him. The door +closed with a loud bang and the escort was heard marching away. + +Colonel Karl then led the way up a broad oaken staircase to a room at +the end of a long corridor on the upper floor. + +"My own room is just opposite," said he with a gesture of the head, as +he threw open the door. "You will be more comfortable here than in the +guard-house." + +The house which General von Waldenmeer had chosen for his headquarters +at Falzenberg was a commodious one, built around an open court, where in +summer a fountain played in the centre of a green grass plot. Tournay +stepped to one of the windows and looked out upon the scene. The bronze +figure in the fountain was draped with ice, and a great mound of snow +filled the centre of the square, where the soldiers had cleared a +passage for themselves. On the opposite side were the stables, and from +the neighing and stamping of hoofs, Tournay judged more than a dozen +horses were kept there. Lights flashed here and there as a subaltern or +private moved about in the performance of the night's duties. + +The first thing which had struck Gaillard's eye on entering was a large +canopied bed. This reminded him too forcibly of his fatigue to be +resisted. He threw himself down upon it, boots and all, and was asleep +as soon as his head touched the pillow. + +Von Waldenmeer stood in the centre of the room, slapping his hessians +with a little flexible riding-whip. Tournay began to thank him for the +courtesy he had shown them, when the latter stopped him in his abrupt +way, saying:-- + +"I was watching the Marquis de Lacheville's face while he was denouncing +Mademoiselle de Rochefort, and if ever I saw liar written upon a man's +countenance it was on his then. I wish that he had lied when he accused +you of being a colonel in the Republican army." And Colonel Karl strode +toward the door impatiently. + +"Why should you have wished that?" demanded Tournay. "I am proud of my +position." + +"Bah!" exclaimed the German, with his hand on the latch, "you should be +in the Prussian army. It is an honor to serve in the army that was built +up by the great Frederick. A man of your courage should not be content +to serve among those Republican brigands. Good-night,"--and he +disappeared rapidly through the door, slamming it behind him. + +Tournay roused Gaillard from his slumber. Both men were numb with +fatigue. They had not taken off their clothes and slept in a bed since +leaving Paris, and five minutes later they had thrown off their garments +and sunk into a deep sleep in the large, white bed. + +For ten hours Tournay slept without moving. Then he yawned, threw out +both arms, opened his eyes a little, and was preparing to sleep again +when he became conscious that a man was standing beside the bed. Opening +his heavy eyes a little further, he recognized Gaillard and said to him +drowsily:-- + +"Well! What is it, Gaillard? Can't I get a few minutes' sleep +undisturbed?" + +"The forenoon is half gone," replied Gaillard; "you've slept enough for +one man." + +"You don't mean to say that it's morning already!" exclaimed Tournay, +leaning on one elbow and blinking at the light. + +"Morning! The finest kind of a morning," replied Gaillard gayly. "I've +been up these two hours. I gained permission to go to our carriage, and +I have taken out a change of linen from our equipment in the boot." + +Tournay sprang from the bed and looked out of the window. The sun was +high in the heaven, and the day was bright and cold. + +"That Lieutenant Sauerkraut, or whatever his name may be," said +Gaillard, "has just come up to say that the general would like to see +you at your convenience. The lieutenant was particularly civil, for him, +so I surmise nothing will interfere with our early departure. It's +astonishing how quickly an underling takes his tone from his superior +officer. I suppose it will be better for you to wait upon the general at +once, while the old gentleman is in a good humor," continued Gaillard, +"and as I have been given the liberty of the courtyard, I will employ +the time in looking after our horses." + +"Very well," said Tournay. "I will go to General von Waldenmeer. I hope +nothing will interfere with our immediate departure." + +General von Waldenmeer was seated at his table with a pile of maps and +papers before him. At Tournay's entrance the two officers who were +standing at the general's side withdrew to the further end of the room. +It was the same room in which the scene of the previous evening had +taken place. On the table at the general's elbow stood his beer-mug, +filled with his morning draught. The old soldier was evidently very much +absorbed in the work before him, for his heavy brows were drawn over +his eyes and his lips were moving as he studied the papers. From time to +time he reached out his left hand mechanically and took up the beer-mug, +refreshing himself with a long pull. With the exception of the two +officers, there were no other occupants of the room. + +The picture of Mademoiselle Edmé, as she had appeared when pleading to +the general in his behalf, was so vivid in Tournay's mind that he stood +silently before the table, oblivious to his surroundings. He remained in +this position for some minutes when the general, upon one of his +searches for inspiration at the bottom of the beer-mug, glanced over the +rim and saw the Frenchman standing like a statue before him. + +"_Potstausend!_" he exclaimed, as soon as he had set down the mug and +wiped the white froth from his mustache. "You were so quiet that I +forgot your existence and have been studying out a plan of campaign +against General Hoche under your very nose. He's a clever little man, is +Hoche," continued the old German musingly. "There is some sport in +beating him." + +Tournay smiled quietly at hearing his idol patronizingly spoken of by an +officer who had not won half his fame. + +"I wish you better success than your predecessor in the attempt, General +von Waldenmeer," he said. + +The general smiled grimly at this hit and then changed the subject by +saying:-- + +"Last evening I told you that I would send you back to France with an +escort to the frontier." + +Tournay bowed affirmatively. + +"Since then, Mademoiselle de Rochefort has told me in full the story of +her escape from Tours, recounting your part in it, and dwelling most +flatteringly upon your bravery and discretion." + +Tournay bowed again in acknowledgment. + +"The service you have rendered the daughter of my old friend, by +effecting her rescue and bringing her here in spite of such great +obstacles, makes my obligation to you deep, very deep. My honor and my +inclinations are one, when they move me to accord you, not only your +freedom, but to offer you a commission in my son's regiment, the Tenth +Prussian heavy artillery." + +If the general had ordered him out to instant execution or conferred +upon him in marriage the hand of his daughter Gretchen, Tournay could +not have felt more surprise. For a few moments he could find no words in +which to answer, and the general turned to the papers he had just laid +down. + +"Is my entry into your service made a condition of my freedom?" he +finally found breath to inquire. + +The Prussian general looked up from the map he had been studying, +pressing his fat finger upon it to mark the place. + +"Certainly not," he replied, "I make no conditions in paying a debt." + +"Then I will take my liberty, which you have promised to restore to me," +answered Tournay, "and return to France." + +It was now the general's turn to be surprised. + +"You mean to say that you will go back to Paris?" + +"I shall return to the French army at--It is needless to tell you where, +as you have been studying the map so attentively." + +"But," interrupted General von Waldenmeer, "within six months our allied +armies will be in Paris. There will be no more Republic, and every one +who has been instrumental in the death of King Louis XVI. and the +destruction of the monarchy will have to pay the penalty. You are a +young man. You have been led into this republicanism by older heads. I +offer you an opportunity--not only of escaping the consequences of your +folly but the chance of redeeming yourself by fighting on the right +side--and you refuse?" and the general reached out for the beer-mug to +sustain himself in his disappointment. He was so sincere in his offer +and in his amazement at its refusal that the angry color on Tournay's +cheek faded away and a smile crept to his lips. + +"Come," said the old general, putting down his mug after an unusually +long pull at the contents, "you are thinking better of it. I can +understand a soldier's disinclination to desert his colors, but this is +not as if I were asking you to be a traitor to your country. A von +Waldenmeer would cut out his own tongue rather than propose that to any +other soldier. I am putting it in your way to leave the service of a +faction who by anarchy and rebellion have gained control of France. +Under the banner of the allies are the true patriots of your country. +You have only to throw off that red, white, and blue uniform and put on +the colors of Prussia and you are one of them." + +Again the flush of resentment rose to Tournay's cheek, but as he looked +down upon the German general who in perfect good faith and seriousness +made him such a proposal, and as he realized the utter impossibility of +either of them ever seeing the subject in the same light, his look of +anger changed to one of amusement, and a grim smile twitched at the +corners of his mustache. + +"I appreciate the honor you would do me, General von Waldenmeer, but I +prefer to pay the penalty of my folly and remain loyal to the French +Republic." + +The general took up his papers again. "Very well," he said gruffly. "I +will provide you with an escort over the frontier. It will be ready to +start within the hour." His eyebrows came down and he became deeply +immersed in the study of the map. + +Tournay stood for a few moments looking at the fat forefinger of the old +soldier as it traced its way over the surface of the map. His thoughts +were of Mademoiselle de Rochefort. He wondered whether she had set out +on her way to Hagenhof. He almost hoped that she had left and that he +would be spared the pain of parting from her. Yet if she were still at +Falzenberg he knew he never could force himself to leave and not make an +attempt to bid her good-by. + +It was with these conflicting emotions, mingled with a reluctance to +mention her name to the gruff old general, that he said in a low +voice:-- + +"Has Mademoiselle de Rochefort started on her journey to Hagenhof?" + +He received no answer. + +There had been a slight tremor in his voice as he spoke Edmé's name. +Hesitating for a moment, he stepped to the table and placing one hand on +it he asked again in a steady tone, "When does Mademoiselle de Rochefort +go to Hagenhof?" + +The one word "To-morrow" came abruptly out of the large head buried in +the papers before him. + +Tournay drew a sigh of relief. If she had gone away, leaving him no +word, he would have been the most miserable of men. Without further +words with the general he turned and left the room. + +As he went along the hallway be heard the rustle of a woman's gown +behind him, and turning, saw to his great satisfaction the figure of +Agatha hurrying toward him. + +"Agatha," he exclaimed, as she came up to him, "where is mademoiselle? +Can I see her?" + +"Mademoiselle is in Frau Krieger's apartment at the further end of the +east wing. If you will come with me I will show you where it is. It is +fortunate that I have met you as I do, else it would have been difficult +to find you in this large place." + +"Then you were sent to fetch me?" inquired Tournay eagerly. + +"I did not say that," replied Agatha with a quiet smile. + +"But you evidently were in search of me," persisted Tournay. + +"I have no time to answer questions now," she replied, with a laugh. +"Here is the room," and she ushered him into a long old-fashioned salon, +whose uncomfortable pieces of furniture looked as if they had stood for +generations staring at their own ugly reflections in the polished +surface of the floor. + +At one end of the room stood a porcelain stove in which a fire was +burning; but the large white sepulchral object seemed to chill the +atmosphere more than the fire could warm it. Two high windows hung with +heavy curtains faced the square in front of the house, while in the rear +two other windows looked out upon the courtyard. + +Frau Krieger, the widow of a Prussian officer of high rank, had reserved +the salon and one or two adjoining rooms for her own use, and saw with +pride the remainder of her domicile turned into barracks by General von +Waldenmeer and his staff. + +"Wait here a moment and I will tell mademoiselle," said Agatha, +traversing the salon and disappearing through a door in the further +side. Tournay walked to the front window and glanced out on the street. + +The sentinel at the porte-cochère was on the point of presenting arms to +Ludwig von Waldenmeer, who rode out; and two of the general's staff +officers stood smoking and chatting in front of the building. Tournay's +alert ear caught the sound of light footsteps, and he turned just as +Edmé crossed the threshold from the inner room. + +He had told himself many times within the last few minutes that the +interview must be a brief one if he were to retain complete mastery over +his feelings. As he approached her, his face, in spite of his efforts to +control it, expressed some of the emotions which the sight of her +awakened. + +She extended her hand to him in her graceful, natural way, and he bent +over it, mechanically uttering the words he had been repeating over and +over to himself. + +"I have come, mademoiselle, to say adieu." + +At this, the color which had mantled her cheek as he touched her fingers +disappeared. + +"You have not seen General von Waldenmeer, then?" she asked quickly. + +"Yes, mademoiselle, and because I have seen him I intend to start at +once." + +"General von Waldenmeer says that in less than three months' time the +Prussian army will be in Paris," said Edmé. + +A slight smile of incredulity was Tournay's only reply. + +"The monarchy will be restored," she continued; "little mercy will be +shown the Republicans. They will have justice meted out to them by their +conquerors." + +"The allied armies will never reach Paris, mademoiselle, and before they +restore the monarchy they must kill every Republican who stands between +them and the throne." + +"I do not want them to kill you," she said simply. + +His heart beat wildly. For an instant he did not speak. When he could +trust his voice to answer he said:-- + +"I thank you deeply for your solicitude, mademoiselle, but whatever +happens I must go back to my duty." + +Edmé hesitated a moment, then spoke, at first with evident effort; then +warming into a tone of almost passionate entreaty. + +"You have done much for an unhappy woman, Robert Tournay. The +remembrance of the loyalty and devotion with which you watched over and +protected me shall never pass out of my memory. The de Rocheforts do not +easily forget such a debt as I owe you. In an attempt to repay it in +some measure, I persuaded General von Waldenmeer to offer you an +honorable position in his service. I am a proud woman, Monsieur Tournay, +and it cost me something to make such an appeal to the Prussian officer, +and now you reject his offer and present yourself before me so coolly +and say carelessly, 'I have come, mademoiselle, to bid you adieu.'" + +"You think it easy for me to say those words?" replied Tournay +vehemently. + +She did not wait for him to finish, but went on:-- + +"I place it in your power to serve the rightful cause, honorably and +loyally,--the cause of the king; _my_ cause, Robert Tournay, and you +refuse to do so." + +"Do you not see that what you propose would be my dishonor?" he asked +gently. + +"No," answered Edmé firmly. "You are a brave but obstinate man, who +madly pursues a wicked course; because, having once espoused it, you +think to desert it would be disloyal. You are mad, Robert Tournay, but I +will rescue you from your folly. I will save you in spite of yourself. I +command you to stay here!" and with the same imperious gesture which he +knew so well of old, she stood before him, her dark blue eyes, as was +their wont under stress of excitement, flashing almost black. The tone +was one of command, but there was in it a note of entreaty that went to +his heart. He caught the hand which she held out to him, and exclaimed +fervently:-- + +"I would give ten years of life to be able to obey you, but it cannot +be. You do not know what you are asking of me or you would not put my +honor thus upon the rack. It is cruel of you, mademoiselle, but I +forgive you. You cannot understand. How should you--you are of the +Monarchy, and I am of the Republic. The Republic calls me and I must +go." + +"The Republic!" repeated Edmé, "Oh! execrable Republic! It has robbed me +of everything in the world--family, estate, friends, and now"--She +paused, the sentence incomplete upon her lips, and looked at him with an +expression of pain upon her face as if some violent struggle were +taking place within her. "And now you are going back to it. You may +become its victim; you, who are so brave and strong and noble. Yes," she +continued, "I will give the word its full meaning, Robert Tournay, you +are noble--too noble to become a martyr in such a cause. I entreat you +not to go. I fear for your safety." + +Tournay's head swam. For a moment he felt that he must fold her in his +arms and tell her that for her sake he would give up everything in the +world for which he had striven,--country, liberty, and honor; the +Republic itself. + +With a mighty effort he threw off the feeling of weakness, passionately +crying, "For God's sake, mademoiselle, do not speak to me like that. You +will make me forget my manhood. You will make me act so that your +respect, which I have been so fortunate as to win, will turn to +contempt. You could almost make me turn traitor to the Republic." + +"What is this Republic? this creature of the imagination which you place +above all else in the world?" she asked impetuously. "What has it done +for France? What has it done for you?" + +Before Tournay could answer, the sound of martial music was heard +outside, and the measured tread of passing troops shook the room. He +stepped to the window and drawing aside the curtains motioned Edmé to +come to his side. + +Wonderingly she approached and saw a brigade of infantry passing in +review of the general of division. They marched with absolute +precision, the sun reflecting on the polished barrels of their guns as +on a solid wall. + +"There go the best troops in the world," said Tournay. Edmé looked up in +his face with surprise at his sudden change of manner. + +"The soldiers of Prussia: at the command of their officers they will +march like that to the batteries' mouth, closing up the gap of the +fallen men with clock-work movements. There are two hundred thousand of +them, and they are preparing to attack France. Joined with them are the +tried veterans of Austria. On the sea," he continued, "the fleets of +England are bearing down upon the ports of France. In the south, Spain +is pouring her soldiers over the Pyrenees. These allied armies have +banded together to destroy France. Yet we shall throw them back again, +as we did at Wattignes and at Jemappes. There the flower of the European +armies was scattered by our raw French troops. Although outnumbered and +outmanoeuvred, the _men_ of France hurled back their foes in broken +and disordered array. And why? Because in the heart of every Frenchman +burns the new-born fire of liberty. He is fighting for the freedom he +has bought so dearly. He is fighting for that Republic which has made +him what he is--a _man_! It is France against the world! and by the +Republic alone will she triumph over her enemies. That is my answer, +mademoiselle. The Republic has made a new France, and _I_ am part of it. +At her call I must leave everything and go to her defense." + +While he spoke thus, Edmé saw his face animated with a light she had +learned to know so well,--the same light that had shone from his eyes +when he confronted the mob in her château; the same fire that flashed as +he defended himself before General von Waldenmeer. + +"You say I place my duty to the Republic above any earthly +consideration," he said. "Let me tell you that I hold your respect still +dearer. If I should desert my cause, the cause for which I have lived, +should I not lose that respect? Ask your own heart, mademoiselle, would +it not be so?" + +She stood in silence. Then her eyes met his. He read her answer there +before she spoke, and in the look she gave him he thought he read still +more--something he dared not believe, scarcely dared hope. + +"You are right," she replied, speaking slowly and distinctly. "Go back +to France! It is I who bid you go." + +"I knew you would tell me to go," he replied. + +The sound of voices in the corridor outside fell upon their ears. + +"There are Gaillard and the escort," said Tournay, sadly. "Mademoiselle, +good-by! I may never see you again. But I thank God that you are here in +safety, and I shall find some happiness in the thought that I have been +an instrument in your deliverance." + +She did not answer, but stretched out her hand to him. He took it, and +dropping on one knee, put it to his lips. "It is for the last time," he +said, looking up at her. His face was deadly pale, and there was a look +of pleading in his brown eyes. + +She placed her other hand upon his head. It was but the slightest touch, +as if she yielded to a sudden impulse, and then with the same swift +movement she drew away from him. + +"As it _must_ be, I pray you to go quickly," she said, and without +waiting for a reply she turned and left him. + +Tournay rose to his feet,--"I swear to you now, mademoiselle, that some +day I shall see you again," and he rushed from the room to the courtyard +below. + +"Are the horses ready?" he whispered hoarsely, grasping Gaillard by the +arm. + +"At the door with an escort of Prussian officers," was the reply. + +"What time is it?" + +"Three hours before dark." + +"We must be over the frontier and well into France by to-night," was +Tournay's rejoinder. "Come!" + +Standing by the window, Edmé saw him leap into the saddle. He gave one +look in her direction, but could not see her, concealed as she was by +the heavy curtains. + +She heard the officers laughing and talking among themselves. She saw +one of the men jump from his horse, tighten a saddle girth, and remount +with an agile spring. Then Colonel von Waldenmeer approached and +addressed some remark to Robert Tournay. The latter, who had been +sitting erect and motionless upon his horse, turned slightly in the +saddle to answer the Prussian officer. + +Edmé could see that his features were set and their expression stern. + +Colonel von Waldenmeer mounted his own horse, gave a word of command, +and the party started forward. + +Edmé watched them as they went up the road. Ten horses riding two +abreast, the snow flying out from under the heels of the galloping +hoofs. She watched them until the square shoulders of Colonel Tournay +were hardly distinguishable from those of Colonel Karl who rode beside +him. The cavalcade disappeared around a bend in the road, and Edmé +turned from the wintry aspect without to the dreary salon with a heavy +heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FOUR COMMISSIONERS + + +Under the escort of Karl von Waldenmeer and half a dozen of his French +officers, Tournay and Gaillard rode rapidly toward the French boundary. + +It had stopped snowing during the night, and the weather was clear and +cold. + +They rode in silence, no sound being heard but the regular dull beating +of their horses' hoofs on the snow-covered ground. + +They drew out of the wood and saw the frozen surface of the Rhine before +them, the sun dazzling their eyes with its reflected light upon the ice. + +With one accord the party reined in their horses and sat motionless, +looking at the glorious sight of the ice-bound river. + +Karl von Waldenmeer was the first to break the silence. Pointing with +his gloved hand toward the opposite shore he said:-- + +"There, gentlemen, is France, and my road ends here." + +Tournay merely made an inclination of the head in assent. He was +thinking sadly of Edmé standing by the window in the cheerless old salon +at Falzenberg; but as he looked out over the river towards his own land +he remembered the army on the other side of the Vosges; the prospect of +the impending campaign caused his spirits to revive, and he replied:-- + +"We owe you thanks, Colonel von Waldenmeer, for the kindness you have +been pleased to show us. When we meet again it will doubtless be upon +the field of battle, but I shall not even then forget your courtesy of +to-day." + +"It will always give me pleasure to meet you again, under any +circumstances, Colonel Tournay," said the Prussian, "and if it be on the +field, to cross swords with you. A brave foe makes a good friend, and I +shall be glad to count you as both of these. And now, gentlemen, we will +relieve you of our escort; there lies your way over that bridge, just +below here. We return to Falzenberg." + +"Let us cross upon the ice," said Gaillard to Tournay; "it will bear our +weight easily." + +They rode down the bank. At the brink their horses drew back, but being +urged by their riders, went forward, feeling the ice daintily with their +forefeet with cat-like caution. Seeing that the ice was quite safe, the +Frenchmen put spurs into their horses and the animals swung into a +gallop, their iron-shod feet cutting into the ice with a pleasant, +crunching sound. + +Reaching the further side, they rode up the steep bank, then reined in +their horses and looked back. The declining rays of the sun tipped the +snow-clad hemlock trees on the other side of the river with crimson, +and against the dark outline of the forest behind, the figures of +Colonel von Waldenmeer and his officers sat motionless as statues. Each +party gave the military salute, and the Prussians rode back into the +wood, while Tournay and Gaillard sat looking after them until they were +no longer in sight. + +"We are on French soil once more," exclaimed Tournay, "and now to join +General Hoche and fight for it." + +"I had best return to Paris," said Gaillard. + +"I fear to have you return there now, after having put your head in +danger by assisting me," said Tournay anxiously. + +"I shall be as safe in Paris as anywhere in the world," replied his +friend. "Nobody will suspect the actor Gaillard of having any connection +with the flight of Mademoiselle de Rochefort. I cannot do better than to +return to Paris and resume my usual mode of life there. While, if you +are suspected, as is more likely, of instigating or effecting +Mademoiselle de Rochefort's escape from Tours, you must look to your +military reputation and your influence in the convention to protect you +from an inquiry on the part of the rabid revolutionists." + +"What you say, Gaillard, is sound reasoning. I will follow your advice. +Embrace me, my friend, and let us part here." + +"Good-by until we meet again, my colonel!" was Gaillard's only audible +reply, and then he rode off toward the west, while Tournay turned his +horse in the direction of the north, where the French troops lay +encamped. + +It was about noon of the next day when he reached the French army, and +stopping only at his own tent to put on his uniform he hurried to the +headquarters of General Hoche and reported for duty. He had traveled so +rapidly from Tours that he reached the army almost as soon as General +Hoche expected him, and the general attributed the delay of a day or so +to the bad condition of the roads. + +Tournay hesitated to set him right in the matter, as he deemed it more +prudent to refrain from mentioning to anyone his part in Mademoiselle de +Rochefort's escape. + +"What news do you bring from the convention?" was the question of the +general as they were seated alone. + +"Bad!" replied Tournay, "as you can tell by the tone of these +dispatches. The convention has many able men in it, but they are +dominated too entirely by the Revolutionary Tribunal, and that body is +dominated too much by one man. His power is ruining the Republic. Unless +we get rid of Robespierre, we might as well go back to the monarchy." + +After a few moments spent in reading the papers Tournay had put in his +hand, General Hoche looked up with an expression of annoyance on his +brow. + +"Yes; the insulting tone of this dispatch is almost beyond endurance. I +am glad after all that my business is out here fighting the external +enemies of France. Were I at Paris, I should be embroiling myself daily +with some of those who are in power. If we meet with the slightest +reverses here at the front there is a howl from St. Just and that crowd +that we are betraying the Republic. Meanwhile they furnish us with a +beggarly equipment. It is they who are betraying the Republic. Were it +not for Danton we should get nothing. He alone makes success against our +enemies possible. And we must be successful, Colonel Tournay; look here +at the plan of campaign." + +And the young general, in his military ardor, forgetting entirely the +insulting dispatch, turned with enthusiasm to the maps which lay spread +out on the table. + +"Here are the bulk of the Austrian forces at Wissembourg. That old +German beer-barrel von Waldenmeer is at Falzenberg. He intends to +concentrate his troops there and then bring them up to join the Austrian +general, Wurmser." + +Tournay started at his own general's accurate information in regard to +the enemy's position and plans. + +"We must attack Wurmser at once before he can receive reinforcements, +and then proceed to Landau. They have beaten us once at Wissembourg and +will not be looking for us to take the offensive again so soon. I have +already given the order to mobilize the troops. I and my staff will ride +forward this evening. By to-morrow night we shall have retaken +Wissembourg." + +"One moment, general," interrupted Tournay, as Hoche took up another +map. "I wish to tell you that I have just seen General von Waldenmeer at +Falzenberg." + +Hoche looked at his officer with surprise. + +"I went to the Prussian frontier on an errand, the nature of which I +should prefer to keep secret for the present. I was suspected of being a +spy, taken prisoner, and brought before General von Waldenmeer. He +listened to my explanations and released me under circumstances no less +peculiar than those which brought me within his lines." Here Tournay +stopped, the blood coming to the surface under the bronze of his cheek +at the steady gaze of General Hoche. + +"Is that all?" inquired the latter. + +"That is all," answered his colonel, "except that had I not made this +detour I should have been here twenty-four hours earlier, and that as I +got within the Prussian lines by mistake and did not go as a spy, I can +give you no information which you have not already obtained." + +"If you had arrived twenty-four hours later you would have missed the +grandest opportunity of your life; I intend to give you, Colonel +Tournay, the command of a brigade in the approaching battle." + +"A brigade?" echoed Tournay in surprise. + +"You shall atone for your breach of discipline by bearing great +responsibility in the attack. I intend your brigade to be where the +fight is hottest, and if there is anything left of it after the +engagement, and of you, colonel, you shall continue to command it and I +will recommend you for promotion." + +Tournay grasped his chief by the hand. + +"You may be sure, General Hoche, that I shall do my utmost to deserve +the honor you have done me." + +"I was persuaded of that before I determined to give you the command," +replied Hoche; "now go forward and join your regiment. By midnight I +shall be at Wissembourg and shall have one last word with all of my +generals. I do not believe in protracted councils of war." + +That evening Colonel Tournay was encamped before the field of +Wissembourg. He sat in his tent waiting for the summons that should +bring him to General Hoche's council board. + +An orderly entered with the word that a commission of four men from the +Committee of Public Safety at Paris wished to speak to him. + +Tournay started from the reverie into which he had fallen. His thoughts +had been dwelling upon the events of the past week, and the announcement +struck a discordant note in his meditation. "Show them in," he replied +briefly. + +In another moment the four commissioners stood before him. Three of the +men were unknown to him, but the fourth was Gardin. The latter, as +spokesman, stood a little in advance of the others. On his face there +was a look of mingled insolence and triumph. + +Tournay's gorge rose at sight of the man, but remembering that he was +the recognized emissary from the committee he controlled his impulse to +kick him from the tent. + +"Will you be seated, citizens?" he said, rising and addressing his +remark more to the three commissioners who were not known to him than to +Gardin. "Orderly, bring seats." + +"Our business with you will be of such short duration that we shall have +no need to sit down," answered Gardin curtly. + +"Orderly, do not bring the seats," was Tournay's quick order, as he +resumed his former place on a camp-chair and sat carelessly looking at +the four men standing before him. This placed Gardin in just the +opposite rôle from that he had intended to assume. He saw his mistake at +once, and hastened to recover his lost ground. + +"Citizen colonel," he said, drawing a paper from his pocket and putting +it in Tournay's hands, "here is a document from the committee which even +you cannot question. It is addressed to Robert Tournay." + +Tournay broke the large red seal of the letter and read:-- + + CITIZEN COLONEL ROBERT TOURNAY; with the Army of the Moselle, + Citizen General Lazare Hoche commanding:-- + + The Citizen Colonel Tournay is hereby summoned to appear before + the Committee of Public Safety to answer charges affecting his + patriotism and loyalty to the Republic. He will resign his + command at once, and return to Paris in the company of the four + commissioners who bring him this document. + + Signed: For the Committee of Public Safety, + + COUTHON, + ST. JUST. + + This 5th Pluviose, the year II. of the French Republic one and + indivisible. + +When he had finished reading the document Tournay folded it carefully +and placed it in his pocket. + +"Well?" demanded Gardin impatiently. + +"I cannot at present leave the army," was the reply. + +The four commissioners exchanged looks. + +"We are on the eve of a decisive engagement with the enemy. When that is +over--in a few days, if I am alive, I will answer the committee's +summons." + +"We were instructed to bring you back with us at once," said one of the +commissioners. + +"And we'll do it, too," muttered another under his breath. + +The fourth pulled Gardin by the sleeve and whispered something in his +ear. + +"I regret, citizen commissioners," repeated Tournay, "that I cannot at +present leave the army." + +Then rising suddenly and confronting Gardin he said passionately:-- + +"Tell your masters that it is not necessary to drag Robert Tournay to +Paris like a felon, that he will appear before the committee of his own +free will; that he regards the welfare of France as paramount to +everything else, and that his duty to her will take him to the field +to-morrow." + +"Your answer is not satisfactory to us," persisted Gardin, "nor will it +be to the committee. Once more, and for the last time, citizen colonel, +will you obey this summons as it is written?" + +"No!" thundered Tournay. + +"Then in the name of the Republic I suspend you from your command, and +arrest you as a traitor. Lay hands upon him!" + +Gardin himself, remembering his previous encounter with Tournay in which +he had come off so poorly, merely gave the command, leaving the others +to execute it. Two of them stepped forward with alacrity, one upon each +side of Tournay, and grasped him by the arms. + +He offered no resistance, but raising his voice a little called out:-- + +"Officers of the guard!" + +Half a dozen of his Hussars who were in the adjoining tent hastened in +at his call. + +"Arrest these four men!" commanded Tournay quietly. + +"Stop!" cried Gardin; "arrest us at your peril. We are the authorized +emissaries of the Committee of Public Safety," and he flourished his +commission in the soldiers' faces. "We are but carrying out our strict +orders. To lay hands upon us will be to bring down upon your heads the +vengeance of Robespierre." + +The Hussars stood still. The name of the man who governed France under +the cloak of the Republic made them hesitate. + +"Conduct the prisoner away with as much dispatch as possible," said +Gardin in a quick, low tone to his companions. + +"Lieutenant Dessarts, arrest these four men instantly," repeated +Tournay. There was a ring in his voice which his subordinates well +understood, and without further hesitation they laid hands upon the +Paris commissioners and proceeded to drag them from the tent by force. + +"He has been relieved of his command and therefore has no right to give +you orders. Are you slaves that you obey him thus?" yelled Gardin, +struggling with the big corporal who held him. + +"See that no harm is done them, Lieutenant Dessarts," Tournay called out +as the men were led away. "Conduct them outside our lines and give +orders that they shall not be permitted to return." + +Following them to the door of his tent, Tournay coolly watched the +unhappy commissioners as they were led away, protesting vehemently +against the indignity of their arrest and vowing vengeance for it. + +It was a cold winter night, and the wind blew down through the mountain +passes of the Vosges with biting keenness. Throwing his cloak over his +shoulder he strolled out through the camp. In spite of the chilling wind +the soldiers showed the greatest enthusiasm. As he went down the long +line of camp-fires, he was recognized and cheered roundly. Cries of +"We'll beat them at Wissembourg to-morrow, colonel!" "Landau or death!" +greeted him on all sides. + +The next day showed that they had not uttered vain boasts. + +Tournay's command, sweeping through a narrow defile in the face of a +destructive fire, tore through the enemy's centre, and combining with +Dessaix on the left, and Pichegru on the right, sent Wurmser's troops +backward before his Prussian allies could come to his assistance. + +With the cry of "Landau or death!" the victorious French dashed on +toward the beleaguered city and raised the siege just as the brave +garrison was in the last extremity for want of food and ammunition. + +The day after the relief of Landau, Colonel Tournay entered the tent of +the commander-in-chief. Hoche rose to meet him, and taking him by the +hand said warmly:-- + +"Colonel Tournay, in the name of France I thank you for the efficiency +and bravery displayed yesterday. The victory of Wissembourg will live in +the annals of history, and a full share of the glory belongs to you. In +my dispatches to the convention I have not omitted to mention your noble +conduct." + +The generous Hoche pressed the hand of his colonel in fraternal feeling. +He was two years younger than Tournay, although care and fatigue gave +him the looks of an older man. At twenty-four this remarkable man had +risen to be preëminently the greatest general in France, and but for his +premature death might in later years have contested with Napoleon for +his laurels. + +"I have come, general, to ask your permission to return to Paris," said +Tournay, much gratified by the words of praise from the lips of one whom +he regarded as the greatest military hero of the age. + +"Again?" said Hoche, in a tone of surprise. + +"The Committee of Public Safety have seen fit to summon me to appear +before them," Tournay continued. "Some one has been found to impeach my +loyalty, and I must answer the charge." + +A shade passed over the face of Hoche. + +"But I can ill spare you, Colonel Tournay. What does this committee mean +by suspecting the integrity of an officer in whom I have implicit faith? +By Heaven, I will not permit it! If they arrest you, I'll throw my +commission back in their faces before I will allow you to answer their +charges." + +"That, my general, would but work injury to France, who depends upon +such a man as you to save her. You surely will not desert her because a +few overheated brains at Paris have seen fit to listen to some of my +traducers. I will go back to Paris and confront my enemies. My conduct +at Wissembourg will be an answer to their charge of treason." And the +colonel drew himself up with a flash of pardonable pride in his dark +eyes. + +"You may be right," replied Hoche, "but I would not trust them. The +reputation which your conduct at Wissembourg will create for you will +make them jealous, and they will whisper it about that your popularity +renders you dangerous. I know them. They become jealous of any man's +reputation. They will have me before the bar of their tribunal as soon +as they feel that they can spare me." + +And Hoche laughed scornfully as he uttered the prophecy which was so +soon to be fulfilled. + +"I have no fear but that I shall be able to satisfy them as to loyalty," +replied Tournay, smiling at the absurdity of the great and popular Hoche +pleading before the tribunal. + +"Well, go if you will, but understand, Tournay, that if you refuse to +obey this summons, I will protect you. They shall bring no fictitious +charges against a trusted officer in my army without entering into a +contest with me." + +"I thank you again, my general, but I will not permit you to embroil +yourself with the committee on my account. You are too indispensable to +France. Now I will take the leave of absence you accord me. In ten days +you may look for my return." + +General Hoche shook his head as Tournay left his presence:-- + +"I fear it will be longer than that, my friend," he sighed to himself. + +Colonel Tournay, accompanied by but one orderly, rode toward Paris. The +feelings of pride and pleasure which his general's praise had raised in +his heart were subdued by the humiliation at being summoned before the +Committee of Public Safety. But there was a fire in his eye, and a +hardening of the lines near the mouth which boded that he would not +submit tamely to insult nor an unjust sentence. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SWORD OF ROCROY + + +Citizen St. Hilaire had just come in from making a few purchases at the +baker's shop in the Rue des Mathurins. Shortly after dusk that evening +he had recalled to mind that he was without the gill of cream for his +next morning's coffee, and also that the small white loaf which formed a +part of his breakfast was at that moment reposing crisp and warm on the +counter of the baker's shop a few doors distant. + +As Citizen St. Hilaire was very particular about his coffee and always +liked to have a certain choice loaf that Jules, the baker in the Rue des +Mathurins, made to perfection late every afternoon, he had braved the +wind and rain of a stormy January evening, and gone out to procure his +next morning's repast. + +Returning to his small apartment at the top of the house, he threw off +his wet cloak and was on the point of extracting from his pocket a +little can of cream, when a knock sounded at the door of the chamber +which served him for sitting-room, dining-room, and library. Putting the +can upon the table, he took up a lamp and went to the door. + +A young woman stood upon the threshold. She had evidently come in a +carriage, for the costly clothes she wore were quite unspotted by the +rain. + +"This is Citizen St. Hilaire," she said in a tone of conviction as she +stepped into the room. + +St. Hilaire bowed and stepped back to place the lamp upon a small table +near at hand, and stood waiting the further pleasure of his visitor. + +As he stood within the circle of light, the young woman looked from him +to his modest surroundings with marked curiosity, her eyes dwelling upon +each object in the room in turn. It did not take long to note every +piece of furniture; the table, arm-chair, a few books, the violin case +in the corner, with a picture or two and a pair of rapiers upon the +wall. When she had completed her survey of the room her gaze returned to +him once more. + +He was plainly dressed in a suit of dark brown color. His linen was +exquisitely neat, and his figure was so elegant that although his coat +was far from new, and of no exceptional quality, it became him as well +as if it were of the most costly material. + +"Will you be seated?" said St. Hilaire, drawing forward the arm-chair +from its corner. + +The young woman took the seat he offered her. + +"And so you are Citizen St. Hilaire," she repeated as if the name +interested. "I--I am Citizeness La Liberté. I remember you well," she +continued; "I saw you a number of times, years ago, at the home of the +Marquis de----But why mention his name? There are no more marquises in +France, and he was a worthless creature," and she tossed back her head +with a gesture of careless freedom. + +"No," he repeated, "there are no more marquises," and with a laugh he +seated himself opposite her. The sharp end of the crisp loaf in his +pocket made him aware of its presence. He took it out and put it in its +place upon the table beside the cream. + +"The Republic has caused many strange changes, but I should never have +dreamed of finding you here like this, Citizen St. Hilaire," and again +she eyed him wonderingly. + +"The Republic has done a great deal for you?" said St. Hilaire, raising +his eyebrows inquiringly. + +"Everything," replied La Liberté with emphasis, while her eyes and the +jewels on her bosom flashed upon him dazzlingly. Her look indicated that +she thought the Revolution had not dealt so generously by him. + +"It has done much for me too," said St. Hilaire. + +"What good has it done you?" inquired La Liberté incredulously. + +"It has taught me wisdom," he replied. + +"Oh," she answered contemptuously, "it has brought me pleasure. +Therefore I love it. But you, Citizen St. Hilaire,--will you answer me a +question?" + +St. Hilaire bowed in acquiescence. + +"Are you satisfied with this Republic? I know it is dangerous to speak +slightingly of it in these days, but between us, with only the walls to +hear, do you like it?" + +"I am never satisfied with anything," replied St. Hilaire with just a +touch of weariness in his voice. + +"I should think that you would hate it. I should were I you," and La +Liberté shook her brown curls with a laugh. + +"Notwithstanding," said St. Hilaire, "I would not go back to the old +régime." + +"I do not understand you at all," exclaimed La Liberté in despair, with +a puzzled look on her brow. + +"Why try?" he asked dryly. "I have given it up myself. Tell me in what +way I can serve you?" + +"I have come here to do you a service," she answered. The room was warm, +and as she spoke she threw her ermine-lined cloak over the back of the +chair. + +A slight trace of surprise showed itself upon Citizen St. Hilaire's face +as he looked at her inquiringly. + +She had evidently found the chair too large to sit in comfortably, for +she perched herself upon its arm with one foot on the floor while she +swung the other easily. + +"That is extraordinary!'" he exclaimed. "It is a long time since any one +has gone out of his way to do me a service. May I ask why you have done +so?" + +"Oh, I can hardly tell you why," she replied, tapping her boot heel +against the side of the chair. It was a very dainty foot and clad in +the finest chaussure to be found in Paris. "You were once kind to a +friend of mine," she went on to say, slowly--"and I rather liked +you--and so I have come to show you this." She put a slip of paper into +his hand. + +It was headed, "List for the fifteenth Pluviose." Then followed a score +of names. St. Hilaire saw his own among them near the end. + +The young woman watched him earnestly while he read it. The careless +look had quite disappeared from her face, and given place to one of +seriousness. + +"It is a list of names," said St. Hilaire, turning the paper over and +looking at the reverse side to see if it contained anything else. "And +my name is honored by being among them. Where did it come from? What +does it mean?" + +"I picked it up," replied La Liberté. "I saw it lying on a table. I did +not know the other names upon it and should never have touched it had I +not seen your name. And I resolved that you should see it also, and be +warned in time. But you have little time to spare. To-morrow is the +fifteenth." + +"Warned?" repeated St. Hilaire, "of what?" + +"Every man whose name is upon that list will be arrested to-morrow. It +may be in the morning, it may be during the day, it may be late at +night. But it will surely be to-morrow. Oh! I have seen so many of those +lists, and of late they are longer and more frequent." + +"Whose handwriting is this?" inquired St. Hilaire, looking at +critically. + +"I dare not tell," said La Liberté in a low tone. + +"As long as you have revealed so much, why not go a step further and +make the information of greater value?" he insisted quietly. + +"One of the committee, I dare not mention his name even here," and she +looked around the room furtively. "One of the most powerful," she went +on, in a very low tone, as if frightened at her own temerity. "Cannot +you guess?" + +"Yes, I think I can," rejoined St. Hilaire musingly. + +"Now that you have had this warning I hope you will be able to elude +them. Give me the paper again, Citizen St. Hilaire, that I may replace +it before it is missed. He is at the club now, but I must hurry back. +Never mind the light; I can find my way well enough. My eyes are used to +the dark." + +St. Hilaire took up the lamp, and in spite of her remonstrances +accompanied her down the four flights of stairs. At the door stood a +handsome equipage. + +"That is mine," she said, as St. Hilaire escorted her to the carriage; +there was the same slight touch of pride in her tone that had crept out +once before. "This once belonged to the Duchess de Montmorenci," she +said. "It is rather heavy and old-fashioned, but will do very well until +I can get a new one." + +"I see that you have had the coat of arms erased," St. Hilaire +remarked. "I suppose your new carriage will have a red nightcap on the +panel." + +"Now you are laughing at me," she said, tossing back her brown curls +with a pout. "Good-night, marquis," she added in a low voice in his ear +as he was closing the door of the carriage. + +"Citizen St. Hilaire," he corrected gravely, as she drove away. "You +forget there are no more marquises in France." + +After La Liberté's departure the Citizen St. Hilaire retraced his steps +up the stairs, humming quietly to himself. On reaching the top landing +he entered his room and sitting down by the window he looked out over +the lights of Paris. For two hours he sat thus buried deep in thought +and scarcely moving. When he finally arose from his chair the city clock +had long struck the hour of midnight. + +First drawing the bolt to the door as if to prevent intrusion even at +that late hour, he opened an old armoire in the corner of the room and +took from it an object carefully wrapped in a velvet cover. He took from +the covering a sword, with golden hilt studded with jewels. The +scabbard, too, was of pure gold, set profusely with diamonds, emeralds, +and rubies. Unsheathing the weapon he held it to the light. He held it +carefully, almost reverently, as one holds some sacred relic. His eye +was animated and had he uttered his thoughts he would have spoken +thus:-- + +"This is the sword that a marshal of France wielded upon the field of +battle. He was my ancestor, and from father to son it has come down to +me, the last of my race. It is as bright to-day as when it flashed from +its sheath at Rocroy. I have kept it untarnished. It is the sole +remaining relic of the greatness of our name." + +Replacing the sword carefully in its scabbard, he buckled it around his +waist. Then taking a cloak from the armoire he enveloped himself in it, +so as to completely hide the jeweled scabbard. This done, he went into +his bedroom and drew from under his couch a small chest from which he +took a purse containing some money. All these preparations he made +quietly and with great deliberation. Returning to the sitting-room he +unbolted and opened the door. All was quiet. A cat, that frequented the +upper part of the building, and made friends with those who fed it, +walked silently in through the open door and arching her back rubbed +purringly against his leg. He went to the cupboard, and getting out a +saucer filled it with the cream that was to have flavored his next +morning's cup of coffee, and placed it on the floor. The animal ran to +it greedily, and for a few moments St. Hilaire stood watching the little +red tongue curl rapidly out and in of the creature's mouth as she lapped +up the unexpected feast. Then giving a glance about the room, but +touching nothing else in it, he extinguished the light and went out into +the corridor, leaving the door ajar. + +When he passed out into the street he noticed that the rain had ceased. +The wind blew freshly from the west and the night was cool. Drawing his +cloak closer about him and allowing one hand to rest upon his +sword-hilt, he walked rapidly away, humming softly to himself. In the +room he had just left, the cat licked up the last few drops of cream in +the saucer; signified her contentment by stretching herself, while she +dug her forepaws into the carpet several times in succession; then +jumped into his vacant arm-chair and curled up for a nap. + +The Citizen St. Hilaire had always foreseen the possibility of just such +an emergency as now confronted him. He was quite prepared to meet it. + +On the other side of the river in the small and quiet Rue d'Arcis dwelt +an old man. The house in which he lived, number seven, was also very +old. It was large and rambling. St. Hilaire knew it well. As a child he +had played in it. It had once belonged to him, and he had deeded it to +an old servant of his father at a time when he regarded old houses as +encumbrances upon his estates, and when aged servants had found no place +in his retinue. If for no other reason, his family pride had caused him +to make generous provision for a faithful retainer, and now that his own +worldly fortunes were reduced, he knew where to find a home until he +could carry out his plans for leaving the country. For some time past he +had been forming such plans, but with his customary indifference to +danger he had delayed their execution from day to day. + +Crossing the Seine by the bridge St. Michel and following the Quai, St. +Hilaire remembered an unfrequented way to the house in the Rue d'Arcis. +From the Quai on the left was a blind alley that ended at a row of +houses. Through one of these houses had been cut an arched passage to +the street beyond. The passageway came out on the other side almost +directly opposite number seven, and offered a tempting short-cut. + +St. Hilaire walked quietly up the alley and had almost reached the +farther end, when a door on the opposite side opened and a woman came +out. The lateness of the hour and the signs of timidity which the woman +showed, caused St. Hilaire to stop in the entrance to the passageway and +look back to observe her actions. + +She peered first down the street cautiously, as if to see that there +were no passers on the Quai, then up at the windows of the houses +opposite to assure herself that she was unobserved from that quarter. +Satisfied as to both of these points, she closed the door noiselessly, +and hurriedly passed down the street. She was, however, not destined to +reach the Quai unnoticed by any other eyes than St. Hilaire's, for she +had not gone fifty paces when a party of four men, talking in loud +voices, crossed the street on the Quai. At sight of them the woman +stopped short and hesitated. The four also stopped and looked at her. +One of them called out to her. Evidently frightened she turned, and +crossing the street hurried back. To St. Hilaire's surprise, she passed +by the house from which she had recently come, and made straight for +the passageway where he stood. The four men gave chase, one of them +overtaking her before she had reached the entrance. He placed his hand +upon her arm, while she cried and struggled to free herself. The hood +fell over her shoulders, and in the light from a lantern, hung upon a +projecting crane from one of the houses, St. Hilaire recognized Madame +d'Arlincourt. + +The exertion to free herself from the man's grasp had caused her hair to +fall down upon her shoulders. Her blue eyes had a wild look like those +of a person whose mind is strained almost to madness. She fought +fiercely for her freedom. + +A dove striking its pinions against a lion's paw could have been able to +effect its release as quickly as the poor little countess from the huge +hand that held her. + +St. Hilaire was as gallant a gentleman as ever drew a sword, or raised a +lady's fingers to his lips. On the instant, he forgot his own danger and +the cause of his flight, and stepped forward into the circle of light. + +"How now, citizen? What have you to do with this young citizeness?" he +cried out in distinct tones. + +In his surprise at St. Hilaire's sudden appearance, the man loosened his +grasp upon Madame d'Arlincourt's shoulder. With a cry she flew instantly +to St. Hilaire's side for protection. + +"Defend me, sir, oh, save me from them!" she cried, catching hold of his +arm. + +"I will not let them harm a hair of your head," he whispered in reply; +"calm yourself, my dear madame." + +The quiet way in which he spoke seemed to bring back some part of her +self-control. She ceased crying and stood by his side like a statue, +although he could feel by the pressure on his arm that she still +trembled. + +"Well, citizen, what would you with this citizeness?" repeated St. +Hilaire in a loud voice, as the other men came up behind their comrade. + +"Her actions are suspicious; she may be an aristocrat. We want to bring +her to the Section for examination," answered one of them. + +"Let her come to the Section," echoed another. + +The fellow who had first laid hands upon the countess now recovered +speech. "If she's an aristocrat here's at her; I've killed many an +aristocrat in my day." As he spoke he drew himself together and raising +his musket leveled it at the woman's head. + +The countess tightened her grasp on St. Hilaire's arm with both her +hands, rendering him powerless for the moment. + +St. Hilaire pushed her gently behind him, and looking straight into his +opponent's face, said firmly:-- + +"She shall certainly go to the Section, citizen, but first put down your +weapon and let me speak. I am Citizen St. Hilaire--were we in the +Faubourg St. Michel almost anybody would be able to tell you who I am." + +"I know you, citizen!" exclaimed one of the men in the rear, "and you +should know me also. My name is Gonflou!" and the fellow grinned +good-naturedly over the shoulder of his companion, as if he recognized +an old friend. + +"Ah yes, good citizen Gonflou!" repeated St. Hilaire. "Restrain the +ardor of this patriot who handles his musket so carelessly, while I +question the little citizeness." + +"Lower that musket, Haillon, or I'll beat your head with this," said +Gonflou, rattling his heavy sabre threateningly. + +Haillon muttered an oath and lowered the muzzle of his weapon. + +"We can't be all night at this," he growled. "Better let me take a shot +at the woman; she's an aristocrat, that's flat." + +St. Hilaire bent over the countess. + +"Release my arm!" She obeyed like a child. Stepping back with her a +couple of paces, he continued:-- + +"Who is in the house you have just come out of? Answer me truthfully and +fearlessly." + +She looked up into his face, and he saw that she now recognized him as +she answered in a whisper, "My husband. He is ill. I could only venture +out after midnight to summon a physician who is known to us." + +"Well," exclaimed Haillon, impatiently grinding the butt of his gun on +the pavement, "how long does it take to find out about an aristocrat?" + +"She was going to summon a doctor to attend a sick father," said St. +Hilaire without looking at Haillon. + +"Bah," growled the latter. + +"Right behind us," continued St. Hilaire, in a very low voice, and +looking into the countess' face earnestly to enforce his words, "is a +passageway that leads to the Rue d'Arcis." + +Madame d'Arlincourt nodded. She understood. + +"When I next begin to talk to these men, you must go through that +passage to the house opposite. It is number seven. You will not be able +to see the number, but it is directly opposite; you cannot mistake it. +Knock seven times in quick succession. Some one will inquire from +within, 'Who knocks?' You must reply 'From Raphael.' Do you understand?" + +"Yes," said the countess. + +"You are taking up too much of our time, citizen," interrupted Haillon, +"let me take a hand at questioning." + +"Be silent, Haillon;" said St. Hilaire in a tone of quick authority. + +"The door will be opened without further question. Once inside you must +tell them that you were sent by Raphael, and that they are to keep you +until it is safe for you to return to your own domicile. Now +remember!--as soon as I enter into conversation with these men." + +"I can remember," replied the countess, "but what are you going to do +after that? Will they not harm you?" + +St. Hilaire laughed lightly. "Oh, I will take care of that. I expect to +follow you in a few minutes." Then he turned and advanced a few steps in +order to cover her retreat more fully. + +"The citizeness has convinced me that she is nothing but a poor +sewing-girl in great distress at the illness of her father. I have told +her that she might continue on her errand for a doctor unmolested. You +are over-zealous, good Haillon, to see an aristocrat in every shadow." + +"She has disappeared," cried Gonflou. + +Haillon raised his musket with finger on the trigger. St. Hilaire's hand +struck upward just as the detonation echoed through the quiet street. +Then the smoke, clearing away, revealed Haillon upon the pavement, while +the sword in St. Hilaire's hand was red with blood. + +"He has killed a citizen," bellowed Gonflou. "Comrades, cut him down. +Avenge the death of a patriot." + +Three sabres were uplifted against the citizen St. Hilaire. He drew back +a pace or two and with a smile upon his lips warded off the blows aimed +at his head and breast. Then he poised himself and set his face firmly. +The sword which had first won renown on the field of Rocroy now flashed +in the light of the flickering lamp of the passage d'Arcis, and another +of his assailants fell to the ground. + +The wrist that wielded it was just as supple and the white fingers that +held the jeweled hilt just as strong as when, in the days gone by, the +Marquis de St. Hilaire was known as the best swordsman in his regiment. + +His two remaining adversaries hesitated in their attack for a moment. +Then Gonflou, bleeding from two deep wounds and bellowing like an angry +bull, sprang at him again with his heavy sabre lifted in both hands. + +One of the two fallen men had half raised himself and dragged over to +where Haillon lay. He drew a pistol from the dead man's belt and, +leaning forward, fired under Gonflou's arm. The blow from Gonflou's +sabre was parried, then Jean Raphael de St. Hilaire fell forward on his +face and lay without moving upon the pavement, while the sword of Rocroy +fell ringing to the ground. + +One of the attacking party was still unhurt. He raised his weapon over +the prostrate body at his feet. Gonflou pushed him aside roughly. +"That's enough, citizen. We'll take him to the Section without cutting +him up." The man who had fired the shot had since busied himself with +tying up his own wounded arm. He now bent over St. Hilaire. "He still +breathes," he said. "Had we not better finish him?" + +"No, my little Jacques Gardin," was Gonflou's answer, who, the moment +the fight was over, became as good-natured as before; "let us take him +to the Section." + +"But he has killed Haillon," persisted young Jacques, who had reloaded +the pistol and was handling it lovingly. + +"Pah," replied Gonflou, with a laugh, "Haillon should have been careful +when playing with edged tools. Come, citizens, take hold and we'll carry +them both to the Section. You may take your choice, Citizen Ferrand, the +corpse or the dying man. I'll carry either of them, and little Jacques +shall run ahead. Forward, march, comrades." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +SOMETHING HIDDEN + + +"Colonel Robert Tournay, you are summoned before the Committee of Public +Safety!" Silence followed this call. The clerk repeated his summons. +Again silence. + +"I move," said one of the members, "that the examination proceed. The +citizen colonel was summoned and has not appeared. If he is not here to +defend himself, that is his affair, not ours." + +"Citizen Bernard Gardin," said the president, "repeat to the committee +the result of your interview with the Citizen Tournay." + +Gardin rose. "The said citizen, Colonel Tournay, refused to recognize +the mandate of the Committee of Public Safety. The commissioners sent to +apprehend his person were treated with marked disrespect and expelled +from the camp with insult." Gardin spoke the words with bitter emphasis. + +Without even looking at him, Danton interrupted the witness. "The +citizen colonel pleaded that an impending battle made it necessary for +him to remain in the field, did he not?" + +"He did make some such excuse," sneered Gardin. + +"Instead of refusing to obey the summons, the citizen colonel stated +that, the battle once decided, he would hasten to Paris, did he not?" +continued Danton, lifting his voice and turning his eyes full upon +Gardin. + +"He did say he would come at some future time," admitted Gardin, "but he +refused to obey the summons which called upon him to return with the +commissioners." + +"And thereby insulted the committee," said Couthon. + +"If the committee recalls our officers from the field upon the eve of +battle they must expect our armies to be defeated," Danton remarked +dryly. "Colonel Tournay refused to obey the letter of the summons and +remained at his post of duty. The French armies have just won a glorious +victory at Wissembourg in which the accused distinguished himself by +great bravery and devotion to the Republic. I move that when he does +appear he receive the thanks of this committee in the name of France." + +"Do you advocate rewarding him for his disobedience and his indifference +to our authority?" inquired President Robespierre. + +"I believe that victories are more important to France at this juncture, +citizen president, than any slight disregard of the letter of the +committee's authority." + +Robespierre shut his thin lips together and turned to St. Just. + +"Let us proceed with the inquiry," he said after a moment's +consultation. "Clerk, call the other witnesses." + +"Are you not going to give Colonel Tournay twelve hours longer in which +to appear in person?" persisted Danton. + +"Of what use would that be?" asked Couthon. "He will not come within +twelve months." + +"Let the inquiry proceed," commanded the president impatiently. + +As if to show his indifference to the proceedings, Danton rose from his +seat, yawned, and then strolled to the window. As he did so, a sudden +shout rose from a crowd gathered below. Danton bent forward and looked +out into the street to ascertain the cause. + +The door swung open and Colonel Tournay entered the room. He was +followed by many of the crowd. The news of the great victory of the +French armies on the frontier had just reached Paris and stirred it with +enthusiasm. The people in the streets had caught sight of his uniform +and surmising that he had just come from the scene of war pressed about +him closely, crying for details of the battle. Some had recognized him +personally and called out his name. The great crowd had taken it up, and +cheered wildly for one of the heroes of Wissembourg and Landau. + +There was a flush of excitement on his cheek and a sparkle in his eye as +he stepped forward. + +"I understand that I am called before this committee to answer certain +charges," he said in a clear ringing voice. "What is the accusation? I +am here to answer it." + +The crowd outside the door took up the shout. + +"Yes, of what is the citizen colonel accused? Who accuses the hero of +Landau?" + +Robespierre changed color and hesitated. Danton eyed the president with +a sneer upon his lips, which he made no attempt to conceal. The breach +between the two men had widened to such an extent that it had become a +matter of common gossip. + +"You are accused of winning a battle," said Danton with a laugh,--"a +rare event in these days." + +Robespierre turned and whispered to St. Just. The latter answered +Tournay. + +"There are three charges against you," he said. "First, you are accused +of having been concerned in the rescue of a certain Citizeness de +Rochefort from prison boat number four on the River Loire. Secondly, of +escorting the said Citizeness de Rochefort across France under a false +name. Thirdly, of having insulted the authority of four commissioners +sent by the Committee of Public Safety to arrest you. These accusations +have been preferred against you before this committee, which feels +called upon to investigate them carefully. If they decide that there is +sufficient evidence to warrant it, they will bring the case before the +Revolutionary Tribunal. Now that you have heard the charges, I ask you: +Do you wish to employ counsel?" + +"With the permission of the committee I leave my case in the hands of a +member of the convention, Citizen Danton," said Tournay. + +"Call the first witness," said St. Just. + +"Citizen Leboeuf to the stand," cried the clerk. + +The bulky form of Leboeuf lumbered forward. His face was red and his +eyes heavy. His testimony was given hesitatingly, as if he were +endeavoring to conceal some of the facts. He deposed that the accused, +Tournay, had assisted in rescuing the Citizeness de Rochefort from the +prison boat number four on the River Loire on the fifth Nivose. +Cross-examined by Danton, he admitted reluctantly that he could not +swear to the identity of the accused, but felt certain it was he. It was +a man of just his height and general appearance; he had good reason to +know that the citizen colonel was much interested in the fate of the +Citizeness de Rochefort. + +Danton dismissed him with a contemptuous wave of the hand, and Leboeuf +retired, outwardly discomfited and purple of face, yet with a certain +inward sense of relief that the examination was over. + +"The citizen colonel admits that he escorted a woman to the frontier," +Danton went on, "but it was under a passport issued by the Committee of +Public Safety. It has not been proven that this woman was the escaped +prisoner, Citizeness de Rochefort. He also admits having refused to +accompany the commissioners to Paris, and having expelled them from his +camp. For this act of discourtesy to the committee he offers an apology, +and pleads in extenuation that it was on the eve of a battle in which +his presence was necessary to our armies." + +Robespierre turned to St. Just and Couthon. They held an animated +discussion, during which both the latter were seen to remonstrate. +Finally at a signal from the president, the entire committee withdrew +for consultation. + +Tournay glanced about the room. He knew that he had the interest and +sympathy of most who were present, and from the manner in which the +inquiry had been conducted, he felt little anxiety as to the result. + +He had not long to wait before the members of the committee entered the +room and took their places. + +The president touched the bell. St. Just rose, and speaking with +apparent reluctance said:-- + +"The committee do not find sufficient evidence to warrant the trial of +Colonel Robert Tournay upon the charge of treason to the Republic." + +A cheer rang through the room, which was re-echoed in the corridor and +out into the street beyond. + +The president touched his bell sharply. St. Just continued:-- + +"The committee relieves Colonel Tournay from his command for the +present. He will await here in Paris the orders of the committee in +regard to returning to the army. The inquiry is now ended, and the +meeting adjourns." + +Tournay walked out of the court accompanied by Danton and through the +street to his friend's lodgings, followed by an admiring crowd cheering +the hero of Landau. + +Two incidents took place in quick succession during the short walk to +Danton's house. + +These incidents had no relation to each other, yet they both gave +Tournay the uncomfortable sensation that besets a man when he is +contending with unknown or secret forces. + +In passing by the Jacobin Club he saw a man enter at the door. He could +not see the face, but the figure and movements were so much like those +of de Lacheville that had he not felt sure that it would be equivalent +to the marquis's death-sentence for him to be found in Paris, he would +have been certain it was his enemy. The idea was so unlikely, however, +that he dismissed it from his mind. + +As they passed down the Rue des Cordelières and reached the door of +Danton's house, a man, issuing from the crowd, brushed closely against +Tournay's shoulder. In doing so the colonel felt a letter slipped into +his hand. "From a friend," sounded in his ear. "Examine it when alone." +Tournay mechanically put the paper in his pocket, and followed Danton +into the house, upon the giant uttering the laconic invitation:-- + +"Come in." + +"You have not said a word about the prompt dismissal of the charges +against me," said Tournay, as they entered the dingy room which served +Danton for office as well as salon. + +The giant threw off his coat and filled his pipe. Taking a seat he began +to smoke rapidly. + +"There is more behind it," he said. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Did you not notice that no attempt was made to convict you?" + +"I did, but I attributed it to lack of evidence on their part." + +"Lack of evidence!" repeated Danton. "They are capable of manufacturing +that when needed." + +"I confess I thought it possible that the popularity of the army with +the people had something to do with it." + +Danton smiled pityingly. + +"I tell you that there is something behind it all. I cannot account for +Robespierre's sudden change. It was he who directed your acquittal. +There is something behind all this. He works in the dark, and secretly. +Tournay, I mistrust that man as much as I hate him," and he began to +smoke violently. + +"Why do you not crush him, Jacques?" asked Tournay coolly. + +"Ay, that's the question I often ask myself," said Danton, lifting up +his mighty arm and looking at it, smiling grimly the while as if he were +thinking of Robespierre's sallow face and puny body. + +"If you don't crush him, he will sting you to death," added Tournay +impressively, as he rose to go. + +Danton doubled up his arm once more till the muscles swelled into great +knots upon it. "Ha, ha," he laughed, "I don't fear that, Tournay; he's +too much of a coward to lay hands upon me." + +"Do you never fear for your own safety when you see so many falling +beneath the hand of this man who rules France?" asked Tournay. + +Danton started at the words "rules France." + +"Yes, he does rule France. He rules the tribunal. He rules me, curse +him! But as for fearing him, Jacques Danton fears nothing in this world +or the next." + +"Good-night," said Tournay shortly. "But remember, Jacques, you, of all +men, can crush the tyrant if you will." + +"Good-night," said Danton, placing his huge hand on Tournay's shoulder. +"Be assured that Robespierre is holding something back. There is +something behind the mask. Be prepared." + +Tournay laughed. "I cannot, perhaps, say unreservedly that I fear +nothing in this world or the next, Jacques, but be assured, I do not +fear him." And he walked away with head erect and military swing, toward +the Rue des Mathurins. Danton resumed his pipe, muttering to himself +like some volcano rumbling inwardly,-- + +"Jacques, you can crush him if you will!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE PRESIDENT'S NOTE + + +As Tournay entered the doorway of 15 Rue des Mathurins an excited little +man brushed quickly past him, muttered an apology, and ran hurriedly up +the street. Under his arm he carried a handsome coat. + +"I'll wager that's some thief who has been plying his trade upstairs," +thought Tournay. "It was clumsy on my part to let him get by me. But I'm +too tired to run after him. He can wear his stolen finery for all me." +And he climbed up the stairs to the fourth landing. + +"Welcome, my general!" cried Gaillard, rising up and throwing to one +side the theatrical costume into which he was neatly fitting a patch. + +"Not general yet, my little Gaillard," was the reply, as the two friends +embraced warmly. + +"How? Not a general yet?" exclaimed the actor. "Why, all the city is +ringing with news of the victory of Wissembourg and the hero of Landau!" + +"That may be, my friend, but I have not received my promotion, and, what +is more, I am not expecting it. I shall be quite satisfied to have the +convention send me to the front again, where there is work to be done." + +"Bah! Is the convention mad that it overlooks our bravest and best +officer?" exclaimed Gaillard in a tone of disgust. + +"Wait until you have heard what I have to tell you, and then say whether +I shall not be fortunate if permitted to return to my command, even if +it be but one regiment." + +"Danton is right," said Gaillard, when the colonel had finished his +account of the day's proceedings. "Undoubtedly there is something behind +all this; what it is, the future will show." + +"In the mean time let us have something to eat," said Tournay; "I am as +hungry as a wolf. Is there any food in the house?" + +"An unusual supply," was Gaillard's answer. "We will dine in your honor, +colonel, and though the convention has not seen fit to adorn your brow +with laurels, I will make some amends by pledging your health in a glass +of wine as good as any that can be found in Paris to-day." + +"I shall be pleased to eat a dinner in any one's honor, for I have eaten +nothing since daylight, and it is now four o'clock." + +"Sit down for one moment then, while I take a few last stitches in my +work here. I had expected to wear a new costume in the piece to-night, +'Le Mariage de Figaro,' but the tailor brought a garment that fitted +abominably, and to the insult of a grotesque fit he added the injury of +an exorbitant bill, so I refused the coat and dismissed him with an +admonition." + +"I must have encountered your tailor as I came up," said Tournay. "He +was very pressed for time, and seemed to have taken your admonition much +to heart." + +"Not exactly to heart," replied Gaillard, his mouth widening with a +grin, "for I emphasized my remarks rather forcibly with my shoe. I +kicked him down one flight of stairs, and he ran down the others." + +"I am afraid your dramatic nature causes you to be rather precipitate at +times, Gaillard," remarked Colonel Tournay, smiling. + +"On this occasion all the precipitation was on the part of the tailor," +replied Gaillard. "Well, this old costume is mended; it will have to +serve me for a few nights. Now for dinner. Take your place at the table. +I shall sit at the head, and you, as the guest, shall occupy the place +at my right hand. You will excuse me for one moment, will you not, while +I serve the repast?" and before Tournay could answer Gaillard had left +the room. + +Tournay seated himself at the table, and took from his pocket the letter +which had been placed in his hands on the street. It was addressed in a +large hand to "Citizen Colonel Robert Tournay." The writing was that of +a person who evidently wielded the pen but occasionally, and he could +not be sure whether it came from a man or woman. He broke the seal and +read:-- + + CITIZEN COLONEL,--Your attitude toward some of the members of + the Convention has made you a number of enemies. Do not take + the dismissal of the charges brought against you before the + committee as an evidence that these enemies are defeated; they + have merely resolved to change their tactics during your + present popularity. Had you been defeated at Wissembourg and + Landau, you would not now be at liberty. You may be sure these + men have your ultimate downfall in view. Distrust them all. + +Tournay ran his eyes hastily over a list of a dozen names, among which +were Couthon, St. Just, and Collot-d'Herbois. + +"Here it is, hot and succulent from the kitchen of Citizeness Ribot," +called out Gaillard, appearing from an inner room with a steaming dish, +which he placed before him. "What have you got there?" he asked, blowing +on his fingers to cool them. + +Tournay handed him the paper. "All of them either friends or tools of +Robespierre," was Gaillard's comment. "How did this come into your +hands?" + +Tournay told him. His friend stepped to the fireplace. + +"What are you going to do?" inquired Tournay. + +"I make it a point never to keep anything with writing on it. It may be +a tradition of my profession, for on the stage trouble always lurks in +written documents. We must burn this." + +"Do not be so hasty, Gaillard; you may burn it after I have committed +those names to memory." + +"Then I will put it here on the chimney-piece for the present. Don't +carry it about you. It is a dangerous paper in times like these." + +"Very well, I will be guided by your counsels. And just at this moment +you advise dining, do you not?" and Tournay turned to the dish on the +table. "It has a very agreeable odor. What is it?" + +"The menu, to-day, consists of three courses; bread, salt, and,"--here +the actor removed the cover of the dish with a flourish--"rabbit +ragout." + +"Will you assure me that the rabbit did not mew at the prospect of being +turned into a ragout?" inquired Tournay, holding out his plate while +Gaillard heaped it with the stew. + +"You will have to ask the cook, my little war-god. When I delivered to +her the material in its natural state it consisted of two little gray +tailless animals with long ears; but to exonerate her, I call your +attention to the house-cat at this moment poking her nose in at the +door. And let me say further, that whether it be cat or rabbit you seem +to be able to dispose of a goodly quantity of it." + +"My dear Gaillard, I am a soldier and can eat anything," was Tournay's +rejoinder. + +"But cast not your eyes longingly upon the poor animal who has come in +attracted by the smell of dinner; she is my especial pet. Let me divert +your attention from her by pouring you a glass of wine." + +"Gaillard, your dinner is most excellent; your pet shall be safe." + +Gaillard filled two glasses with wine. + +"Your very good health, Colonel Tournay, of the Army of the Moselle." + +"Yours, my dear friend Gaillard." + +The two friends rose and touched glasses over the little table. + +"That wine is wonderful," said Tournay as he put down the glass. "What +do you mean by drinking such nectar? Do you live so near the top of the +house in order that you may spend your savings on your wine cellar?" + +"That bottle is one of six presented to me by our neighbor, Citizen St. +Hilaire. He has been living modestly in the attic overhead, but he +evidently had a knowledge of good wine." + +"Ah, Citizen St. Hilaire," repeated Tournay. "He is a man who should +well know good wine; but you said he has been living overhead. Is he not +there now?" + +"Three days ago he disappeared. He left a note for the Citizeness Ribot +with the money due for rent, and stated that he should not return. His +action was explained next morning when a gendarme from the section made +his appearance and inquired for Citizen St. Hilaire. Since then his +chamber is watched night and day. I doubt if he returns." + +"He is quite capable of keeping out of danger or getting into it, as the +fancy suits him, if he is the man I once knew," remarked Tournay. + +Gaillard filled the glasses again. "Let us not talk about him in too +loud a tone," he said, "but quietly pledge him in his own Burgundy." + +Tournay took the proffered glass. The gentle gurgle down two throats +told that St. Hilaire's health was drunk fervently if silently. + +"With your permission I will propose a toast," said Tournay, as Gaillard +emptied the last of the bottle into their glasses. The actor nodded. + +"To the French Republic," exclaimed Tournay. "May victory still perch +upon her banners." + +"To the Republic," echoed Gaillard. + +Again the glasses clinked over the small wooden table. + +"As long as we have victory," continued Tournay, "what care we whether +we be colonels, generals, or soldiers of the line? Our victories are the +nation's. All are sharers in its glory." + +"Long live the Republic!" they cried in concert, and set down their +empty wineglasses. + +"Now I must fly to the theatre," exclaimed Gaillard; "you have made me +late with your republics"-- + +"And I must to bed," said Tournay. "This morning's dawn found me in the +saddle in order to reach the convention at an early hour." + +"You have made a mistake, citizen sergeant," exclaimed Gaillard +suddenly, as an officer of gendarmerie appeared at the open door. "The +floor above is where you want to go." + +"I want to see the Citizen Colonel Tournay," was the reply. + +"I am he," said Tournay. + +The sergeant awkwardly gave the military salute. "Here is a letter for +you, citizen colonel." + +Tournay took the paper, and the sergeant turned toward the door. + +"Is there any answer required?" asked Tournay, as he broke the seal. + +"None through me. Good-night, citizen colonel." And the heavy jack-boots +were heard descending the stairs. + +Gaillard began hurriedly to make a bundle of his theatrical costume, +while Tournay broke the seal and glanced over the contents of the +letter. + +"Read this," he said, passing the paper to Gaillard, who stood by his +side, bundle under arm. + +Gaillard read:-- + + To CITIZEN COLONEL ROBERT TOURNAY, Rue des Mathurins 15. + + Will the patriotic citizen colonel call upon the humble and + none the less patriotic citizen, Maximilian Robespierre, this + evening at seven, to discuss affairs pertaining to the good of + the nation? If the Citizen Tournay can come, no answer need be + sent. + + (Signed) MAXIMILIAN ROBESPIERRE. + + 17th Pluviose, Year II. of the French Republic, one and + indivisible. + +"He evidently takes it for granted that I will come, for his messenger +waited for no answer," added Tournay. + +"It's the sequel of this afternoon's inquiry," said Gaillard, as he +returned it, "and too exquisitely polite for a plain citizen. What are +you going to do?" + +"I am going to see him, of course," replied Tournay. "It is the only way +to find out what he wants." + +Gaillard nodded. "That's true; I almost feel like going with you and +remaining outside the door," and Gaillard placed his package on the +table. + +"That is unnecessary, my friend; I never felt more secure in my life. Go +to your performance of Figaro and on your return you will find me here +in this easy-chair, smoking one of your pipes." + +Gaillard took up his bundle again. "Very well, but mind, if I do not +find you seated in that arm-chair smoking a pipe I shall know you are in +trouble." + +Tournay laughed. "You will find me there, never fear. And now let us go +out together." + +"I am abominably late!" exclaimed Gaillard, as they parted at the +corner. "The director will have the pleasure of collecting a fine from +my weekly salary. Good-night--embrace me, my little war god! Au revoir," +and the actor hurried down the street, whistling cheerfully. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BENEATH THE MASK + + +An atmosphere of secrecy seemed to pervade Robespierre's house, and +Tournay, following the servant along the dimly lighted corridor, passed +his hand over his eyes, as one brushes away the fine cobwebs that come +across the face in going through the woods. + +The rustle of a gown fell upon his ear as he entered the salon, and at +the further end of the apartment he saw a woman who had evidently risen +at his entrance, and now stood irresolute, with one hand on the latch of +a door leading into an adjoining room, as if she had intended making her +exit unobserved by him. + +She stood in such a manner that the shadow of the half-open door fell +across her face, but he could see that she was a young woman of small +stature and well proportioned figure. At the sound of his voice she +allowed her hand to fall from the latch, then lifting her head erect, +walked toward him. + +"La Liberté!" ejaculated Tournay. He had not seen her since the day he +had left her dancing on the cannon-truck, winecup in hand; but she still +kept her girlish look, and except in her dress she had not greatly +changed. + +She still showed a partiality for bright colors, by her gown of deep +crimson. But the material was of velvet instead of the simple woolen +stuff she used to wear. Her hair, which had once curled about her +forehead and been tossed about by the wind, was now coiled upon her +head, from which a few locks, as if rebellious at confinement, had +fallen on her neck and shoulders. She wore nothing on her head but a +tricolored knot of ribbon, the color of the Republic. + +"How does it happen that we meet here?" asked Tournay after a moment, +during which he had gazed at her in surprise. + +"Never mind about me for the present," she said, looking up in his face, +half defiantly, half admiringly; for as he stood before her, framed in +the open door, he was a striking picture, with his handsome, bronzed +face and brilliant uniform. + +"Let us speak of your affairs," she continued. "I am told the committee +has ordered you to await its permission before returning to the army." + +"How did you know that?" he demanded in surprise. + +"Oh, I know many things that are going on in this strange world," and +she gave the old toss of her head. "Now do not talk, but listen. You +must return to the army. A soldier like you is at a disadvantage among +these intriguers. They will suspect you for the simple reason that they +suspect every one. You, who are accustomed to fight openly, will fall a +victim to their wiles." + +"My enemies may find that I can strike back," said Tournay quietly. + +La Liberté shrugged her shoulders. + +"Did you receive a letter this afternoon?" she asked quickly. + +"Did you write that letter?" + +"I never write letters," she answered significantly; "but if you +received one and read it, you know the names of some of your enemies. +What can you do with such an array against you? I repeat, you are no +match for them. You must go back to your command." + +"That is what I desire above all else," answered Tournay. + +"You can go to-morrow, if you wish," said the demoiselle. + +"How?" + +"By listening to what the president of the committee has to say to you, +and agreeing to it. Yield to his demands, whatever they may be, and you +will be permitted to set out to-morrow." + +"I shall be glad to meet the committee more than halfway. I will agree +to everything they wish, if I can do so consistently." + +"Consistently!" she repeated. "I see you will be obstinate." Then she +stopped and looked full in his face. "I might know that you would after +all only act according to your convictions, and that any advice would be +thrown away on you. Well, I must say I like you better that way, and +were I a man I should do the same." + +She placed one hand upon her hip where hung a small poniard suspended +by a silver chain about her waist, and went on earnestly: "But listen to +this word of advice. You, who have been so long absent from Paris, do +not realize Robespierre's power. It is sometimes the part of a brave man +to yield. Give way to him as much as your _consistency_ will permit. Now +adieu." She turned away; then facing him suddenly with an impulsive +gesture she came toward him. + +"Compatriot!" she said with an unwonted tremble in her voice, "will you +take my hand?" He took the hand extended to him. + +"I do not forget, Marianne, that you and I both came from La Thierry. If +ever you are in need of a friend, you can rely upon me." + +For one moment the brown head was bent over his hand, and La Liberté +showed an emotion which none of those who thought they knew her would +have believed possible. Then throwing back her head she disappeared +through the door beyond, as Robespierre entered from the corridor. + +Much absorbed in his meditations, Robespierre did not appear to notice +that any one had just quitted the room. He walked very slowly as if to +impress Tournay with his greatness, and did not speak for some moments. +He no longer affected the great simplicity of dress which had +characterized him at the beginning of the Revolution, and the coat of +blue velvet, waistcoat of white silk, and buff breeches which he wore +were quite in keeping with his fine linen shirt and the laces of his +ruffles. + +It was Tournay who first broke the silence. + +"Citizen president, you see I have been prompt to comply with your +request; I am here in answer to your summons." + +Robespierre raised his head, and started from his soliloquy. + +"Ah yes, you are the citizen colonel who appeared to-day before the +committee to answer certain charges." + +"I am," replied Tournay. + +"Citizen colonel," said Robespierre, "I will be perfectly frank with +you. The Committee of Public Safety, whose dearest wish, whose only +thought, is the welfare of the Republic," here the president's small +eyes blinked in rapid succession, "is not quite satisfied with the +condition of affairs in the army." + +"I am sorry to hear that, citizen president, and in behalf of the army, +I would call the committee's attention to the recent battles in which +the soldiers of France have certainly borne themselves with great +bravery. I speak now as one of their officers who is justly proud of +them." + +"It is not the conduct of the soldiers of which the committee finds +cause of complaint," replied Robespierre, "but of their generals." + +"It is not for me to criticise my superior officers," said Tournay. "I +leave that to the nation." + +"The committee has good reason to criticise the attitude of certain of +its generals, who seem to have forgotten that they are merely citizens. +They have been chosen to serve the Republic only for a time in a more +exalted position than their fellow citizens, yet they have become +swollen with pride, and take to themselves the credit of the victories +won by their armies. Their dispatches to the convention are couched in +arrogant and sometimes insolent language." + +Tournay bowed. "Again I must refrain from expressing my opinion on such +a matter," he said. + +"Ever since the treason of General Dumouriez," Robespierre went on, "the +committee has had its suspicions as to the conduct of several of its +generals. Hoche is one." + +Tournay started. + +"What you are pleased to impart to me, citizen president, sounds +strange. Permit me to state that I feel sure the committee's suspicions +are unfounded." + +Robespierre looked at him closely. "Does General Hoche take you into his +entire confidence?" he inquired quickly; his weak eyes blinking more +rapidly than ever. + +"No, I am merely a colonel in his army. Though I have good reason to +believe he places confidence in me, he naturally does not inform me of +his plans before they are matured." + +"Citizen colonel, the committee also places great confidence in you, and +for that reason it wishes you to return at once to the army." + +"I obey its orders with the greatest pleasure in the world," said +Tournay. + +"The committee also desires," Robespierre continued, "that you send to +its secretary each week a minute report of everything that passes under +your notice, particularly as regards the actions of Citizen General +Hoche. Do not regard anything as too trifling to be included in your +report; the committee will pass upon its importance." + +Tournay had listened in silence. His teeth ground together in the rage +he struggled to suppress. He felt that if he made a movement it would be +to strike the president to the floor. + +"I must decline the commission with which the committee honors me. I am +not fitted for it," he replied. + +"The committee has chosen you as eminently fitted for the work. The +confidence that General Hoche places in you makes you the best agent the +committee could employ." + +"Then tell your committee, citizen president, that it must find some +less fitting agent to do its dirty work. My business is to fight the +enemies of France, not to spy upon its patriots." + +Robespierre's sallow face became a shade more yellow. "Have a care how +you speak of the committee. In the service of the Republic all +employment is sacred and honorable." + +"I prefer my own interpretation of the words," answered Tournay, with a +look of scorn. + +"And yet you yourself have somewhat strange ideas of what is honorable," +remarked Robespierre sneeringly. + +"I do not understand what you mean," replied Tournay. + +Robespierre stepped to the wall and pulled the bell-rope. "Perhaps when +it is made clear to you, your mind may change." + +The colonel made no reply, but the next moment uttered an exclamation of +surprise as the Marquis de Lacheville entered the room. Robespierre +turned toward Tournay with the shadow of a smile hovering on his thin +lips. + +"You know this citizen?" he asked in his harsh voice. + +Tournay looked at the marquis curiously, wondering why he had +jeopardized his own safety by returning to Paris. The look of hatred +which the nobleman shot at him served as an explanation. + +"I know him as a former nobleman, an emigré, who is proscribed by the +Republic; I wonder that he puts his life in danger by returning to the +land he fled from." + +The marquis made an uneasy gesture, and was about to speak when +Robespierre said:-- + +"He has taken the oath of allegiance to the Republic." + +Tournay laughed outright at this. "And do you trust his oath?" he asked. + +"And for the service he now renders the nation, his emigration and the +fact of his having been an aristocrat are to be condoned." As he spoke, +a grim smile hovered about Robespierre's lips. It faded away instantly, +leaving his face as mirthless and forbidding as before. + +"Shall we ask the Citizen Lacheville to tell us when he last saw you?" +he went on sternly. + +"It is unnecessary. We met last at Falzenberg," said Tournay, eyeing him +with disdain. + +"Where you were on terms of intimacy with Prussian officers," said de +Lacheville. "I will not dwell upon the fact of your having assisted an +aristocrat to escape from prison; but I will testify to your having come +in disguise to the enemies of France and entered into a secret +understanding with them. I was serving those same enemies at the time, I +will admit," and the marquis shrugged his shoulders, "but as the Citizen +Robespierre has said, I have repented of it, and have come here to make +atonement by faithful devotion to the nation. One of the greatest of my +pleasures is to help unmask a hypocrite." + +Tournay addressed Robespierre. + +"Do you believe this man's story?" + +"You have already admitted having gone over the frontier," was the suave +rejoinder. + +"I did go, yes." + +"Will you deny having been closeted alone with General von Waldenmeer?" + +"No, but"-- + +"Do you suppose any tribunal in the land would hold you guiltless upon +such testimony and such admissions?" + +"Permit me to ask you two questions," said Tournay. + +Robespierre acquiesced. + +"Admitting that this--_citizen's_ accusation is true, why did I return +to Wissembourg and do my best to defeat the enemy with whom I am accused +by him of being on friendly terms?" + +"There are hundreds of similar precedents--Dumouriez's, for example." + +"Admitting, then, that I have already been false to one trust, how is it +that you are prepared to trust me now to play the spy for your +committee?" continued Tournay, with contempt ringing in his voice. + +Again the peculiar smile flitted across Robespierre's pale features. + +"All men are to be trusted as far as their self-interest leads them," he +answered. "None are to be trusted implicitly. You will be watched +closely and will doubtless prove faithful. It will be to your decided +advantage to attend to the committee's business efficiently. Your little +interview with the Prussian general, from which nothing has resulted, +may be forgotten for the time." + +Tournay's anger during the interview had several times risen to white +heat. Not even his sense of danger enabled him longer to repress it. + +"I have already told you that I would have nothing to do with the +commission of your committee!" he cried hotly. "And as for this man's +accusations, let him make them in court and I will answer him. Let him +repeat them in the streets and I will thrust the lies back into his +throat and choke him with them." As he spoke he advanced toward de +Lacheville who paled and retreated a step or two. "If any man accuses me +of disloyalty to the Republic," continued Tournay, turning and +addressing Robespierre, "unless he takes revenge behind the bar of a +tribunal he shall answer to me personally. I will defend my honor with +my own hand." + +Robespierre turned pale and took a step or two in the direction of the +bell-rope. + +"You may have an opportunity to answer the charges before the tribunal," +he said coldly. + +"Why did you not bring them in to-day's inquiry?" demanded Tournay. + +"I do not announce my reasons nor divulge my plans," was the reply. "It +is enough to know that I had need of you. Neither am I in the habit of +having my will opposed. You would do best to yield before it is too +late." + +"Robespierre," cried Tournay, the blood mounting to his forehead, "you +have played the tyrant too long! You are not 'in the habit of having +your will opposed?' I have not learned to bend and truckle to your will, +doing your bidding like a dog; and, by Heaven! I will not now. Bring +your charges against me before your tribunal, packed as it is with your +creatures, and I will answer them, but my answer shall be addressed to +the Nation. My appeal will be to the People. I will denounce you for +what you are, a tyrant. And a coward--too"--he continued, as +Robespierre, with ashen lips, rang the bell violently. "You shall be +known for what you are, and when you are once known the people will +cease to fear you." + +He strode toward the committee's president, who, with trembling knees, +stood tugging at the bell-rope. De Lacheville had long since fled from +the room; and Robespierre, pulling his courage together with an effort, +lifted his hand and pointed a trembling finger at Tournay. + +"Stop where you are!" he shrieked. "Come a step nearer me at your +peril!" + +"I am not going to do you any injury," was Tournay's reply in a tone of +contempt; "I despise you too much to do you personal violence; I leave +you to your fears, citizen president." + +There was a sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor, and Tournay moved +toward the door to be confronted by a file of soldiers. + +"Henriot, you drunken snail," cried Robespierre, "why did you not answer +my summons? Arrest this man." + +Tournay turned a look upon Robespierre which made the latter quail +notwithstanding the guard that surrounded him. + +"You had this all arranged," said the colonel quietly. + +"I was prepared," replied Robespierre grimly. + +Tournay turned away with contempt. "Dictator, your time will be short," +he murmured. + +"Come, citizen colonel," said the Commandant Henriot, "I must trouble +you for your sword." + +"Where are you going to take me?" asked Tournay as he delivered up his +weapon. + +Henriot glanced at his chief as if for instructions. + +"To the Luxembourg," was the order. Then, without looking at Tournay, +Robespierre left the room. + +"May I send word to a friend at my lodgings?" Tournay asked of Henriot. + +"No," was the short rejoinder, "you must come with me on the instant." + +In the corridor stood de Lacheville. He smiled triumphantly as he saw +Tournay pass out between the file of soldiers. + +"De Lacheville," said Tournay scornfully, "you have played the part of a +fool as well as a coward. A few days and you also will be in prison." + +His guards hurried him on, and he could not hear de Lacheville's answer. + +At the doorway that led into the street stood La Liberté. + +"Out of the way, citizeness!" growled Henriot. + +"Out of the way yourself, Citizen Henriot," was the woman's reply, and +she pushed through the soldiers until she stood at Tournay's elbow. + +"Come, citizeness, none of that; you cannot speak to the prisoner," +growled Henriot a second time. + +"I was afraid of this," she whispered in Tournay's ear. + +"Will you take a message for me?" he asked in a quick whisper. + +"Yes." + +"Go to Gaillard, 15 Rue des Mathurins, wait until he comes. Tell him I +am arrested. That is all." + +With a nod of intelligence, La Liberté left his side and disappeared in +the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +PIERRE AND JEAN + + +As Gaillard stepped out from the theatre into a dark side street a hand +fell upon his right shoulder. He looked around and saw a tall gendarme +standing by his side. The prospect did not please him, so he turned to +the left and saw another gendarme standing there. This one was short, +and stout with a smile on his red face. Then Gaillard stopped. + +"Well, citizens of the police," he exclaimed, "I don't need any escort. +I can find my way home alone." + +"Is your name Gaillard?" asked one. + +"I have every reason to believe so," was the reply. + +"Actor?" demanded the other. + +"Ah, there I am not so certain," he answered. + +"How? You do not know your own vocation?" + +"My friends say I am an actor, and my enemies dispute it. What is your +opinion?" + +"I can say you are an actor, for I have seen you act," said the stout +gendarme. "And a very good actor you were. You made me laugh heartily." + +"Then I shall count you among my friends!" exclaimed Gaillard. "And +between friends now, what is it that you want of me?" + +"We are going to take you to the Luxembourg." + +"What for?" + +"I will read you the warrant," said the tall gendarme. "Come under the +light of the lantern yonder." + +Gaillard accompanied the two police officers to the other side of the +street. + +One of them took a large paper from his breast-pocket:-- + +"Warrant of arrest for the Citizen Gaillard, actor of the theatre of the +Republic. Cause: Friend of the Suspect Tournay, and, therefore, to be +apprehended." + +Gaillard repressed the start that the sight of his friend's name gave +him. "'The Suspect Tournay.' My colonel has been arrested," he said to +himself. Then heaving a deep sigh he exclaimed aloud in a pathetic tone +of voice:-- + +"It is very sad to think I should be arrested just as I was going to +have such a good part in the new piece at the theatre." + +"Was it a funny one?" inquired the short gendarme. + +"Funny! why if you should hear it, you'd laugh those big brass buttons +off your coat." + +"It's a shame you can't play it," was the sympathetic rejoinder. + +"I'll tell you what you can do," said Gaillard. "Go with me to my house, +15 Rue des Mathurins, and let me fetch the part so that I can study it +while in prison; then, if I should be released soon I shall be prepared +to play the part." + +"It's against our orders," said the tall gendarme. "We must take you at +once to the Luxembourg." + +"It's very near here," persisted Gaillard, "and I will read one or two +of the funniest speeches while we are there." + +"It will not take us more than fifteen minutes," interposed the stout +gendarme, looking at his mate. + +"And when I am released," said Gaillard persuasively, "and play the +part, I'll send you each an admission." + +"Well," said the tall gendarme, "we'll go." + +"You see," explained Gaillard as they walked off in the direction of the +Rue des Mathurins, "my arrest is a mistake, that's clear. Whoever heard +of an actor being mixed up in politics!" + +"That's so," remarked the short gendarme. + +"Yes," admitted the long one, "I have arrested many a suspect, and +you're the first actor. But I have my duty to perform, and if the +warrant calls for an actor, an actor has to come." + +"Of course," agreed Gaillard, "you are a man of high principle, as any +one can see." + +Gaillard knew that as soon as he was arrested his rooms would be +searched for any evidence of a suspicious nature. In all the house there +was only one document which could possibly compromise either himself or +Tournay, and that was the letter his friend had received that same +afternoon, and which was now lying upon the chimney-piece. + +"Here we are at No. 15; I live on the fourth floor," he said, as they +came to the door. + +"Whew!" exclaimed the stout gendarme. "You'll have to give us half a +dozen of the best jokes if we go way up there." + +"You shall have as many as you can stand," answered Gaillard. "Now, +citizen officers, mind the angle in the wall, that's it. It's not a hard +climb when you're used to it." + +"Whew!" exclaimed the stout man as they entered Gaillard's apartment, "I +could not climb that every day." He sank down in a chair and mopped the +perspiration from his brow. + +"I wish I was sure of climbing it every day of my life," said Gaillard. +"It's thirsty work, however, so let us have something to refresh +ourselves with;" and he took out from the closet a bottle of the choice +Burgundy and three glasses. + +"Here's to the gendarmerie," he said as he filled the glasses. + +A moment later two pairs of lips smacked approvingly in concert. + +"That's a vintage for you," said the short gendarme approvingly. + +"I never drank but one glass of better wine than this in my life," said +the tall gendarme meditatively. + +"When was that?" asked Gaillard as he filled the glasses again. + +"That was when the Count de Beaujeu's house was sacked, and the citizens +threw all the contents of his wine cellar into the street." + +"You did not drink a glass that time," remarked the stout gendarme, "you +had a hogshead." + +The tall man scowled. + +"Well, there's plenty of this," said Gaillard; "have another glass?" + +"We will," said both of the gendarmes. "Let us have a few of the funny +lines of your new part, citizen actor," said the stout gendarme +swallowing his third glass of Burgundy. + +"Willingly!" exclaimed Gaillard. He turned toward the chimney-piece and +took from it the manuscript of his part. Close beside it lay the letter. +His fingers itched to take it, but the eyes of the police officers were +upon him so closely that he dared not touch it. + +"Let us fill our glasses again before I begin," said the actor, +producing another bottle from the closet. + +"How many bottles of that wine have you?" inquired the tall gendarme. + +"Two more besides this," answered Gaillard, drawing the cork. + +"We might as well drink them all, now that we are here," said the +officer solemnly. + +"It would be a pity to leave any of it," Gaillard acquiesced. + +The short gendarme nodded his approval. + +"I wish I had a hogshead of it," thought Gaillard. "I'd put you both in +bed and leave you." + +After filling the glasses once again, Gaillard took up the lines and +began to act out his part. If he had been playing before a large and +enthusiastic audience, he could not have done it more effectively. + +The stout gendarme was soon in such a state of laughter that the tears +ran down his red cheeks. His merriment continued to increase to such an +extent as to alarm his companion. + +"He'll die of apoplexy some day, if he is so immoderate in his +raptures," said the tall man, shaking his head sadly. + +The fat gendarme was now coughing violently. Gaillard stopped to slap +him on the back. When the paroxysm was over, the actor brought out the +two remaining bottles of Burgundy. + +"A little of this wine may relieve your throat," he said, and filled the +glasses all round. + +"Continue, my friend," called out the jolly-faced officer; "don't stop +on my account." + +Gaillard went on with his rehearsal. The tall gendarme drank twice as +much wine as his stout companion, who was now rolling on the floor with +shouts of laughter. + +Finally, when the merry fellow could laugh no more, and the last drop of +wine had disappeared, the tall gendarme stooped, and lifting his fallen +companion to his feet leaned him up against the wall. "Jean," he said, +"thou art drunk. Shame upon thee." Then he turned toward Gaillard. +"Come, citizen actor, we must take you to the Luxembourg." + +"Let us at least smoke a pipe of tobacco before we go," said Gaillard, +bringing out smoking materials from the closet. + +"No time, citizen; as it is we may get in trouble through Jean's +indulgence in the bottle." The short gendarme certainly showed the +effect of the wine he had taken, though he straightened up and denied +it. + +"Pierre, thou liest, thou hast taken twice the quantity I have," he +rejoined, waving his hand toward the empty bottles. + +This also was true; and Gaillard looked with wonder at the solemn +countenance of the tall gendarme. + +"In any case, let us light our pipes and smoke them as we go along the +street," said the actor as he filled the pipes and handed one to each of +the police officers. + +"I'm quite agreeable to that," said Gendarme Pierre. + +Gendarme Jean made no reply, but endeavored to light his pipe over the +flame of the candle. + +Through a defect in vision occasioned by his potations, he held the bowl +several inches away from the flame and puffed vigorously. + +At this the tall gendarme laughed audibly for the first time during the +evening. Gaillard felt relieved. "He can laugh," he murmured. + +"Wait one moment and I will give you a light," he said, and taking a +piece of paper from the chimney-piece he carelessly twisted it in his +fingers, ignited it in the candle's flames, and held it over Jean's +pipe. Then he repeated the service to Gendarme Pierre, and ended by +lighting his own pipe, holding the offending list until the flame +touched his fingers and it was entirely consumed. + +"Forward, my children!" cried the stout gendarme gayly. "We must be off. +Shall we place seals upon the doors, comrade?" he said addressing his +friend Pierre. + +"No, my little idiot Jean, you will remember we are not supposed to have +come here at all. The seals will be placed here by men from the section. +Hurry forward now." + +They descended the stairs in single file. The tall gendarme leading, and +stout Jean bringing up the rear. He would stumble from time to time and +strike his head into Gaillard's shoulders. "Very awkward stairs," he +would murmur in apology, "very awkward." + +Once in the street he got along better, although his knees were a little +weak, and he showed an inclination to sing. + +"Be quiet, Jean," expostulated his companion in arms; "you will get both +of us in trouble." + +"As mute as a mouse, my clothespin," was the obedient reply. + +"You would better take his arm, citizen actor. We shall get along +faster." Gaillard complied, and arm in arm they walked off in the +direction of the Luxembourg. + +"What's this?" demanded the warden in the prison lodge, rubbing his +sleepy eyes as three men appeared before him in the gray light of early +morning. + +"Hector Gaillard, actor; domicile Rue des Mathurins 15; suspect. Warrant +executed by Officers Pierre Echelle and Jean Rondeau," said the tall +gendarme. + +The sleepy guardian turned over the pages of his book. + +"Ah yes, here it is. Bring your prisoner this way, citizen gendarme." + +Whereupon the stout gendarme, who had been quiet for some time, burst +into tears. + +"In God's name, what's the matter with him?" asked the astonished +warden. + +"He always does that way," said the gendarme Pierre. "'Tis his +sympathetic nature. He gets very much attached to his prisoners. Cease +thy tears, Jean, thou imbecile," and he cursed his brother gendarme +under his breath. + +Jean drew a long sob. "Adieu, my friend," he said, throwing his arms +about Gaillard's neck. + +"Why weepest thou?" inquired the actor pretending to be much affected. + +"I am afraid they will guillotine thee, my beautiful actor, before I +have laughed all the brass buttons off my coat at the play." + +"Courage, my friend," replied Gaillard; "I trust for thy sake that I may +live to act in many plays. Adieu, my gendarme," and he was led away to a +cell. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE LUXEMBOURG + + +Robert Tournay breathed easier after having sent the message to Gaillard +by La Liberté. Gaillard at least was not likely to become implicated; +and the anonymous communication once destroyed, nothing of an +incriminating nature would be found, should their lodging be visited. +Nevertheless, he could not repress a feeling of disquiet as the iron +door of the Luxembourg clanked behind him and he found himself a +prisoner. + +The cell into which he was conducted was absolutely dark. + +"It will not be so bad during the day," volunteered the jailer. "There +is a small window that looks out on the courtyard." Tournay drew a sigh +of thankfulness on hearing this. + +"Your bed is near the door. Can you see it?" asked the jailer. + +"I can feel for it," replied Tournay. "Yes, here it is." + +"Very well, I will now lock you up safely. Pleasant dreams in your new +quarters, citizen colonel." And with this parting salute the cheerful +jailer went jingling down the corridor, leaving Tournay in the darkness, +seated on the edge of his narrow bed, with elbows on knees and his chin +resting in the palms of his hands. + +Suddenly he sat up straight and listened attentively. The sound of +regular breathing told him that he was not the sole occupant of the +cell. "Whoever he may be, he sleeps contentedly," thought Tournay; "I +may as well follow his good example." In a very few minutes a quiet +concert of long-drawn breaths told of two men sleeping peacefully in the +cell on the upper tier of the Luxembourg prison. + +The little daylight that could struggle through the bars of the tiny +window near the ceiling had long since made its appearance, when Robert +Tournay opened his eyes next morning. + +His fellow prisoner was already astir; and without moving, Tournay lay +and watched him at his toilet. He was most particular in this regard. +Despite the diminutive ewer and hand basin, his ablutions were the +occasion of a great amount of energetic scrubbing and rubbing, +accompanied by a gentle puffing as if he were enjoying the luxury of a +refreshing bath. After washing, he wiped his face and hands carefully on +a napkin correspondingly small. He proceeded with the rest of his toilet +in the same thorough manner, as leisurely as if he had been in the most +luxurious dressing-room. A wound in his neck, that was not entirely +healed, gave him some trouble; but he dressed it carefully, and finally +hid it entirely from sight by a clean white neckerchief which he took +from a little packet in a corner of the room near the head of his bed. +Having adjusted the neckcloth to his satisfaction, he put on a +well-brushed coat, and, sitting carelessly upon the edge of the +table,--the room contained no chair,--he began to polish his nails with +a little set of manicure articles which were also drawn forth from his +small treasury of personal effects. + +[Illustration: ADJUSTED THE NECKCLOTH TO HIS SATISFACTION] + +The light from the slit of a window above his head fell on his face. It +was thin and haggard, like that of a man who had undergone a severe +illness, but, despite this fact, it was an attractive face, and the +longer Tournay looked at it, the more it seemed to be familiar to him, +recalling to his mind some one he had once known. + +Suddenly the colonel sprung to his feet. "St. Hilaire!" he exclaimed +aloud, answering his own mental inquiry. + +St. Hilaire rose from his seat on the table and saluted Tournay +graciously. + +"I am what is left of St. Hilaire," he replied lightly. "And you +are--For the life of me I cannot recall your name at the moment. Though +I am fully aware that I have seen you more than once before this." + +"My name is Robert Tournay." + +"Of course. I should have remembered it. You must pardon my poor +memory." Then, looking at him closely, he continued: "You wear the +uniform of a colonel. You have won distinction, and yet I see you here +in prison." + +"It matters not how loyal a soldier or citizen one may be if one incurs +the enmity or suspicion of Robespierre," was the answer. + +"What you say is true, Colonel Tournay," said St. Hilaire. + +"Do you also owe your arrest to him?" asked the colonel. + +"No," replied St. Hilaire, resuming his former seat. "I became involved +in a slight dispute with some of the gendarmerie about a certain +question of--of etiquette. The altercation became somewhat spirited. +They lost their tempers. I nearly lost my life. When I regained +consciousness I discovered what remained of myself here, and I am +recovering as fast as could be expected, in view of the rather limited +amount of fresh air and sunlight in my chamber." + +Tournay thought of the brilliant and dashing Marquis Raphael de St. +Hilaire as he had seen him in his boyhood, and looked with deep interest +at the figure sitting easily on the edge of the table in apparent +contentment, cheerfully accepting misfortune with a smile, and parrying +the arrows of adversity with the best of his wit, like the brave and +sprightly gentleman he was. + +"The resources here are somewhat limited," St. Hilaire continued. "But +by placing the table against the wall and mounting upon it one can +squeeze his nose between the bars of the window and get a glimpse of the +courtyard beneath. Occasionally the jailer has taken me for a promenade +there. It seems that we prisoners on the second tier are considered of +more importance, or else it is feared that we are more likely to attempt +to escape, for we are kept in closer confinement than those who are on +the main floor. Although this may be construed as a compliment, it is +nevertheless very tedious. But I am keeping you from your toilet by my +gossip. I have left you half of the water in the pitcher. Pardon the +small quantity. We will try to prevail upon our jailer to bring us a +double supply in future. He is an obliging fellow, particularly if you +grease his palm with a little silver." + +Tournay accepted his share of the water with alacrity grateful for the +courtesy that divides with another even a few litres of indifferently +clean water in a prison cell. + +After this toilet, and a breakfast of rolls and coffee, partaken +together from the rough deal table, the two prisoners felt as if they +had known each other for years. + +The lines of their lives had frequently run near together during the +years of the Revolution, yet in all that whirl of events had never +crossed till now, since the summer day in the woods of La Thierry, when +the Marquis de St. Hilaire had placed his hand upon the boy's shoulder +and bade him save his life by flight. + +By some common understanding, subtler than words, no reference to past +events was made by either of them. They began their acquaintance then +and there; the officer in the republican army, and the Citizen St. +Hilaire; fellow prisoners, who in spite of any misfortune that might +overtake them would never falter in their devotion and loyalty to their +beloved country, France, and who recognized each in the other a man of +courage and a gentleman. + +So the day passed in discussing the victories of the armies, the +oppression and tyranny practiced by the committee, and the prospects of +the future. + +A few days after Tournay's incarceration the turnkey came toward +nightfall to give them a short time for recreation in the courtyard. +This, though far from satisfying, was hailed with pleasure by the +prisoners, and especially by Tournay, who, accustomed to the violent +exertion of the camp and field, chafed for want of exercise. + +They were escorted along the upper corridor, whence they could look down +into the main hall on the first floor of the Luxembourg. Here, those +prisoners who were happy enough not to be confined under special orders, +had the privilege of congregating during the hours of the day and early +evening. Looking down upon this scene shortly after the supper hour, +Tournay drew a breath of surprise. He felt for a moment as if he were +transported back to the days before the Revolution and was looking upon +a reception in the crowded salons of the château de Rochefort where the +baron entertained as became a grand seigneur. The republican colonel +turned a look of inquiry toward St. Hilaire. The latter gave a slight +shrug as he answered:-- + +"The ladies dress three times a day and appear in the evening in full +toilet. As for the men, they also wear the best they have. You will see +that many wear suits which in better days would have been thrown to +their lackeys. Now they are mended and remended during the day, that +they may make their appearance at night, and defy the shadows of the +gray stone walls and the imperfect candlelight quite bravely." And St. +Hilaire himself pulled a spotless ruffle below the sleeves of his +well-worn coat. + +"And so," mused Tournay, "they can find the heart to wear a gay exterior +in such a place as this?" + +"No revolution is great enough to change the feelings and passions of +human nature," replied St. Hilaire. "They only adapt themselves to new +conditions. Here, within these walls, under the shadow of the +guillotine, Generosity, Envy, Love, and Vanity play the same parts they +do in the outer world. Affairs of the heart refuse to be locked out by a +jailer's key, and these darkened recesses nightly resound with tender +accents and the sighs of lovers. Bright eyes kindle sparks that only +death can quench. Jealousy, also, is sometimes aroused, and I am told +that even affairs of honor have taken place here." + +"I should never have dreamed it possible," said the soldier, looking +with renewed interest upon the moving picture at his feet; from which a +sound of vivacious conversation arose like the multiplied hum of many +swarms of bees. + +St. Hilaire leaned idly with one arm on the gallery rail, while he +flecked from his coat a few grains of dust with a cambric handkerchief. +Suddenly he straightened himself and grasped the railing tightly with +both hands. + +"Good God! can it be possible?" he exclaimed to himself. + +Tournay looked at him, surprised by his sudden change of manner. St. +Hilaire did not notice him, but looked intently at some one in the hall +below. + +Tournay followed the direction of his companion's eyes and saw a young +woman, with childish countenance, standing by the elbow of a woman who +was seated in a chair occupied with some needlework. + +"Countess d'Arlincourt," St. Hilaire continued sadly, speaking to +himself. "I hoped that I had saved her." + +The woman glanced upward, and her large blue eyes met St. Hilaire's +gaze. After the first start of surprise her look expressed the deepest +gratitude, while his denoted interest and pity. + +Then he turned away. "Come citizen jailer," he said, addressing the +attendant, "lead us back to our cell." + +As Tournay was about to follow St. Hilaire, he saw, to his amazement, +the figure of de Lacheville standing apart from the rest, in the shadow +of the wall, as if he preferred the gloomy companionship of his own +thoughts to the society of his fellow beings in adversity. + +"Do you see that man skulking in the shadow by the wall?" asked Tournay, +pointing de Lacheville out to the jailer. "When did he come here?" + +"A few days ago. Either the same evening you were brought in, or the +day following," was the reply. + +"The same evening!" exclaimed Tournay to himself as he followed St. +Hilaire to their cell. "Robespierre has indeed been consistent in that +poor devil's case." + +The Countess d'Arlincourt drew up a little stool and placed herself at +the feet of her friend, Madame de Rémur. The latter was still a woman in +the full flush of beauty. She was dressed in black velvet which seemed +but little worn, and which set off a complexion so brilliant that it +needed no rouge even to counteract the pallor of a prison. + +The countess leaned her head against the knees of her friend, allowing +the velvet of the dress to touch her own soft cheek caressingly. + +"Do not grieve, my child," said Madame de Rémur, laying down her +embroidery and placing one hand upon the blonde head in her lap. "Grieve +not too much for your husband; there is not one person in this room who +has not to mourn the loss of some near friend or relative, and yet for +the sake of those who are living they continue to wear cheerful faces. I +only regret that you, who were at that time safe, should have +surrendered yourself after the count was taken. It has availed nothing, +and has sacrificed two lives instead of one." + +"Hush, Diane; a wife should not measure her duty by the result. He was a +prisoner. He was ill. It was my duty to come to his side." + +"Your pardon, dear child. You, with your baby face and gentle manner, +have more real courage than I. I hardly think I could do that for any +man in the world." + +"You always underrate yourself, dear Diane, you who are the noblest and +most generous of women!" exclaimed the countess, rising. "Now I am going +to speak to that poor little Mademoiselle de Choiseul. It was only +yesterday that they took her father." And Madame d'Arlincourt moved +quietly across the room. + +"I cannot understand the courage and devotion of that child," said +Madame de Rémur, addressing the old Chevalier de Creux who stood behind +her chair. "I might possibly be willing to share any fate, even the +guillotine, with a man if I loved him madly; but"--and Madame de Rémur +finished the sentence with a shrug of her shoulders. + +"Perhaps the countess loved her husband," suggested the young +Mademoiselle de Belloeil who sat near the table, bending over some +crochet work, but at the same time lending an ear to the conversation. + +"How could she?" said Diane, "he was so cold, so austere, and so +dreadfully uninteresting, and then I happen to know she did not, +because"-- + +"Because she loved another gentleman," said the chevalier, completing +the sentence with a laugh. "Under the circumstances I do not know +whether I admire the countess's loyalty in following her husband to +prison, or condemn her cruelty in leaving a lover to pine outside its +walls." + +"She was always a faithful wife, I would have you understand, you wicked +old Chevalier de Creux!" exclaimed Madame de Rémur, looking up at him as +he leaned over the back of her chair. + +"Perhaps the lover may be confined in the prison also," suggested the +philosopher, who had also been a silent listener to the dialogue. + +"More than likely," assented the chevalier dryly. + +"Whether he were here or not," said madame decidedly, "she would have +done the same." + +"Here is the Count de Blois," said the chevalier; "let us put the case +before him." + +"Oh, you men," laughed Madame de Rémur. "I will not accept the verdict +of the best of you. But the count is accompanied by the poet; let us get +him to recite us some verses." And she tossed her fancywork upon the +table at her side. + +Monsieur de Blois, with his arm through the poet's, bowed low before +them. The count had been in the prison for over a year, and the poor +gentleman's wardrobe had begun to show the effect of long service. + +"They have evidently forgotten my existence entirely," he had said +pathetically one morning to a friend who found him washing his only fine +shirt in the prison-yard fountain. "When this shirt is worn out, I shall +make a demand to be sent to the guillotine from very modesty." + +A few days later he had received a couple of shirts and a note by the +hand of the jailer. + + "Dear de Blois," the letter had read. "I am called, and shall + not need these. If they prevent you from carrying out your + threat of the other morning, I shall go with a lighter heart. + + "Yours, V. de K." + +"De Blois!" said the chevalier, drawing the count away from the table of +Mademoiselle de Belloeil, "you are called to decide a point of the +greatest delicacy." + +The count put his glass to his eye as if to look at the chevalier and +the philosopher, but in reality he only saw Mademoiselle de Belloeil +bending over her embroidery. + +"If a lady," continued the chevalier, his bright eyes twinkling, +"voluntarily puts herself into a prison where are confined both her +husband and her lover, what credit does she deserve for her action? Can +it be called self-sacrifice?" + +Before replying, the count looked attentively at the group before him: +at the philosopher's impenetrable countenance; at the chevalier's +quizzical and wrinkled brown physiognomy; then at Madame de Rémur's +handsome face, and lastly and most tenderly at the drooping eyelids of +the delicate Mademoiselle de Belloeil. + +"She would be twice revered," replied de Blois. + +Mademoiselle de Belloeil's needle stopped in its click-click. + +"Why so, monsieur le comte?" inquired the philosopher. "If she has a +double motive for the sacrifice, should not the honor of it be only half +as great?" + +"She should receive credit for her loyalty to the husband whom she had +sworn to obey, and homage for her devotion to the lover on whom by +nature she has placed her affections," replied the count, bowing to +Madame de Rémur, while he noted with a certain satisfaction the smile of +approval on the lips of Mademoiselle de Belloeil. + +"And no one has said that she has a lover," declared Madame de Rémur +warmly. + +"Did you not imply as much, dear madame?" asked the old chevalier slyly. + +"I intimated that she might have had one--if--let us change the subject. +I move that the poet read us his latest verses. I am dying for some +amusement." + +"Ladies and gentlemen," cried the old chevalier, clapping his hands +together to attract the attention of all those in the room, "this +brilliant young author and poet, who needs no introduction to you, has +consented to read his latest production. Will you kindly take places?" + +There was some polite applause. "The poem! let us hear the poem," buzzed +upon all sides, and the throng began to settle down around the poet, the +ladies occupying the chairs, and the gentlemen either leaning against +the walls or seated upon stools by the side of those ladies in whose +eyes they found particular favor. + +In a few moments a hush of expectancy fell upon an audience delighted at +the prospect of being entertained. + +"This is a play in verse," began the poet, taking a roll of manuscript +from his pocket. + +"A play! how charming," said Mademoiselle de Belloeil. + +"It is in three acts," continued the author. "Act first, in the prison +of the Luxembourg, where the young people first meet and fall deeply in +love." + +A rustle of approval ran through his audience. + +"Act second is in the prison yard where they are separated, she being +set at liberty and he conducted to the guillotine." + +"Oh, how terrible!" murmured the young damsel. + +"One moment, monsieur le poëte," said Madame de Rémur. "How does it end? +I warn you that I shall not like your play if it ends unhappily." + +"You shall judge of that in a moment, madame," replied the poet, bowing +to her graciously. + +"In the third act," he continued, "the lovers are brought together under +the shadow of the guillotine, whither she has followed him. The knife +falls upon both of them in quick succession, and their souls are united +in the next world, never to be separated more." + +"What a beautiful ending," cried Mademoiselle de Belloeil, and the +exclamation on the part of the audience showed that her sentiment was +echoed generally. + +"Continue," said Madame de Rémur. "I was afraid it was going to end +unhappily." + +The chevalier took a pinch of snuff and settled himself back in the +arm-chair which was accorded to him as a tribute to his advanced age; +and the poet unfolded his manuscript and began to read. + +It was an intensely appreciative audience that listened to the dramatic +work of the poet. They followed with breathless interest the meeting of +the young lovers in the hall of the Luxembourg; assisted smilingly at +their rendezvous in the corridors and shadowy corners of the old prison; +and sighed gently during the most tender passages. At the scene of +separation, tears of regret flowed freely, and in the meeting in the +last act, tears of joy and sorrow mingled together in sympathetic +unison. + +As the young poet ended he folded up his manuscript and bowed his +blushing acknowledgments to the storm of applause that greeted him. + +The wave of approbation had not ceased to resound through the room when +the outer door opened, and the jailer and some half a dozen gendarmes +entered abruptly. + +Instantly the hum of conversation stopped, and an icy chill fell upon +the assemblage. Faces that the moment before were wreathed in smiles now +became pale and marked with fear. + +"The call of to-morrow's list to the guillotine," rang out through the +room in harsh notes. + +Amid the silence of death, a captain of gendarmerie took a slip of paper +from his pocket, while a comrade held a lantern under his nose. Some of +those who listened wiped the clammy perspiration from their foreheads, +others trembled and sat down. Some affected an air of indifference, and +began a forced conversation with their neighbors; but all ears were +strained. Each dreaded lest his own name or that of some loved one +should be called out by that monotonous, relentless voice. + +"Bertrand de Chalons." + +An old man stepped forward. + +"Annette Duclos." + +There was a pause after each name, during which the suspense was +intensified. + +"Diane de Rémur." + +Madame de Rémur laid aside her work and rose. + +"Diane! Diane! I cannot bear it!" cried the Countess d'Arlincourt, +throwing her arms about her friend's neck. "Oh, sirs, have pity!" + +"Hush, my dear," replied Madame de Rémur soothingly. "Chevalier, look to +the poor child; she is hysterical." The chevalier gently drew the +countess aside, then took Madame de Rémur's hand and silently bending +over it, put it to his lips. + +"Take your place in the line, citizeness," called out a gendarme, and +Madame de Rémur stood with the others. + +"André de Blois!" + +As de Blois' name was called, a shrill cry echoed through the room, and +Mademoiselle de Belloeil fell back into the chair from which she had +just risen. She did not swoon, but sat like one in a dream, staring with +wide-open eyes. + +The count stepped to her side. + +"Adèle," he said, bending down and speaking in a low voice, "give me one +of those roses you are wearing on your breast." Mechanically she took +the flower from her bosom and put it in his hand. He placed it over his +heart. "It shall be here to the last," he said softly; "now farewell;" +and he pressed a kiss upon her cold lips. + +"Maurice de Lacheville." + +A man crouched down behind a group of prisoners, and all heads were +turned in his direction. + +"Maurice de Lacheville, you are called," said a gendarme, going up to +him and seizing him by the arm with no gentle grasp. + +"There is some mistake," cried de Lacheville pitiably. + +"There is no mistake, your name is here." + +"I say, there must be some mistake. My arrest was a mistake. I was +promised"-- + +"Into the line with you," was the gruff interruption. "Many would claim +there was a mistake if it would avail them to say so." + +"But in my case it is true," pleaded de Lacheville. "Send word to +Robespierre; he promised"-- + +"Into the line, I tell you!" cried the exasperated gendarme. "There is +no mistake; your name is written here. You go with the rest." + +"One moment, one little moment," implored the wretched marquis in an +agony of fear. "Oh, messieurs the gendarmes, if you will but hear me, I +have an important communication to make." All this time he was fighting +desperately as the two officers of the law dragged him toward the door. + +"Silence, idiot!" yelled the angry captain, "or I will have you bound +and gagged. Take example from these women who put you to shame." + +"Idiot that I was," cried de Lacheville, "why did I ever return from a +place of safety? None but a fool would have trusted the word of +Robespierre." + +"Bind him," ordered the captain. + +With a strength no one would have believed that he possessed, de +Lacheville threw off those who held him. + +"Stand back!" he shouted wildly, as the officers endeavored to seize +him. He drew an object quickly from his pocket. + +"Take care, Jean. He has a weapon," cried one. + +There was a report of a pistol, and the marquis fell forward to the +floor. + +A murmur of horror filled the prison hall. Women fainted, and men turned +away their heads. The gendarmes hastened to bend over him. + +"I believe he is dead, captain," said one after a brief examination. + +"Carry him out with the others just the same," ordered the captain. +"Pierre, continue with the list." + +"Bertrand de Tourin." + +"Here." + +"Adèle de Belloeil." + +There was a cry of joy in the answer:-- + +"I am here. The Blessed Virgin has heard my prayer;" and Mademoiselle de +Belloeil stepped forward. "André, I come with you; we shall go +together where they can never separate us." And she threw herself into +the arms of her lover. + +"About face--fall in--forward! march." The heavy door closed, and those +who had been called were led away, while those remaining in the prison +went quietly to their cells, to recommence the same life on the morrow +until the next roll-call. + +"The nobility of France," said the chevalier to the philosopher, "may +not have known how to live, but it knows how to die." + +"Except the Marquis de Lacheville," was the reply. + +"Bah. He was always one of the canaille at heart; he only proves my +assertion," and the chevalier took an extra large pinch of snuff and +limped off to his mattress of straw. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TAPPEUR AND PETITSOU + + +"What are you bringing us now?" growled a voice from a corner of the +cell. Gaillard heard the rustling of straw, but his eyes were not enough +accustomed to the gloom to enable him to see what sort of being it was +who gave utterance to this harsh welcome. + +"Are not two enough in a trap like this?" the speaker went on, rising +and coming forward. "There's hardly enough air for us as it is, without +your putting in another one." + +"So it's you, Tappeur, complaining again," remarked the jailer. "You had +better be thankful you're not four in a cell as they are in most of +them. The prison is full to overflowing. No matter how many they take +out, there's always more to fill their places. You'll have to make the +best of it." And he closed the door with an unfeeling slam. + +Tappeur brushed some of the straw from his hair and beard. "A plague +upon these suspects that fill up our prisons!" he exclaimed with an +oath; "we honest criminals have to put up with the vilest accommodations +because you crowd us to the wall by force of numbers. You _are_ a +suspect, aren't you?" he demanded, coming nearer and putting a dirty +face close to Gaillard's. + +The cell which they occupied was below the level of the ground. Overhead +at the juncture of the ceiling and wall was a grating through which came +all the light and air they received. + +"You are a suspect, is it not so?" repeated Tappeur as Gaillard made no +answer. + +"I have not the honor of being an 'honest criminal,'" replied the actor, +drawing away with a movement of disgust from the seamed and distorted +visage thrust close to his. + +"Bah, I thought not," said Tappeur with another oath. "Well, suspect, +come over here under the grating and let me take a good look at your +face," and he seized Gaillard roughly by the arm. + +Tappeur received a violent blow on the chest which sent him reeling into +a dark corner of the cell, clutching at the empty air as if to sustain +himself by catching hold of the shadows. His fall to the ground was +followed by an explosion of oaths in a new voice, in which explosion +Tappeur himself joined vigorously. + +"I've stirred up a nest of them," said Gaillard to himself, and then +stood awaiting developments. + +The torrent of profanity having exhausted itself, Tappeur emerged from +the shadowy recess of the wall followed by a smaller man. + +"How do you like my looks?" inquired Gaillard cheerfully. + +"I'm satisfied for the present," replied Tappeur. + +"Your fist is hard enough; what may your trade be?" + +"I have no regular profession, I'm a little of everything. What's +yours?" + +"I belong to the 'Brotherhood of the Ready Hand.' Our motto is 'Steal +and Kill;' our watchward 'Blood and Death;' and our coat of arms 'A Cord +and Gallows.'" And Tappeur chuckled gleefully. + +"You are evidently a rare accumulation of talent and virtue. I should +enjoy knowing more of you. Is this a member of your band?" and Gaillard +pointed to the man who had just been awakened, and who was yawning and +stretching his arms. + +"Our band, oh no, this is the great Petitsou." + +"And who is Petitsou?" + +"What! you don't know Petitsou?" demanded Tappeur pityingly. + +"Never heard of him." + +"He never even heard of you, Petitsou!" exclaimed Tappeur, turning to +his companion with a gesture of disgust. + +Petitsou shrugged his shoulders in reply, as if to say, "He has been the +only loser." + +"Pray let me be compensated for my ill fortune, by learning all about +you now, Citizen Petitsou." + +"I have made more counterfeit money than any man in France now living, I +might say more than any man who ever has lived, but I believe some one +or two of the old kings have surpassed me," said Petitsou. + +"He is an artist," whispered Tappeur; "he does not make you a clumsy, +bungling coin only to be palmed off upon women and blind men. He creates +an article finer to look at than the government mint can produce. +_Pardieu_, I'd rather have a pocket full of his silver than that bearing +either the face of Louis Capet or of this new Republic." And Tappeur +looked at his friend the artist admiringly. + +"It was when the government issued these assignats that my great fortune +was made," continued Petitsou. "In fact, it was too much success that +brought me here. I found them so easy to make that I manufactured them +by the wholesale. I stored my cellar with them. I even had the audacity +to make the government a small loan in assignats on which I did the +entire work myself, reproducing the very signatures of the officials who +received the funds. Oh, it was a rare sport." + +"But your forgeries were finally detected?" said Gaillard inquiringly. + +"The workmanship and the signatures never. I could have gone on making +enough to buy up the whole government, but for a mishap. I made a +glaring error in the date of a certain issue of assignats. I never liked +the new calendar, and always had to take particular care to get it +right, but one day my memory slipped up, and I dated a batch of one +hundred thousand francs, November 14, 1793, instead of 25th Brumaire, +year II. Oh, that was an unpardonable slip, and I deserved to pay the +penalty." + +"It seems cruel," remarked Gaillard, "to keep a useful member of +society, like you, in this filthy dungeon." + +"The greatest cruelty is in keeping the materials of my trade away from +me. They know my love for my art, and take delight in torturing me. +Although I promise not to try any dodge, they won't trust me. If they +would only let me have a little pen, ink, and paper, I should be happy." + +"Pen, ink, and paper?" repeated Gaillard. "That's a modest desire." + +"They won't let him have them," put in Tappeur. "He'd play them all +sorts of tricks. He'd forge all sorts of documents, and worry the life +out of the jailers." + +The door opened a few inches, and a jug of water and a large square loaf +made their appearance, pushed in by an invisible hand. + +"Let's divide our rations for the day," suggested Petitsou. "Have they +given us a larger loaf, Tappeur, on account of our increased number?" + +"But very little larger," replied Tappeur, picking up the loaf of black +bread and surveying it hungrily. + +"Is that all we receive in the way of food?" asked Gaillard ruefully. He +had missed his usual supper after the theatre the night before, and was +quite ready for breakfast. + +"That's all, unless you've got money. You can buy what you like with +that." And Tappeur eyed him slyly out of his deep-set eyes. + +"What do you say to some wine in place of this cold water, and some +white bread, with perhaps a little sausage added by the way of relish?" +suggested Gaillard mildly. + +"Hey, you jailer!" called out Tappeur, frantically rushing toward the +door, fearful lest the man might be out of hearing. The jailer retraced +his steps reluctantly. + +"A commission from the new lodger. A bottle of wine. A white loaf in +place of this vile, sour stuff, and some sweet little sausage. A little +tobacco also. Am I not right, my comrade?" asked Tappeur, looking at +Gaillard inquiringly. + +"Some tobacco, of course," nodded Gaillard, producing a coin. + +"Have it strong; I have tasted none for so long that it must bite my +tongue to make up for lost time. Hurry with thy commissions my good +little citizen jailer; the new lodger is hungry, and we, too, have no +small appetites." + +"Tobacco," said Petitsou, "next to ink and paper, I have longed for +that. And I have money, too!" and he produced a five-franc piece. "As +good a piece of silver as ever rang from the government mint, and yet +that cursed jailer refuses to take it, or bring me the smallest portion +of tobacco for it. The donkey fears I have manufactured it here on the +premises, or that I extracted it from thin air like a magician." + +The breakfast being brought, Tappeur rolled a couple of large stones +toward the lightest portion of the cell, and placed a board across them +for a table. They had nothing to sit upon but their heels. The two +criminals had accustomed themselves to this method of sitting at meals, +but Gaillard found it more comfortable to partake of his food standing +with his shoulders to the wall. + +"Fall to, comrades!" cried Tappeur, breaking off an end of the loaf and +taking a sausage in his other hand. "There's no cup, so we must drink +from the bottle." And he handed the wine to Gaillard first, by way of +attention. + +Gaillard put the bottle to his lips and took a long draught of the +contents while Tappeur watched him anxiously. He then passed it over to +Petitsou, who treated it in a like manner. Tappeur received it in his +turn in thankful silence, and after having punished it severely, put it +down by his side. Gaillard helped himself to a piece of bread and a +sausage, and ate with good appetite, leaving his new companions to +finish the wine, to the evident satisfaction of those two worthies. + +"You have a hard fist, my brave comrade!" exclaimed Tappeur, filling a +pipe as short and grimy as the thumb that pushed the tobacco down into +the bowl. "A hard fist and a free purse and Tappeur is your friend for +life." To give emphasis to his words he puffed a cloud of blue smoke up +into Gaillard's face, and drained the last few drops of wine in the +flagon. + +"That's very good stuff," he continued, balancing the empty bottle upon +its nose, "but brandy would be more satisfying." + +Gaillard refused to take the hint, and turned away to spread his cloak +in a corner of the cell, where he lay down upon it and was soon in a +deep sleep. + +Week followed week, and Gaillard continued to live below the ground far +from the sunlight which he loved so dearly, while Tournay, confined in +the cell upon the second floor, wondered why he received no word from +the friend in the outside world. + +Thus they lived within one hundred yards of each other, thinking of each +other daily, and with no means of communication. One thing Gaillard had +to be thankful for, and that was the sum of money the theatre manager +had paid him on the very night of his arrest. With it he had purchased +many comforts to make his life more bearable. He had procured a fresh +supply of straw and a warm blanket for his bed; some candles and a rough +chair upon which he took turns in sitting with the two jail-birds, his +companions, although at meals he always occupied it by tacit consent. + +Under the influence of the additional food which Gaillard's purse +supplied, Tappeur grew fat and better natured, though he swore none the +less, and drank and smoked all that Gaillard would provide for him. +Indeed, he thought the actor a little niggardly in furnishing the +brandy, and one day, after a good meal, was inclined to be swaggering, +intimating that, with respect to drink, the rations should be increased. +Whereupon Gaillard cut off his potations entirely for twenty-four hours, +and he became as meek as a lamb and remained so ever after. + +Both the bully and Petitsou would frequently regale Gaillard with long +accounts of their past crimes. During the recitals, Tappeur, although +always boastful on his own account, showed a certain deference to the +forger. + +"I can cut a throat or rob a purse with the best blackguard in France," +he would say to the actor, "but that little Petitsou is the true +artist." + +Notwithstanding these diversions, the time dragged wearily, and +Gaillard's face began to lose its roundness, while the smile did not +broaden his wide mouth so frequently as of old. His money began to get +low, and he looked forward with dread to the time when it would be +entirely gone and he would have to divide the musty black loaf and the +pitcher of fetid water with the two criminals, without the wherewithal +to buy even such good nature and entertainment as they could furnish. He +longed for the time of his trial to come. He knew from what he had heard +of the experiences of others, that he might be called for trial any day, +or that he might languish in jail for months, forgotten and neglected. +Every day when he asked the jailer who brought their food, "Have I not +been called for trial?" and received the response, "Not to-day," his +heart sank lower. + +One day when he had only five francs left in his purse, and had +refrained from ordering any wine, much to Tappeur's disgust, the jailer +came to inform him that he was to come forth for trial. + +"Good luck attend you, citizen actor," said Petitsou, with some show of +friendship, as Gaillard prepared to leave them, smiling. + +"As we must lose you in one way or another," called out Tappeur after +him as he disappeared down the corridor, "let us hope that the national +razor will not bungle when it shaves you, my brave." + +Gaillard's spirits rose as he came up to the light of day. In a few +hours he would know what his destiny would be, and the fresh air gave +him renewed courage to meet it. His wish to learn just what fate had +overtaken Tournay gave him an additional interest in life. + +Passing through the main corridor he heard his name called, and looking +toward the corridor of the upper tier he saw the face of his friend. + +It was only an instant, and then Gaillard passed out with others to the +street. At first Tournay's heart throbbed with apprehension at the sight +of his friend. He had feared all along that had Gaillard been at liberty +he would have received some message from him, or other evidence of his +existence, and now his fears were confirmed. Yet somehow the very sight +of Gaillard's cheerful face, smiling up at him, reassured him. + +"Am called for trial," the actor's lips framed. "And you?" Tournay made +a negative gesture. + +"Paper destroyed," Gaillard next signaled with his lips, but he dared +not make the words too plain for fear of detection, and the message was +lost on Tournay. Then they saw each other no longer. + +It was into a small court room that Gaillard saw himself conducted. He +looked round with surprise. The trials were usually attended by large +and interested crowds of people. + +"I am evidently considered of small importance, and so am disposed of by +an inferior court," thought he. "So much the better." + +The case being tried at the moment was one of petty larceny. "The other +courts must be doing an enormous business, to oblige them to turn some +of us over to these little criminal courts," continued Gaillard musingly +as the affair in question was disposed of and he was called. + +"Read the act of accusation," said the judge, "and hurry the affair. I +wish to go to dinner." + +"Don't let me detain you," thought Gaillard. Then he put his hands to +his head to ascertain if his ears were in their proper place, for he +could not understand a word of the accusation as read by the clerk. He +heard a jumble about "coat," "personal assault," "refused payment," then +looked in bewilderment at the judge and prosecuting attorney, till from +them his eyes wandered about the dingy court room. All at once the sight +of a face in the witness box caused a light to flash through his brain, +and elucidate the whole matter. He recognized his tailor, who sat with +vindictive eyes, holding over his arm the identical coat that had been +the cause of the dispute on the very day of his arrest. + +Gaillard could barely repress his merriment. The rancor of the little +tailor had followed him to prison, and dragged him out to answer a +complaint of assault and intent to defraud. + +"I wonder," thought Gaillard, "if I am convicted and sentenced for this +crime, and subsequently condemned to the guillotine, which penalty I +shall have to pay first?" + +"Have you any counsel, prisoner?" demanded the judge. + +"I will plead my own case," replied Gaillard cheerfully. + +"Call the complainant and witness." + +After a long recital on the part of the tailor of the history of the +coat, and the treatment he had received at the hands of the brutal +prisoner, during which the judge yawned, indicating his desire to get +out to dinner, Gaillard took the stand. + +"My sole defense," said he smilingly, "is that the tailor wittingly, +maliciously, and falsely, endeavored to palm off upon me, a poor actor, +a garment never made for me." + +"How will you prove it?" demanded the judge. + +"By simply trying on the coat," answered Gaillard. "If you decide it was +made for me, I will abandon my defense." + +"Let the prisoner have the garment," ordered the judge. + +Gaillard slowly proceeded to divest himself of his own coat and don the +offending garment which the tailor now presented to him reluctantly. + +It had fitted him badly on the first occasion he had tried it on, and +now, by a slight contortion of his supple body, the actor made the +misfit ridiculously apparent. + +The court officers grinned, even the judge could not repress a smile, +and the tailor looked foolish. + +"That is quite sufficient," said the justice. "How much did the tailor +want you to pay for this grotesque garment?" + +"Two hundred francs the bill calls for." + +"Two hundred francs?" ejaculated the judge. + +"In gold coin," emphasized Gaillard. + +"It is very expensive material," explained the tailor ruefully. + +"Down how many flights of stairs does the complaint state the prisoner +kicked the tailor?" asked the judge. + +"Only one short one," volunteered Gaillard, grinning at the discomfited +tailor. + +"Only one short one?" repeated the judge. "You were very moderate; such +an absurd garment would have justified three flights." + +There was a laugh in the court room. The judge tapped for order. + +"The prisoner is discharged," he said. + +Gaillard rose and looked for the guards who had escorted him from the +Luxembourg, thankful for the brief respite he had had from the tedium of +confinement. + +"You are a free man, Citizen Gaillard," said the judge, waving his hand +toward the open door. + +"Do you mean I can leave the court room by that door?" asked Gaillard, +his heart rising up in his throat. + +"Certainly; I dismiss the complaint." + +"Thank you, your honor," said Gaillard, stepping quickly through the +doorway into the street. + +"Your honor!" gasped a court attendant hurriedly appearing at the +judge's desk. + +"I have no time to listen to anything further now. I am off to dinner," +said the judge snappishly. + +"But does your honor know? Is your honor aware that the prisoner was a +suspect from the Luxembourg, brought here by me for trial on this charge +of assault, to be returned after"-- + +"Bring him back at once!" yelled the judge. "You idiot, why didn't you +say so before?" + +"But, your honor, I"-- + +"After him, constables; be quick, he cannot have gone fifty yards." + +Half a dozen men rushed into the street and looked in all directions. +But Gaillard was not to be seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +UNCLE MICHELET + + +One April day a wave of excitement swept through the entire prison. It +was repeated in every cell and whispered in every ear. + +"The lion has been taken in the mesh! The great Danton is a prisoner in +the Luxembourg!" + +At first Tournay could not believe the report. It seemed as if those +giant arms need but to be extended to break the bonds that held them, +and allow their owner to walk out into the air a free man. + +Yet it was indeed true, and one day, for a few moments only, Tournay had +an opportunity to see and converse with the fallen chieftain as he stood +in the door of his cell, talking in a loud voice to all who were near +enough to hear him. + +As Danton saw Colonel Tournay he ceased speaking and held out his hand. +In his eyes there was a peculiar look which the latter understood. + +"You see, it has come at last even to me," said Danton quietly. + +"Ah, why did you not crush the snake before it entwined you with its +coils?" asked Tournay sadly. + +"I did not think he would dare do it," replied Danton. "Robespierre is +rushing to his ruin. What will they do without me? They are all mad." + +"You should have distrusted their madness, even if you did not fear it," +was the rejoinder. + +"The end is near," answered Danton. "It is fate. Yet if I could leave my +brains to Robespierre and my legs to Couthon, the Revolution might still +limp along for a short time," and he laughed roughly. "Good-by, +Tournay," he said in a tone of kindliness. "You are a brave man and a +true Republican; such men as you might have saved the Republic, but it +was not to be." He entered his cell, and Tournay never saw him again. + +The next day Danton was taken to the conciergerie and to his trial, and +the day following to the guillotine. The lion head was parted from the +giant trunk, and the Revolution swept on. + +The weeks dragged on monotonously to Colonel Tournay and St. Hilaire in +the Luxembourg. The trees in the gardens beyond their prison walls had +put forth their leaves, and the song of birds was borne sometimes even +into the recesses of their cell. + +"Why are we left to rot here in this stifling place?" exclaimed Colonel +Tournay for the thousandth time. "Why are we not even called for trial? +Has Robespierre forgotten our existence?" + +"Let us hope that he has," rejoined St. Hilaire. "As long as we are +overlooked we shall get into no worse trouble. We are not so very +uncomfortable here," and St. Hilaire sprang upon the table to put his +nose out between the window bars, like a fox in a cage, to get what air +there was stirring and to look at the little patch of blue sky. + +Tournay smiled sadly. He envied St. Hilaire his cheerfulness and +adaptability, while he felt his own spirit breaking under the long +confinement. + +He sat down upon the edge of the bed and wondered what had happened in +the world since he had been cut off from it. His thoughts were +frequently of Gaillard, and he wished he could learn something about his +friend. As he was sitting thus, oppressed by the warmth of a June +afternoon, the turnkey entered the cell. + +"There is an old man come to see you," he said, addressing Tournay. +"Your uncle from the provinces, I believe. You may see him outside here +in the corridor." + +"I wonder who this visitor may be," thought Tournay as he followed the +turnkey. "Had I not received word of my poor father's death two months +ago I should expect to find him." + +An old man stood leaning on his cane at the end of the corridor. He +seemed quite feeble, and the jailer, moved to compassion by his +infirmity, placed a stool for him to sit upon. + +"My nephew!" exclaimed the old man in tremulous accents as Tournay made +his appearance. + +Apparently the old man had made some mistake. To Colonel Tournay's eyes +he was an entire stranger; but being aware that the slightest suspicion +aroused in the mind of the prison authorities sometimes led to very +serious consequences, he determined to wait until the turnkey was out of +hearing before undeceiving the mild-eyed old gentleman. + +"My uncle," he answered, taking the venerable citizen by the +outstretched hand, "how did your old legs manage to"-- + +The septuagenarian squeezed the colonel's hand until the fingers +cracked. + +"My old legs would have brought me here long before," said the voice of +Gaillard in guarded tones, "but it took me two weeks to get this +disguise!" + +"Gaillard! In heaven's name can it be you?" + +"'Tis I! I may have aged since we last met, my colonel, but my heart is +as young as ever." + +"My dear Gaillard, how did you manage to leave this prison? What are you +doing? Is this not dangerous?" asked Tournay, putting the questions in +rapid succession. + +"Gaillard's liberty would not be worth a brass button if he should come +here," replied the actor, "but old Michelet has nothing to fear. I have +been playing hide and seek with the police for the past fortnight. I am +now living at 15 Rue des Mathurins." + +Even Tournay, who knew his friend so well, started. + +"It is a very long story, and I can only give you an outline of it," +said Gaillard, seating himself on the stool and leaning heavily on his +cane, while he turned his face so that he could see from one corner of +his eye every motion the turnkey might make. + +"I escaped from my dungeon below the ground; I will tell you how when we +have more leisure. The first thing I thought of, when I was once out in +the free air, was a bath. I wanted to drown out the recollection of +assassins and dirty straw, vile air and counterfeiters with whom I had +been on such intimate terms for so many weeks. + +"I was afraid to go to any bath houses lest I should be seen and +recognized; besides, I had no money, so I finally concluded to try the +river. I therefore skulked in unfrequented byways until nightfall, when +I went swimming in the Seine by starlight, and I can assure you I never +before appreciated the kindly properties of water to such an extent. My +next desire, after I had slept in the arches of the bridge St. Michel +and broken my fast with a crisp roll, was to see you." + +"My dear old uncle!" exclaimed Tournay aloud, placing his hand +affectionately on Gaillard's shoulder. + +"I knew that I should be safe if I could procure a good disguise, but +that it would be folly to attempt it without one," continued Gaillard. +"The want of money was still an obstacle. 'Among the costumes in my +chest at home,' thought I, 'is material to disguise a whole race of +Gaillards.' Ah, but how to reach them? That was the matter that required +careful study. Those annoying little red seals that the government +places on the doors of all arrested persons are terribly dangerous to +meddle with. Yet within were clothing and disguises, and a very little +sum of money stowed away for an emergency. Meanwhile, in the evening, I +promenaded down the Rue des Mathurins to look the ground over. There, +planted in front of the house, staring up at the windows of our +apartment, was a great hulking gendarme. + +"That night I slept again under the St. Michel bridge,--commodious and +airy enough, but a little damp in the morning hours. Before daylight I +was up and off to the Rue des Mathurins, drawn like a criminal to the +scene of his misdeeds, to inspect the enemy unseen by him. + +"There is a certain mouselike gratification in watching from afar the +cat, which, with claws extended, is lying in wait, ready to pounce upon +you as soon as you show your nose." And Gaillard stopped to take a pinch +of snuff and blink at the light with a pair of mild blue eyes. Then, +after applying a colored handkerchief to his nose, he resumed his +narrative. + +"At all hours of the day, late at night, or early in the morning, there +was always some officer of police staring persistently at my windows as +if he expected me, furnished with a pair of wings, to come flying in or +out of a fourth story. 'Not yet, my fine fellow,' said I, and vanished +around the corner. + +"One night it rained dismally; a cold mist was rising from the river. +The St. Michel bridge had little attraction as a bedroom for me at that +moment, I can assure you. Muffling myself in my cloak, I directed my +steps toward my old abode, hoping that owing to the inclemency of the +weather the officers of the law might be less vigilant. For I had +resolved, the opportunity offering, to make an attempt to enter my own +domicile that very night. Imagine my disgust when, upon arriving, I saw +two gendarmes sheltered in the entrance of the house opposite. Both of +them were obtrusively wide-awake and alert. + +"I do not know whether one of them noticed me, lurking by the corner, +but he immediately started to walk in my direction, and not wishing to +run any chances I darted into an alley blacker than a whole calendar of +nights, scaled a wall, and found myself in the narrow court which flanks +our own building. Here I resolved to wait until I could safely venture +out upon the street once more. + +"The rain had almost ceased, but I could still hear the gurgle of the +water coming down the spout from the roof. You know that water spout, my +little colonel? It is made to carry off the water from three houses, is +unusually large, and is held firmly in place a few inches from the house +wall by iron braces at intervals of five to six feet. I placed my hand +on one of these braces, and instantly the thought flashed through my +brain, 'It can be done.'" + +"You are not going to tell me that you attempted to climb up by the +water pipe?" demanded Tournay incredulously. + +"I divested myself of my cloak, coat, and waistcoat, removed my heavy, +rain-soaked shoes, and began the ascent as bravely as any seaman +ordered to the foretop," replied Gaillard. + +"I could reach the brace above while standing on the one beneath, and +partly using my knees and partly drawing myself up by the arms, I made +quicker progress than I had deemed possible. In fact, I went up so +vigorously that on reaching the third story I struck my knee against a +piece of loose stucco which was clinging to the wall, waiting for the +first strong wind to blow it to the ground. + +"Crash! the plaster fell to the courtyard pavement, where it was +shivered into a thousand fragments. + +"The blow on my kneecap made me shiver with pain, and I rested on the +brace just outside the window of the little soubrette, clinging tightly +with both hands to the spout. + +"'Thank heaven that it was the stucco that fell, not I,' I whispered +devoutly, just as a window opened on the floor above, and our old +neighbor Avarie appeared. He is always on the lookout for robbers, and +keeps at his bedside a big blunderbuss, with a muzzle like a +speaking-trumpet. + +"'Thieves,' I heard him mutter. I kept perfectly quiet, not giving vent +even to a breath. + +"'Who's there?' + +"I clung close to the shelter of my friendly water pipe. + +"'Speak, or I'll fire!' + +"I knew he could not see me, and if he did fire his old cannon, I felt +sure that it would explode and blow him into atoms; but the noise would +alarm the neighborhood, and I had a vision of a score of lights +flashing; night-capped heads appearing in all the surrounding windows; +gendarmes running up with their lanterns, and poor Gaillard, clinging +like a frightened cat to the water spout. + +"That gave me an idea. + +"'Miauw!' answered I plaintively. + +"'It's a cat!' exclaimed old Avarie in disgust. + +"'Mew--mew--mew,' cried I. + +"'What is it?' said a woman's voice, evidently his wife's. + +"'Nothing but a cat,' growled Avarie. 'But I think I will let drive at +her just because she disturbed my sleep.' + +"I stopped my mewing on the instant. + +"'Don't,' pleaded the woman, 'the gun may kick.' + +"'Bah, do you think I can't handle a gun?' And I heard a click. + +"'Good-by to thee, old Avarie,' I said under my breath. + +"'Don't be a fool, husband, and awake the whole neighborhood just for a +cat!' exclaimed his wife. + +"Almost at my window another window was thrown open and the little +soubrette's head appeared. She is very fond of cats. + +"'Here puss, puss, puss,' she cried. + +"'Is that your cat, citizeness?' asked old Avarie. + +"'It must be; he has stayed out all night, the naughty fellow. Kitty, +kitty, poor kitty, come in out of the wet.' + +"My teeth were chattering with cold and fatigue and that was just what I +most desired, but I did not dare to risk it. + +"'You ought to keep the animal at home, and not let him out to disturb +everybody's sleep,' called out the testy old man as he closed his window +with a bang. + +"Luckily for me the little soubrette's attention was all directed toward +the roof of the lower extension on the left where her pet evidently had +a habit of straying. She did not see me, crouched behind the pipe so +near as to almost be able to touch her by putting out one hand. By the +way, she looked very pretty in her little white nightcap edged with +lace. I was not very sorry, however, to see her close the window and to +be left alone with my water spout. A few minutes later I had pushed open +the window of my kitchen and wriggled into the room. + +"I dared not strike a light for fear of its reflection on the wall +opposite, and groped my way about the room in the dark. My heart leaped +with joy when I had assured myself that no seal had been placed on the +windows nor upon any of the inside doors; the one seal on the outer door +evidently having been deemed sufficient. The dust was an inch thick over +everything, and I moved about in ghostly stillness, struggling to +repress a sneeze. Nothing appeared to have been touched since the night +of my enforced departure. + +"I hugged myself with a childish glee at being alone in my little home +in the dead of night. The thought of the gendarmes outside in the rain +made my sides ache with suppressed laughter. + +"First, I unearthed my little economies of last winter. Thirteen francs, +five sous. 'Gaillard you're a prodigal fellow,' I said to myself as I +dropped them into my pouch, 'but it is better than nothing.' Then I +collected a few necessities. My beautiful wig of silver hair, and a +suitable dress to go with it. I handled lovingly a few other costumes, +but had the strength of mind to return them to the chest. I should like +to have appeared before you as the 'Spanish outlaw' but it would have +been too dangerous. The character of the English 'milord' would have +been congenial but equally hazardous. So I sensibly adhered to my sober +selection, and tied up all my effects in a neat bundle. + +"When all was completed I took one last, longing survey of my rooms, +went to the casement, and, dropping the bundle, held my breath. Thud! it +reached the bottom and lay there innocently in the court. Not a sound +was heard. Old Citizen Avarie, in the adjoining apartment, was snoring +in a way that would put his blunderbuss to shame, and the little +citizeness below had evidently retired into the recess of her +lace-trimmed nightcap to dream of her missing pet. + +"Sliding silently from the window I found the iron brace with my toes, +and grasped the clammy water pipe with both hands. I could not close +the casement. 'Never mind, they will think it was the wind that opened +it,' I said, and I descended to the ground with an agility born of +practice. + +"In the early morning hours I retired to my bridge, put on my silver wig +and old man's dress, sunk my other clothes to the river bottom, and +appeared in the light of day as an old man. + +"I now walk the streets in safety under the very noses of my old +enemies, the police; I come to you and I ask, 'How do you like your old +uncle?'" + +"You deceived me completely, my Gaillard," Tournay confessed; "but tell +me this. You said you were still residing at 15 Rue des Mathurins. May I +ask in what capacity? As cat?" + +"Having little money, I must earn some more in order to live. I went to +my dear friend, the theatre director, just as I am, and asked him to +employ me about the theatre in any capacity. He did not recognize me, +and putting his hand in his pocket, brought out a piece of forty sous." + +"'Sorry, my poor fellow, but I have no place for you. Take this.'" + +"I would trust my manager with my life, so I leaned forward to his ear. +'I am Gaillard, hunted, proscribed, but always your old friend Gaillard. +Call me Citizen Michelet.' He gave me a look for which I could have +taken him to my heart, there in his bureau, and hugged him. + +"'Citizen Michelet,' he said, 'there is a place of a doorkeeper which +you can have. The pay is small, fifteen francs the week, but it may +suffice your needs.' I knew it was five francs more than old Gaspard +received,--the doorkeeper who drank himself to death,--and I took the +place gladly. When one is old, my nephew, one does not despise even +fifteen francs," and Gaillard looked pathetically into Tournay's face. +"Now I sit every evening at the stage door of the theatre and see the +familiar faces pass in and out. They do not recognize me; but they are +beginning to address kindly nods and occasional words to old Michelet. + +"I found a vacant room to let on the ground floor of No. 15 Rue des +Mathurins, so I took the lodging and live there quietly. I am on the +best of terms with the gendarmes, and I talk with them out of my window, +where we exchange pinches of snuff and other like civilities." + +"My dear friend"--began Tournay. + +"You might as well call me uncle," interrupted Gaillard, "to accustom +yourself to it, for under this guise I shall visit you again." + +"My dear _uncle_, it is like a draught of wine to a thirsty man to hear +you talk. It is like a ray of sunshine to see your wrinkled old face." + +"I hope to be the ray of sunshine to light you out of this prison," said +Gaillard. + +"I'm afraid that will be a difficult matter," replied Tournay. "I am not +so clever as you in wearing disguises." + +"You will wear no disguise," answered Gaillard. "Are you in a cell by +yourself?" he asked in the next breath. + +"No, strange to say I have a companion, Citizen St. Hilaire." + +"That is not so bad; only we shall have to include him in our plans," +replied Gaillard. "You can trust him?" + +"Implicitly." + +"When I lean forward over my stick," said Gaillard, "run your hand +stealthily up the back of my head under my long hair. Now." + +Tournay did as he was bid. + +"Do you feel it?" + +"I feel something hard, like a little file." + +"Good! You could not expect a chest of tools; the jailer searched me +thoroughly. Untie that little file from the hair. Can you do it?" + +"I think so." + +"I tied it quite firmly for fear it would fall out. Do not be afraid of +pulling my hair, but do not pull the wig off. You may take both +hands,--the turnkey is not paying any attention,--as if you were +arranging your old uncle's coat collar." + +"I'll have it in a moment. There!" + +"Slip this up your sleeve, my colonel. Now a few questions and remarks. +How many bars has your window?" + +"Four." + +"How long will it take you to file them all?" + +Tournay considered. "We could only work in any safety in the middle of +the night, perhaps four hours in the twenty-four." + +"How long do you think it will take you to cut through the four bars?" + +Tournay thought for a moment. "We can work only at intervals in the +dead of night," he replied, "so it may take several days." + +"Good! In four days I will bring you a rope." + +"In God's name, Gaillard, how can you manage to bring a rope into this +place?" + +"I am not certain of that point yet, but I shall manage it," was the +cool rejoinder. + +"My dear Gaillard, I believe you. If you were to promise me to bring a +spire of Notre Dame wrapped up in gold paper I should expect to see it +at the appointed hour. With a rope in our possession and the bars cut, +we can get down the forty feet to the yard beneath. But there is the +sentry, and the difficulty of escape from the yard!" + +"I will take care of the sentry and the escape," replied Gaillard, "and +in four days I shall be here again. Meanwhile cut through the bars so +that you can push them out of place at any moment. Attention; here comes +the turnkey. + +"Good-by, my nephew. Be of good cheer. A good patriot need have no +fear," said Gaillard in a quavering voice. + +"Good-by, my uncle," rejoined Tournay as he went back to his cell. "I +shall see you then next week at the same hour," he called out through +the bars of the door. + +"Yes." + +"Well, then, good-by again. Mind the step. Be careful lest my uncle +trip, citizen turnkey; he is old and rather venturesome for one of his +years." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +CITIZENESS PRIVAT + + +"Agatha," said Mademoiselle de Rochefort, "I am going back to Paris." + +Agatha turned and looked at her mistress in the greatest surprise. + +"Do I understand you, mademoiselle, or am I dreaming? It is impossible +that you could have said"-- + +"I am going back to Paris." + +Edmé repeated the words quietly, but there was a decision in her manner +which Agatha understood full well. She gave a gasp of consternation and +sank into a chair, fixing her wide-open eyes upon Edmé's face, while she +waited to hear more. + +Edmé was seated in her bedroom in the Castle of Hagenhof. It was +evening, and two candles, one upon the dressing-table, the other upon a +stand at Agatha's side, gave to the room a mild half-light. The curtains +were not yet drawn, and through the large casement the stars gleamed +softly. + +"During the five months we have lived in absolute quiet and security +here at Hagenhof," Edmé continued, looking out of the window at the +forest of pine trees that stretched away from the castle like a sea of +ink, "we have been completely shut off from the world outside, hearing +almost nothing of the events taking place there." + +"That was your wish, was it not?" asked Agatha as Edmé paused. + +Mademoiselle de Rochefort did not make any direct reply, but continued +speaking as if she was answering her own thoughts, rather than +conversing with her maid. + +"There was a great battle fought. It was a full month afterward that I +heard of it and of the glory won by Colonel Tournay. The Republicans +were victorious. Had they been defeated, the restoration of the Monarchy +would have been one step nearer. But the allies were defeated, their +finest troops were sent flying back before the raw recruits. And I! Did +I mourn the defeat of our allies as much as I rejoiced in Colonel +Tournay's triumph? _The hero of Landau!_ That is what he was called." + +Then, turning toward Agatha, she exclaimed: "How do you think they have +rewarded him in France? They have thrown this hero into prison. They +have kept him there for months. And I heard of it only to-night from the +officers who returned with Colonel von Waldenmeer yesterday. They spoke +of affairs in France. They said that the Republic is approaching its +final doom. The leaders are now at discord. The terrible Danton has been +sent to the guillotine. They said that the officers of the army are +being suspected; mentioned Colonel Tournay's arrest, and then casually +passed on to other topics. I heard no more. I could not listen after +that, and came up here as soon as I could withdraw from the table. +Agatha, I am going back to France." + +"Why are you going?" asked Agatha gently, fearing to antagonize her +mistress in her present mood. + +Again Edmé looked out of the window at the swaying tops of the mournful +pines. "I cannot stay here," she answered fiercely. "The melancholy of +the place is killing me." + +"Do not be a child, mademoiselle," said Agatha in the tone of authority +she sometimes employed in reasoning with her beloved mistress. "If you +are not happy here, we will leave. Perhaps we can go to Berlin, or to +London. But never to France!" + +"Twice has he risked his life for me," said Edmé, again speaking to +herself. "I owe so much to him, and have repaid him nothing." + +"All that is true," persisted the cool-headed Agatha. "He aided you +because he had the power; if you could serve him, it would be different. +But you can do nothing. If you go to Paris, you will be arrested and +guillotined. That is all. No, my dear mistress, you must not go." + +"I shall go," answered Edmé firmly. "If I am apprehended, so much the +worse." + +"You will only place yourself in peril," cried Agatha. "You must not +go!" + +"When Colonel Tournay parted from me," said Edmé impressively, "he swore +that we should some day meet again. He would keep his word if it were +possible. Fate has decreed that he shall not come to me; she decrees, +instead, that I shall go to him." + +"Mademoiselle," cried Agatha in a horrified tone, "what are you saying? +Think of your rank, think of your family, your pride of birth!" + +"My rank!" laughed Edmé scornfully. "Did that avail me when I crossed +the river Loire? My pride of birth! Did that protect and bring me safely +out of France? A brave and loyal man was my sole protection. He is now +in the greatest danger. I am going to him." + +There was a ring in her voice as she spoke that seemed to bid defiance +to the long line of ancestry behind her. + +"Now that you know that I am not to be swayed from my determination, +will you go with me or remain here?" + +"I shall go with you, mademoiselle." + +"We must leave here clandestinely, Agatha. I little thought, when the +kindly Grafin von Waldenmeer took me under her roof, I should leave it +like this." + +"We shall have to travel through France in the disguise of peasants, +mademoiselle," said Agatha. + +"We have had some experience in that disguise, Agatha. You know how well +I shall be able to play my part." + +From Hagenhof, starting at dead of night, the two women traveled to +Paris. It took them three weeks to make the journey that they had once +made in five days. But they were obliged to travel slowly, as became +two women of their class. + +On the morning of the twentieth day they found themselves in the Rue +Vaugirard in Paris, almost under the very shadow of the Luxembourg. +Agatha stopped before the doorway of a small house in the window of +which a placard announced that lodgings were to let within. + +"This is what we want, mademoiselle," said the girl. "I will knock +here." + +A woman answered the summons. She was about forty years old, with +stooping shoulders, and hands gnarled and twisted by hard work. Her skin +was dark, but an unhealthy pallor was upon her face, which, thin and +worn, was lightened by a pair of brilliant eyes. + +"Can we obtain lodging here, good citizeness?" inquired Agatha. The +woman did not reply at once, being busy looking at them closely with her +bright eyes. + +"Have you any lodgings to let?" said Agatha once more. + +"Perhaps," was the reply. + +"Perhaps," repeated Edmé somewhat impatiently. "Do you not know?" + +"I am Citizeness Privat," the woman answered. "There are lodgings to let +in this house, most assuredly, and I have charge of the renting of them; +but I act for another, and he," with emphasis on the pronoun, "insists +that I shall only take those who can furnish references. Can you do so?" + +"Let us come inside and we will see what can be done," said Agatha, +pushing forward. The woman stepped back, and Edmé followed Agatha into +the house. Agatha closed the door before speaking. + +"Citizeness Privat," she said, "we are two women from the country, who +have come to Paris for the first time. We know no one here, and can give +you no references except money. Will that not satisfy you?" And Agatha +drew a purse from her pocket. + +"It will satisfy me, but not him who employs me. If I disobey him I may +lose this place which is my only shelter." Edmé caught a glimpse of a +neat sitting-room through a half-open door. The cool and quiet of the +house were doubly attractive after the noise and heat of the city +streets. + +"We must stay here," she whispered to Agatha. The latter opened her +purse. + +"We will pay you well," she said persuasively. The citizeness shook her +head mournfully, and put one hand upon the handle of the door. + +"Stay one moment, I implore you!" exclaimed Edmé impulsively. "Listen to +what I have to say." + +The citizeness turned her strange eyes upon Edmé. The latter started as +she beheld the expression on the pale face. + +"Agatha! look!" Edmé cried out in alarm, and the next instant the +Citizeness Privat had fallen to the floor. Quickly Edmé bent over her. +"She has fainted. How cold her hands are! Look at her face. It is +ghastly. It cannot be that she is dead, Agatha?" Edmé continued in a +tone of awe. + +Agatha took one hand and began to chafe it to restore the circulation +while Edmé rubbed the other. "She is breathing," said Agatha. "Perhaps +with your assistance, mademoiselle, we can lift and carry her into one +of the rooms." + +Between them the Citizeness Privat was carried gently into her room and +placed upon a bed. To their intense relief, the woman gave a sigh, and +opened her eyes as she sank back on the pillows. + +"Are you in great suffering, poor creature?" asked Edmé, compassionately +surveying the pale features. Citizeness Privat signed that she was not +in any pain, and after a few moments, during which her breath came +regularly, she said faintly:-- + +"I shall be better soon; I am used to these attacks of sudden giddiness. +My greatest fear is that they may seize me some day while I am in the +streets. For that reason I dread to go out alone." + +"Let us remove her clothing and put her in the bed where she will be +more comfortable," suggested Mademoiselle de Rochefort, and in spite of +the feeble remonstrances of the sick woman they soon had her comfortably +installed between the sheets. + +"You are very good," she murmured. + +As Agatha removed the gown a card fell from the pocket to the floor. + +"I shall be unable to attend to my task this evening," sighed the woman +Privat, as if the fluttering pasteboard recalled to mind some urgent +duty. "I can ill afford to let the work go either. It helps so much +towards my support, but to-day it will be impossible." + +Edmé picked up the card, and in doing so glanced at it casually, then +read it with a start:-- + + FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL. + + Permit the Citizeness Jeanne Privat to enter the various rooms + of the tribunal when engaged upon her routine duties. + +The Citizeness Privat smiled faintly. "I see you wonder what I have to +do with the tribunal," she said; "I merely go there in the afternoon at +dark and clean up the rooms. There are many of them, and as I am the +only person employed to look after them, they get into a dreadful state +of disorder and dirt." Here the citizeness was taken with a fit of +coughing. + +Edmé thrust the card mechanically into her pocket, and ran to fetch a +glass of water. + +"You are very good to me," said she faintly as soon as she could speak. +"I turned you away," a slight flush coming to her cheek. "Believe me, it +was not my heart that spoke when I told you that I could not let you +have the lodging; I was merely obeying the commands of the owner, who +allows me my bare rent for my services. He is very strict, but at the +risk of incurring his displeasure, I shall refuse to let you go after +this kindness." + +"Do not fear; do not trouble about that," replied Mademoiselle de +Rochefort quietly, "but tell me more about your work in the tribunal. Is +it that which has worn you so?" + +"No, it is not so wearing, only I am far from strong, and sometimes I +get so fatigued. My brother, who is a turnkey in the conciergerie, +obtained this employment for me, as it was thought I could do it; but I +fear I shall have to give it up." + +Edmé smoothed the counterpane. "Do not worry," she said gently, "but go +to sleep now. We will remain here until you are better." + +The citizeness smiled faintly, her lips moved as if in apology; then she +fell into a quiet sleep. + +Agatha turned to her mistress. + +"Go into the next room, mademoiselle, and rest there. I will watch over +this sick woman." + +"I cannot rest, dear Agatha; I have something else to do, but you must +stay here until I return." + +"Where are you going?" + +"To the Luxembourg." + +"Not now, mademoiselle; wait--I will accompany you." + +"No, Agatha, I prefer to go alone; you must remain here until I come +back," commanded Edmé. + +Agatha knew it would be useless for her to remonstrate further, so she +resumed her place by the bedside, and with the greatest anxiety saw her +mistress leave the house, and, passing by the window, disappear up the +street. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +CITIZENESS PRIVAT'S CARD + + +"How does one obtain admission to visit a prisoner, citizen doorkeeper?" + +"How does one obtain permission?" repeated the keeper without looking up +from the work with which he was occupied. "One waits in that room," and +he gave a wave of the pen, "until the proper hour, then if one passes +satisfactorily under the inspection of the chief prison-keeper and +everything appears to be quite regular, one is allowed to see and +converse with the prisoner for a short time." + +"I wish to see some one here. Pray tell me where I shall find the chief +keeper?" + +"I am he," replied the keeper, pausing as he dipped his pen in the ink, +and looking over the top of his desk saw a woman neatly but simply +dressed, as became a citizeness of the Republic. The outlines of her +features were partly hidden by the hood of a gray cloak drawn up about +her head, but the shadows cast by this garment were not deep enough to +hide altogether the beauty of the oval face beneath it. + +"Whom do you wish to see?" he asked, evidently satisfied with his +inspection, for he dipped his pen in the ink-bottle and resumed his +work of ruling perpendicular lines in a ledger. + +"I wish to see the prisoner, Robert Tournay." + +The jailer put down his ruler. "That is impossible; the prisoner Tournay +is not here." + +"Not here! Then he has been set at liberty!" The cry of joy that sprang +to her lips checked itself, frozen by the quick negative gesture on the +keeper's part. She placed one hand upon the iron rail before her and +closed her fingers tightly around it. "He is not--Do not tell me he is +dead!" she whispered, looking up at the inexpressive face with a +pleading expression in her eyes, as if the jailer were the arbiter of +Tournay's fate. + +"Transferred to the conciergerie. You may see for yourself, citizeness," +and he held up the book and pointed with his forefinger to the notation +upon the neatly ruled page, "'Trans. to C.' That means that Robert +Tournay, former colonel in the army of the Republic, was yesterday +transferred to the prison of the conciergerie." + +Edmé's heart grew cold. She had no means of knowing the full purport of +the change, but she felt that it boded nothing but ill to Robert +Tournay. + +"Can you tell me why this removal was made?" she asked, although fearing +to hear the answer. + +"To facilitate his trial. As every one knows the Revolutionary Tribunal +is in the same building with the conciergerie. A prisoner may be brought +from his cell in the prison into the tribunal chamber, be tried, +sentenced, and returned to his dungeon without once being obliged to go +outside. He only passes out into the streets on his way to the +guillotine." + +"Has the trial already taken place? Can I see him if I go there at +once?" she demanded hurriedly. + +As the jailer saw the young woman's evident distress his voice softened +a little as he made reply: "That you may be prepared for another +disappointment, I tell you now, that in order to visit him in the +conciergerie, you will have to be furnished with a written permit from +some member of the committee. Robert Tournay is confined 'in secret.'" + +"Thank you, citizen jailer," was the faint reply. As Edmé turned and +left the prison lodge, the custodian of the Luxembourg bent over his +work again. The book was already filled with lists of names, written +evenly in long columns. This book was the record of all the prisoners of +the Luxembourg. When one left the prison his departure was duly noted in +the space opposite his name. His transfer to another jail was indicated +by the abbreviation "trans." If he was summoned before the tribunal and +acquitted, this fact was chronicled by the letters "acq." If he was +sentenced to death by the guillotine, the jailer marked him with a +little black cross "X." He had once been a schoolmaster, and it was his +pride to keep his prison records with neatness and accuracy. + +"Nevertheless, I am going to the conciergerie," said Edmé to herself as +she passed along the Rue Vaugirard; "to the conciergerie," she +repeated. She stopped abruptly in the street as the remembrance of the +Citizeness Privat came to her mind. Putting her hand into her pocket, +she drew out the card. "'Permit the Citizeness Privat to enter the rooms +of the tribunal.' I will be Madame Privat to-night" was Edmé's +resolution. "Once in the tribunal chamber, I shall at least be very near +the prison." + +It was late in the afternoon when she reached the Quai de l'Horloge that +skirted the frowning walls of the formidable prison. She passed the iron +grating of the yard, and looking in, wondered why some sparrows which +were twittering and fighting on the pavement beneath an unhealthy +looking tree should remain for a moment in a prison yard when they had +the whole outside world to fly in. Her pace, which had been a rapid one +all the way from the Luxembourg, slackened as she approached the main +entrance, and her fingers closed tightly on the card in her pocket, +while the heart beneath the gray cloak beat rapidly. + +She did not know where to find the tribunal chamber. She had never been +in that part of Paris before. She only knew that somewhere in that pile +of gray stone were the old Parliament rooms, at present converted into +the tribunal chambers of the Republic. Once in those rooms she would be +under the same roof with Robert Tournay. Passing along the prison wall, +she turned up the Rue Barillerie, and there saw the words "Revolutionary +Tribunal," in large letters over a doorway. Here was the place to begin +the rôle of the Citizeness Privat. + +The June evening was warm, and the air in the street fetid, as if it +were poisoned by the prison atmosphere; yet with a quick movement of the +hand she pulled the hood closer about her face, and rapidly ascended the +stone staircase. + +A porter sitting by the doorway looked at her with indifferent gaze, but +said nothing as she showed him the permit. She passed into the large +hall with a strange feeling, as if she were no longer Edmé de Rochefort. + +From the information she had received Edmé knew that there was some +means of communication between this hall and the prison. This +communication she must discover, but she resolved to set about the task +coolly and carefully in order that she might not arouse suspicion in the +minds of any chance observer. + +She imagined that she heard footsteps in a corridor on the other side of +the chamber, and this reminded her forcibly that she must play the part +of the Citizeness Privat. She gave a glance around the room, wondering +how the worthy citizeness did her work. The room certainly was dirty and +needed a good deal of cleaning. Bits of paper littered the floor and +were scattered about upon the desks. Upon a set of shelves, some books +and pamphlets were buried so deeply in dust that Edmé began to think the +Citizeness Privat had been somewhat lax in the performance of her duty. +After a short investigation she discovered a broom in an ante-room; and +armed with this she returned to the hall and began to sweep into a heap +the scraps of paper that littered the floor. This work soon began to +fatigue her, and it also rolled up billows of dust which settled down +over chairs and tables. She placed the broom in a corner, and looked +about for some easier work which would serve her turn as well. + +She espied a green cloth protruding from the edge of a table drawer. +Opening the drawer she put in her hand and was surprised to find that +the innocent cloth encased a large pistol. She removed the weapon and +returned it to the drawer, while with the green case as a dust-cloth she +made an attack upon the shelves of books with such violence and success +as to cause her to draw back quickly with a sneeze. She stopped, and, +with the green dust-cloth poised in air, listened attentively. No sound +was heard. Cautiously approaching the door she looked up and down the +passageway. + +At the further end of this corridor she could see a small iron-barred +door. This, she rightly conjectured, led to the conciergerie, and +through it passed the prisoners when they were brought in for trial. She +determined to pass into the prison through this door, and went toward it +with a firm step. Taking hold of the bars with both hands, she pressed +her face against the ironwork. + +"What do you want here?" demanded a voice, and Edmé saw in the sombre +half light the figure of a sentry. He stood so near the door upon the +other side that by stretching her hand through the bars she could have +touched him. + +"I wish to enter here," Edmé replied. + +"One does not enter here, citizeness. Go around to the main entrance on +the Quai." + +"It is so far," she demurred pleadingly. "I have been doing my work here +in the tribunal chambers, and now wish to have a few words of +conversation with the turnkey Privat." + +"Who are you?" + +"I--I am Jeanne Privat, his sister." + +"Well--such being the case, I will let you come through, but you must be +sure to come out this way, citizeness. If you were seen going out of the +lower entrance, not having entered there, it might get both of us in +trouble. And you might lose your place as well as I." + +As he spoke he opened the lower half of an iron wicket. "Duck your head +a little, citizeness, and enter quickly." + +Edmé did not need a second bidding; the gate closed with a snap, and she +was inside the conciergerie. + +"Privat is in the second corridor. Go to the right and then turn to the +left," said the warder. "There he is now, just at the corner," he added +hastily. "Hey, Privat," and he gave a prolonged, low whistle, "here is +your sister, come to see you." + +François Privat was slow of speech as well as of brain, so he merely +stood gaping with amazement at sight of the young woman who claimed him +as a brother, and who bore not the slightest resemblance to his sister +Jeanne. Edmé stepped quickly forward toward the turnkey, saying in a low +voice as she approached him:-- + +"I bring _a message_ from your sister; the good sentry should have told +you." Then in the same breath, she went on hurriedly to say: "The poor +woman was taken quite ill this afternoon, so ill that she had to be put +to bed. I came to do her work in the tribunal chambers, but thought you +should be told of your sister's illness, so asked the sentry to let me +speak to you." + +In her trepidation, she hardly knew what words came to her lips. + +There was silence; then after Privat had gotten the information into his +head, and had digested it, he said slowly:-- + +"Tell Jeanne Privat that I shall come to see her--let me see--day after +to-morrow--no--the day after that, Thursday, my first free time." + +Edmé looked up into his face. He was very tall and of a ruddy +complexion, fully fifteen years younger than his sister. + +"Is that all your message?" she inquired, in order to gain time for +thought. + +"At four o'clock in the afternoon, if you like, but she knows the time +well enough--from four to six." + +Then without showing any further interest in the subject, the +imperturbable Privat took up his bunch of keys and began to polish one +of them upon his coatsleeve. + +There was a pause. + +Edmé summoned all her courage and spoke with as much composure as she +could assume, although she felt that her voice trembled:-- + +"Citizen Privat, I have an urgent request to make you." + +Privat blinked at her out of his stupid eyes. + +"But I am prepared to pay for it." + +A sign of animation seemed to come into the turnkey's face, but he did +not move nor seek to question her. + +"What I am about to ask may be very difficult for you to do, and that is +why I am prepared to pay you _well_." She dwelt upon the last words, +seeming to guess that she had struck the right note. + +"How much are you prepared to pay?" he asked in his slow way. + +Edmé drew a purse from the folds of her gown, and opening it disclosed a +number of shining gold pieces. Privat's eyes were animated now. + +"All that!" he exclaimed. "What do you want me to do for it? It must be +something dangerous. I--I am not a brave man." + +"It is merely," continued Edmé, holding the open purse in her hand, "to +procure me speech with a prisoner." + +"What prisoner?" + +"Colonel Robert Tournay." + +"But it is impossible; he is in secret confinement." + +"I know he is, but what I ask is not impossible. There are five hundred +francs here; five hundred francs, all for you, if you will but bring me +to the cell of Robert Tournay." + +"I cannot do that; I have not the key." + +"You know who has the key. Surely some of this gold will enable you to +get it. I leave the means with you." + +Privat's mind seemed to be going through the process which served him +for thought. + +"At the further end of the south corridor," he finally said, motioning +with a key, "in half an hour, the prisoner Tournay will be allowed to +walk for exercise. The south corridor is separated from this one by a +grated door. I will see that you get through that door. That is all I +can do." + +Edmé pressed the purse into his huge palm, which closed upon it +greedily. + +"Shall I come with you now?" she asked, her pulse beating high between +expectation, hope, and fear. + +"No, wait here in the shadow until I come to fetch you to him. I shall +also come to tell you when you must leave the south corridor. You will +have to do so quickly and go back the same way you came. If you are +discovered here, I shall get into trouble. You understand?" + +"I understand," she answered. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +TOURNAY'S VISITOR + + +For three days Tournay and St. Hilaire worked away persistently at the +bars of their window. They only dared work between the hours of one and +four in the morning. Not only secrecy but great ingenuity was called +for, as it was necessary that the bars should preserve in the daytime +their usual appearance of solidity. + +To do this, all the filings were kept, and at the termination of each +night's work, this dust, moistened by saliva into a paste, was smeared +into the fissure they had made. Their intention was to cut each bar +nearly through, leaving it standing, but so weakened that it could be +torn out by a sudden wrench. + +On the morning which terminated their third night's labor, just as the +first gray streak in the east announced the early coming of the long, +hot summer day, the third bar had been cut halfway through. The two +prisoners looked into each other's eyes. Both realized that they must +work rapidly in order to complete their task in time. + +"At all hazards we must begin earlier to-night," whispered St. Hilaire +significantly. Tournay nodded. "There is still a good deal of work to +be done, although a thin man might squeeze through," he said. + +"Not a man of your breadth, colonel," replied St. Hilaire, carefully +rubbing the dampened filings into the crevice. "We shall have to cut +through all of them, and even then it will be a narrow passageway for +your shoulders." + +"Now for a little rest," he continued, descending from the table as +quietly as a cat, and putting it in another part of the cell. + +Tired out by their work and the attendant excitement, the two men threw +themselves, fully dressed, upon their beds and slept until late in the +morning. Their slumber might have continued until past noon had they not +been rather unceremoniously awakened by the appearance of the turnkey +and a couple of gendarmes by their bedside. + +"What is wanted?" exclaimed Tournay sleepily. + +"You are to be transferred to the conciergerie, citizen colonel, that is +all," was the reply, although the tone implied a deeper meaning. + +Tournay sprang from the bed, wide enough awake now, and with a sickening +feeling at his heart. He looked at St. Hilaire, who was lying upon his +own pallet outwardly indifferent to the announcement, but whose fingers +silently stole under the mattress and closed upon the file that had been +placed there the night before. St. Hilaire continued to lie there +motionless, feigning sleep; but his alert brain was busy with the +problem as to where it would be possible for him to deftly and +successfully hide the useful little tool in case the guards had also +come to search their cell. + +"Are you ready, citizen colonel?" + +Tournay gave a quick glance at their window. St. Hilaire rose to a +sitting posture. + +"Citizen colonel," he said, "will you take my hand at parting?" + +Tournay stepped to his bedside. Outwardly calm, the two prisoners +clasped hands. Tournay felt the hard substance of steel against his +palm. + +Giving no sign of his surprise, he shook his head sadly. "It is +useless," he said. + +"Good-by, citizen colonel," said St. Hilaire carelessly, as one might +bid adieu to a chance acquaintance. "I am thinner than you, and I may +grow still more so if they keep me here many days longer." He gave an +imperceptible glance of the eye in the direction of the window. + +The colonel turned away while the file slid up his coat sleeve. + +"I am ready, citizen officers," he said. + +The two gendarmes preceded him into the corridor. As he stepped over the +threshold, Gendarme Pierre caught him quickly by the wrist and the next +instant had the file in his own possession. + +It was done so adroitly and quickly that Tournay could have offered no +resistance even had he been so inclined. The other gendarme was not even +aware of what took place. + +"I like a clever trick," said Pierre with a chuckle. + +"You are quite a magician," was Tournay's rejoinder. + +The tall gendarme gave his grim chuckle. "I am called Pierre the +prestidigitateur," he said, "though you are yourself fairly adept at +palming. What have you been doing with this little plaything?" he +continued, as they walked down the corridor. + +"You mean 'What did I intend to do with it?' do you not?" + +The gendarme examined the file carefully. + +"No, I mean what have you been using it on," he said. + +Tournay was silent. + +"Oh, you need not hesitate to speak; it will be found out." + +Tournay shrugged his shoulders, and made no reply. + +"Well, you are right," said the gendarme. "It is for us to find out." +And he relapsed into a silence that was not broken until they reached +the conciergerie. + +"You will hardly escape from this place though you had a whole workshop +of tools," he said grimly at parting. + +Tournay realized the truth of this statement, for he was now in the most +dreaded of all the prisons of Paris, and he knew well what his transfer +foreshadowed. + +Tournay had no certain means of knowing whether their attempt to cut +their way out of the Luxembourg had been discovered; and he still +cherished the slight hope that St. Hilaire might be able to escape from +the Luxembourg with the assistance of Gaillard. + +Had they both escaped, St. Hilaire and he had formed a daring plan to +rescue the Republic from the hands of those who were destroying it. And +now, even though it was frustrated, he could not help going over all the +details in his mind, although the thought of their complete failure +added to his misery. + +The news of the arrest of General Hoche had reached Tournay's ears some +time before, and although it had caused him great pain to learn of the +misfortune that had befallen his chief, he felt that the event would +embitter the army, and that they would the more readily give their +support to any plan that would of necessity liberate Hoche. + +This plan had been made for Tournay to reach the army and enlist the +officers in his support; then return to Paris with a sufficient force at +his back to destroy the tyrants and overawe that part of the Commune +that still idolized them. That would give an opportunity for the cooler +and more moderate heads in the convention to come to the front, restore +order, and form a stable government based upon the constitution. + +St. Hilaire, meanwhile, was to remain in hiding; but the first approach +of the national troops and the first blast of the counter-revolution was +to be the signal for him to appear in the faubourgs, supported by all +the followers he could muster, armed with all the eloquence he could +command, to move the people to action, and fan to white heat the flame +of opposition to the Terrorists which was already smouldering on every +side. + +But now all the fabric of the carefully spun scheme had been blown +roughly aside by one puff of adverse wind. + +Once in the conciergerie, a prisoner was not kept in uncertainty for any +length of time. The next day after his transfer Tournay was summoned for +trial. At first he attempted to defend himself with all the eloquence +which the justice of his case called forth. All the fire of his nature +was aroused, and as he spoke the attention of the crowded court room was +held as if by a spell. Murmurs of applause rose from the multitude, even +among those who had come in the hope of seeing him judged guilty. + +But upon his judges he made no visible effect. They refused to call his +witnesses. They suppressed the applause, and cutting short his defense +hastened to conclude his trial. Tournay saw the futility of his defense. +He read the verdict in the eyes of the judges, and sat down. + +After the verdict had been given he was taken back to the conciergerie, +"sentenced to die within eight and forty hours." + +"Oh, for a month of freedom!" he cried inwardly, as he reëntered the +prison. "For one short month of liberty! After that time had passed I +would submit to any death uncomplainingly." + +Withdrawing to the further end of the corridor where he was permitted +to walk for a short time, he sat down by a rough table where some of the +lighter-hearted prisoners had, in earlier days, beguiled the time at +cards. Here he rested his head upon his arm and sat motionless. + +Then his thoughts returned to Edmé, or rather continued to dwell upon +her, for no matter what he did or spoke or thought, no matter how +absorbing the occupation of the hour, she was always in his mind, the +consciousness of her presence was ever in his heart. + +"Oh, for one little month of liberty," he cried aloud, "to make one +attempt to rescue France, and to see you, Edmé, once again!" He rose +from his seat with a gesture of despair, and turning, saw her standing +there before him. He stood in silence, looking at her as if she were the +creation of his fancy, stepped for a moment from the shadow of the gray +walls to melt into nothingness, should he, by speaking, break the spell. + +She came toward him, putting her finger to her lips as a sign of +caution. "Speak low," she whispered, "lest they hear you!" + +"Mademoiselle de Rochefort," he replied in a low voice, "is this really +you? In God's name tell me how you come to be here?" + +"I have come to you," she answered simply, putting her hands in his. +"When I heard that you had been arrested and put in prison, I knew that +I should come and find you. You see all France was not wide enough to +keep me from you." + +"Then you are not a prisoner?" he exclaimed joyfully. + +"No, I came in of my own free will. No one suspects who I am." + +"Merciful God, do you know the risk you run? Why have you done this?" + +"Have you not risked your life more than once for my sake? Did you think +that Edmé de Rochefort would do less for you?" + +"Edmé!" + +For a moment the prison walls vanished. His shattered plans were +forgotten. The redemption of the Republic became as nothing; he only +knew that Edmé de Rochefort had proved beyond all human doubt her love +for him, and that it was her loyal, loving heart he could feel +throbbing, as he pressed her to his breast. + +Only for a moment, then the full realization of the terrible risk she +ran smote him with redoubled force. He turned pale. She had never seen +him so deadly white before, and it frightened her. + +"Hush," he whispered before she could speak, and stepping cautiously to +the grated door he peered out between the bars. As far as the elbow of +the corridor, he could see no one. With a sigh of relief he came back to +her. His fears for her safety restored the activity of his mind. + +"It is dangerous for you to go about the city. The merest accident, the +slightest inquiry in regard to you might lead to your detection." + +"I will be very careful," she replied submissively. + +"Ah, Edmé," he said, "who am I to deserve such a love as yours? The +thought of the risk you incur almost drives me mad. The knowledge of +your love will make my last hours the happiest of my life." + +"Do not speak of dying, Robert," she said. "There must still be hope. +They dare not condemn you." + +The words, "You do not know," sprang to his lips, but the look upon her +face told him that she was as yet in ignorance of his sentence. He +lacked the courage to tell her. + +"It must come, Edmé; we should not be blind to that. I would gladly +live, if only long enough to see France freed from the talons that rend +it, and the true Republic rise from under the tyranny that is crushing +it to death. I would gladly live for your love, a love I never dared to +hope for either on earth or in heaven. Surely I ought to be the happiest +of men to have tasted such bliss even for a moment; and to die with the +firm belief that we shall meet beyond the grave." + +She did not answer. The quick heaving of her bosom and the quiet sobbing +she struggled to suppress went to his heart. + +"Do not grieve for me so much," he whispered, drawing her to him; "after +all, it will only be for a little while." + +"For you who go the time may seem short," she answered mournfully; "but +each year that I live without you will seem an eternity. I cannot bear +it." + +"Courage, dear one, I beseech you; do not grieve for me. Why, I might +have met death any day within the past years. I have come to regard it +with indifference. Not that I despise life," he added quickly. "Life +with you would be more than heaven, but the very nature of a soldier's +life makes him look upon his own sudden death as almost a probability. +It is but a pang, and all is over." + +"I will not grieve for you, Robert," she replied with firmness, "not +while there is something to be done. Something that I can do. They shall +not murder you." + +"What are you going to do?" he asked quickly, fearing that some rash +undertaking had suggested itself to her mind. + +"This Robespierre rules through the fear he has inspired, but he is +hated," replied Edmé. "The people accept his decrees like sheep, but +they obey sullenly. They do not criticise him, but that bodes him the +greater ill. It needs but one blast to make the whole nation turn +against him. There must be men in the convention who are ready to rebel +against him," she continued, talking rapidly. "I shall go to them." + +"No, Edmé, you shall not. It would be"-- + +"Listen to what I have to say," she said, interrupting him with an +imperative gesture. "I shall find them out; I shall go to their houses. +It needs but a little fire; I will kindle it. I will plead with them. If +they have any regard for their Republic they will listen to me. Your +name, Robert, shall not be mentioned, but it will be my love for you +that shall speak to them. In the name of the Republic I shall plead with +them, but it will be only to save you. If they have any courage or +manhood left, they will accept now." + +Robert Tournay looked at her with wonder and admiration as, with a flush +of excitement on her cheek, she outlined clearly and rapidly a plan +strikingly similar to that evolved by St. Hilaire and himself,--similar, +but more daring, more impossible; one that could not fail to be +disastrous to her, whatever the ultimate result. + +For a moment he feared to speak, knowing the inflexibility of her will. +"I pray you, Edmé, abandon your design. It will only drag you into the +net and will not avail me." + +"Robert, my mind is fixed; my action may result in saving you, but if +not, your fate shall be mine also." + +"Edmé! Do not speak thus. The thought of you standing on that scaffold, +the terrible knife menacing your beautiful neck, will drive me mad. Oh, +the horror of it!" and he put his hand before his eyes and trembled. + +"Promise me that you will not do this," he continued pleadingly. +"Robespierre's power will come to an end, but the time is not yet ripe. +Do not try to save my life. Do not even try to see me again." He took +her head between his hands. "Let this be our last adieu," he pleaded. +"Listen! the turnkey is advancing down the passageway. I touch your +lips; the memory of it shall dwell in my soul forever." + +She threw her arms about his neck for a moment, then before the heavy +turnkey entered the inclosure she had passed quickly along the dark +corridor through the wicket gate into the Tribunal Hall. + +The chamber was dimly lighted by two smoky oil lamps, one on each side +of the room; but they gave out enough light to enable her to see the way +between the desks and chairs toward the door through which she had first +entered from the street. + +Edmé turned the handle of the door but could not open it. It had been +locked on the outside. She ran to one of the front windows. By the faint +light in the Rue Barillerie, she could discern an occasional passer-by. +With an effort she raised the heavy sash and leaned out. It was between +eight and nine o'clock, and the small street was very quiet. The few +pedestrians were already out of hearing, and had they been nearer she +would have feared to call out to them. She looked down at the pavement. +The height was twenty feet; she closed the window with a shudder. +Looking about the room she saw, what had before escaped her notice, a +ray of light coming through the crack of a door into an adjoining room. + +A number of voices in conversation was audible. She resolved to play +again the part of Citizeness Privat. Whoever might be there, when he +learned that she had been accidentally locked in while at work, would +show her the way out. + +The door opened wider, and a man came forth. Edmé, who had hastily taken +up the same broom she had before used, pretended to be at work, while +she summoned her self-possession. The man gave her no more than a casual +glance as he went to a table, took out from a drawer a bundle of papers, +and proceeded to look them over. + +Edmé looked at him closely, sweeping all the while. Her first +apprehension was quieted when she saw he was a very young man with rosy +cheeks and a pen behind his ear. He was evidently one of the government +clerks, staying late at the office to finish some piece of work. + +She breathed more freely every moment notwithstanding the amount of dust +she raised. The clerk put the bundle of papers under his arm with a +gesture of annoyance, and went back to the other room. + +Edmé waited a few minutes, put the broom under her arm, and approached +the door which the clerk had left ajar. She could not help starting as +she read the large letters on the panel of the door. The room which +contained the apple-faced and harmless looking little scribe was +designated "Chamber of Death Warrants." + +"Here's a pretty state of affairs, Clément," she heard a voice exclaim +in a tone of annoyance. "The list of warrants for 'La Force' to-morrow +consists of thirty-seven names while I have only thirty-six documents." + +"Count them again, Hanneton; you know at school you were always slow at +figures." + +"I have compared the warrants with the list of names twice most +carefully. I assure you one warrant is missing. See for yourself, +'_Bonnefoi, Charles de, ex-noble_' is on the list, but there is not a +single Bonnefoi among to-morrow's pile of warrants." + +"Have you looked through those of day after to-morrow?" + +"I have, both of the day after to-morrow and the day following that. In +fact, I have gone over all the warrants for all the prisoners, but still +no _Bonnefoi, Charles de, ex-noble_." + +"Lucky for Bonnefoi!" + +"But unlucky for me. I shall be discharged if I let these go out this +way." + +"I tell you what to do," said Clément, "take one from the day after +to-morrow. They are in too great a hurry in the office these days to +compare the lists; they just see if the number tallies, and send off the +warrants to the keepers of the various prisons." + +"But if I do that I shall still be one short, day after to-morrow." + +"No you will not," replied the facile Clément; "you just take one from +the day following that, and so on and so forth. You merely keep the +thing going. Your lists and warrants will agree as to number every day. +No question arises, and the only result is that some fellow gets shoved +along under the national razor just twenty-four hours earlier than he +would have, had not some one,--I won't say named Hanneton,--but some one +who shall be nameless, made a little blunder." + +"I rather dislike to do such a thing, Clément." + +"Oh, Hanneton, my boy, I always said you were slow. What's twenty-four +hours to a man who has got to die anyway? and then think of Bonnefoi; +he'll be overlooked for a long time. Some of those fellows among the +aristocracy have been in prison two or three years already. They get to +like it and lead quite a jolly life there. I am told they have fine +times in some of the prisons. Bonnefoi will be wondering why they don't +come to shave him, but he won't say anything. Bonnefoi won't peep. You +can count on his silence." + +"But my friend Clément, it will be discovered some day." + +"Well, I can't look ahead so far as that. If you are found out you can +say you made a mistake. They can't any more than discharge a man for +making a mistake." + +"I'll do it, Clément. Here goes--good luck to Bonnefoi." + +"And good luck to the fellow you shove ahead in his place; we'll drink +an extra glass to him when we finish work to-night. Let's see what may +his name be." + +"'_Tournay, Robert, former Colonel!_' Hello, what's that?" cried +Clément, interrupting him. + +"I did not hear anything," replied Hanneton. + +"The sound seemed to come from the next room." + +"Oh, it's only that woman who is cleaning the place. She has knocked +over a table or a chair. Come. Let's go out and get something to eat. +I'm famished. We can return later, and finish our work." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +TWO WOMEN + + +The revelation that Tournay was condemned, the awful knowledge that he +would be executed on the morrow, conveyed to her thus suddenly, made the +room reel before Edmé's eyes. In her dizziness she fell against one of +the tables and held to it for support. + +In the quiet that followed the departure of the clerks she pressed her +head and tried to think. At first her benumbed brain refused to work; +then as the full significance of the clerk's action came back to her, +when she realized just what he had done and what she in her turn might +do, she stood erect, alert, and courageous. + +The warrant for Robert's death; could she get possession of it? With a +beating heart she glided into the chamber of death warrants. + +A lamp was burning in the room, and there in plain view upon the table +were three packets of black-covered papers. She bent over them hastily +and at once took up the file marked: "Warrants of the eighth Thermidor." +With nervous fingers she ran them through, looking at each name until +she came to that of "Tournay, Robert, ex-colonel." At sight of the name +she gave a half-suppressed cry, and took it quietly from the others. +"They shall not send you to the guillotine to-morrow, Robert," she +breathed. Her first thought was how to make way with the fatal paper. +She looked round the room; it had one window and two doors. The window +looked out upon the street. One doorway led back into the tribunal +chamber. Through the other, a small one, the two clerks must have passed +out. She hastened towards it, praying fervently that they had omitted to +fasten it. Vain prayer, the clerks had not been remiss in their duty +here. It was locked. Yet it was not a strong barrier. A few blows struck +with some heavy object might break it through; or better still there was +a pistol in the drawer of one of the desks; with that she could blow the +lock to atoms. Either method would make a noise, but she must take the +risk. + +Just as these thoughts flashed through her mind, she saw to her +consternation the door-handle turn, and heard the grating of a key on +the outside. + +"The employees returning," she thought, and had just presence of mind +enough to pass her left hand, which still clutched the death warrant, +behind her back, when the door opened, and she was face to face with a +woman. + +"Hello!" said the latter, "I expected to find Clément and Hanneton here. +Who are you?" + +"I--I am,--I came in the place of Madame--of Citizeness Privat." + +"You seem a little put out, citizeness, at the sight of La Liberté. You +have never seen me before? That's why, eh? Tell me, now, what are you +doing here?" + +"I am doing the work of Citizeness Privat, who is ill," replied Edmé, +recovering her self-possession. + +"Hum," said La Liberté with a slight sniff, as she closed the door and +passed toward the centre of the room. Edmé slowly revolved on her heel, +keeping her face toward La Liberté, and her left hand behind her back. + +"What are you trying to hide there?" demanded La Liberté quickly, whose +bright brown eyes took in every motion of Edmé. + +"I have nothing to hide." + +La Liberté's glance went from Edmé to the warrants on the table, and +then back to Edmé's face again. + +"You are hiding something behind your back," persisted La Liberté, +trying to obtain a peep at it by making a circle around Edmé. Edmé +continued to turn, always keeping her face toward La Liberté. + +The latter stopped. "I will see what you have there," she declared with +a toss of her head, her curiosity aroused to the burning point. + +"You shall not. It does not concern you," was the firm reply. + +For an instant each looked into the other's eyes in silence. Both +breathed defiance; both were equally determined. + +Then with a tigerlike spring La Liberté dashed forward, seized Edmé +about the waist with one arm, while she endeavored to secure the +parchment with her other hand. Edmé quickly passed the document into her +right hand, bringing it forward high above her head. With the same +cat-like agility, La Liberté sprang for it on the other side and managed +to get hold of it by one corner. There was a short struggle; a tearing +of paper, and each held a piece of the document in her hand. + +"A warrant!" exclaimed La Liberté, darting back a few paces and shaking +out the piece of paper in her hand. "You have been tampering with +these," she added quickly, putting one hand upon the pile of documents +on the table. + +Edmé made no reply. + +"Why did you take it?" inquired La Liberté, taking her portion of paper +near the light to examine it, while she kept one eye fixed upon her late +antagonist, in fear of a sudden attack. + +The warrant had been divided nearly down the centre; but the last name +of the condemned man was upon the piece held by La Liberté. + +"Tournay!" she cried out in surprise. "Robert Tournay! What object have +you in destroying this warrant?" + +"I have not destroyed it," replied Edmé, making the greatest effort to +maintain an outward calm. "It was you who tore it." + +"Don't try any of those tricks with me," snapped La Liberté. "Come, what +was your object in taking this warrant? It is a dangerous thing to +tamper with those documents." + +"I shall not answer any of your questions," was Edmé's rejoinder. + +For a space of ten seconds the two women stood again confronting each +other, as if each waited for the other to move. La Liberté's eyes looked +fixedly at Edmé, as if they would read her through and through. + +"You are not what you pretend to be," she said finally; "you are no +woman of the people." Then, suddenly flinging aside the torn paper, she +rushed forward and seized Edmé's arm. + +"I know who you are now!" she exclaimed excitedly. "You are an +aristocrat! Don't deny it!" she continued passionately. "I came from La +Thierry. I was a young girl when I left there, but my memory serves me +well. Your name is Edmé de Rochefort. You are an aristocrat, and you +love the republican colonel! You destroyed this warrant. You risked your +life in the attempt to prolong his." + +"Whoever I may be, whatever I attempted to do, you tore that paper. It +was you who destroyed it," said Edmé as she wrenched herself free from +the woman's grasp. + +The only answer of La Liberté was a loud and scornful laugh. She +approached Edmé again with a malignant glitter in her eyes; but Edmé +held her ground and confronted her bravely. + +"So you are Edmé de Rochefort," repeated La Liberté slowly. "I remember +having seen you years ago when I was a girl of fifteen, at my father's +mill near the village of La Thierry. You were a pale-faced girl then. +You didn't wear coarse clothes then! You drove in your carriage, and +didn't look at such as me; but I saw you, and hated you for being so +proud. Then there was a certain marquis." A bright spot appeared on +Edmé's cheek, but she did not speak. + +"He came to pay his court to you, but he made love to me. He never even +made a pretense of loving you. But he cared for me in his cold, selfish +way. He took me to Paris, gave me everything money could buy, for a +while. Then he left me, and went back to you. I hated you for that. You +did not care for him. You did not marry him. That made no difference to +me. Then there was another man. He was not for you. He was of my class, +not yours. You had no right to his love. He never loved me, I know. I am +too proud to say he loved me when it was not so. But he was kind to me. +He was noble and generous, and I loved him. You had no right to him. I +hate you for that more than all." Her passion wrought upon her so that +her once pretty face was something fearful to behold. Edmé expected at +each breath she would spring forward and tear her like a tiger cat. + +"I care not for your hatred," Edmé retorted calmly. "I never willfully +wronged you. Your hatred cannot harm me." + +"No?" demanded the frenzied La Liberté. "It can restore this paper. I +can denounce you. I can send you with your lover to the guillotine." + +"That does not terrify me," replied Edmé. "You can send the woman you +hate and the man you profess to love into another world together. That +is all you can do. I am above your hatred." + +La Liberté started to speak, then checked herself. + +"You say you love him. Love," repeated Edmé in a tone of deep disdain. +"You dare to call that love which would destroy its object? Such as you +are not capable of love." + +"If it were not that _you_ loved him, I would let them cut me into +pieces for his sake," retorted La Liberté fiercely. + +"You say that you love him, and you are willing to send him to the +guillotine," repeated Edmé. + +"If it were not that it would be giving him to you, I would give my life +a thousand times to save him," was the answer. + +Edmé caught La Liberté by the arm. + +"You have it in your power to cause my arrest. If you will not use that +power, if you will give me only twenty-four hours, I may be able to save +Robert Tournay's life. At the expiration of that time, whether I succeed +or fail, I will surrender myself. I will denounce myself before the +Committee of Public Safety." + +La Liberté looked into Edmé's face searchingly but made no reply. + +"You understand what I propose," Edmé continued in a cool, firm voice. +"If you agree to it you can accomplish what you desire; the rescue of +Robert Tournay and my death." + +"Bah," said La Liberté with a shrug; "you are very heroic, but, Robert +Tournay once out of danger, you would not give yourself up to the +committee. In your place, I should not do it, and I will not trust you." + +"I give you my promise to appear before Robespierre himself." + +"Your promise," repeated La Liberté, "you ask me to accept your simple +word?" + +"The word of a de Rochefort," said Edmé with quiet dignity. + +"The word of an aristocrat," continued La Liberté slowly. "You +aristocrats vaunt your devotion to honor." + +"And will you not trust it when Colonel Tournay's life is at stake?" +asked Edmé. + +"Yes, I will," La Liberté burst forth in fierce energy. "I _will_ trust +your word, and test your honor." + +"Then for twenty-four hours you will let me go free? You will not have +me watched nor interfered with in any way?" + +"I give you _my_ word," said La Liberté, drawing herself up, "and my +word is as good as that of the proudest aristocrat." + +Then changing her manner she asked quickly: "How do you propose to save +Robert Tournay? What can you do?" + +Edmé had no intention of imparting her plan to La Liberté, yet she did +not wish to antagonize her by refusing to confide in her. + +"There is not time to go into the details of it now. First help me to +get away from here. Those clerks may return." + +"I will prevent that," said La Liberté quickly. "I know where they sup. +I will go there and delay their return. They are convivial youngsters +and never refuse a glass or two. In the meantime you must see to it that +those three files of warrants do not retain the slightest appearance of +having been handled. Be sure that every object in the room is just as +you found it." + +By this time La Liberté was outside the door. Looking back into the +room, she said: "When you have done that, go down this staircase, cross +the street, and wait for me in the shadow of the building opposite. I +will then conduct you to my house," and La Liberté's feet sprang nimbly +down the stairs. + +Quickly Edmé picked up the pieces of torn warrant, intending to take +them away and burn them. Then she turned her attention to the documents +on the table, and in a few minutes had them arranged just as she found +them. She placed the chairs in a natural position before the table, and +stepped back for a final survey to assure herself that she had not left +a trace which might arouse the suspicion of the clerks. + +No, there was nothing that Hanneton or even Clément would be likely to +notice. She had been none too rapid in the arrangement of these details. +The door of the adjoining chamber was unlocked and some one entered. + +Edmé could tell by the footfalls that the person was traversing the room +with measured tread. Then came the sound of a chair being drawn up to a +desk. Then a dry cough echoed through the deserted hall as a man cleared +his throat. + +Edmé gave a glance toward the door that led down the staircase taken by +La Liberté. It stood invitingly open, but to gain it she would have to +pass the door that communicated with the tribunal. This also was open. +She started on tiptoe across the floor. + +The words "Bring me a light here, will you?" fell upon her ears in a +harsh tone of authority. She started at this sudden command. She had +made no noise, yet the mysterious personage seemed to be aware of her +presence. + +"In the next room there, whoever you are, bring in more light; this lamp +burns villainously!" + +Edmé hesitated no longer but caught up the lamp from the table and +entered the tribunal chamber. As she obediently placed the light upon +the desk the man who was writing there looked up with impatient gesture. +Although she had never seen him before, she had heard him described many +times, and she knew that he was Robespierre. + +"Well!" he exclaimed, "who are you?" + +"I--I am here in place of the Citizeness Privat." + +"The Citizeness Privat?" + +"Yes, she cleans up the rooms, and being ill"-- + +"Cleans!" repeated Robespierre with a laugh, blowing the dust from the +top of the table, "Is that what you call it? This Privat is like all the +rest, willing to take the nation's pay and give nothing in return. And +you are also like the rest, eh?" + +"I do not know what you mean. I am doing her work as well as I can. With +your permission I will hasten to complete my task," replied Edmé. + +In spite of her abhorrence of him she could not help looking at him +intently, her eyes expressing the horror which she felt. To her, he was +the embodiment of all that was evil, the very spirit of the Revolution. +As her glance rested upon the white waistcoat, fitting close to his +meagre figure, and as she thought of the cruel heart that beat beneath +it, the vision of Charlotte Corday and the vile Marat flashed before her +eyes with startling vividness. + +What if heaven had decreed that she should be the means of ridding the +world of this monster? What if the opportunity was about to present +itself? She pushed the thought away from her, with the inward +supplication, "God keep me from doing it." + +Robespierre noticed the look of horror on her face, and attributed it to +the fear his presence inspired. His small eyes blinked complacently. + +"Stay," he said; "you have nothing to fear if you are a good patriotic +citizeness. And you may be pardoned if you neglect your work for a few +minutes to converse with Robespierre." + +There was an insinuating softness in his tone as he spoke that made her +nerves creep and increased her loathing for him. He sat leaning back +negligently in his chair, and she stood looking down upon him like some +superb creature from another world. + +"By the power of beauty," he exclaimed suddenly, "you are a glorious +woman! I have always said that only among women of the people is true +beauty to be found." + +She neither moved nor spoke, but stood still as a statue. + +He leaned forward in his chair. "You shall lay aside your broom and +dust-rags. I would see more of you. I have it. You shall be the Goddess +of Beauty at our next great fête. In that rôle Robespierre himself will +render you homage." Rising, he took one of her hands in his. + +She shuddered. It was as if a snake had coiled itself about her fingers. +The contact with her soft hand sent just a drop of blood to his sallow +cheek. + +"What sayst thou, O glorious creature? Wilt thou be a goddess of beauty +and sit enthroned upon the Champ de Mars, dressed in radiant clothing, +instead of these poor garments?" He spoke in low tones meant to be +tender. + +Again the vision of Charlotte Corday flashed before her. + +"No, no!" she cried out, more in answer to the thought that terrified +her than to his question. + +"Fear nothing, fair one," he said soothingly. "Robespierre is only +terrible to the guilty; to the good he is always magnanimous and kind. +Some say that I abuse my power, but that is false. True, I condemn many, +but 'tis done with justice; and I also pardon many. Should I receive no +credit for my clemency?" he continued, as if he were arguing with some +unseen personage. + +He released her hand and leaned his elbow on the desk. Her hand fell +cold and numb to her side, but the spell in which he had held her was +broken. A sudden daring resolve entered her head. + +"I have been told that you were a cruel monster, who condemned for the +pleasure of condemning; who did not know the meaning of clemency," she +said, "and therefore I am afraid of you." + +"They have maligned me," he answered. + +"Will you prove it by granting me a pardon, one that I can use as I may +wish?" + +Robespierre became alert on the instant. + +"You would set some man at liberty?" + +"Yes." + +"Your lover, is it not?" + +"I pray you, do not ask me." + +"Do not ask you!" repeated Robespierre. "And yet you ask me to pardon +him. Why should I do it?" + +"To prove that you know what clemency is." + +"I would rather show it in some other way. I should be a fool to set +your lover at liberty, so that you both might laugh at me." + +"I have not said that it was my lover." + +"No, but I say so." + +"You said a moment ago that you knew what mercy was, yet you cannot +understand my feeling at the thought that he must die." + +Robespierre took up a pen from the table and poised it over a sheet of +paper. The pleading look in the beautiful eyes gave him great enjoyment, +and he took a keen relish in prolonging it. + +"A few words from my pen," he said tantalizingly, "would set the man at +liberty. How would you reward me if I wrote them for you?" + +"Oh, I pray you to do so," she cried out, throwing herself at his feet. +"I pray you to write them. If you have the power, use it for mercy." + +Robespierre gazed deep into the eyes which looked up at him imploringly. + +"Who are you?" he demanded with the energy of sudden passion. "You are +no woman of the common people. Who are you?" + +"One who would have you do a noble action," she answered. "One who is +pleading with you for your own soul's sake." + +"Whoever you may be, you have bewitched me. Promise you will come hence +with me, and I will write the release." + +"Write it," she whispered faintly. + +Robespierre dashed off a few hurried lines. + +"What is the fellow's name?" he asked. + +"Sign the paper," she murmured, dropping her eyes. "I implore you, do +not ask me his name. Let me fill that in." + +"I will free no man from prison unless I know his name," replied +Robespierre. + +"I will never tell you that," she replied, rising to her feet and going +to the other side of the desk, "never." + +"What foolish nonsense," he complained, signing his name. "Now," he +continued, shaking the sand box over the wet ink, "tell me his name, and +I will send this pardon to the conciergerie at once. See, I have written +'immediate release' upon it. You have only to tell me his name. Do you +still hesitate?" + +There was a sudden rattle in the drawer on Edmé's side of the desk. +Leaning forward, she brought one hand down upon the paper, while with +the other she pointed a pistol at Robespierre's head. + +He turned deadly white and drew back in his chair. + +"Would you murder me?" he gasped out. + +[Illustration: "WOULD YOU MURDER ME?"] + +"If you make one movement," she replied, "Marat's fate will be yours." +He cringed further away from the muzzle of the weapon that stared him in +the face. With one hand she folded up the document and put it in the +bosom of her dress, all the while keeping the pistol aimed steadily at +him. + +"Now," she continued coolly, "you have the key of the door. Make no +movement," she added quickly, bringing the pistol still nearer him, "but +tell me where to find it." + +"It is in the door now," he snarled. + +She came cautiously around the corner of the desk, still keeping the +weapon leveled at his head. + +He rose to his feet and sprang toward her. The pistol snapped. He caught +her by the wrist. Then pinning both her arms to her side with his arms +about her waist he breathed in her ear:-- + +"You cannot fire a pistol that is not loaded, though you _did_ startle +me. Now give me that paper." + +Edmé did not speak, but struggled desperately to break from his grasp. +She determined that he might kill her before she would give back the +paper. So fiercely did she struggle that he had to exert all his +strength to hold her. + +"I'll have that paper again if I have to strangle you to get it!" he +muttered through his teeth. He succeeded in holding down both arms with +one of his, leaving his left arm free. + +Before he could make use of it, he felt himself seized from behind. His +nerves, strained by his previous fright, gave way completely at this +unexpected attack. Uttering a cry, he released his hold completely. + +"Save yourself; I will not hold you to your promise!" cried a voice. +Edmé waited to hear nothing more, but darted swiftly from the room, +leaving the baffled Robespierre confronted by La Liberté. + +For a moment he stood still, his surprise rendering him incapable of +speech or action. La Liberté walked jauntily to the door through which +Edmé had just vanished, locked it, and stuck the key in her belt beside +the knife she always wore there. + +"Do you know what you are doing, you mad creature?" cried Robespierre, +running to the door and putting his hand upon the latch. "Unlock this +door at once." + +"Wait a moment; I have something to say to you," was La Liberté's +rejoinder. + +"Give me that key instantly, do you hear?" he yelled, stamping his foot +upon the floor. "You do not know what you are doing." + +"I know," said La Liberté, nodding her head. "I have seen and heard +everything; I have been watching you from the door of the back +staircase." + +"The back staircase!" exclaimed Robespierre, starting toward it. + +"You need not trouble to go to it. I locked that door when I came in." + +Robespierre came toward her, furious with passion. "I will have none of +your escapades," he said fiercely; "give me that key or I will"-- + +"Keep off! keep off!" cried out La Liberté, bounding lightly out of his +reach with a little mocking laugh. "Don't catch me about the waist; I +carry my sting there." + +"You wasp! I will crush you!" he cried out, foaming with rage. + +"Better take care how you handle wasps," was her rejoinder as she +perched herself upon the edge of a desk and shook her brown curls +defiantly at him. + +"Come, Liberté," he said, trying a coaxing tone, although his anger +almost choked him; "I know you will open the door at once when I tell +you that woman has obtained from me by a skillful ruse a pardon in +blank. I don't know whose name will be filled in. Perhaps some great +enemy of the Republic will be set at liberty, unless I can send word at +once to the conciergerie and forestall it." + +"I know who will be liberated," sang La Liberté, swinging her feet. + +"You do!" vociferated Robespierre in genuine astonishment. "Is this a +plot? Are you concerned in it?" And he came toward her, his small eyes +winking rapidly. + +"You don't get it yet," laughed La Liberté, sliding over to the other +side of the desk. "I am concerned in enough of a plot to keep you from +sending to the scaffold a man to whom I've taken a fancy. I do not very +often take a particular interest in any one person, but when I do, it is +lasting." And she regarded him airily from her point of vantage. + +"I'll send you to the guillotine," hissed Robespierre between his teeth, +striking his clenched fist upon the desk in front of him. "I'll have you +arrested to-night. I'll bear with you no longer. I have permitted you to +swagger around in public, to come into the Jacobin Club and flourish +your pistols, because it amused the populace, and I laughed with them at +your antics; but now you have overstepped the line. This meddling with +national affairs will cost you your life." + +For a moment La Liberté confronted him from behind her barricade, her +eyes darting fire. + +"How dare you threaten me!" she cried shrilly. + +"You have conspired against the Republic; you shall pay for it," he +repeated, his fingers working convulsively as if he would like to lay +hands upon her. + +"My name is La Liberté," she said proudly, drawing herself up. "I am a +child of the Revolution. I have drunk of her blood. Do you think, +Robespierre, to terrify me with your shining toy, the guillotine? Bah! I +snap my fingers at it;" and speaking thus, she advanced toward him, one +hand resting on the dagger at her hip. He fell back before her, step by +step, until they reached the door. Voices were heard outside and some +one tried to enter. + +"Break the door down, whoever you are!" cried Robespierre. "Kick the +panel in; throw your whole weight against it." + +"We are Hanneton and Clément, clerks; we found the rear doorway +locked"-- + +"Break in, I say!" called out Robespierre impatiently. + +The hall reverberated with the noise of an attack made by Hanneton's +heavy shoes and Clément's shoulder. + +La Liberté inserted the key in the lock. "I might as well open it now," +she said, throwing back the door. + +The two clerks stood on the threshold in open-mouthed surprise. + +La Liberté passed them like a fawn and sped swiftly down the staircase. + +"We were merely returning to finish up a little work," stammered +Clément, who was the first to recover the use of his tongue; "but if we +intrude"-- + +"Come in," interrupted Robespierre quickly. "I have an errand of +importance for you." Seating himself at a table, he dashed off two short +notes. The clerks exchanged glances from time to time. + +"Here!" said Robespierre looking at Clément, and sealing the letters as +he spoke. "You look the less stupid. Take this at once to the keeper of +the conciergerie, then report to me in person at my house. You other +fellow, take this to Commandant Henriot. You will find him either at the +Hôtel de Ville or at the Jacobin Club. Tell him to report to me in +person. Now go, both of you." + +The two clerks did not wait to be twice bidden, and Robespierre followed +them from the room. + +An hour later the commandant stood before the president of the committee +in his own house. + +"Well," asked Robespierre, "have you executed the warrant?" + +"The Citizeness Liberté has been incarcerated in the Luxembourg prison," +was the reply. + +Robespierre's eyes blinked rapidly. "She is a child of the Revolution," +he repeated softly, "and does not fear my toy." + +Upon Henriot's heels entered Clément. Robespierre turned to him eagerly. + +"Fifteen minutes before I reached the conciergerie, a prisoner, named +Robert Tournay, was liberated on a release signed by you, citizen +president. It was delivered by a woman," was the brief report. + +An oath sprang to Robespierre's lips. "Tournay!" he cried out. "So it +was Tournay whom that woman has freed. The man is dangerous," he +continued, speaking to himself. "He should have perished long ago had I +not wished to get at Hoche through him. But he shall not escape me; nor +shall the woman." + +"Henriot," he exclaimed in his next breath, "order every route leading +out of the city guarded. Lodge information at every section for the +arrest of Robert Tournay, and of one other, a woman." + +"Yes, citizen president, and who"-- + +"Wait, I will write her description for you," cried Robespierre. "There +it is. Now be prompt, my patriot. We can still recapture our prisoner, +and then"--He did not complete the sentence, but his teeth came together +with a snap, and he drew his thin lips over them tightly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NO. 7 RUE D'ARCIS + + +The order signed by Robespierre for the immediate release of a prisoner +had not been questioned by the keeper of the conciergerie, and within a +few minutes from the time when Edmé presented the document with a heart +fluctuating between the wildest hope and the greatest fear, Colonel +Tournay walked out of the prison a free man. + +The sudden manner of his release, the fact that it had been effected by +Edmé's own daring and sagacity, and that he owed his life to her whom he +loved, made his brain reel. Then the recognition of the danger that +still menaced him, and above all the woman who was by his side, brought +him back to himself, and he was again cool, alert, and determined as she +had always known him. Drawing her arm through his and walking rapidly in +the shadows of Rue Barillerie, he said quickly:-- + +"The pursuit will be instant. Robespierre will ransack all Paris to find +us. But I know a hiding-place. Come quickly." + +She looked up at him. "I feel perfectly safe now," she said, and +together they hurried onward. + +Suddenly she stopped. "But how about Agatha!" she exclaimed, as the +thought of her faithful companion came to her mind for the time. + +"Agatha! Where is she?" asked Tournay almost impatiently, chafing at a +moment's delay. + +"At the Citizeness Privat's in the Rue Vaugirard. They will surely find +and arrest her. Robert, we must not let them." + +"The delay may mean the difference between life and death," replied +Tournay, turning in the direction of the Rue Vaugirard; "but we must not +let Agatha fall into Robespierre's clutches." + +In a few minutes they passed up the Rue Vaugirard. "Which is the house?" +asked Tournay anxiously. + +"There; the small one with the blinds drawn down. Agatha will be +anxiously waiting for me, I know. There she is now in the doorway. She +sees us! Agatha, quick! Never mind your hat or cloak. Ask no questions. +Now Robert, take us where you will." + +Passing Edmé's arm through his own, and with Agatha on the other side, +Tournay conducted the two women rapidly down the street. + +At the same moment gendarmes were running in all directions carrying +Robespierre's orders. + +Two of them hastened to the house of Citizeness Privat. They found her +in bed. Awakened from her sleep, she could only give meagre information +about her lodgers. There were two of them; one, she thought, was still +in the room across the hall. A tall gendarme opened the door and walked +in without ceremony. He found the room empty, although a few articles +of feminine apparel indicated that it had been occupied recently. + +"Hem!" sniffed the tall gendarme, "women!" Then he called in his +companions, and they proceeded to examine everything in the hope of +finding a clue. + +At that moment Robert Tournay, Edmé, and Agatha were approaching the Rue +d'Arcis. + +"It is only a step from here," said Tournay encouragingly as they +crossed the bridge St. Michel. "Once there we cannot be safer anywhere +in Paris. I know of the place from a fellow prisoner in the Luxembourg." + +They passed through a narrow passageway and underneath some houses, and +emerged into the Rue d'Arcis. Crossing the street, and looking carefully +in both directions to see if they were unobserved, Tournay struck seven +quick low notes with the knocker on the door. They waited in silence for +some time; then Tournay repeated the knocking a little louder than +before. They waited again and listened intently. Edmé's teeth began to +chatter with nervous excitement, and Tournay looked once more +apprehensively up and down the street. + +"Who knocks?" was the question breathed gently through a small aperture +in the door. + +"From Raphael," whispered Tournay, "open quickly." + +"Enter." + +The door swung inward on its hinges, and the three fugitives hastened to +accept the hospitality offered them. + +It was an old man who answered their summons and who closed the door +carefully after them. He now stood before them shading with his palm a +candle, which the draft, blowing through the large empty corridors, +threatened to extinguish altogether. The dancing flame threw grotesque +shadows on the wall. As the light played upon the features of the old +man, first touching his white beard and then shining upon his serene +brow, Edmé thought she looked upon a face familiar to her in the past, +but, no sign of recognition appearing in the eyes that met her gaze, she +attributed it to fancy. + +"Your name is Beaurepaire?" inquired Tournay. + +"That is my name," was the old man's answer. + +In a few words Colonel Tournay told of his acquaintance with St. +Hilaire, and explained how, had their plan of escape succeeded, they +would have come there together. Unfortunately he alone had escaped,--and +now came to ask that he and his two companions might remain there in +hiding for a few days. + +"You came from Raphael," replied Beaurepaire with the dignity of an +earlier time. "The length of your stay is to be determined by your own +desire." + +He led the way along the corridor, down a short flight of steps, through +a covered passageway, into what appeared to be an adjoining house; +Tournay asked no questions, but, with Edmé and Agatha, followed +blindly. + +Their aged conductor ushered them into a large room, which had formerly +been a handsome salon; but the few articles of furniture still remaining +in it were decrepit and dusty. The once polished floor was sadly marred, +and appeared to have remained unswept for years. The room was wainscoted +in dark wood to the height of six feet, and upon the wall above it hung +portraits of ladies and gentlemen of the house of St. Hilaire. Here they +had hung for years before the Revolution, dusty and forgotten. + +At the end and along one side of the room ran a gallery which was +reached by a short straight flight of stairs, and around this gallery +from floor to ceiling were shelves of books. + +Beaurepaire mounted the stairs, and looking among the books as if +searching for a certain volume, pushed back part of a bookcase and +revealed a door. He motioned them to ascend. + +"In here," he said, pointing to a small room with low-studded ceiling, +"the two ladies can retire. It is the only room in the house suitable +for their comfort. You, sir," he continued, looking at Colonel Tournay, +"will have to lie here upon the gallery floor. There is only a rug to +soften the oak boards, but you are, I see, a soldier. To-morrow I will +see what can be done to make the place more habitable." + +Edmé and Agatha passed through the aperture in the wall, the venerable +Beaurepaire bowing low before them. + +"At daylight I will bring you some food; until then I wish you good +repose." He withdrew, and Colonel Tournay was left to stretch himself +out upon the gallery floor to get what sleep he could. + +It was daylight when he opened his eyes, and looking through the +balustrade to the room below, saw a loaf of bread, some grapes, and a +steaming pitcher of hot milk set on a large mahogany table which stood +against the wall. He had evidently been awakened by the entrance of his +host, for the figure of Beaurepaire was standing with his back to him, +looking out of the window into the courtyard. The colonel kicked aside +the rugs which had served him for a bed, and rising to his feet, started +to descend. + +The figure at the window turned at the sound of the tread upon the +stairs, and Tournay stopped short with one hand on the rail. "He has +shaved off his flowing beard overnight," was his astonished thought. +Then the next instant he recognized that it was not Beaurepaire, but +Father Ambrose, the old priest of La Thierry, who stood before him. + +The latter approached with his usual dignity. + +"Father Ambrose," exclaimed Tournay in surprise, "how can this be? Who, +then, is this Beaurepaire?" + +"He is my brother. I have lived here for more than six months. I saw you +when you came last night, but waited until now before making myself +known. Inform me, my good sir, how fares it with Mademoiselle de +Rochefort?" + +"You shall see her presently. She and Agatha are in the chamber behind +the secret panel. They are doubtless much fatigued from the excitement +of yesterday, and we would better let them sleep as long as they can. In +the meantime I will eat some of this food, for I am desperately hungry." + +"Do so, my son," replied the priest. "I would eat with you, but for the +fact that I never break my fast before noon." + +Tournay helped himself to a generous slice of bread and a bunch of +grapes. + +"Tell me," he asked, as he began on the luscious fruit, "how do you +obtain the necessities of life? Do you dare venture out to buy them?" + +"I have not set my foot outside the door since I first entered. All the +communication with the outside world has been held by my brother, who +has managed to keep free from suspicion, and who goes and comes in his +quiet way as the occasion arises." + +A knock upon the door brought Tournay to his feet. He stopped with the +pitcher of milk in one hand and looked at Father Ambrose. + +"There is no cause for alarm," said the priest; "it is my brother's +knock;" and going to the door he drew back the bolt. + +Tournay set down the milk jug untasted, with an exclamation of surprise, +as he saw Gaillard burst into the room, followed by the old man +Beaurepaire. The actor, no longer dressed in the disguise of an old man, +was greatly excited. + +"Great news, my colonel!" he exclaimed without stopping to explain how +he had found his way there. "Robespierre has been arrested by the +convention." + +Tournay sprang forward and grasped his friend by both shoulders. "At +last they have done it!" he cried excitedly. "Gaillard, tell me about +it. How was it brought about?" + +"Embrace me again, my colonel," exclaimed Gaillard, throwing his arms +about Tournay and talking all the time. "It was this way: I heard the +cry in the streets that the convention had risen almost to a man and +arrested Robespierre and a few of his nearest satellites. At once I ran +to the conciergerie to try and see you. Everything was in confusion. The +news of Robespierre's arrest had just reached there. 'Can I see Colonel +Tournay?' I demanded of the jailer. + +"'He is not here,' he answered, turning from me to a dozen other excited +questioners. + +"'He has not been sent to the guillotine?' I cried, with my heart in my +mouth. + +"'No; liberated by Robespierre's order last night.' + +"'What!' I shouted, thinking the man mad. + +"'The order was countermanded fifteen minutes after the citizen colonel +had left the prison,' cried the warden in reply. 'Don't ask me any more +questions. My head is in a whirl; I cannot think.' + +"I, myself, was so excited I could not think; but when I collected my +few senses I recollected that St. Hilaire had told you of a place of +refuge in case of emergency. 'My little colonel is there,' I said to +myself, and flew here on the wind. Everywhere along the way people were +congratulating one another. The greatest excitement prevailed. No notice +was taken of an old man of eighty running like a lad of sixteen. When I +reached your door I took off my wig and beard and put them in my pocket. +Ah, my colonel, we shall wear our own faces; we shall speak our own +minds, now that the tyrant himself is in the toils." + +"Will they be able to keep him there?" asked Father Ambrose; "he will +not yield without a struggle. The Jacobins may try to arouse the masses +to rescue him." + +"The populace is seething with excitement," said Gaillard. "Some +quarters of the town are for the fallen tyrant; others are against him. +In the Faubourg St. Antoine, the stronghold of the Jacobins, Robespierre +is openly denounced by some, yet his adherents are still strong there +and are arming themselves. The convention stands firm as a rock. 'Down +with the tyrant!' is the cry." + +"There is work for us," exclaimed Tournay. "Father Ambrose," he +continued, turning to the priest, "I must go out at once. I leave you to +tell the news to Mademoiselle de Rochefort. Tell her to remain here in +the strictest seclusion until I return and assure her that we can leave +here in safety. I leave her in your keeping, Father Ambrose. Now, +Gaillard, let us go." + +In the streets, Tournay found that his friend had not exaggerated the +popular excitement. As they walked along both he and Gaillard kept +their ears alert to hear everything that was said. + +Suddenly a noise caused them to stop and look into each other's faces +with consternation. + +"The tumbrils!" exclaimed Gaillard, in answer to Tournay's look. + +"That looks bad for our party," said Tournay. "One would expect the +executions to cease, or at least be suspended, on the day of +Robespierre's arrest." + +"There is no one to give a coherent order," replied Gaillard. "Some of +the prison governors do not know which way to turn, or whom to obey. The +same with the police. They need a leader." + +As he spoke they turned into the Rue Vaugirard and saw coming toward +them down the street two death carts, escorted by a dozen gendarmes. The +street was choked with a howling mass of people, and from their shouts +it was manifest that some were demanding that the carts be sent back, +while others were equally vociferous in urging them on. Meanwhile, the +gendarmes stolidly made their way through the crowd as best they could. + +Many of the occupants of the tumbrils leaned supplicatingly over the +sides of the carts and implored the people to save them. + +The crowd finally became so large as to impede the further progress of +the carts. + +"My God!" cried Tournay, grasping Gaillard by the arm. "There is St. +Hilaire." + +In the second cart stood the Citizen St. Hilaire. He held himself erect +and stood motionless, his arms, like those of the rest of the +prisoners, tightly pinioned behind him. But it could be seen that he was +addressing the populace and exciting their sympathy. By his side was +Madame d'Arlincourt, her large blue eyes fixed intently upon St. +Hilaire; she seemed unmindful of the scene around her, and to be already +in another world. + +In the rear of the cart, dressed in white, was La Liberté. Her face was +flushed and animated, and she was talking loudly and rapidly to the +crowd which followed the tumbril. + +Tournay sprang to the head of the procession. He still wore his uniform, +and the crowd made way for him. + +"Why did you take these tumbrils out to-day?" he demanded of the +gendarmes. "Do you not know that Robespierre is in prison and the +executions are to be stopped?" + +"I have my orders from the keeper of the Luxembourg. I am to take these +tumbrils to the Place de la Révolution," replied the officer; then +addressing the crowd, he cried, "Make way there, citizens, make way +there and let us proceed!" + +"No, no!" cried a great number of voices, while others cried out, "Yes, +make way!" But all still blocked the passage of the carts. + +"The keeper of the Luxembourg had no authority to order the execution of +these prisoners to-day. Take them at once back to the prison," ordered +Tournay. + +"Where is your authority? Show it to me and I will obey you," replied +the police officer. + +"This is not a day on which we present written authority," answered +Tournay. "I tell you I have the right to order you back to the prison. +It is the will of the convention." + +"I take my orders from the Commune," replied the gendarme stubbornly. "I +must go forward." + +Gaillard had meantime worked his way to Tournay's shoulder, and the +latter said a few words in his ear. Gaillard plunged into the crowd and +was off like a shot in the direction of the convention. + +"Citizens, let us pass!" cried the gendarmes impatiently. + +"Citizens," Tournay cried out in a loud voice, "it is the will of the +convention that no executions take place to-day. These carts must not +go. I call upon you to help me." As he spoke he ran to the horses' +heads. The crowd swept the gendarmes to one side, and in a moment's time +the tumbrils were turned about. + +Then a clatter of hoofs was heard, accompanied by angry shouts, and the +crowd broke and scattered in all directions, as Commandant Henriot, +followed by a troop of mounted police, rode through them. + +"What is the meaning of this?" he roared out. + +"Where shall we go, back to the Luxembourg or forward to the Place de la +Révolution?" cried out the bewildered gendarmes who guarded the +tumbrils. + +"To the guillotine, of course, always the guillotine," answered Henriot. +"About, face! Citizens, disperse!" + +The crowd had closed up and were muttering their disapproval, many even +going so far as to flourish weapons. + +"Citizens," cried Tournay fearlessly, "this man Henriot has been +indicted by the convention. He should now be a prisoner with +Robespierre." + +"Charge the crowd!" yelled Henriot to his lieutenant. "I will deal with +this fellow; I know him. His name is Tournay." And he rode his horse at +the colonel. + +The latter sprang to one side, and seizing a sword from a gendarme, +parried the trust of Henriot's weapon. Catching the horse by the bridle, +he struck an upward blow at the commandant. The animal plunged forward +and Tournay was thrown to the pavement, while the crowd fled before the +charge of the mounted troops. + +Before Henriot could wheel his charger, Tournay was on his feet, and +realizing the impossibility of rallying any forces to contend with +Henriot's, he took the first corner and made the best of his way up a +narrow and deserted street. + +He was somewhat shaken and bruised from his encounter, and stopping to +recover breath for the first time, he noticed that the blood was flowing +freely from a cut over the forehead which he had received during the +short mêlée. + +As he stanched the wound with his handkerchief, he heard footsteps +behind him, and turning, saw a man dressed in the uniform of his own +regiment running toward him. Wiping the blood from his eyes, he +recognized Captain Dessarts who had served with him for the past year. + +"You are wounded, colonel!" exclaimed Dessarts, taking the hand which +Tournay stretched out to him. "Can I assist you?" + +"It is only a scalp wound, but it bleeds villainously. You can tie this +handkerchief about my head if you will." + +"I tried to help you rally the crowd, my colonel, but it was hopeless. +Yet with a few good soldiers behind his back, one could easily have +cleared the streets of those hulking gendarmes. Do I hurt you?" he +continued as he tied the knot. + +"No," answered Tournay. "Tie it quickly and then come with me." + +"I must go to the barracks, Colonel Tournay," replied Dessarts. "Your +old regiment has been disbanded. I am here with my company, ordered to +join another regiment and proceed to the Vendée." + +"Where are your men quartered?" asked Tournay excitedly. + +"Two streets above here." + +"Will they obey you absolutely?" + +"To the last man, my colonel." + +"Will you follow me without a question?" + +"To the death, my colonel." + +"Come then, and bring me to your men at once. Every instant is worth a +life. Let us run." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE END OF THE TERROR + + +Surrounded by Henriot's mounted guards, the tumbrils lumbered slowly to +the Place de la Révolution. There a large crowd had assembled to witness +the daily tribute to the guillotine. + +"You shall not be disappointed, my patriots!" cried Henriot. + +They answered him with a cheer. The crowd here was in sympathy with him, +and he felt grimly cheerful. + +"My friends, you will cheer again when you learn that one hour ago +Robespierre was set free by me. The convention is trembling. The Commune +triumphs." + +Again the crowd cheered. + +Henriot rode up to the guillotine. + +"Sanson," he cried out to the executioner, "here is your daily +allowance. We have kept you waiting, but you can now use dispatch." + +The occupants in the tumbrils had seen their last hope of deliverance +vanish in the Rue Vaugirard. They were fully prepared for death. One +after another they mounted the fatal scaffold and were led to the +guillotine. + +Some went bravely forward to meet their fate. Others almost fainted and +were nearly dead from fear by the time they reached the hands of Sanson. + +La Liberté came forward with a firm step. As she did so, the crowd set +up a deafening shout. It was a shout of genuine astonishment at the +sight of this well-known figure, though mingled with it were cries of +satisfaction from those who had been jealous of her popularity. Some +thought it was a new escapade on her part, and they applauded it all the +louder because of its daring nature. + +Even the red-handed Sanson opened his huge bull's-mouth with surprise as +she appeared before him. + +"Bon jour, Sanson," said she airily; "you did not look for me to-day, I +imagine. Do not touch me," she exclaimed as he stretched out his large +hand towards her. "I have sent too many along this road, not to know the +way myself, alone." Then walking down until she stood under the very +shadow of the knife she looked out over the sea of faces. + +The mighty yell was repeated. + +The pallor of approaching death was on her face, but unflinchingly she +met the gaze of thousands, while with a toss of her chestnut curls she +surveyed them proudly, taking the shouts as a tribute to herself. + +Suddenly her face became animated and the color rushed back to her +cheeks. + +"Well done, my compatriot!" she exclaimed aloud; she no longer saw the +crowd at her feet, but stood transfixed, her gaze on the further corner +of the square. + +There Robert Tournay, at the head of some of his own men, charged upon +Henriot's troops. Steel clashed upon steel, and Tournay's men pressed +on. + +"Bravely struck, my compatriot. Well parried, my compatriot. That was +worthy of my brave colonel. One little moment, Sanson," she pleaded as +the burly executioner caught her by the arm. + +"You have had twice the allotted time already," he objected; "you are +keeping the others waiting." + +"One more look, Sanson, just one! Ah, well done, my brave." + +"En avant," said the ruthless Sanson. + +"Good-by, compatriot," murmured La Liberté, a tear glistening in her +eye. The knife descended, and La Liberté was no more. + +"Another!" said the insatiable executioner, extending his huge hands +towards the cart. + +St. Hilaire looked into Madame d'Arlincourt's face. Their eyes met full. + +"Madame," he said, "in such a case as this you will pardon me if I +precede you," and stepping in front of her he walked quietly up the +scaffold. + +Meantime Colonel Tournay, with Captain Dessarts at his shoulder and a +company of his own troops behind him, had dashed out of a side street +into the Place de la Révolution. + +Tournay, with the ends of the blood-stained kerchief flapping on his +forehead, and the sword wrested from the gendarme waving in his hand, +urged his men forward. + +Commandant Henriot, his forces augmented by a company of civic guards, +charged upon them. The commandant's men outnumbered those led by the +colonel, two to one, but in the shock that followed the tried veterans +held together like a granite wall, and broke through Henriot's troops, +hurling them in disorder to the right and left of the square. + +Tournay saw the white-clad figure of La Liberté disappear under the +glittering knife. He saw St. Hilaire standing on the scaffold with head +turned toward Madame d'Arlincourt. + +"Soldiers, on to the guillotine!" cried the colonel, dashing forward at +full speed. + +The populace, who, between the blood of the executions and the battle +going on in the square, were mad with excitement, pressed forward, and +circled about the scaffold, angrily menacing the approaching troops, who +seemed about to put an end to their entertainment. + +"Sweep them away!" cried Tournay ruthlessly, his eye still upon the +scaffold where St. Hilaire stood. "Use the bayonet!" + +Meanwhile Henriot, by desperate efforts, had rallied his own troopers at +the other side of the square, while his civic guards, having no further +stomach for the fray, had fled incontinently. + +"Colonel, they are about to attack us in the rear," said Dessarts +warningly. + +Tournay wheeled his men about as the enemy rode at them for a second +time. Henriot, with his brandy-swollen face purple with excitement, was +reeling drunk in his saddle, yet he plunged forward with the desperate +courage of a baited bull. + +"Down with the traitor!" he yelled. "The Commune must triumph; +Robespierre is free, and the Republic lives." + +With the answering cry of "Long live the Republic!" Tournay's men braced +themselves firmly together. + +"Fire!" commanded the colonel. A deadly volley poured into the +commandant's forces. + +"Charge!" + +Henriot's troops were dashed back, scattered in all directions, and +their drunken commander, putting spurs to his horse, fled cursing from +the scene. + +The populace, now thoroughly dismayed and frightened, parted on all +sides before the soldiers. Tournay ran to the guillotine. He leaped up +the steps of the scaffold. + +"In the name of the convention, halt!" he cried. + +"I know nothing about the convention," protested Sanson, laying his hand +upon St. Hilaire's shoulder. "This man is sent to me to be +guillotined--and"-- + +Tournay threw the executioner from the platform to the ground below, and +cutting the cords that bound St. Hilaire set his arms at liberty. + +Captain Dessarts formed his men around the scaffold to prevent +interference on the part of the crowd. St. Hilaire took Tournay by the +hand. + +"You have come in time, colonel, to do me a great service," he said. +"Now give me a weapon, and let me take part in any further fight." + +Tournay gave him a pistol. St. Hilaire went to the side of Madame +d'Arlincourt. The crowd began again to surge around the soldiers +threateningly. + +"Let the guillotine go on!" "Let the executioner finish his work!" were +the cries from all sides. + +"Citizens," yelled Sanson, who had risen to his feet and was now rubbing +his bruised sides, "you are a thousand. They are only a few soldiers. +Take back the prisoners and I will execute them." + +"Make ready--aim," was Colonel Tournay's quick command. The muskets +clicked; the crowd fell back. "Fix bayonets, forward march." And through +the press Colonel Tournay bore those whom he had saved from the +guillotine. + +No organized attempt was made to attack them, and the party proceeded to +the Rue d'Arcis unmolested. Here Tournay turned to his captain. + +"Dessarts, leave a file of men here and take the others back to their +barracks for repose, but hold them subject to immediate orders." + +"Very good, my colonel," and the soldiers were marched away. + +Madame d'Arlincourt showed signs of succumbing to the effects of the +terrible strain to which she had been subjected, and St. Hilaire, +supporting her gently, hastened to the door of his former servant. + +In another instant they were all inside. + +They passed through the corridor and entered the wainscoted salon. As +they did so the bookcase above moved gently. Edmé entered through the +secret door and stood for an instant surrounded by a frame of dusty +books, looking down upon them. + +In her plain gown of homespun, with her skin browned by exposure to the +air, and cheeks which had the glow of health in them despite the +hardship she had undergone, Edmé de Rochefort was a different picture +from that of the girl of five years before. Yet it was not the present +Edmé that suffered by comparison. + +With a cry of joy she hastened down the stairs. "I have been told the +glorious news," she cried. "Have you returned to tell me it is all true? +But you are wounded!" she exclaimed in the same breath, with a cry of +alarm. + +"'Tis nothing," Tournay replied, folding her in his arms. "I do not even +feel it." + +"Is all the danger over?" she asked anxiously, looking up in his face. + +"Not all over," he answered caressingly. "The result hangs in the +balance, but we shall win, we shall surely win. At present we have need +of a little food and repose. St. Hilaire and myself must go out again +shortly. Has Gaillard come with a message? I expected him from the +convention," he continued, addressing Beaurepaire. + +"He has not returned," was the answer. + +Edmé turned to assist Agatha in caring for Madame d'Arlincourt, while +old Beaurepaire busied himself in setting forth some food upon the +table. + +At this moment Gaillard burst into the room, followed by Father Ambrose. + +"I bring glorious news!" cried the actor excitedly. "Robespierre, at one +time released by the aid of Henriot, has been rearrested. He has +attempted suicide. Henriot, St. Just, Couthon, are also arrested. They +will all be sent to the guillotine. The convention triumphs. The Commune +is defeated. The Reign of Terror is at an end." + +The news was received with a great shout of joy. "Listen," called out +Gaillard, "and you will learn what the people think." + +The booming of guns and the ringing of bells throughout the city +verified his statement. + +"We have won!" said Colonel Tournay. + +"Let us celebrate the victory by this feast that Beaurepaire has +provided!" exclaimed St. Hilaire. + +Tournay drew Edmé into the recess of one of the large windows. The sound +of a whole city rejoicing at the abolition of the Reign of Terror filled +the air. In the room at the back the voices of Gaillard and St. Hilaire +were heard in joyful conversation. + +For a moment they stood in silence. She looked into his eyes and read +the question there. + +[Illustration: A MOMENT THEY STOOD IN SILENCE] + +"Yes," her eyes answered. + +"In order to save your life," he said, "Father Ambrose once stated that +you and I were man and wife. It was a subterfuge, and had no other +meaning. We now stand before him once again; will you let him marry us +now?" + +"Yes, Robert." + +With a look of pride and happiness upon his face Tournay faced about and +addressed the company. + +"There can be no more fitting time than this," he said, "to present to +you my bride," and he looked proudly down at Edmé who still had her arm +through his. + +"Father Ambrose," Tournay went on, "will you marry us now?" + +The priest, who had evidently had a premonition of the event, was all +prepared; and in the wainscoted salon, with the portraits of the old +régime looking down upon them from the walls, Robert Tournay, a colonel +of the Republic, and Edmé de Rochefort, of the ancient Régime of France, +were made man and wife. + +"Let us drink a toast to them!" cried St. Hilaire as the happy party +gathered about the table after the ceremony. "Long life and happiness to +Colonel Robert Tournay and his bride!" + +Beaurepaire filled their glasses with some rare old Burgundy, which he +drew from some hidden stores in the cellar, and the toast was drunk with +enthusiasm. + +St. Hilaire's eyes met Madame d'Arlincourt's, and the look that was +interchanged foretold their future. + +Tournay stood in silence for a moment, and when he did speak there was a +note in his voice which showed how deep was his emotion. "I will give +you a toast. Let us drink to the new France; for after all," he +continued, looking from one to the other, "we are all Frenchmen. The +fate of France must be our fate. With her we must stand or fall. A new +France has now risen from the ashes of the old. To her we turn with new +hope." + +"Long live the Republic!" cried Gaillard. + +Tournay, St. Hilaire, and Gaillard touched glasses and looked into one +another's eyes. They understood one another as brave men do. + +"Nations may rise or they may crumble into dust," said Colonel Tournay, +"but Justice and Liberty are eternal. They will live always in the +hearts of men." + +"And Love also," whispered Edmé in his ear. + +"Yes, truly, and Love also, sweetheart." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Robert Tournay, by William Sage + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT TOURNAY *** + +***** This file should be named 34846-8.txt or 34846-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/8/4/34846/ + +Produced by Bethanne M. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Robert Tournay + A Romance of the French Revolution + +Author: William Sage + +Release Date: January 4, 2011 [EBook #34846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT TOURNAY *** + + + + +Produced by Bethanne M. Simms, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/tp.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>ROBERT TOURNAY</h1> + +<h2>A Romance of the French Revolution</h2> + +<h2>BY WILLIAM SAGE</h2> + + +<h3><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY<br /> +ERIC PAPE AND MARY AYER</i></h3> + +<h3>BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br /> +HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY</h3> + +<h3>The Riverside Press, Cambridge<br /> +1900</h3> + +<h3>COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY WILLIAM SAGE<br /> +AND HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY</h3> + +<h3>ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>TO MY MOTHER<br /> +TO WHOM I OWE EVERYTHING<br /> +I LOVINGLY DEDICATE<br /> +THIS STORY.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a> +<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>"A CHEER FOR THE GODDESS OF LIBERTY"</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">How Tournay came to Paris</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">A Little Breakfast at St. Hilaire's</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">The Baker and his Family</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">The "Bon Patriot"</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">A Broken Door</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">A Man and a Marquis</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">Gaillard goes on a Journey</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">Père Louchet's Guests</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">Prison Boat Number Four</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">Over the Frontier</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">Under Which Flag?</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">The Four Commissioners</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">The Sword of Rocroy</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">Something Hidden</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">The President's Note</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">Beneath the Mask</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">Pierre and Jean</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">The Luxembourg</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. <span class="smcap">Tappeur and Petitsou</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. <span class="smcap">Uncle Michelet</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <span class="smcap">Citizeness Privat</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. <span class="smcap">Citizeness Privat's Card</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. <span class="smcap">Tournay's Visitor</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV. <span class="smcap">Two Women</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV. <span class="smcap">No. 7 Rue d'Arcis</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI. <span class="smcap">The End of the Terror</span></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<p><a href="#illus1"><span class="smcap">"A Cheer for the Goddess of Liberty"</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus2"><span class="smcap">De Lacheville facing a young Woman</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus3"><span class="smcap">"Stop!" cried Tournay</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus4"><span class="smcap">Adjusted the Neckcloth to his satisfaction</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus5"><span class="smcap">"Would you murder me?"</span></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus6"><span class="smcap">A moment they stood in silence</span></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ROBERT TOURNAY</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>HOW TOURNAY CAME TO PARIS</h3> + + +<p>The Marquis de Lacheville sat in the dining-hall of the château de +Rochefort. In his hand he held a letter. Although it was from a woman, +the writing was not in those delicately traced characters which suggest +the soft hand of some lady of fashion. The note-paper was scented, but +the perfume, like the color, was too pronounced; and the spelling, +possibly like the lady's character, was not absolutely flawless.</p> + +<p>A smile played about the cold thin lips of the marquis; he carelessly +thrust the missive into his pocket, as one disposes of a bill he does +not intend to pay, and lifting his eyes, allowed his gaze to wander +through the open window toward the figure of a young girl who stood +outside upon the terrace.</p> + +<p>She was watching a game of tennis in the court below, now and then +conversing with the players, whose voices in return reached de +Lacheville's ears on the quiet summer air.</p> + +<p>A few minutes before in that dining-hall the Baron de Rochefort had +betrothed his daughter Edmé to his friend and distant kinsman, Maurice +de Lacheville. In the eyes of the world it was a suitable match. The +marquis was twenty-five, the girl eighteen. She was an only child; and +their rank and fortunes were equal.</p> + +<p>They did not love each other. The marquis loved no one but himself. +Mademoiselle had been brought up to consider all men very much alike. +She might possibly have had some slight preference for the Marquis de +St. Hilaire, who was now playing tennis in the court beneath; but it was +well known that he was dissipating his fortune at the gaming-table. +Mademoiselle did not lack strength of will; but, her heart not being +involved, she allowed her father to make the choice for her, as was the +custom of the time.</p> + +<p>De Lacheville continued sitting at the table, now looking +dispassionately at the woman who was to become his wife, now looking +beyond toward the wide sweep of park and meadow land, while he +calculated how much longer his cousin, the baron, would live to enjoy +possession of his great wealth.</p> + +<p>What the young girl thought is merely a matter of conjecture. She was as +fresh and sweet as the pink rose which she plucked from the trellis and +gayly tossed to the marquis below. He caught it gracefully and put it to +his lips—while she laughed merrily with never a thought for the marquis +within.</p> + +<p>Near the tennis court stood another man. He was tall and well-made, +with dark eyes and a sun-browned face. Beyond furnishing new balls and +rackets when required, he took no part in the game, for he was the son +of the intendant of the château and therefore a servant.</p> + +<p>He watched the rose which the lady so carelessly tossed, with hungry +eyes, as a dog watches a bone given to some well-fed and happier rival. +At the call from one of the players he replaced a broken racket, then +took up his former post, apparently intent upon the game, but in reality +his mind was far afield.</p> + +<p>It was in the early summer days of the year 1789. Looking out over the +baron's noble estates through the eyes of a girl like mademoiselle, the +world was very beautiful. Glancing at it through the careless eyes of +the prodigal St. Hilaire, it seemed very pleasing; but in spite of these +waving crops, and wealthy vineyards, in spite of the plenty in the +baron's household and the rich wines in his cellar, throughout France +there were many who had not enough to eat. Men, and women too, were +crying out for their share of the world's riches.</p> + +<p>A new wave of thought was sweeping over France. A thought as old as the +hills, yet startlingly new to each man as he discovered it. Books were +being written and words spoken which were soon to cause great political +changes in a land already seething with discontent. Change and Progress +at last were in the saddle, and they were riding fast. As the careless +noblemen batted their tennis balls back and forth, thinking only of +their game; as the young girl leaned over the rose-covered terrace, +thinking of the sunlight, the flowers, and the beauty of life, Robert +Tournay, the intendant's son, pondered deeply on the "rights of man" +while he ran after the tennis balls for those who played the game.</p> + +<p>As if wearied by the contemplation of his prospective married bliss, +Monsieur de Lacheville yawned, arose from his seat and strolled +leisurely from the room, descended the staircase and came out into the +park in the rear of the château, unobserved by the tennis players. The +note in his pocket called him to a rendezvous; and the marquis, after +some deliberation, had decided to keep it. Once in the wooded park and +out of sight of the house, he quickened his pace to a brisk walk; +proceeding thus for half a mile he suddenly left the driveway and +plunging through the thick foliage by a path which to the casual eye was +barely visible, came out into a shady and unfrequented alley.</p> + +<p>A few minutes after de Lacheville's disappearance into the woods, the +other noblemen, wearied of their sport, retired into the house for +refreshment.</p> + +<p>This left young Tournay free for the time being, and he availed himself +of the opportunity to go down toward a pasture beyond the park where +some young horses were running wild, innocent of bit or bridle. It was +Tournay's intention to break one of these colts for Mademoiselle de +Rochefort. She was a fearless rider, and it gave the young man pleasure +to be commissioned to pick out an animal at once gentle and mettlesome +for the use of his young mistress.</p> + +<p>The Tournays, from father to son, had been for generations the +intendants of the de Rochefort estate. With the baron's permission +Matthieu Tournay had sent his son away to school, and he had thus +received a better education than most young men of his class. He was of +an ambitious temper, and this very education, instead of making him more +contented with his lot in life, increased his restlessness. It only +served to show him more clearly the line that separated him from those +he served. In his own mind he had never defined his feeling for +Mademoiselle de Rochefort. He only knew that it gave him great pleasure +to serve her; and yet, as he did her bidding, he felt a pang that +between them was the gulf of caste; that even when she smiled upon him +it was merely the favored servant whom she greeted; that although he +might be as well educated as the Count de Blois, a better horseman than +St. Hilaire, and a better man than de Lacheville, <i>they</i> could enter as +equals into the presence of this divine being, while such as he must +always take his place below the salt.</p> + +<p>It was with such thoughts as these revolving in his brain that the +intendant's son walked through the woods of the park. He followed no +path, for he knew each tree and twig from childhood. Suddenly he was +interrupted in his reverie by the sound of voices, and stopping short, +recognized the voice of the Marquis de Lacheville in conversation with +a woman. Tournay hesitated, then went forward cautiously in the +direction whence the sound came. Had he been born a gentleman he would +have chosen another way; or at least would have advanced noisily. +Indeed, such had been his first impulse,—but a much stronger interest +than curiosity impelled him forward; and drawing near, he looked through +a gap in the hedge.</p> + +<p>On the other side stood de Lacheville facing a young woman. Her cheeks +were flushed, and the manner in which she toyed with a riding-whip +showed that the discussion had been heated. Although she was handsomely +dressed in a riding-habit and assumed some of the airs of a lady, +Tournay recognized her at once as a young girl who had disappeared some +months before from the village of La Thierry, and whose handsome face +and vivacious manner had caused her to be much admired. Near her stood +the nobleman, calm and self-composed. Before men, de Lacheville had been +known to flinch; but with a woman of the humbler class the marquis could +always play the master.</p> + +<p>"And now, Marianne," said the nobleman slowly, "you had better go,—and +do not make the mistake of coming here again."</p> + +<p>Although she had evidently been worsted in the argument, a defiant look +flashed in her dark eyes as she answered him: "If I believe you speak +the truth I shall not come here again."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a> +<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>DE LACHEVILLE FACING A YOUNG WOMAN</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"Of course I speak the truth," replied de Lacheville lightly. "I shall +marry Mademoiselle de Rochefort"—</p> + +<p>The young woman winced, but she did not speak.</p> + +<p>De Lacheville went on slowly as if he enjoyed the situation—"In a year +or two—I am in no hurry. She is very beautiful"—here he paused +again—"but I prefer your style of beauty, Marianne; I prefer your +vivacity, your life, your fire; I like to see you angry. My engagement +to Mademoiselle de Rochefort need make no difference in my regard for +you. That depends upon yourself." Here the marquis stepped forward and +kissed her on the lips.</p> + +<p>Tournay controlled himself by a great effort, his heart swelling with +the resentment of a man who hears that which he holds sacred insulted by +another. And this man who held Mademoiselle de Rochefort in such slight +esteem was to be her husband.</p> + +<p>"And now, Marianne," said the nobleman, "you must ride away as you +came," and suiting the action to the words he swung her into the saddle. +She was docile now and gathered up the reins obediently. "And, +Marianne," continued the nobleman, "never write letters to me. I am +rather fastidious and do not want my illusions dispelled too soon. +Good-by, my child."</p> + +<p>She flushed as he spoke, and a retort seemed about to spring to her +lips; but instead of replying she shrugged her shoulders, gave a sharp +cut of the whip to the horse, and rode off down the pathway.</p> + +<p>De Lacheville laughed. "She has spirit to the last. She pleases me;" and +turning, beheld Robert Tournay in the path before him.</p> + +<p>For a moment neither spoke; then the nobleman asked sternly, "Have you +been spying upon me?"</p> + +<p>"I have heard what has passed between you and that woman," replied +Tournay with a significance that made the marquis start.</p> + +<p>"You villain," replied the nobleman hotly, "if you breathe a word about +what you have seen I will have you whipped by my lackeys."</p> + +<p>Tournay's lips curled defiantly.</p> + +<p>"Or," continued the marquis, "if one word of scandal reaches the ears of +Mademoiselle de Rochefort"—</p> + +<p>Before the words had left his lips, Tournay sprang forward and had him +by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Do not stain her name by speaking it," he cried fiercely. "I have heard +you insult her; I have seen how you would dishonor her; you, who are not +worthy to touch the hem of her garment. What right have you to become +her husband? Your very presence would degrade her. You shall not wed +her."</p> + +<p>White with rage, if not from fear, the marquis struggled to free himself +from Tournay's grasp, but he could neither throw off his antagonist nor +move his arm enough to draw his sword. Finding himself powerless in the +hands of the stronger man, he remained passive, only the twitching of +his mouth betraying his passion.</p> + +<p>"And you would prevent my marriage," he said coldly. "So be it. Go to +the baron; tell your story. Go also to mademoiselle, his daughter; +repeat the scandal to her ears; say, 'I am your champion;' and how will +they receive you? The baron will have you kicked from the room and +mademoiselle will scorn you. Championed by a servant! What an honor for +a lady!"</p> + +<p>The truth of what he said struck Tournay harder than any blow; his arms +dropped to his side, and he stepped back, as if powerless.</p> + +<p>The marquis arranged the lace ruffle about his neck. Placing his hand +upon his sword he eyed Tournay as if debating what course to pursue. He +smarted under the treatment he had received, and his eyes glittered +viciously as if he meditated some prompt reprisal. But above all the +marquis was politic, and he also knew that in his biting tongue he +possessed a weapon keener than a sword.</p> + +<p>He stooped and plucked a flower from the border of the path, and as he +spoke a sarcastic smile played mockingly about his lips.</p> + +<p>"I shall marry mademoiselle," he began, slowly dwelling on each word, +while he plucked the petals from the flower, and tossed them, one by +one, into the air. The gesture was a careless one, but there was a +vicious cruelty about his fingers as he tore the flower. "And you," +continued the marquis,—"you, who one might think had dared to raise +your eyes toward the lady's face"—</p> + +<p>Tournay stood dumb before his inquisitor. His heart raged and he writhed +as if under the lash, but still he stood passive and suffering.</p> + +<p>"And you shall be our servant," ended the nobleman, with a laugh, +turning and walking haughtily up the path, but with his hand still on +his sword-hilt lest he should be again taken by surprise.</p> + +<p>As the heels of the marquis crunched the gravel-walk Tournay felt the +truth of each word that he had spoken borne in upon his mind with +overwhelming force. It was not fear of the marquis's sword that had kept +him silent. It was the hopelessness of his own position. What right had +he to speak? And who would listen to him?</p> + +<p>Silently the young man slipped into the forest as if to seek consolation +from the great murmuring trees. As he walked slowly beneath their green +arches as under some cathedral roof, a quiet strength came to his soul. +He seemed to feel that the day would come when his voice would be heard +and listened to. Until then he must bide his time; and in this frame of +mind he went back to the château.</p> + +<p>When Tournay reached the house he was greeted by an order from the +baron. The tracks of a boar had been recently discovered in the forest +by one of the gamekeepers, and the intendant's son, who was himself a +keen huntsman, was directed to escort the party of gentlemen through the +woods to a glade where the animal was supposed to have his lair.</p> + +<p>After he had collected the guns and ammunition, called up the dogs and +ordered the grooms to bring round the horses, Tournay went to the front +of the château to await the pleasure of the young gentlemen who intended +participating in the hunt.</p> + +<p>There were half a dozen of them standing under the porte-cochère, and +Tournay disliked them all in greater or less degree; excepting perhaps +the Marquis de St. Hilaire. St. Hilaire was the eldest of the group, the +tallest and the handsomest. He rarely addressed any remark to Tournay, +but when he did, it was with perfect politeness. When the Marquis de St. +Hilaire rode his horse he did it with a grace none could surpass; when +he shot, he hit the mark. He had the reputation of being one of the most +dissipated young noblemen in the kingdom. He certainly spent money more +lavishly than the most prodigal. This reputation was at once the envy +and admiration of a host of young followers; and yet if asked, no one +could mention any particular debauchery of which he had been guilty. +When his companions, under the excitement of wine, committed extravagant +follies and excesses, St. Hilaire, although by no means sparing of the +winecup, maintained a certain dignity essentially his own. At the +gaming-table it was always the Marquis de St. Hilaire who played the +highest. He won a fortune or lost an estate with the same calm and +outward indifference. On every occasion he was the cool, polished +gentleman.</p> + +<p>As Tournay approached the group of noblemen, the Marquis de Lacheville, +determined to keep him in a state of submission, greeted him with an +arrogant rebuke.</p> + +<p>"You have kept us waiting a pretty length of time."</p> + +<p>"I only received notice of your intended hunt a short time ago, and +various preparations had to be made," was the rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"Make no excuses," continued the marquis,—"you always have plenty of +those upon the end of your tongue."</p> + +<p>Tournay bit his lip to keep from replying.</p> + +<p>"Whose horse is that?" called out the marquis a moment later, pointing +out one of the animals among the number which were being led up by the +grooms.</p> + +<p>"My own, monsieur le marquis—a present from the baron."</p> + +<p>"Well, it is by all odds the best one among them; I will ride it." And +the marquis swung himself into the saddle without waiting for a reply.</p> + +<p>Tournay made no audible reply, but the color deepened on his cheek, as +he quietly took another horse.</p> + +<p>"We shall never see that boar if we delay much longer," called out St. +Hilaire, who was long since in the saddle. "Are you ready, gentlemen?"</p> + +<p>With one accord they all started down the avenue at a swift gallop; +Tournay following a short distance behind them.</p> + +<p>For a mile or so they swept along the parkway until they arrived at the +gate which led into the wood. De Lacheville had been correct in his +judgment of the horse, and was the first to reach the gate. This seemed +to make him good-natured for the time being; and as they cantered +through the forest he allowed Tournay, who was best acquainted with the +ground, to ride in advance.</p> + +<p>On approaching the entrance to the glade, the party dismounted and the +horses were fastened to the trees. The Counts d'Arlincourt and de Blois +went to the right; the Marquis de St. Hilaire to the left; Tournay took +two dogs and went toward the northern end; while de Lacheville remained +near the entrance.</p> + +<p>It was arranged that Tournay with the dogs should rout the animal from +its lair in the upper end of the dale, and, the thicket being +surrounded, one of the gentlemen would be sure to bring it down with a +shot as it ran out.</p> + +<p>Tournay had not gone half the distance when he heard a noise in the +underbrush, and looking in the direction whence it came, saw the boar +making its way leisurely down the glade, snuffing from time to time at +the roots of trees for acorns.</p> + +<p>Tournay tried to work down ahead of the animal and drive him off to his +right in the direction of the Marquis St. Hilaire, as he was the best +shot in the company, and with a sportsman's instinct Tournay wanted to +give him the opportunity to win the tusks. One of the dogs, however, +upset this plan by slipping the leash and bounding off in the direction +of the boar; that animal took the alarm at once and started on a run +down the glade with Tournay and the two dogs after him in full pursuit.</p> + +<p>"The Marquis de Lacheville will be the one to shoot him," thought +Tournay bitterly.</p> + +<p>The boar, plunging through a thicket, made straight for the spot where +the horses had been tied, and where the Marquis de Lacheville had taken +up his position.</p> + +<p>"Why does he not fire?" was Tournay's mental inquiry as he followed the +trail at full speed, with ear alert in the momentary expectation of +hearing the sound of a gun. "Can it be that the marquis is going to risk +attacking him with the knife?" And he dashed into the thicket, +regardless of the brushwood and briars that impeded his progress, to +come out on the other side, leaving a portion of his hunting blouse in +the grasp of a too-persistent bramble.</p> + +<p>Here he beheld so ludicrous a sight that it would have moved him to +merriment, had it not overcome him with wonder. The marquis lay +sprawling on the grass, his eyes rolling with terror and his loaded gun +lying harmlessly by his side. The horses were straining at the tethers +and neighing with fright, while in the wood beyond, the boar was +disappearing from sight with the dogs upon his haunches.</p> + +<p>As Tournay approached, the marquis struggled to his feet. For a moment +he stood silent and then said gruffly:—</p> + +<p>"The brute sprang through the bushes before I expected him; my foot +slipped and I fell, so he got by me."</p> + +<p>In the instant it flashed through Tournay's mind that the marquis had +fallen in trying to avoid the boar. He received the explanation in +silence, his face clearly betraying his suspicion.</p> + +<p>The marquis eyed him savagely. "Where are the others?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"They have evidently missed all the sport," was the curt rejoinder.</p> + +<p>The marquis scowled, but his anxiety to conceal the mishap from his +companions led him to overlook the ring of sarcasm in Tournay's voice.</p> + +<p>"Did they hear or see the boar?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"I fear not. The animal started too near the centre of the glade, and +luckily for him made straight for you."</p> + +<p>"We have not seen him, either," was the cool rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"But I saw him," exclaimed Tournay with open-eyed astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Up in the thicket beyond? Possibly," admitted the marquis, who had now +regained his self-possession and had resolved to put the best possible +face on the matter.</p> + +<p>"No! Right here in the open, as he ran into that clump of beeches."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken. I did not see him," the marquis insisted, approaching +his horse and untethering him.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le marquis was possibly not looking in the right direction."</p> + +<p>De Lacheville mounted his horse. He bent down from the saddle, saying +fiercely, "Twice this day you have ventured to oppose me. Have a care! +You will rue the hour when you dispute any statement of mine."</p> + +<p>Tournay looked up at him defiantly, and with a significance too deep to +be misconstrued, said: "I will not lie at your bidding, Monsieur de +Lacheville."</p> + +<p>"You insolent villain!" and the marquis' whip fell viciously across the +defiant brow. The next instant the nobleman was dragged from the saddle +and his riderless horse galloped off through the woods.</p> + +<p>For a moment the two men stood looking at each other.</p> + +<p>Tournay was the first to speak: "You will fight me for that blow, +Monsieur de Lacheville."</p> + +<p>The marquis gave a harsh laugh: "We do not fight lackeys—we whip them."</p> + +<p>"We are alone, and man to man you shall fight me with my weapons, +monsieur le Marquis." Tournay spoke with a certain air of dignity and +with a suppressed fierceness that made the marquis draw back; yet such +was the nobleman's contempt for the man of humble birth that he made no +response beyond flicking the whip which he still retained in his hand, +and looking at him disdainfully.</p> + +<p>"You have a hunting-knife at your side; arm yourself," commanded Tournay +sternly, at the same time drawing from beneath his hunting-blouse a +long, keen blade.</p> + +<p>The marquis turned pale. "I do not fight with such a weapon," he +faltered, looking about him as if in hopes of succor from his friends.</p> + +<p>"Then for once the low-born has the advantage," replied Tournay +pitilessly, "and unless Heaven intervenes, I shall kill you for that +blow."</p> + +<p>The blow itself was forgotten even as he spoke, and he felt a fierce joy +as he whispered to himself, "If heaven so wills it, you shall never +marry her, Marquis de Lacheville."</p> + +<p>There was no fire of revenge in his eyes as he advanced, but the marquis +saw the light that burned there and, realizing his pressing danger, drew +his own hunting-knife.</p> + +<p>There was a thrust and parry. Tournay closed in upon him, and the +nobleman fell backward with a groan.</p> + +<p>The next instant Tournay threw aside the knife and stood looking with +awe upon the prostrate body. The bushes behind him parted with a rustle +and he looked over his shoulder to see the Marquis de St. Hilaire +standing by him.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" inquired the latter sternly. "Has the marquis +injured himself?"</p> + +<p>"He struck me," exclaimed Tournay, his face, except for a bright red +line across the brow, deadly pale. "And I—I have killed him."</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire stooped down and undid the marquis's waistcoat, Tournay +giving way to him. "He's not dead," said St. Hilaire, after a short +examination. "Your blade struck the rib. He is not even fatally hurt, +but has fainted."</p> + +<p>Tournay stood passive and silent.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire rose to his feet and proceeded to cut some strips from his +own shirt to make a bandage for de Lacheville's wound.</p> + +<p>"As far as you are concerned, you might as well have killed him," he +said as he bound up the wound. "The penalty is the same."</p> + +<p>"I'm not afraid of the penalty."</p> + +<p>"Young man," said St. Hilaire, busying himself over the wound, "mount +that horse of yours and ride away from this part of the country as fast +as you can. I shall not see you."</p> + +<p>"I'm not a coward to run away."</p> + +<p>"Don't be a fool and stay," replied St. Hilaire sharply, without looking +up from his occupation. "You have acted as I would have done had I been +in your place, but I should not stay afterward with all the odds against +me. Come, you have only a minute to decide. I'll see the marquis has the +proper care."</p> + +<p>In another minute Robert Tournay was on his horse's back riding swiftly +away from the scene. He only thought of one point of refuge and that was +the city of his dreams, the great city of Paris. Toward it he turned his +horse's head. When he had gone far enough to no longer fear pursuit he +dismounted and turned the horse loose, knowing that a man riding a fine +animal could be more easily traced; so the rest of his journey of a +hundred miles was made on foot.</p> + +<p>It was about the noon hour, July 12, 1789, when he entered the southern +gates of the city. He had been walking since early morning, yet when +once in the town he was not conscious of any fatigue.</p> + +<p>It seemed to him that there was an unwonted excitement in the air, and +the faces of many people in the crowded streets wore an anxious or an +expectant look. Several times he was on the point of stopping some +passer-by to ask if there was any event of unusual importance taking +place, but the fear of being thought ignorant of city ways deterred him. +So he wandered about the streets in search of some cheap and clean +lodging suitable to the size of his purse, where he could be comfortably +housed until his plans for the future matured. He went through narrow, +ill-smelling streets, where strange-looking faces peered at him +curiously from low wine-shops. Thence he wandered into the neighborhood +of beautiful gardens, where he marveled at the splendid buildings, any +one of which he fancied might be the home of the Marquis de St. Hilaire. +Finally, he came upon a number of people streaming through an arcade +under some handsome buildings. Judging that something of unusual +interest was going on there, and being moved by curiosity, he pushed his +way in with the rest, and found himself in a quadrangle of buildings +enclosing a garden. This garden was filled with a dense crowd. Turning +to a man at his elbow, he asked the reason of such an assemblage.</p> + +<p>"The king has dismissed Necker," was the reply, "and the people are +angry."</p> + +<p>"I should think they might well be angry," replied Tournay, who admired +the popular minister of finance. "Did the king send away such a great +man without cause?"</p> + +<p>"I know not what cause was assigned, I do not concern myself much with +such affairs, but I know the people are very wroth and there has been +much talk of violence. Some blood has been shed. The German regiments +fired once or twice upon a mob that would not disperse."</p> + +<p>"The villainous foreign regiments!" said Tournay. "Why must we have +these mercenary troops quartered in our city?" He had been in the city +but a few hours, but in his indignation he already referred to Paris as +"our city."</p> + +<p>"The native troops would not fire when ordered, and were hurried back to +the barracks by their officers. Worse may come of it. There is much +speech-making and turmoil; I am going home to keep out of the trouble;" +and the stranger hurried away.</p> + +<p>Tournay elbowed through the crowd. Standing upon a table under one of +the spreading trees, a young man was speaking earnestly to an excited +group of listeners that grew larger every moment. Tournay pressed near +enough to hear what he was saying.</p> + +<p>He was tall and slender, with dark waving hair and the face of a poet. +He spoke with an impassioned eloquence that moved his hearers mightily, +bringing forth acclamation after acclamation from the crowd. He +denounced tyranny and exalted liberty till young Tournay's blood surged +through his veins like fire. He had thought all this himself, unable to +give it expression; but here was a man who touched the very note that he +himself would have sounded, touched the same chord in the heart of every +man who heard his voice, and by some subtle power communicated the +thrill to those outside the circle till the crowd in the garden was +drunk with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Citizens," cried the young man, "the exile of Necker is the signal for +a St. Bartholomew of patriots. The foreign regiments are about to march +upon us to cut our throats. To arms! Behold the rallying sign." And +stretching up his arm he plucked a green leaf from the branch above his +head and put it in his hat.</p> + +<p>The next instant the trees were almost denuded of their leaves. Tournay, +with a green sprig in his hat, swung his hat in the air, and cried, "To +arms—down with the foreign regiments—Vive Necker!"</p> + +<p>He struggled to where the orator was being carried off on men's +shoulders. "What is it?" he said, in his excitement seizing the young +man by the coat,—"what is it that we are to do?"</p> + +<p>"Procure arms. Watch and wait,—and then do as other patriots do," was +the reply.</p> + +<p>The crowd surged closer about him. The coat gave way, and Tournay was +left with a piece of the cloth in his hand. Waving it in the air with +the cry of "Patriots, to arms!" he was forced onward by the crowd.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>A LITTLE BREAKFAST AT ST. HILAIRE'S</h3> + + +<p>The Marquis Jean Raphael de St. Hilaire was giving a breakfast-party. It +was not one of those large affairs for which the marquis was noted, +where a hundred guests would sit down in his large salon to a repast +costing the lavish young nobleman a princely sum. This being merely the +occasion of a modest little déjeuner, the covers were laid in the +marquis's morning cabinet on the second floor, which was more suitable +for such an informal meal.</p> + +<p>There were present around the table the Count and Countess d'Arlincourt; +the old Chevalier de Creux; the witty Madame Diane de Rémur; the Count +de Blois, dressed in the very latest and most exact fashion; and the +Marquis de Lacheville, with the pallor of recent illness on his face. At +the lower end of the board sat a young poet who was riding on his first +wave of popularity; and next to him was a philosopher.</p> + +<p>The guests, having finished the dessert, were lingering over a choice +vintage from the marquis's cellar.</p> + +<p>The host, leaning back in his chair with half-closed eyes, listened +carelessly to the hum of conversation while he toyed with a few sugared +almonds.</p> + +<p>"And so you think, chevalier," said the Countess d'Arlincourt in reply +to a remark by the old nobleman, "that our troublesome times are not yet +over?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet, my dear countess, nor will they be over for a long time to +come."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how pessimistic you are, chevalier; for my part I do not see how +affairs can be worse than they have been for the last year."</p> + +<p>"For a longer period than that," remarked her husband, the Count +d'Arlincourt.</p> + +<p>"Well, I remember particularly, it was a year ago when you first told me +that you could not afford to make me a present of a diamond crescent to +wear in my hair at the Duchess de Montmorenci's fancy dress-ball. You +had never used that word to me before."</p> + +<p>"You have been extremely fortunate," said the Chevalier de Creux, +turning a pair of small, bright eyes upon the countess and speaking with +just the slightest accent of sarcasm. "Even longer ago than a year, many +persons were in need of other necessities than diamonds."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I know," interrupted the countess hastily, anxious to show +that she was not as ignorant as the chevalier's tone implied,—"bread. +Why don't they give the people enough bread? It is a very simple demand, +and things would then be well."</p> + +<p>"My dear child," put in Madame de Rémur, "it would do no good to give +them bread to-day; they would be hungry again to-morrow. The trouble is +with the finances. When they are set right everything will go well; and +the people can buy all the bread they want, and you can have your +diamond crescent," and the speaker smiled at the chevalier and shrugged +her white shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but," persisted the countess, raising her pretty eyebrows, "when +<i>will</i> the finances be set right? The people cannot go forever without +bread."</p> + +<p>"Nor can women go forever without diamonds," laughed Madame de Rémur.</p> + +<p>"Women with your eyes, fair Diane, have no need of other diamonds," said +the Marquis de St. Hilaire debonairely. The lady smiled graciously at +the compliment. She was a young and attractive widow and she looked at +St. Hilaire not unkindly.</p> + +<p>"We have frequently had financial crises in the past," said +d'Arlincourt, "and gotten safely over them; and so we should to-day, +were it not for the host of philosophical writers who have broken loose; +who call the people's attention to their ills, and foment trouble where +there is none. Of course you will understand that I make the usual +exception as to present company," he added, bowing slightly to the +philosopher. But the latter seemed lost in thought and did not appear to +hear the count's remark. The poet took up the conversation in a low +tone.</p> + +<p>"Should we not look to these very men, these philosophers, these +encyclopædists, to point the way out of the difficulty?" and he turned +from one to the other with a shrug.</p> + +<p>"Bah, no! They are the very ones to blame, I tell you," repeated +d'Arlincourt.</p> + +<p>"My dear count," cried Madame d'Arlincourt, "I cannot permit you to +speak slightingly of our philosophers. They are all the fashion now. The +door of every salon in Paris is open to them. The other night, at a +great reception given by the Duchess de Montmorenci, half the invited +guests were philosophers, poets, encyclopædists. They say that even some +of the nobility were overlooked in order to make room for the men of +letters."</p> + +<p>The Marquis de St. Hilaire threw a small cake to the spaniel that sat on +its haunches begging for it.</p> + +<p>"We cannot very well overlook this new order of nobility of the +ink-and-paper that has exerted such an influence during the last +generation," he said carelessly.</p> + +<p>"I should not overlook them if I had my way," cried the Count +d'Arlincourt. "I should lock them safely up in the Bastille."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried the ladies in one breath; "barbarian!"</p> + +<p>"These men are doubtless responsible for the inflamed state of the +public mind," said St. Hilaire, again taking up the conversation.</p> + +<p>"Of course they are," agreed the count.</p> + +<p>"And so are Calonne and Brienne," continued the marquis. "They +mismanaged affairs during their terms of office."</p> + +<p>Here the philosopher smiled an assent.</p> + +<p>"But the blame rests more heavily upon other shoulders than those of +scribbling writers or corrupt officials," and the marquis paused to look +around the table.</p> + +<p>"I am all attention," cried the Countess d'Arlincourt, prepared for +something amusing. "Upon whom does it rest?"</p> + +<p>"Upon the nobility themselves," answered St. Hilaire.</p> + +<p>For a moment there was silence; then came a storm of protests from all +sides, only the chevalier and the philosopher making no audible reply, +although the latter said to himself:—</p> + +<p>"You are right, monsieur le marquis."</p> + +<p>"St. Hilaire is in one of his mad fits," de Lacheville exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"If it were not for the nobility there would be no poetry, no wit," +murmured the poet.</p> + +<p>"The nobility is the mainstay of the throne, the vitality of the +country," said d'Arlincourt.</p> + +<p>"What have <i>we</i> done?" cried the ladies in concert. "We ask for nothing +better than to have everybody contented and happy." And they shrugged +their pretty white shoulders as if to throw off the burden that St. +Hilaire had placed there.</p> + +<p>"Look at me," exclaimed St. Hilaire, rising and speaking with an +animation he had not shown before. He was a man of twenty-five with a +face so handsome that dissipation had not been able to mar its beauty. +"I am a type of my class."</p> + +<p>"An honor to it," said the poet.</p> + +<p>"Thank you; then you will agree that the cap which I put on will fit +other heads as well. I have wasted two fortunes."</p> + +<p>"St. Hilaire is in one of his remorseful moods," whispered de Lacheville +in the ear of Madame de Rémur.</p> + +<p>"I have spent them in riotous living with men like myself." Here he +looked at de Lacheville.</p> + +<p>"I feel deeply honored, my dear marquis," said the latter, bowing.</p> + +<p>"When I wanted more money I knew where to get it."</p> + +<p>"Happy fellow," called out de Lacheville with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"I went to the steward who managed my estates. I have estates, or rather +had them, for they are now mortgaged to the last notch, in Normandy, +Picardy, Auvergne and Poitou—I would say to my steward, 'I need more +money.'"</p> + +<p>"'Very well, monsieur le marquis, but I must put on the screws a little +to get it.'</p> + +<p>"'Put on a dozen if you like, but get me the funds.'</p> + +<p>"'It shall be done, monsieur le marquis.'</p> + +<p>"Again and again I went to him for money. He always responded in the +same manner, but each time the screws had to be turned a little tighter. +Do you suppose my peasants love me for that? No, they hate me just as +yours hate you, de Lacheville, and yours hate you, d'Arlincourt." De +Lacheville laughed, and the count lifted up his hand in denial. "I knew +that the day of reckoning would come," St. Hilaire went on. "Every time +I went to Monsieur Rignot, my steward, every time he put on the screws +at my request, I knew it was bringing us nearer the final smash."</p> + +<p>"Us!" repeated d'Arlincourt, with a gesture of impatience.</p> + +<p>"Yes, us," said St. Hilaire; "we are all in the same boat, but we have +all done the same thing in a greater or less degree. We shall all have +to pay the penalty."</p> + +<p>"There is where I differ with you, my dear marquis," said the Count +d'Arlincourt; "I am willing to take what responsibility falls to me by +right, but I emphatically refuse to pay the penalty of your follies."</p> + +<p>"My follies are but those of my class. You may have been an exception +yourself, d'Arlincourt, but that will not save you."</p> + +<p>"What penalties must we pay? Save him from what?" demanded the pretty +countess, looking at St. Hilaire with her large blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"From the revolution," was the answer. There was a general exclamation +of surprise. D'Arlincourt took up the word.</p> + +<p>"Like all men given to excess,—pardon the remark, marquis, but you have +yourself admitted it,—you exaggerate the present unquiet state of +affairs. The people will not revolt. They have no real cause. If you had +made such a statement twenty years ago during the ascendancy of the +infamous du Barry I might not have contradicted you. But now the people +as a mass are loyal. They love their king."</p> + +<p>"I still affirm," said St. Hilaire, "that the time is ripe for a +revolution. Sooner or later it must come."</p> + +<p>The chevalier from the further end of the table said quietly; "It <i>has</i> +come."</p> + +<p>"Surely you are not serious," said d'Arlincourt, turning to the +chevalier, "in calling the disturbance of the past few days a +revolution. Why, I have seen more serious revolts than this blow into +nothing. Our Paris mob is a fickle creature, demanding blood one moment +and the next moment throwing up its cap with delight if you show it a +colored picture."</p> + +<p>"The disturbance of to-day will become great enough to shake France to +its centre," said the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"One would think that you possessed the gift of second sight," laughed +de Lacheville.</p> + +<p>"I do," replied the old man impressively.</p> + +<p>"Give us an example of it, then," demanded d'Arlincourt. "What part am I +to take in the new revolution?"</p> + +<p>"I see behind you, my dear d'Arlincourt," replied the chevalier, leaning +back in his chair and looking in the count's direction through +half-closed eyelids, "the shadow of a scaffold."</p> + +<p>Unwittingly the count turned with a start, to see Blaise standing behind +him in the act of filling his glass with wine. There was a general +laugh.</p> + +<p>"Madame de Rémur will bare her white shoulders to the rude grasp of the +executioner. De Lacheville will escape. No, he will not. He will die by +his own hand to cheat the scaffold."</p> + +<p>"And I," interrupted the Countess d'Arlincourt, "shall I share their +fate?"</p> + +<p>The chevalier looked at her with a peculiar expression in his eyes. "My +sight fails here," he said. "I cannot foretell your fate. Yet you may +live; your beauty should save you. People do not kill those who please +them; those who bore them are less fortunate." And he turned his +snapping brown eyes in the direction of the gentle poet and the +venerable philosopher.</p> + +<p>"St. Hilaire's sudden and great interest in the people's welfare may +prove of service to him," remarked d'Arlincourt significantly.</p> + +<p>"It will not save him," replied the chevalier. "He will finally come to +the same end. The shadow of the scaffold is behind him also."</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire laughed as he cracked an almond. "Though I may sympathize +somewhat with a people who have been oppressed and robbed, I should feel +unhappy indeed to be left out in the cold when so many of the +illustrious had gone before. But you have overlooked yourself. That is +like you, chevalier, unselfish to the last."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am too old to be of importance; I shall die of gout," said the +old nobleman.</p> + +<p>"You have disposed of us effectually," said the poet, "and I shall be +greatly honored at being permitted to leave this world in such good +company. But may I ask, are we to be the sole victims of your +revolution?"</p> + +<p>"Far from it," answered the old chevalier, closing his eyes and speaking +in an abstracted manner, as if talking to himself, while his friends +listened in rapt attention, half inclined to smile at the affair as at a +joke, and yet so serious was he that they could not escape the influence +of his seriousness.</p> + +<p>"I can see," he continued, "a long line of the most illustrious in +France. They are passing onward to the block. They are princes of the +blood; aye, even the king's head shall fall."</p> + +<p>"Enough!" cried out the voice of d'Arlincourt, above the general +exclamations of horror that the chevalier's pretended vision called +forth. "You overstep the line, Chevalier de Creux. I do not object to a +pleasantry, but when you go so far as to predict the execution of the +king you carry a jest too far. It is time to call a halt."</p> + +<p>"But was it a jest?" asked the chevalier dryly.</p> + +<p>"A very poor one," said de Lacheville.</p> + +<p>"My dear friend," said the chevalier in his blandest tone, "I am not +predicting what I should like to have take place. Not what ought to be, +but what will be."</p> + +<p>The count scowled and de Lacheville turned away with a shrug and began a +conversation with Madame de Rémur.</p> + +<p>"We all know that the chevalier is a merry gentleman, yet no jester," +said St. Hilaire. "What will be, will be. I, for one, am willing to +drink a toast to the chevalier's revolution. Blaise, bring out some of +that wine I received from the Count de Beaujeu. I lost fifty thousand +livres to him the night he made me a present of this wine; it will be +like drinking liquid gold."</p> + +<p>Blaise filled the glasses amid general silence.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire rose to his feet, holding his wine-glass above his head.</p> + +<p>"What, my friends, you are not afraid?" he exclaimed in a tone of +surprise, looking about the table where only the chevalier and the +philosopher had followed his example. "Is it possible you have taken the +chevalier's visions so much to heart?"</p> + +<p>They all rose from their places, ashamed to have it thought that they +had taken in too serious a vein the little comedy played by the +chevalier.</p> + +<p>"Any excuse to drink such wine as this," said de Lacheville, with a +forced laugh.</p> + +<p>"We drink to the revolution!" cried St. Hilaire in his reckless +manner—and he touched glasses with Madame de Rémur and then with the +Countess d'Arlincourt. As the glasses clinked about the table, a heavy +booming sound fell upon the ears of the revelers.</p> + +<p>"What noise is that?" cried the countess nervously. They stopped to +listen, holding their glasses aloft. The booming ceased, then followed a +roar like that of the angry surf beating upon a rockbound shore.</p> + +<p>"It is the chevalier's revolution," exclaimed Madame de Rémur.</p> + +<p>"Are we to be frightened from drinking our toast by a little noise?" +cried St. Hilaire. "What if it be the revolution? Let us drink to it. +Come!" and they drained their glasses to the accompaniment of what +sounded like a volley of musketry.</p> + +<p>The ladies looked pale and were glad to quit the table for the salon, +where they were joined by the poet and the philosopher, leaving the +others still at their wine.</p> + +<p>The Marquis de Lacheville took another glass, and then a third.</p> + +<p>"You had best be careful how you heat your blood with this rich wine, de +Lacheville, while that wound in your side is scarcely healed," remarked +d'Arlincourt.</p> + +<p>"Confound the wound, and curse the young villain who gave it me," +growled de Lacheville. "I have been forced to lead the life of an +anchorite for the past fortnight; but such nectar as this cannot +inflame, it only soothes," and he reached out his hand toward the +decanter. As he did so, the sound of guns reverberated again through the +room, making the windows rattle and jarring the dishes on the table. The +ladies in the adjoining room cried out in alarm, and d'Arlincourt rose +and went to reassure them.</p> + +<p>"I will go with you," said the chevalier, and he joined the count.</p> + +<p>De Lacheville threw his napkin down upon the spot of wine that had +splashed from his upraised glass upon the damask cloth.</p> + +<p>"The devil take them!" he cried petulantly; then filling his glass again +with an air of bravado, "will they not permit a man to breakfast in +peace?"</p> + +<p>"Your nerves must be badly shaken, de Lacheville, if you permit such a +slight thing to disturb you," laughed St. Hilaire, filling a glass to +the brim.</p> + +<p>D'Arlincourt entered from the next room hurriedly. "I am going to see +what all this firing means," he said. "Will you accompany me, +gentlemen?"</p> + +<p>"I make it a point never to seek for news or excitement, but rather +allow them to come to me," said St. Hilaire leisurely. "You would better +sit down and let me send a servant to ascertain the cause of this +turmoil."</p> + +<p>"Why leave the house in search of truth when we have with us an oracle +in the shape of the chevalier?" interposed the Marquis de Lacheville.</p> + +<p>"I shall be able to bring a more accurate account," replied d'Arlincourt +with an impatient shrug.</p> + +<p>"As you will," said St. Hilaire. "Blaise, give the Count d'Arlincourt +his hat and sword. Are you quite sure you do not want some of my lackeys +to accompany you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>D'Arlincourt declined the offer and hastily left the room.</p> + +<p>The two marquises were left in possession of the dining-room and the +wine. They both continued to drink, each after his own fashion. With +each successive glass, de Lacheville became louder in voice and more +boastful, while as St. Hilaire sipped his wine, he became quieter and +more indifferent.</p> + +<p>Within ten minutes d'Arlincourt returned to them, his face betraying +great excitement.</p> + +<p>"A mob has attacked and captured the Bastille. The multitude is surging +through the streets. They will pass before this very door."</p> + +<p>"It is impossible that they could have taken the Bastille!" exclaimed de +Lacheville, rising to his feet and steadying himself by holding to the +back of his chair.</p> + +<p>"There are thirty thousand of them," replied d'Arlincourt, "and through +some treachery they have obtained arms. In order to save bloodshed +Governor Delaunay surrendered the fortress on receiving the promise of +the insurgents that the lives of all its defenders should be spared. +They are now dragging him through the streets, crying out for his blood. +The man was mad to trust the word of such a rabble."</p> + +<p>"Let us go into the salon," remarked St. Hilaire quietly. "There we can +reassure the ladies and also view this interesting spectacle."</p> + +<p>The three gentlemen entered the room which fronted upon the street, +d'Arlincourt with compressed lips and flashing eyes; de Lacheville, +unsteady of gait and with wine-flushed face, murmuring maledictions +against the beast multitude; and St. Hilaire, cool and calm as was his +wont.</p> + +<p>In the salon they found the chevalier entertaining Madame de Rémur with +an anecdote which was the occasion of much laughter on her part.</p> + +<p>The poet was reciting some of his own verses to the countess, while the +philosopher was asleep in an arm-chair.</p> + +<p>"The crowd have torn down the Bastille," cried de Lacheville, speaking +in a thick voice, "and they are now coming down this street, seeking +whom they can devour."</p> + +<p>The ladies cried out in terror.</p> + +<p>"Marquis, you have interrupted one of my best stories," said the +chevalier petulantly.</p> + +<p>"But, chevalier, the mob have taken the Bastille."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you have allowed them two minutes more to complete their work? +However, what you say is very interesting, though it does not surprise +me. I have been expecting it."</p> + +<p>"You forget that the chevalier is gifted with second sight," said the +count, with a slight sneer.</p> + +<p>"I have been expecting it for some time," continued the chevalier, +"though what they wanted to take it for, I cannot imagine. If they +should attack the Hôtel de Ville or the Louvre, or march against +Versailles, I could understand it."</p> + +<p>Madame de Rémur and the philosopher, who had awakened from his nap, had +approached to hear the news; and the Marquis de Lacheville repeated it +to them as if he had been an eye-witness of the whole affair.</p> + +<p>"For my part," he said in conclusion, "I think this disturbance amounts +to very little; the Baron de Besneval has but to give the order to his +troops, and the valiant mob will disperse like chaff. I have seen such +fellows run before this. It is amusing to see what a steel bayonet will +do toward accelerating the pace of the canaille."</p> + +<p>"They say that the French Guards are not loyal," remarked the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"The French Guards be hanged!" shouted the Marquis de Lacheville hotly. +"I would not trust them further than the canaille itself; they are a +white-livered lot in spite of their gaudy uniforms. Thank heaven, we +have other troops who are good and loyal, and who will put down these +disorders in a trice."</p> + +<p>"We shall look to you, then, marquis," said the cavalier, "to restore +peace and quiet for us at once."</p> + +<p>"I would not soil my hands with such dirt," replied de Lacheville +haughtily, and scowling at what he thought was a disposition on the part +of the chevalier to ridicule him.</p> + +<p>"Is there really danger?" inquired the Countess d'Arlincourt of her +husband.</p> + +<p>"The situation is grave, but I hardly think there is great cause for +alarm," he answered. "The king has too many loyal subjects to permit +anarchy and riot to exist for any length of time."</p> + +<p>"Let us go out upon the balcony," interrupted St. Hilaire; "the show is +about to pass under our windows." He threw open the windows and ushered +his friends out upon the balcony with a gesture as if he were bidding +them welcome to his box at the opera.</p> + +<p>Down the street, with a roar that drowned all other sounds, came the +surging mass like a torrent that had burst its bounds. In the front +ranks, carried on the shoulders of a dozen, were two men dressed in the +uniform of the French Guards. They were greeted on all sides with +acclamations.</p> + +<p>"See how the Guards fraternize with the mob," said de Lacheville. "Down +with the French Guards! Down with the rabble!" he cried in his +excitement, shaking his fist over the railing.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire gripped his arm. "I don't care how much you expose your own +life, but as I do not wish to bring insult or danger upon the ladies +under my roof, perhaps you had better refrain from expressing your +opinions for the present."</p> + +<p>"Do you think they would dare attack this house?" demanded de +Lacheville, turning pale.</p> + +<p>"Men who have successfully stormed a prison are not likely to hesitate +before the walls of a house, even though it does belong to a marquis," +replied St. Hilaire. "Look at that!" he exclaimed suddenly, pointing up +the street. Then turning to d'Arlincourt, he said, "Get the ladies +inside as quickly as possible." The count had no sooner followed his +directions, than along the street, borne on long poles on a level with +the very eyes of those on the balcony, appeared two heads dripping with +blood.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, whose are those?" exclaimed the chevalier, adjusting his +eyeglasses. "By my soul, it's poor Delaunay's head. They have treated +him most shabbily. Can you make out the other, St. Hilaire?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered the marquis, "I was never good at recognizing faces," and +he stepped to the window to reassure the ladies in the salon.</p> + +<p>The chevalier leaned over the railing and called out to one of the men +in the crowd:—</p> + +<p>"My good fellow, will you have the kindness to tell me whose head they +are carrying on the second pole?"</p> + +<p>The man, thus addressed, looked up. He was tall and broad-shouldered, +with face browned from exposure to the sun. With one arm he supported a +member of the French Guards who had been wounded.</p> + +<p>"Flesselle's," he answered. "He has betrayed the people again and again. +He has received a terrible punishment."</p> + +<p>The man who had given the chevalier this answer did not move on +immediately, but stood looking up at the balcony. The old nobleman, +following this look, saw that it rested on the Marquis de Lacheville.</p> + +<p>The latter, meeting the man's eye at the same moment, recognized Robert +Tournay. He started forward as if about to speak, then noticing the +weapon in Tournay's hand and remembering the recent warning of St. +Hilaire, he checked himself. Neither spoke, but the marquis could not +repress a look of hatred, which was answered by a look of defiance by +Tournay. Then the latter turned away with his companion leaning on his +shoulder. The crowd closed up and he was soon lost to sight.</p> + +<p>"They have killed Flesselle, the mayor of Paris," said the chevalier, as +St. Hilaire joined him a moment later. "Well," he continued, as if in +answer to St. Hilaire's shrug, "Flesselle was a fool, but I am sorry for +poor Delaunay. Come, St. Hilaire, let us go in, the crowd is thinning +out now; in a short time the streets will be passable and I must be +going. I have to thank you for a most enjoyable day, marquis."</p> + +<p>"The pleasure has been mine," replied the Marquis de St. Hilaire, +bowing.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to the duchess's to-night?" inquired the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"No, I think not," answered St. Hilaire, putting his hand upon the +window-bar. "After you, my dear chevalier," indicating the way into the +salon. As he was about to step into the room the chevalier turned and +took a final look at the street. The main body of the mob had passed and +their shouts were heard receding in the distance; although underneath +the window were still a number of persons, coming and going in restless +excitement.</p> + +<p>"I think, marquis," he said, with his curious smile, "that your friends +need soap and water badly."</p> + +<p>"They do, chevalier," said the other, returning the smile, "and the +smell is sickening. Come to my bedroom; I will give you a new perfume."</p> + +<p>That evening, after the departure of his guests, the Marquis de St. +Hilaire called in his man of affairs.</p> + +<p>"Rignot," he demanded carelessly, "have I a single estate that is +unencumbered?"</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately no, monsieur le marquis."</p> + +<p>"Think again, Rignot. Is there not some little estate still intact? Some +small farm heretofore overlooked by us?"</p> + +<p>"Not a cottage, monsieur le marquis."</p> + +<p>"What bills are unpaid?"</p> + +<p>"Some three hundred thousand livres are rather pressing."</p> + +<p>"Is that the sum total of all my liabilities? I want a full statement +to-night."</p> + +<p>"You owe about eight hundred thousand francs, monsieur le marquis."</p> + +<p>"Pay them at once."</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur le marquis, it will be impossible. Where shall I get the +funds?"</p> + +<p>"You may sell my furniture, personal property"—</p> + +<p>"What, everything, monsieur le marquis?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, everything; and after paying all my debts, if there is anything +left, take out a commission for yourself and give me the balance;" and +then he turned to the window and looked out on the lights of the city of +Paris, indicating that the interview was at an end. Rignot withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Assuredly," said the Marquis de St. Hilaire with a yawn, "this +revolution arrives in good time. I should soon have become a beggar."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE BAKER AND HIS FAMILY</h3> + + +<p>The Count d'Arlincourt had just left the palace at Versailles.</p> + +<p>He had been present at the reception to the Royal Flanders regiment. He +had heard their vow of fidelity to the king. He had been among the +officers and the nobles of the court who had trampled under foot the +tricolor of Paris and decorated their coats with the white cockade, and +now he left the royal presence with his sovereign's thanks and +commendations ringing in his ears.</p> + +<p>As he proceeded through the courtyard three gentlemen entered at the +main gate. A shade of annoyance passed over the count's brow as he +recognized St. Hilaire and two other noblemen, all members of the States +General, and all reputed to lean somewhat too radically toward the +popular side in politics. He had hardly seen St. Hilaire since the +breakfast party at the house of the latter three months before. The +toast of the marquis and his expressed sympathy with revolutionary +orders had caused a decided estrangement.</p> + +<p>Indeed, St. Hilaire and the two noblemen who were with him had become +alienated from their order, and many of their former friends among the +nobility had refused to speak or hold any relations with them whatever.</p> + +<p>The count could not avoid meeting them, but he was undecided whether to +ignore them entirely or pass them with such a slight inclination of the +head as to be equally cutting.</p> + +<p>The cordial bow of the Marquis de St. Hilaire, however, for whom he had +always felt a peculiar and inexplicable regard, caused him to change his +mind.</p> + +<p>He saluted the three gentlemen politely, though with a certain reserve +of manner natural to him, and addressed St. Hilaire.</p> + +<p>"A word with you, marquis," he said, "if I may be pardoned for taking +you from these gentlemen for a few minutes?"</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire turned to his companions: "With your permission, messieurs, +I will join you in five minutes in the palace."</p> + +<p>The gentlemen bowed in assent and walked toward the palace, leaving the +count and the marquis alone in the centre of the court.</p> + +<p>"You were not present at the reception in the palace. We missed you +greatly, marquis," the former began, with an attempt at cordiality of +manner, having resolved to make one last appeal to his friend.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my dear d'Arlincourt, for your kindness in saying so," +replied the marquis affably, "but I must tell you frankly that even if +affairs in the Assembly had not claimed my time, other circumstances +would have rendered my presence at this banquet impossible."</p> + +<p>"The king," continued d'Arlincourt quietly, "inquired for you several +times and seemed much disturbed at your absence."</p> + +<p>"I am now on my way to wait upon his majesty," replied St. Hilaire.</p> + +<p>The count's face lighted up. "A tardy apology is better than none at +all, for I presume you are going to explain your absence."</p> + +<p>"The two gentlemen who have left us, and myself, have been sent by the +convention as a committee to urge his majesty to sanction their latest +decrees,—the bill relating to popular rights," replied St. Hilaire +quietly.</p> + +<p>"For the love of Heaven, Raphael!" burst out the count, "can it be +possible that you intend to persist in championing the popular cause, +like the Duke d'Orleans, or the Marquis de Lafayette? Your present +position is that of a madman. Come back to our side now. To-morrow it +may be too late."</p> + +<p>"For the life of me, André," replied St. Hilaire lightly, "I cannot tell +you to-day what my line of action will be to-morrow, but in any case I +beg you will not compare me either with the duke or Lafayette. I am +neither as dull as the one nor as virtuous as the other. Why not permit +me still to resemble only the Marquis de St. Hilaire?"</p> + +<p>"Then," replied the count warmly, "I tell you that as the Marquis de St. +Hilaire, your duty to the king should have brought you to the reception +in honor of the Flanders regiment."</p> + +<p>The marquis dropped his air of levity suddenly. "Do you know, count," +he said slowly, "I have just come from the Assembly, where news reached +us a little while ago that a mob of forty thousand was marching from +Paris toward Versailles."</p> + +<p>The count started with surprise, but betrayed no other emotion.</p> + +<p>"Is it a fitting time to be fêting a regiment composed of mercenaries? +Is it a fitting time to be clinking glasses and drinking toasts when +forty thousand men and women are approaching with their cry for bread?"</p> + +<p>The count drew himself up as he replied,—"What more fitting time could +there be for the loyal nobles to gather about their sovereign than in +the hour of danger? I, for one, would not let the fear of any Paris mob +keep me from the king's side at such a moment."</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire flushed deeply. "Count d'Arlincourt," he said quickly, "I +pass over that insinuation because it comes from an old friend. But know +this: that I am one of the members of the Assembly who have sworn to +support the constitution and enforce the rights of man. I should indeed +have been false to my trust had I participated in a fête to these +foreigners where oaths were openly made to defeat that constitution."</p> + +<p>"Our ideas of duty evidently differ," replied the count stiffly. "My +duty is to my king."</p> + +<p>"They do differ," said St. Hilaire. "My first allegiance is to the +nation. Count d'Arlincourt, I respect you and your opinions, but I also +have a regard for my oath. I have chosen my path and I shall follow +it."</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Marquis de St. Hilaire," said the count, in his usual cold +manner.</p> + +<p>"Farewell, Count d'Arlincourt," was the polite rejoinder, and raising +his hat St. Hilaire passed onward in the direction of the palace.</p> + +<p>Forty thousand men and women were marching from Paris to Versailles. +They had forced a king to recall a banished minister. They had sacked a +prison fortress,—razing to the ground walls that had frowned on them +for ages, wiping out in one day a landmark of tyranny that had been +standing there for centuries. Now they were coming to see their king at +his palace. They had heard of the banquet at Versailles, given in honor +of the royal Flanders regiment, where wine had flowed like water and +where food was in abundance. At such a banquet, they argued, there must +be bread enough for the whole world; and they were coming to get their +share of it.</p> + +<p>Although it was in the month of October, the sun was hot and the road +dusty. In the front rank, amid all the dust and sweat and noise, walked +Robert Tournay. He carried no weapon, nor did he seek to lead; but +animated by curiosity and by sympathy, he felt himself drawn into this +great heaving mass of people who had decided to correct these abuses +themselves, even if to do it they had to take the laws into their own +hands.</p> + +<p>Hearing a shout and rumble of wheels behind him, Tournay looked over his +shoulder to see a cannon coming through the crowd, which parted on each +side to let it pass, and then closed up behind it. This cannon was drawn +along the road by a score of men, whose bare feet, beating the dust, +sent up a pulverous cloud that blew back into the faces of those behind +like smoke.</p> + +<p>Seated upon the gun carriage, her hair streaming in the wind, was a +young woman wearing the red cap of liberty, and waving in her hand a +blood-red flag. The cannon stopped under the shade of some poplar trees, +and men stood around it wiping the perspiration from their foreheads.</p> + +<p>"A cheer for the Goddess of Liberty," cried a voice in the crowd. A +shout went up that made the poplars tremble.</p> + +<p>"Citizens," cried the girl, in response, standing erect and flinging her +flag to the breeze, "you want bread!"</p> + +<p>"Bread! Bread!" was the answering shout.</p> + +<p>"The women of Paris will lead you to it. Then you shall help +yourselves."</p> + +<p>"Show us where it is and we'll take it fast enough," was the answering +cry.</p> + +<p>"Where should it be but in the king's palace? There they are feasting +while the people in Paris are starving. They shall give the people of +their bread!"</p> + +<p>"What if they have eaten it all?" asked another voice.</p> + +<p>"Then shall the king bake more," answered the girl—"enough for every +one in his kingdom. He shall be the nation's baker, and his wife shall +help him knead the dough, and their little boy shall give out the +loaves."</p> + +<p>There was a laugh at this and cries of "Good! Good!"</p> + +<p>"My friends," she continued, taking off her cap and swinging it by the +tassel, "this marching is hot work, and talking is dry business. Has any +one a drink for La Demoiselle Liberté?"</p> + +<p>A number of bottles were instantly proffered her.</p> + +<p>"This <i>eau de vie</i> puts new life into one," she exclaimed, throwing back +her head and putting a flask to her lips. With an easy gesture she took +a deep draught of the liquor, to the increasing admiration of the +bystanders. On removing the bottle from her lips, she said with a nod: +"How many of you men can beat that? Here goes one more." She was on the +point of repeating the act when she caught sight of Tournay, who had +drawn near and stood by the wheel of the truck looking at her intently.</p> + +<p>"Here, friend, you look at this liquor thirstily; take a good pull at +it. You're a likely youth, and a sup of brandy will foster your +strength! What! You will not drink? Bah, man! I would not have it said +that I was a little boy, afraid of good liquor. But why do you stare at +me like that, without speaking? Have you no tongue?" Tournay put aside +the proffered bottle and said:—</p> + +<p>"I stared at you because I know you. You are Marianne Froment, the +miller's daughter, who left La Thierry a year ago. And you should +remember Robert Tournay."</p> + +<p>The young woman shook her head with a decided gesture.</p> + +<p>"You mistake, friend; my name is not Marianne Froment. I know no miller, +and have never heard of the place you speak of."</p> + +<p>Tournay remembered when he had seen her last in the alley of the park. +He felt no animosity toward her; instead he felt compassion for the +silly girl whose head had been turned by the flattery of a nobleman who +had already grown tired of her.</p> + +<p>"It is you who are mistaken, Marianne," he replied quietly, "although +when I knew you at La Thierry, drinking strong liquor was not one of +your practices."</p> + +<p>"I am La Demoiselle Liberté," replied the girl defiantly, throwing her +brown curls back from her forehead and replacing her cap. "I have drunk +such liquor as this from my cradle. So here's to you! May you some day +grow to be a man."</p> + +<p>Tournay stayed the bottle in its course to her lips, and took her hand +in his.</p> + +<p>"You are Marianne Froment," he persisted, "and it would be much better +for you to be in the quiet country of La Thierry. Why not go back?"</p> + +<p>"If Marianne did go back, who would speak to her? Who among all those +who live there would take her by the hand?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Have I not taken you by the hand just now?" asked Tournay.</p> + +<p>"I believe you would be the only one," she replied, stifling a sigh. +"Not even my father would do that. But you are no longer at La Thierry. +What are you doing here, and what sent you away from home? Are you going +back?"</p> + +<p>Tournay shook his head. "There are reasons," he replied slowly, "why I +can never return."</p> + +<p>"Neither can Marianne Froment," rejoined the girl. "Therefore, +compatriot, drink with me to our future good comradeship. And pass the +bottle to your neighbor. Then let us go on together. <i>En avant</i>, my +friends," she cried out in a loud voice. "The sooner we start again the +earlier we shall reach our bakery. Follow the carriage of La Demoiselle +Liberté, and she will lead you to it."</p> + +<p>A score of brawny arms grasped the ropes attached to the truck, and with +a heavy rattle the cannon was drawn through the crowd, which cheered it +on its way.</p> + +<p>The forty thousand swept into Versailles in an overpowering tide, +finding nothing to stop their triumphant course.</p> + +<p>The crowd choked up the streets of the town, filling the public square +and invading the Assembly chamber.</p> + +<p>The Assembly, with all the gravity and dignity of its recent birth, rose +to its feet to greet as many of the Paris deputation as could crowd into +the room, steaming with the sweat and dust of the march. Outside the +door another crowd remained, clamoring noisily.</p> + +<p>The president of the Assembly addressed them in a few words full of +dignity. "I have just learned," he said in his quiet way, "that the +king has been pleased to accord his royal sanction to all the articles +of the Bill of Popular Rights which was passed by your Assembly on the +5th of August."</p> + +<p>"Will that give the people more bread?" asked La Demoiselle, looking up +at Tournay with an inquiring expression in her brown eyes. Despite her +red cap, her swagger, and her boisterous talk, she was very pretty and +child-like. As he looked down upon her standing by his side her brown +head did not reach his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Whether it gives them bread or not, it is a glorious thing for the +people," exclaimed Tournay with enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later the demoiselle yawned. "The old fellow is too +tiresome," she said; "let us go to the palace and get our bread."</p> + +<p>Evidently the same thought moved the rest of the deputation. They began +to file out, while President Meunier was still addressing them, with a +restless scuffling of their feet, and a murmuring among themselves, "To +the palace! To the palace!"</p> + +<p>The last Tournay saw of Demoiselle Liberté she was pushing through the +crowd that made way for her right willingly, while she cried out: "I +will show you the bakery, my brave people; I am now on my way to +interview the chief baker."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The forty thousand got their bread. They got their bread and more. They +pressed in so close upon their monarch, they were so menacing, so +determined in their way, that he promised to dismiss his royal Flanders +regiment and go back to Paris with his beloved subjects. And so the +hungry, sullen, desperate mob became a shouting, happy, victorious one. +They cheered their monarch, who had sworn to be a father to his people; +they cheered the royal family, even the queen; but most of all they +cheered the loaves of bread which were distributed among the eager +multitude. Every shop in the town was soon depleted of its stock, and +all the bakers were working over-time to supply the food.</p> + +<p>"Did I not tell you I would lead you where bread was plenty?" demanded +the Demoiselle de la Liberté gayly of those gathered around. "The king +is a capital baker; we have only to keep him with us and we shall have +food at all times." And she dipped her crust in a cup of wine.</p> + +<p>"We will take our baker back with us to Paris," cried one.</p> + +<p>"Aye, and the baker's wife and his little boy," cried another. At this +there was a laugh.</p> + +<p>Tournay, who had aided in the distribution of the food, approached the +group, relieved by the thought that all were satisfied and contented, at +least for the moment.</p> + +<p>"Ah, there is my handsome compatriot," exclaimed the demoiselle as soon +as she set eyes upon him. "Wilt thou join us in our supper, compatriot?" +she called out. She was seated carelessly on the truck of the +gun-carriage, with a cup of wine in one hand and a half-loaf in the +other, her face flushed with excitement. Unlike most of the women who +stood about her, she was of graceful form, with hands and arms +unblackened by hard toil, and the skin of her throat soft and white. She +wore her red cap in a rakish manner on the side of her head, its tassel +falling down over her forehead between her eyes. Every little while she +would throw it back by a quick toss of the head.</p> + +<p>Tournay took the cup from her outstretched hand, and put it to his lips. +"Marianne," he said in a low tone, "it would be better if you were at +home among your own people."</p> + +<p>"Why do you still call me by that name?" she asked in a tone of +suppressed passion. "<i>My</i> home is Paris. <i>These</i> are my people. They +never question who I am nor whence I came. There is not one in La +Thierry who would deal thus with me, unless it be yourself. You took my +hand this morning. And for that I will take yours and call you my +compatriot." Then changing to her usual tone of gayety, she cried aloud, +"Come, compatriot! This has been a glorious day. The people of Paris +have captured their king and are about to take him to Paris. Give us a +toast!"</p> + +<p>Tournay felt that what she had said was true. Probably not one of those +who had known Marianne in La Thierry would speak to her should she +return there. He turned to those who stood around the gun. "Friends," he +cried, "I drink to freedom! May all among you who love it as I do live +for it and be ready to die for it." There was a shout as he turned away +and left them, and over his shoulder, looking back, he saw the +demoiselle dancing on the cannon, cup in hand.</p> + +<p>He left the crowded part of the city to find some quiet spot as a change +from the noise and tumult of the past two days. Turning a corner he came +face to face with a man whom he had seen among the crowd in the Assembly +hall,—a man of gigantic stature with deep-set eyes. His appearance was +so striking that he could have passed nowhere unnoticed, and even in the +crowded hall Tournay's gaze had returned to him constantly. As they met, +Tournay again looked at him earnestly. The man stopped with the abrupt +question:—</p> + +<p>"Why did you come to Versailles?"</p> + +<p>"Because," answered Tournay, "when I saw great numbers of people in +Paris starving, and heard of the banqueting here, my blood boiled. This +Flanders regiment, which is feeding fat at the people's cost, must be +sent away. We cannot pause on our way to freedom with the destruction of +the Bastille. The king must come to Paris where the people need him, and +not spend his time here under the influence of a corrupt nobility."</p> + +<p>"The king," mused the other; "do you believe in kings?"</p> + +<p>"How do you mean?—'Do I believe in kings'?"</p> + +<p>"Seventeen years ago," said the giant, "when only a boy, I stood in the +cathedral at Rheims while the coronation of the king was taking place. +I had never seen a king before, and moved by a strong desire to see a +being so exalted, I had walked many leagues to gratify my curiosity. +When I saw a pale-faced stripling kneel before the archbishop to receive +the crown, I could hardly keep from bursting into loud laughter at the +thought that such a puny creature could hold the destiny of a great +nation in his hands. I have often thought of it since, and to this day +it is as absurd as it was then."</p> + +<p>"I think a nation should have a king," said Tournay, after a few +moments' thought. "But he should reign in the interests of his people. +And of all the people, not a small part."</p> + +<p>"And so you came down here to see that our little king did his duty," +suggested the large man, smiling.</p> + +<p>"I came here, as I have already said, because in my humble way I wanted +to do something for my country."</p> + +<p>"For your country?" repeated his companion interrogatively; "for the +people?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Tournay, "the people,—the common people, to whom I +belong; those who have never had a voice lifted up to speak for them, +nor a hand to fight their battles."</p> + +<p>"There is a voice to speak for them at last," replied the giant, his +eyes shining with a fierce light. "France is full of them. From north to +south, from east to west, they have been called and are answering. In +the Assembly their voices are heard. In every street in Paris their +voices are heard. I can speak for them and I will; aye and fight for +them too," and he lifted his massive arm with a gesture which in its +force seemed to indicate that alone he could fight for and win the +people's cause. "Throughout France there are millions of arms which like +mine are ready to strike down tyranny. Have no fear, my friend. The +nation has found a champion in itself! The people have taken up their +own cause!" The power of the man, his earnestness and energy, stirred +Tournay to the depths of his soul. He looked with admiration at the +lion-like figure standing before him. Then grasping the man's hand he +said with earnestness:—</p> + +<p>"I too am one of them,—I may not be of much use, still I am one. Will +you show me how I can be of more service?"</p> + +<p>"A stout arm and a brave heart are always worth much," replied the +giant. "I like you, friend; your voice has the true ring in it. And +where Jacques Danton likes he trusts. Come with me and I will tell you +more."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE "BON PATRIOT"</h3> + + +<p>Colonel Robert Tournay of the Republican army sat over his coffee in the +café of the "Bon Patriot" one December morning in the year 1793 of the +Gregorian Calendar, and the year 2 of the French Republic.</p> + +<p>The four years that had passed since the July afternoon, when he first +entered Paris through the southern gate, had been full of stirring +events in which Tournay had taken such an active part as to make the +time equal to many years of an ordinary lifetime,—years which had drawn +lines upon his forehead that are not usual upon the brow of twenty-six. +His figure was considerably heavier, but even more elastic and muscular, +telling of a life of constant bodily exercise.</p> + +<p>Shortly after his return to Paris from Versailles on the eventful day +when the Demoiselle de la Liberté, accompanied by her forty thousand, +brought the baker and his family back to their people, Tournay had +enrolled himself in the National Guard to protect Paris and the country +against foreign invasion.</p> + +<p>From Paris to the army at the front was the next step, where he served +with such bravery as to gain promotion to his present rank. Promotions +were rapid in those days, and men rose from the lowest social ranks to +the highest military positions, if they proved their fitness by valor +and ability.</p> + +<p>By the winter of '93 Tournay had won the shoulder-straps of a colonel, +and had now been sent to Paris by General Hoche with dispatches to the +National Convention. His dispatches had been delivered and he was +waiting impatiently for the reply which he was to take back to the +front. More than eighteen months had passed since he had been in Paris, +and the scenes in the city streets had a new charm for him. It was with +a feeling of pride that he looked out from the windows of the "Bon +Patriot" and saw the active, bustling crowds on the boulevards and +realized that the Republic was an accomplished fact and that he had done +his part toward creating it. And yet there was some sadness mingled with +his pride. Although an ardent Republican he could not sympathize in all +the horrors of the Revolution,—indeed he had been greatly shocked by +them. Yet his long absence from Paris had prevented him from witnessing +the worst phases of the reign of terror, and thus he could not fully +realize them. He was, moreover, first of all, a man of the people. He +had resented from childhood the cruelty and oppressions under which they +had suffered, and his joy at the abolition of unjust laws, his pride in +the assertion of equality for all men, overweighed his regret for the +bloodshed that had accompanied the triumph of their cause and the +gaining of the Republic.</p> + +<p>Sitting over his coffee, he recalled his early life at La Thierry. Since +the day of his flight, he had never returned there, and with the +exception of an annual letter from his father, who although a Royalist +could not quite make up his mind to cast off his only son, he had no +communication with the inhabitants of the château. From these occasional +and brief epistles he had learned that the Baron de Rochefort had gone +to England almost at the outbreak of the Revolution. In a more +roundabout way he learned the cause of the baron's departure to be a +secret mission to the Court of St. James on behalf of the tottering +French monarchy. The mission had come to naught; the baron had fallen +ill in London and died there a few months after his arrival.</p> + +<p>Edmé, his only child, was therefore left at La Thierry, where she lived +in great seclusion, with Matthieu Tournay still in faithful attendance. +The marriage with the Marquis de Lacheville had never taken place. As +the Revolution progressed and the de Rochefort fortune dwindled, the +marquis's ardor, never at glowing heat, cooled perceptibly, and during +the past two years nothing had been heard of him at the château. It was +thought that he had either gone abroad or was living in seclusion in +Paris.</p> + +<p>Tournay had sometimes felt a little anxious as to the safety of +Mademoiselle Edmé and his father, but the letters he received from old +Matthieu were reassuring, and as the place was a secluded one and the +family not known to have shared actively in the royalist cause, his +anxieties had for some time been allayed and he thought of them now as +likely to escape suspicion and to remain there in quiet obscurity.</p> + +<p>Tournay was roused from his reverie by the conversation of two men at an +adjoining table, or, more strictly speaking, a man and a boy, for the +younger was not over seventeen years of age. His face was quite innocent +of any beard. On his yellow curls he wore the red nightcap of the +Jacobins and his belt was an arsenal of knives and pistols. Taking up a +glass of beer he blew off the froth with a quick puff of the lips.</p> + +<p>"Thus would I blow off the heads of all kings," he said in a voice that +courted attention; "I give you a toast, comrade: death to every tyrant +in Europe."</p> + +<p>"I'll drink that toast willingly," answered the other, a big fellow, who +despite his swagger and insolent manner, had a face bearing considerable +traces of good looks. "But I should prefer to drink confusion to each in +a separate glass, seeing that you are standing treat for the day," and +he laughed at his own wit.</p> + +<p>"The Revolution does not march quick enough to suit my fancy," he went +on, turning his glass upside down to indicate that it needed +replenishing, and then wiping the froth from the ends of his drooping +brown mustache. "The convention is too slow in its work of purging the +nation. Were it not for Robespierre we should make no progress. Why are +there still aristocrats walking in the broad light of day?"</p> + +<p>"Very few come out in the daylight, citizen," remarked the boy. "They +creep out at night generally."</p> + +<p>"Well, why are they allowed to live at all, young friend?" said the +elder man, striking the table with his fist.</p> + +<p>"Be patient, good Citizen Gonflou; the Committee of Public Safety has +sent out a good batch of arrests within the last twenty-four hours," +said the lad knowingly. "I have it from my brother, who has been charged +with the execution of one."</p> + +<p>"Your brother, Bernard Gardin?" inquired the other as he drained his +glass. "Who is it now?"</p> + +<p>"Bernard has gone down to our old home in the village of La Thierry to +arrest a young aristocrat by the name of Edmé de Rochefort," replied the +boy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh, a woman!" laughed Gonflou. "Well, I'm glad I've not got your +brother's work. I'm too tender-hearted when it comes to be a question of +women."</p> + +<p>Tournay uttered an exclamation of surprise. The next instant he tipped +over his coffee-cup with a clatter to cover up the betrayal of interest +in the conversation, and in replacing it, managed to draw his chair +nearer to the two men.</p> + +<p>"When did he start?" was the inquiry of Gonflou.</p> + +<p>"This morning at six. He will return in four days."</p> + +<p>Recovered from the first shock, Tournay's resolution was immediate. Edmé +de Rochefort must be saved from arrest—and from the death that was +almost certain to follow.</p> + +<p>He was a man of action, accustomed to think quickly, and he began at +once to devise means to save her. His first thought was of Danton. On +this man's friendship he felt sure he could rely. His ability and +willingness to assist him he resolved to test immediately.</p> + +<p>The conversation between the two men at the adjoining table took another +turn and he saw he was likely to hear no more on this subject, so he +rose from his seat and hurried from the café. Ten minutes later he +climbed the dark stairway that led to Danton's lodging. Here he found +the Republican giant in his shirtsleeves,—a short pipe between his +lips, bending over his writing table. He did not look up as Tournay took +a chair at his elbow, but a nod from the massive head showed that he was +aware of his presence.</p> + +<p>"Jacques," asked Tournay abruptly, "was an order for the arrest of a +certain Citizeness Edmé de Rochefort signed by the committee last +night?"</p> + +<p>Danton looked at him for a moment while he stroked his chin +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Hum—de Rochefort? A daughter of the Baron Honoré who went to England +as emissary from the late monarchy? Yes, I believe the woman is to be +arrested," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"If I furnish you with abundant reason for it will you have the order +rescinded at once?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"Is there any other charge against the Citizeness de Rochefort except +that she is the daughter of her father?"</p> + +<p>"None that I know of."</p> + +<p>"Why arrest a young woman merely because her father went to England as +an emissary of Louis Capet more than three years ago?"</p> + +<p>Danton shrugged his shoulders. Tournay continued.</p> + +<p>"In view of the length of time which has elapsed, in view of the +absolute lack of result from the baron's mission, in view of the youth +and innocence of this girl, will you not endeavor to have this order +rescinded?"</p> + +<p>"Why do you desire it so strongly?" demanded Danton, laying down his pen +for the first time.</p> + +<p>"Because I have known her from a child. I was born on the de Rochefort +estate," was the prompt reply.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" asked Danton.</p> + +<p>"No, it is not the only reason. I abhor this dragging of the weak and +innocent into the political whirlpool. We do not need to make war upon +women. I have protested against this before now, and I tell you again +that we are disgracing the Republic by the crimes committed in its name. +You are all-powerful with the masses, Jacques, your voice is always +listened to,—why do you not put an end to the atrocities, which instead +of decreasing, are growing worse daily? Where is your eloquence? Where +is your power? How can you sit passively by and see these horrors? Are +they done with your sanction? Can it be that a man with your strength +can take a pleasure in crushing the weak and defenseless?"</p> + +<p>"Would to God that I had the power to stop it," cried Danton. "Do you +think that I take pleasure in the arrest of innocent young women? Do you +think that it is with delight that I see our prisons crowded with +thousands whose only crime is to have been born among the aristocrats?" +He rose and paced the floor savagely. "You talk of my power with the +people. You say they listen to my voice. To keep that power I must +remain in advance. If once I lag behind it is gone forever. We have +given life to this terrible creature the Revolution, and we must march +before it. If we falter it will crush us too."</p> + +<p>"Let it crush us then," cried Tournay, springing to his feet. "I will no +longer be driven by it."</p> + +<p>Danton looked at him a moment with kindly eyes, then shook his head and +said mournfully: "And France, what would she do without me? All I have +done has been done for her sake. And I do not regret what has been +done," he continued, resuming his former manner. "No, when I see what we +have done I regret nothing. That the innocent have perished, I know, and +I deplore it. That the innocent must still perish is inevitable. But +what is the blood of a few thousand to wash out the cruelty of ages? +What are the cries of a few compared with the groans of millions +throughout the centuries! Even now the allied armies of all Europe are +thundering at the doors of France. We cannot pause now. They have dared +us to the combat, and in return, as gage of battle, we have hurled them +down the bleeding head of a king. We must go on."</p> + +<p>Then sinking into his seat, he said quietly, "No, Robert, my friend, let +Robespierre and his followers have their way in these small matters for +a little while longer. What are the lives of a few peachy-cheeked girls +weighed against the destiny of a nation?" And he took up his pen.</p> + +<p>Tournay sat in silent thought for a few minutes. He saw that it would be +useless to say more. After Danton's pen had labored heavily over a few +pages, he exclaimed, "Jacques!"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Will you procure me a passport from the Committee of Public Safety +which will take me to the German frontier?"</p> + +<p>"Are you going to run away?" asked Danton, still busy over his work.</p> + +<p>"Whatever happens, I shall never leave France," replied Tournay quietly.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Danton, ringing a bell. "I never shall suspect your +patriotism, but there are those who might if you talked to them as you +have to me."</p> + +<p>As his secretary appeared in answer to the summons, he took up a sheet +of paper to write the order.</p> + +<p>"Make it for Colonel Robert Tournay and wife," said Tournay carelessly, +leaning over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>Danton looked up at him suddenly. "I did not know you were married," he +said.</p> + +<p>Tournay made no reply.</p> + +<p>Danton wrote a few lines rapidly. "Take this to the secretary of the +Committee of Public Safety," he said to his clerk, "and return with an +answer in half an hour."</p> + +<p>In less than that time the man returned with the information that the +secretary was away and would not return until two o'clock that +afternoon.</p> + +<p>"Will that do?" asked Danton, turning to Tournay.</p> + +<p>"And it is now ten," said Tournay rather impatiently. "It will have to +do, I am afraid."</p> + +<p>"I will send it to your lodgings the moment it comes in," said Danton, +resuming his work.</p> + +<p>"Very well, do so, and many thanks. If I am not there have it left with +the friend who shares my lodgings." Tournay quitted the office and +hastened home, stopping on the way at a stable where his horse was +quartered, to give instructions that the animal be saddled and brought +to his door without delay.</p> + +<p>Reaching his house, he ran up the four flights of stairs that led to the +little suite of rooms which he was sharing with his friend Gaillard.</p> + +<p>Gaillard was a versatile fellow; he had been a poet, an actor, and a +journalist. Sometimes the one and sometimes the other, as inclination +prompted or destiny decreed.</p> + +<p>Shortly after Tournay's first arrival at Paris, he had met Gaillard, who +was then a journalist, at a public meeting. The chance acquaintance led +to friendship. He had found the young writer in some financial straits +and had rendered him such assistance as his own slender purse could +afford.</p> + +<p>Gaillard, who never forgot the favor, was devoted to his friend. He +watched his career as a soldier with interest and pride, and now that +Tournay had come to Paris for a few days, Gaillard had insisted that his +small chambers should have the honor of sheltering the gallant officer +of the Republic.</p> + +<p>Gaillard was at present amusing crowds nightly at the Theatre of the +Republic, where he was playing a series of comedy rôles.</p> + +<p>It was with satisfaction that Tournay, as he ascended the stairs, heard +Gaillard's voice in the room, repeating the lines of his part for that +evening's performance.</p> + +<p>"Well, my brave colonel, how goes the convention to-day?" said Gaillard, +as Tournay entered the room. "Has the Tribunal done me the honor to +request that I be shaved by the guillotine?"</p> + +<p>"I have not been to the convention to-day. Other business has +prevented," replied Tournay, going into his bedroom and taking a pair of +pistols from his wardrobe.</p> + +<p>"No? then I must wait until I get to the club before I learn the exact +number of the nobility who are to patronize the national razor to-day."</p> + +<p>"Are you in the piece for to-night, Gaillard?" asked Tournay, hardly +hearing what his friend was saying.</p> + +<p>"I am."</p> + +<p>"That's unfortunate, for I wanted to ask a great service of you," said +Tournay, as he proceeded to clean and load the weapon.</p> + +<p>"Tell me what it is; I may be able to help you."</p> + +<p>"I am going at once to La Thierry."</p> + +<p>"La Thierry?" inquired Gaillard.</p> + +<p>"Yes. It is my birthplace. I am going there on an important errand. I +must start instantly. I cannot even wait for a paper which is to be sent +to me here by Danton. I am perfectly willing to let you know that it is +a passport to the frontier, for myself and one other. The paper will not +arrive until two o'clock, several hours after I am on the way. I must +have a swift messenger follow with it and join me at the inn in the +village of La Thierry."</p> + +<p>"I will see that this is done," replied Gaillard. "Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"That is all," said Tournay, hurrying from the room. On the threshold he +turned. "Are you positive that you will be able to find a trustworthy +messenger? Failure would be fatal."</p> + +<p>"I swear to you to have it there," cried Gaillard, lifting up his arm +and striking a dramatic attitude.</p> + +<p>Tournay knew that, despite his apparent frivolity, Gaillard possessed +not only a loyal heart, but a clear head, and he felt that he could +trust him thoroughly. Much relieved in mind, he descended the stairway +and sprang upon his horse at the door. Since leaving Danton he had been +thinking out a plan which he hoped would successfully save Mademoiselle +Edmé de Rochefort, but to carry it into effect he must reach La Thierry +before Gardin. So putting spurs to his horse, he dashed through the +streets at a pace which threatened the lives of a number of the good +citizens. In a short time he was out of the gates, galloping along the +road toward La Thierry at a tremendous pace. Then suddenly recollecting +that the road to be traveled was a long one, he drew a tighter rein on +his horse and slackened his speed.</p> + +<p>"Thou must restrain thy ardor," he said, leaning forward and stroking +the sleek neck of the animal affectionately; "thou hast a long journey +before thee and must not break down under it."</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock that night he drew up before the inn at Vallières, just +half the distance to La Thierry. He reluctantly saw that his horse had +entirely given out. As for himself, he would have gone on if he could +have obtained a fresh beast. He looked critically at those in the stable +of the inn, and realized that with four hours' rest his own horse would +bring him to his journey's end more readily than any of the sorry +animals the landlord had to offer. Having come to this decision he threw +himself fully dressed on a bed for a short sleep. He slept until two in +the morning. Then, after a hasty cup of coffee, he was again in the +saddle and continuing his journey.</p> + +<p>He rode steadily on with the advancing day, passing some travelers, none +of whom he recognized. At noon he entered the village of Amand. Thence +there were two roads to La Thierry. One, the more direct, led to the +right over the hill; the other, to the left and along the river, was the +longer but the better road. If his horse had been fresh, Tournay would +have taken the short-cut, going over hill and dale at a gallop, but his +tired beast decided him to choose the river road.</p> + +<p>Toward the end of the afternoon he saw in the distance the spire of the +church of La Thierry. He felt positive by this time that Gardin must +have taken the upper road or he should have overtaken him before this, +so rapidly had he traveled.</p> + +<p>Every step of the way was familiar to him. Every bend in the river, +every stone by the wayside was associated with his boyhood. Just before +he came to the village of La Thierry, he left the main road and turning +to the right followed a lane that made a short cut to the château de +Rochefort. It was about two miles long and in summer was an archway of +shaded trees and full of refreshment. Now the branches were bare, and +the flying feet of his steed sank to the fetlocks in the carpet of damp, +dead leaves.</p> + +<p>As he approached the château on the right he heard a sound that caused +him to draw rein in consternation. Springing from his horse he fastened +him to a sapling by the wayside, seized his pistols from his holsters, +and hurried forward on foot. At every step he took the sounds grew +louder. There was no mistaking their meaning.</p> + +<p>The lane terminated about a hundred yards from the house. Tournay threw +himself flat upon the earth and working his way to a place where he was +sheltered by the overhanging branches of some hemlock trees, looked +cautiously out toward the château.</p> + +<p>An attack was being made on the château at the front. Half a score of +men armed with clubs and various other weapons were endeavoring to break +down the iron-studded oaken door. A gigantic figure with shirt open to +the waist, whom Tournay recognized as the blacksmith of La Thierry, was +dealing blow after blow in rapid succession with a huge sledge-hammer. +The door, which had been built to resist a siege during the religious +wars of the sixteenth century, groaned and trembled under the blows of +the mighty Vulcan, but still held fast to the hinges. A man, standing a +little apart from the others and directing their movements, Tournay knew +to be Gardin. Seeing that they were making little headway, the latter +ordered his men to desist, evidently to form a more definite plan of +attack. In the mean time Tournay was working along the line of the +hemlocks towards the rear of the house. Suddenly three or four men +detached themselves from the attacking party and approached him. Fearing +that he had been discovered, he lay perfectly quiet. He soon saw that +they were making for the trunk of a sturdy ash-tree which had been +recently felled by a stroke of lightning. This they soon stripped of its +branches, and hewing off about thirty feet of the trunk they bore it +back on their shoulders with shouts of triumph. Here was a battering-ram +which would clear a way for them.</p> + +<p>Seeing them again occupied with the assault, Tournay continued to crawl +cautiously along the edge of the grove until he was in a line with the +rear buildings. Here were the servants' rooms, the business offices of +the estate, and at one corner the office and the rooms occupied by +Matthieu Tournay, the steward. This, the oldest part of the building, +was covered thick with old ivy, by whose gnarled and twisted roots he +had climbed often, when a boy, to the little chamber in the roof which +had been his own. From this he knew well how to reach the apartments in +the main building. The repeated blows of the ash-tree against the doors +warned him that they could not resist the attack much longer. He climbed +quickly up until he reached the well-known little window under the +eaves. Dashing it open with his fist he swung himself into the +attic-room which he had known so well in his boyhood.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>A BROKEN DOOR</h3> + + +<p>"Open, in the name of the Republic."</p> + +<p>No answer.</p> + +<p>Crash! Crash! Blow followed blow upon the door of the old château.</p> + +<p>"Again, citizens, once again! Brasseur! bring fagots, we'll fire the old +trap. Forgons, take this sledge-hammer in your big hands. At it, +man!—we'll soon have the lair of the aristocrats down about their ears. +Defour, Haillons, and you others, take up that ash-tree and let it +strike in the same place as before."</p> + +<p>Amid a pandemonium of shouts and curses the blows continued to rain upon +the iron-studded outer door of the château de Rochefort, and the tree, +used as a battering-ram, poised upon the shoulders of a dozen men, was +dashed forward with a force that made the hinge-bolts start from their +sockets and the oaken panels fill the air with splinters.</p> + +<p>The besieged had taken refuge in one of the large salons on the second +floor. There were only four of them: an old man, a priest, and two +women.</p> + +<p>"They have nearly forced the outer door," cried old Matthieu Tournay, +wiping the perspiration from his brow with trembling hand.</p> + +<p>"But the inner one," exclaimed the priest, laying his hand on Matthieu's +arm. "How long will that keep them off?"</p> + +<p>"They'll break through that easily. Nothing can save us now; we are all +lost," replied the old man.</p> + +<p>"May the Blessed Virgin preserve us from the monsters," murmured the +priest, looking towards the woman.</p> + +<p>Edmé de Rochefort stood near the window. The terrifying sounds which +echoed through the lower part of the building would have unnerved her, +had not anger supplied a sustaining force, and brought a deep flush to +supplant the pallor on her cheeks. The spirit of her race was roused +within her. Had she been a man she would have charged alone, sword in +hand, against the mob; but being only a woman she stood waiting the +issue. Trembling slightly, she stood with her small hands clenched and +white teeth firmly set. At her elbow was Agatha, her maid. She was paler +than her mistress, but it was not for herself she feared. Her devotion +made her fear more for Edmé's safety than for her own.</p> + +<p>As the shouts redoubled Edmé saw the two old men turn, pallid and +trembling, towards her.</p> + +<p>"They seek me only," she said resolutely. "Why should I endanger your +lives by remaining here? I will go to meet them!"</p> + +<p>"You shall not go!" cried Agatha, placing herself in front of her +mistress.</p> + +<p>"It can only be a question of a few minutes at the longest. Let me go, +Agatha."</p> + +<p>"Listen," cried the priest, "they are in the house! They are coming up +the stairway now!"</p> + +<p>"No," cried old Matthieu, "I can still hear them down there in the +courtyard."</p> + +<p>Nevertheless a quick footstep was heard approaching from the corridor. +The portières at the further end of the room were thrown apart, and a +man, wearing the uniform of the Republican army, entered the salon.</p> + +<p>"Robert!" came in a glad cry from old Tournay's lips.</p> + +<p>Tournay did not wait to exchange words with his father, but approached +Edmé.</p> + +<p>"I have ridden from Paris to prevent your arrest, mademoiselle; thank +God I have arrived in time. Only do as I direct and I shall be able to +save you."</p> + +<p>"How are we to know that we can trust you?" she said, looking at him +fixedly.</p> + +<p>He caught his breath as if unprepared for such a question. "You <i>must</i> +trust me, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>Edmé laughed scornfully.</p> + +<p>The color which rose to his cheek showed that her laugh cut even deeper +than her words.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," he began, "if you"—</p> + +<p>She interrupted him passionately. "Are not those men below who seek to +destroy my château your friends? They have been clamoring for admittance +in the name of the Republic." And she looked significantly at the +tricolored cockade in his hat.</p> + +<p>"And because I am a Republican and wear the uniform of the nation do +you really think that I could have anything in common with those +ruffians? You do me great injustice; I am here with one object, to +protect this household."</p> + +<p>Edmé continued to look steadily at him.</p> + +<p>"You say nothing, mademoiselle. You condemn me by your silence. I will +prove to you how deeply you wrong me even if it take my life. I would +give that gladly only to prove it to you. But there is more than my life +at stake. There is your safety—and the safety of these, your servants. +My father—mademoiselle!"</p> + +<p>Edmé's look softened a little as she answered:—</p> + +<p>"Although since you left our house we have only thought of you as an +enemy, still I believe your father's son would be incapable of +treachery. As for saving us, listen to the mob below. One man is +helpless against so many."</p> + +<p>"I can save you—but it depends upon yourself. No matter what I may say +or do, you must trust me implicitly."</p> + +<p>"Oh! do as my son says, mademoiselle!" interposed old Matthieu, joining +his hands beseechingly. "For your sake, for all our sakes, listen to and +be guided by him."</p> + +<p>"If you can really protect us in this dreadful hour I should be guilty +if I risked the lives of those who have faithfully remained at my side, +by refusing your aid. I will follow your father's and your counsel," +said Edmé quietly.</p> + +<p>"Is the door of the salon barred?" asked Tournay of his father.</p> + +<p>"With such slight fastenings as we have," answered the old man.</p> + +<p>"See that it is fast," said Tournay. "It will give us a few minutes. +Then listen to me."</p> + +<p>There was a crash—louder than any that had yet been heard, and the mob +poured into the lower part of the château.</p> + +<p>Here they paused for a moment to recover breath and wipe the +perspiration from their brows. Then some of the party began again their +work of destruction among the pieces of furniture, while others brought +up wine from the cellar to refresh themselves and their thirsty +companions.</p> + +<p>Gardin, anxious only to make the arrest, stormed at this slight delay.</p> + +<p>"Cannot you leave your wine until your work is done, citizens?" he +called out impatiently. "The aristocrat is above stairs—follow me!"</p> + +<p>Through the large hall of the château and up the broad staircase, on the +heels of their leader, swarmed the mob, yelling and cursing.</p> + +<p>Gardin and Forgons, like bloodhounds who scent their prey, made direct +for the door of the great salon, where the little party awaited them. +Gardin shook the door violently, then threw himself against it to force +an entrance.</p> + +<p>"Here, citizen, we have already proven that two pair of shoulders are +better than one at that game," laughed Forgons, adding his strength to +that of Gardin. Under their combined weight the door yielded with a +suddenness that precipitated both men into the room,—Gardin on his +hands and face while Forgons fell over him,—and the two rolled +together in the middle of the floor. Amid a shout of rough laughter from +the men in the rear the two leaders regained their feet.</p> + +<p>The scowl on Gardin's face vanished in a look of astonishment when he +found himself face to face with a man in the uniform of a colonel of the +French army.</p> + +<p>Matthieu and the old priest had retreated to the corner of the room at +their entrance. Beside the chimney-piece stood Edmé de Rochefort. The +sight of the frenzied mob, the knowledge that it was her arrest alone +they sought; the shrinking dread which the thought of their rude touch +inspired, made her heart sink with sickening terror. Yet beyond +trembling slightly, she gave no sign of fear.</p> + +<p>Gardin had expected to find a frightened girl, surrounded possibly by a +few servants who remained faithful. The sight of Tournay's tall figure, +his resolute face, above all his uniform, standing between him and the +object of his search, made him hesitate.</p> + +<p>"There she is! That's the aristocrat!" exclaimed Forgons, as Gardin +hesitated. "Let me get my hands upon her." He rushed forward, but before +he could touch Edmé, Tournay pushed him backward with a force that sent +him reeling into the group of men behind.</p> + +<p>"A thousand devils," cried Forgons, when he regained his equilibrium, +"what is the meaning of this, citizen colonel? Are you defending the +little aristocrat?"</p> + +<p>"Keep back, will you, Forgons," interposed Gardin, fearing that his +dignity as leader would be usurped. "Leave me to manage this affair. I +am here," he said, addressing Colonel Tournay, "to apprehend the person +of an aristocrat, and shall brook no interference on the part of any +one."</p> + +<p>"Let me look at your warrant," demanded Tournay, in a tone of authority.</p> + +<p>"I am not obliged to show that to you," replied Gardin doggedly.</p> + +<p>"Let me see it, I say!" was the determined rejoinder.</p> + +<p>Gardin slowly drew a document from the breast of his coat and handed it +over with a sullen "Well, there's no harm in your seeing it."</p> + +<p>Tournay read it carefully. Then folding it up with great deliberation he +returned it.</p> + +<p>"It seems quite regular."</p> + +<p>"Regular," repeated Gardin, with a laugh,—"well, I like that. Of course +it's quite regular,—signed and stamped by the Committee of Public +Safety." Then with a show of mock politeness: "Now if the citizen colonel +will condescend to step aside I will conduct this young citizeness from +the room."</p> + +<p>"That order of arrest calls for a certain citizeness de Rochefort, does +it not?" asked Tournay, without moving.</p> + +<p>"Certainly it does. The Citizeness Edmé de Rochefort who stands there, +right behind you."</p> + +<p>"You will not find her here," replied Tournay.</p> + +<p>"None of your jests with me, citizen colonel; why, as I said before, +she's standing behind you. I should know her for an aristocrat by the +proud look on her face if I had not seen her a hundred times here in La +Thierry."</p> + +<p>"This is not Citizeness de Rochefort."</p> + +<p>"That's a lie," replied Gardin bluntly, "and in any case she is the +woman I am going to arrest."</p> + +<p>"That woman is Citizeness Tournay, my wife. You cannot arrest her on +that warrant, Citizen Gardin."</p> + +<p>As the colonel spoke these words, which he did slowly and deliberately, +Mademoiselle de Rochefort drew a quick, short breath.</p> + +<p>"It is a trick," cried Gardin savagely; "you are trying to save her by a +subterfuge."</p> + +<p>Tournay repeated coolly, "She is my wife, and I am Robert Tournay, +colonel in the Army of the Moselle. Again I advise you not to try to +arrest her without a warrant."</p> + +<p>"And I say again it is a lying trick," cried Gardin, beside himself with +rage. "You cannot save your aristocratic sweetheart this way, citizen +colonel. The Republic demands her arrest and I mean to take her."</p> + +<p>"Citizen Ambrose," said Tournay, turning to the priest, "is not this +woman my wife?"</p> + +<p>"Most certainly," said the old priest, coming forward with dignity; +"this lady is Madame Robert Tournay."</p> + +<p>"Madame!" cried Gardin, repeating the word in a rage. "There are no +ladies in France now, and all priests are liars. This is a trick, and +you, citizen colonel, shall answer for it. Out of my way!" He grasped +Tournay by the lapel of his coat, and twisting his fingers into the +cloth endeavored to force the colonel to one side. There was a sharp +struggle, then Tournay threw him off with such violence as to send him +staggering across the room. His head struck the sharp edge of a mahogany +cabinet as he reeled backward, and he rolled senseless to the floor.</p> + +<p>With a shout of rage at the assault upon their leader the mob rushed +forward to close about Tournay. But he was too quick for them; the +muzzles of a pair of pistols met them as they advanced, one covering +Forgons, who was in front, the other leveled at the men behind him.</p> + +<p>The mob cowered and fell back a little. Clubs, hammers, and knives were +their only weapons, which they still brandished threateningly. If +Tournay had shown the least sign of flinching he would have fallen the +next moment, beaten and crushed to death. He advanced a step forward. +Before the threatening muzzles of the steadily-aimed pistols, the men +recoiled still further, and were quiet for a moment. Tournay seized the +opportunity to speak.</p> + +<p>"This fellow," he cried in a loud voice, pointing to Gardin, "has dared +to lay hands upon an officer of the Republican army. In doing so he has +insulted the nation and deserves death. Is there any man here who would +repeat this insult?"</p> + +<p>The mob, taken by surprise, looked at their fallen leader and then at +the two shining pistol-barrels that confronted them, and remained +irresolute. Tournay thought he heard Edmé catch her breath quickly when +the answer from the mob drowned everything.</p> + +<p>"No, no! There are none here who would insult the nation!"</p> + +<p>"Citizens, I am of the people, like yourselves. I am also a soldier of +France. I have fought its battles, I wear its colors. See!" he went on, +taking off his hat and pointing to the tricolor cockade—"here is the +tricolor. If you do not respect that, you insult the Republic. Is there +any one here who would dare to insult the Republic?"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" came in quick response. "Long live the Republic!"</p> + +<p>"But all who wear the tricolor are not our friends," muttered Forgons +uneasily.</p> + +<p>"Citizens," continued Tournay, affecting not to hear, "Gardin has no +warrant to arrest this woman, who is not an aristocrat, since she has +become my wife, the Citizeness Tournay. As for Gardin, he has insulted +the Republic. He has forfeited the right to lead you. In the name of the +Republic I appoint you, Forgons, the secretary of this section. To-night +I return to Paris and will see that the confirmation of your appointment +is sent you at once. Now, citizens, take up this fellow," he said, +pointing to Gardin. "He shows signs of returning consciousness. A little +cold water pumped over his head will bring him back to life. Come, +follow me, I will be your leader for the present."</p> + +<p>The mob took up the body and bore it off, cheering loudly for the +Republic. Forgons went with them slowly, shaking his head, with a +puzzled expression on his face.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>A MAN AND A MARQUIS</h3> + + +<p>Colonel Tournay accompanied the crowd of zealous Republicans who had +been the followers of Gardin, until he saw them dispersed to their +various homes or noisily installed in the wine-room of the village inn. +Then he rapidly retraced his steps to the château.</p> + +<p>He found Mademoiselle Rochefort seated in the salon, contemplating half +mournfully, half disdainfully, the evidences of the mob's incursion, +which surrounded her in the shape of costly pieces of furniture from the +drawing-room, now marred and broken; and bottles from the wine cellars, +shattered and strewn upon the floor.</p> + +<p>She did not make any movement as Tournay entered the room, but seemed +occupied with her own thoughts; and for a few moments he stood in +silence, hesitating to speak, as if the communication he had to make +required more tact and diplomacy than for the moment he felt himself +master of.</p> + +<p>Finally, approaching her, he said: "Mademoiselle, the immediate danger +is past. You have nothing to fear for the present. As soon as you have +recovered sufficiently I would like to speak with you."</p> + +<p>She let her hand drop from her forehead and looked up at him. Her face +was very pale, but she was quite composed and the voice was firm with +which she answered:—</p> + +<p>"I am able to hear you now, Robert Tournay."</p> + +<p>He drew a sigh of relief. "She has the de Rochefort spirit," he thought.</p> + +<p>"All is quiet now," he said. "But when Gardin fully recovers +consciousness I fear he will excite his followers to further violence. +It will be unsafe for you to remain here." As she did not answer, he +continued,—"I have made arrangements, mademoiselle, to conduct you to +the German frontier. Can you prepare to accompany me at once?"</p> + +<p>"I am prepared to leave here at once—but—I cannot go with you. It is +better that I go alone," Mademoiselle de Rochefort replied.</p> + +<p>"Alone! It would be folly in you to attempt it. Do you suppose that I +could stand quietly by and see you incur such a danger?"</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle de Rochefort's eyes, at all other times so frank and +fearless, did not meet his earnest gaze; she answered him hastily, as +one who would have an unpleasant interview come to a speedy end:—</p> + +<p>"You have saved me from a great danger. Believe me, I am not ungrateful. +You have already done too much. I cannot accept anything more from you. +Pray leave me now to go my own way."</p> + +<p>"That is impossible, mademoiselle; I shall only leave you when you are +across the frontier. Traveling as my wife, under the passports that I +have secured, the journey can be made in comparative safety, provided +always that we start in time."</p> + +<p>At the words "my wife" Mademoiselle de Rochefort started, but she only +repeated:—</p> + +<p>"I cannot go with you."</p> + +<p>"But," ejaculated Tournay, "I don't understand; it was agreed"—</p> + +<p>She looked up at him. "I agreed to permit you to tell those wretches +that I was your wife, Father Ambrose, your father, and you, all +protesting that it was the only way to prevent them from destroying the +château and those within it. But you also said that the marriage would +not be considered valid, and as soon as the danger was over you would go +away."</p> + +<p>"I said," answered Tournay quietly, "that I should in no way consider +the marriage valid; that when I had once taken you to a place of safety +I should leave you. But until then I shall remain by your side."</p> + +<p>"Some one said you would go away at once, either your father or the +priest, and so I yielded. Now you tell me I must go away with you, +and"—she hesitated at the words, "be known as your wife."</p> + +<p>"But no one will know who you are," said Tournay earnestly. "The +carriage will be a closed one—you shall have Agatha with you. No one +shall be allowed to intrude upon you. Three or four days will bring us +to the frontier. As soon as you are there, and in the care of some of +your friends who have already emigrated, I will leave you. Cannot you +trust me three days?" he asked sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"I cannot go with you," she repeated. "You are of the Republic—I have +already accepted too much from your hands. Can I forget that those hands +which you now stretch out to aid me have helped to tear down a throne? +that like all the Republicans, you share the guilt of a king's murder?"</p> + +<p>"I am only guilty of loving France more than the king. I did help to +destroy a monarchy, but it was to build up a Republic."</p> + +<p>"Then, instead of aiding, you should denounce me. I am of the Monarchy +and I hate your Republic," she said defiantly. "I will accept protection +from one of my own order or trust to God and my own efforts to preserve +me."</p> + +<p>"Where are those of your own order?" demanded Tournay bitterly. "They +are scattered like leaves. Some have taken refuge in England or in +Prussia. Some are hiding here in France. Your own class fail you in the +time of need."</p> + +<p>"They do not fail," cried Edmé. "If none are here it is because they are +risking their lives elsewhere for our unhappy and hopeless cause; or +languishing in your Republican prisons where so many of the chivalry of +France lie awaiting death."</p> + +<p>As if the thought goaded her to desperation she added fiercely, "Where I +will join them rather than purchase my freedom at the price you +propose."</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," said Tournay calmly but with great firmness, "listen to +reason. There is no time for lengthy explanation. I am actuated only by +a desire for your safety. You must accompany me hence. I shall take you +away with me."</p> + +<p>Edmé arose and confronted him with a look of scorn. "I stood here a +short time ago," she said, "and before all that rabble heard myself +proclaimed your wife; I, Edmé de Rochefort, called a wife of a +Republican—one of their number. Oh, the shame of it! What would my +father have said if he had heard that I owed my life to a man steeped in +the blood of the Revolution? That his daughter consented to be called +the wife of her steward's son! a man of ignoble birth, a servant"—</p> + +<p>"Stop!" cried Tournay, the blood mounting to his forehead. "Stop! It is +true that those of my blood have served your family for generations. It +was one of my blood, I have heard it told, who in days gone by gave up +his life for one of your ancestors upon the field of battle. Was that +ignoble? My father served yours faithfully during a long life; was that +ignoble? So have I, in my turn, served you. I was born to the position, +but I served you proudly, not ignobly. In speaking thus, you wrong +yourself more than you do me, mademoiselle."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a> +<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>"STOP!" CRIED TOURNAY</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The suddenness of his outburst silenced her. He saw that her bosom +heaved convulsively. He could not guess the conflicting emotions in her +breast; her pride struggling with her gratitude; her horror and +detestation of the Republic contending with her admiration for his brave +bearing in the face of danger; but as he looked at her, slight and +girlish, standing there before him with flushed cheeks, as he saw the +fire flash in her eyes although her hands trembled, he realized keenly +how young, how defenseless she was, and his sudden burst of anger +subsided. Her very pride moved him to pity by its impotence, and his +heart yearned to be permitted to protect her from all the dangers which +threatened her.</p> + +<p>In a voice that trembled with emotion he went on:—</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle, I have known you since you were a child, and I have +served you faithfully. Your wishes, your caprices have been my law. It +was no galling servitude to me, mademoiselle, for mine was a service of +love." He uttered the last words almost in a whisper, then stopped +suddenly, as if the avowal had slipped from his lips unwittingly.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle de Rochefort started; while he spoke she had turned away; +so he could not see her face, but he could imagine the look of disdain +and scorn with which she had listened.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I dared to love you," he continued. "I never meant to tell you, +but now that the avowal has slipped from my lips I would have you know +that I always loved you. That is why I am here now, pleading with you, +not for your love, for that I know never can be mine, but for your +safety, your life." She remained silent, and he continued, speaking +rapidly,—"You have said that a king's blood is upon my hands. His death +was necessary and I do not regret it." Edmé shuddered and letting +herself sink back into a chair sat there with her head resting on her +hand, while she still kept her face turned from him. "I do not regret +it, because it has given us the Republic. I glory in the Republic which +has made me your equal." Bending over her, he said in a low voice, "I +love you and am worthy of your love. Mademoiselle, listen to me. Come +with me while there is yet time. Give me but the right to be your +protector. I will protect you as the man guards the object of his +purest, his deepest affection." In his fervor he bent over her until his +lips almost touched her hair. "I will win a name that even you will be +proud to own. Edmé, come with me. It is the love of years that speaks to +you thus—Come!" and he took her hand in his. As his fingers closed upon +hers she sprang to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Do not touch me," she cried, with a tone almost of terror. "I will hear +no more. I cannot bear it. I cannot bear to see you. Go! for the love of +heaven, leave me."</p> + +<p>For a moment Tournay stood still. Her words wounded him to the quick, +yet as they stabbed deepest, he loved her the more. Without speaking +again he turned and left her. As he descended the stairs and passed out +through the broken doorway he vowed within himself that despite her +pride, despite what she might say or do, he would yet find means to +save her.</p> + +<p>An hour passed, and Edmé remained in the salon where Tournay had left +her. The spirit she had shown a short time before seemed much subdued. +Darkness had settled down over the room, and she felt herself alone and +deserted. A current of air, coming through the broken doorway, swept up +the stairs into the apartment, chilling her with its cold breath. She +wondered what had become of Father Ambrose and old Matthieu, and whether +Agatha had deserted her. Yet she did not seek for them. Indeed, she did +not know where to find them, for the house had all the silence of +emptiness.</p> + +<p>She tried to plan what she should do in case she had been entirely +abandoned, but her brain, usually so active, seemed benumbed. She could +not think. Conscious that she must shake off this feeling of +helplessness, she was about to rise and go in search of a light, when +she heard a footstep outside in the corridor. "Agatha has come back," +she thought, and stepped forward to meet her maid. The sound of +footsteps approached until they reached the door of the salon; there +they seemed to hesitate.</p> + +<p>Edmé was on the point of calling Agatha by name, when the door was +pushed open and a man entered and passed stealthily across the floor of +the salon into the ante-chamber without noticing her presence. Edmé +thrust her hand over her mouth to stifle the cry that was upon her +lips.</p> + +<p>The man was evidently familiar with the surroundings, for almost +immediately the light of a candle shone out from the ante-room, throwing +a faint glow upon the polished floor of the salon. Edmé had seen him +very imperfectly in the darkness. She was uncertain whether he was one +of the mob, returned alone for plunder, or one of the lackeys of her +household who had got the better of his terror and returned to the +château.</p> + +<p>Unable to bear the suspense, she advanced toward the door of the +ante-room. Her heart beat rapidly as she placed her hand upon the door, +which had been left ajar. She hesitated one moment, then summoning up +the courage that had sustained her during the whole of that terrible +afternoon, she boldly pushed the door open and looked into the room. To +her amazement she saw, bending over a cabinet, her cousin, the Marquis +de Lacheville. The marquis held a candle in one hand while he searched +hurriedly for something in the drawer of the cabinet. In his haste and +anxiety he threw out the contents of each drawer as he opened it till +the floor was littered with papers. So intent was he upon his search +that he did not hear Edmé's approach.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de Lacheville!" she said in a low tone. Upon hearing his name, +the marquis uttered a cry like that of a hunted animal, and turning, +confronted her.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle de Rochefort, you here! How you startled me!" he +exclaimed, endeavoring to control himself; but his knees shook, and his +lips twitched nervously.</p> + +<p>"Your coming gave me a start also, monsieur. You glided across the floor +of the salon so like a phantom, I did not know who it was, nor what to +think."</p> + +<p>"I have just arrived from Paris, where I have been in hiding for +months," he stammered. "Upon seeing the doors all battered down and the +frightful disorder in the lower halls, I thought the château must be +deserted and that you had sought some place of refuge. Knowing that in +times past the baron, your father, was in the habit of keeping money in +this old secretary, I have been ransacking it from top to bottom. I have +need of a considerable sum; but I find nothing here—not a sou."</p> + +<p>Edmé noticed that his dress was in great disorder and that his face was +pale and haggard. Every few moments he put up his hand in an attempt to +stop the nervous twitching of the mouth which he seemed unable to +control.</p> + +<p>"My nerves have been much shaken lately," he said, as she looked at him +with wonder. And then he laughed discordantly. The sound of the +mirthless laughter, accompanied by no change in the expression of his +face, was painful to Edmé's ears.</p> + +<p>"I have been pursued," he said, "hunted in Paris like a dog, but I have +given them the slip; they shall not overtake me now." The wild look in +his eyes became more intense. "I am going to leave France; I have a +friend whom I can trust waiting for me near at hand. Together in +disguise we are going to the frontier—either to Belgium or Germany. We +shall be safe there. But I must have some more money, money for our +journey." His fear had so bereft him of his reason that he apparently +forgot the presence of his cousin, the mistress of the house, and turned +once more to the old writing-desk to recommence his search with feverish +haste.</p> + +<p>"To Germany!" cried Edmé joyfully. "You are going to Germany? then you +can take me with you. We can leave this unhappy blood-stained country +for a land of law and order."</p> + +<p>The marquis turned upon her sharply.</p> + +<p>"Why did not your father take you with him to England?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"Why? You have no need to ask the question. He went upon some secret +business for King Louis. He went away unexpectedly. When he left he +imagined that I, a woman, living in quiet seclusion, would be perfectly +safe, notwithstanding the disordered state of the country even at that +time."</p> + +<p>"Can you not find a place of refuge with some friend here in France?" +asked de Lacheville. "The journey I am about to undertake will be full +of danger and fatigue."</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid of danger," replied Edmé, "and as for fatigue, I am +strong and able to support it."</p> + +<p>"But," persisted de Lacheville, "if you could find some suitable refuge +here it would be so much better."</p> + +<p>"I cannot," retorted Edmé, in a decided tone of voice, "and I prefer to +accompany you to Germany, although it seems to me that you offer your +escort somewhat reluctantly."</p> + +<p>"The fact is, Cousin Edmé," replied the marquis, "I cannot take you with +me. Alone, my escape will be difficult; with you it will be impossible."</p> + +<p>Edmé looked at him for a moment with open-eyed wonder, then she repeated +the word. "Impossible! Do you mean to tell me that you, a kinsman, are +going to leave me here to meet whatever fate may befall me, while you +save yourself by flight?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, you do not understand me," the marquis replied, his pale face +flushing. "It is for your own sake that I cannot take you. It will mean +almost certain capture. If, as I said before, you could remain in some +place of safety in France for a little while"—</p> + +<p>"I am ready to run whatever risk you do," replied the girl coolly. "When +do you start?"</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle, this is madness," exclaimed de Lacheville, pacing the +floor. "Can you not listen to reason?"</p> + +<p>The sound of shouting in the distance caused him to stop suddenly and +run to the window. The candle had burned down to the socket and went out +with a few last feeble flickers. The cries of Gardin's ruffians were +borne to him on the wind.</p> + +<p>The slight composure which he had managed to regain during his talk with +Edmé left him again, and he turned toward her, the trembling, shaking +coward that he was when she had first discovered him.</p> + +<p>"Do you hear that?" he whispered, his hand shaking as he put it to his +lips.</p> + +<p>"I have heard it in this very room to-day," replied Edmé, looking at him +with disdain.</p> + +<p>"They are coming here again," he whispered hoarsely. "But they shall not +find me," he exclaimed fiercely, clenching his fist and shaking it in a +weak menace toward the spot whence the sound came. "I have a swift horse +in the courtyard beneath. In an hour I shall be safe from them," and he +prepared to leave the room.</p> + +<p>The ordeal of the afternoon had told on Edmé's nerves and the thought of +being left alone again made her desperate.</p> + +<p>"You shall not leave me here alone," she cried, seizing his arm. "You +were born a man—behave like one. Devise some means to take me from this +place at once. Do not leave me alone to face those wretches again, or I +shall believe you are a coward."</p> + +<p>De Lacheville roughly released himself from her grasp.</p> + +<p>"I care not what you think of me," he snarled. "It is each for himself. +I cannot imperil my safety for a woman. I must escape." And he rushed +from the room.</p> + +<p>She heard the crunching of his horses' feet upon the gravel, and going +to the window saw him ride rapidly away. The remembrance of the young +Republican leader offering to risk his life for her, and the cowering +figure of her cousin, indifferent to all but his own safety, flashed +before her in quick contrast. She turned away from the window to find +herself in the arms of Agatha, who had at that moment returned.</p> + +<p>"Agatha," she exclaimed, "do your hear those hoof-beats? Monsieur de +Lacheville is running away. He, a nobleman, is a coward and flies from +danger, while another man, a Republican—oh, Agatha, Agatha, what are we +to do? whom are we to believe; in whom should we trust?"</p> + +<p>"Calm yourself, mademoiselle," replied Agatha, "and think only of what I +have to tell you. Listen to me closely. We must leave at once. I have a +plan of flight. I have been making a few hurried preparations."</p> + +<p>"True, Agatha, in my bewilderment and anger, I forgot for the moment the +danger we incur by remaining here. Where are Father Ambrose and +Matthieu?"</p> + +<p>"Matthieu is here in the château; he says he will never desert you as +long as you can have need of his poor services. Father Ambrose has +disappeared, but I think he is in a place of safety. But now you are to +be thought of. Will you trust me?"</p> + +<p>"How can you ask that, Agatha? Have you not always proved faithful?"</p> + +<p>"I mean, can you trust me to lead, and will you follow and be guided by +my suggestions?"</p> + +<p>"I will do just as you may direct. I know you have a wise head, Agatha."</p> + +<p>"This is my plan, then," continued the maid; "listen carefully while I +tell it to you."</p> + +<p>An hour later the two women, dressed as peasants, with faces and hands +brown from apparent exposure to the sun in the hayfield, left the park +behind the château de Rochefort, and made their way along a hedge-bound +lane that wound through the fields. As they reached the crest of a hill +they stopped and looked back at the château. A red glow appeared in the +eastern sky.</p> + +<p>"Look, Agatha," said Edmé, "morning is coming, the sun is about to +rise."</p> + +<p>Suddenly the glow leaped into a broad flame which lit up the whole sky.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the château on fire!" cried both women in one breath, and clinging +to each other they stood and watched it burn.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>GAILLARD GOES ON A JOURNEY</h3> + + +<p>The first object that Robert Tournay saw as he rode into the inn yard at +La Thierry was a horse reeking with sweat. The next moment he was +greeted by the smiling face of Gaillard, who came out of the inn. "Have +you brought the passport?" cried Tournay eagerly, as he grasped his +friend by the hand.</p> + +<p>For reply Gaillard took a paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and +disclosed the seal of the Committee of Public Safety. "Am I in time?" he +asked. "I have ridden post haste to get here with it. Can I serve you +further?"</p> + +<p>"Come into the inn, and I'll tell you," replied Tournay. "I am almost +exhausted and must have something to eat."</p> + +<p>Ordering some supper and a bottle of wine, which were brought at once, +Tournay helped Gaillard and himself bountifully. They ate and drank for +a few minutes in silence, Gaillard waiting for him to speak.</p> + +<p>Gaillard was rather short in stature, with a pair of broad, athletic +shoulders. His face was freckled, and animated by a pair of particularly +active blue eyes. A large mouth, instead of adding to his plainness, was +rather attractive than otherwise, for on all occasions it would widen +into the most encouraging, good-natured smile, showing two rows of +regular, white teeth, firmly set in a strong jaw.</p> + +<p>After he had partaken of a little food and drink, Tournay recounted to +Gaillard the substance of what had taken place at the château, leaving +out most of his final interview with Edmé de Rochefort, but dwelling on +her flat refusal to accept his escort to the frontier.</p> + +<p>The actor listened to him intently and in silence; his face, usually +humorous, expressive of deep and earnest thought.</p> + +<p>"Now what do you advise?" asked Tournay, as he pushed back his plate and +emptied the last of the wine into Gaillard's glass.</p> + +<p>"What plan have you?" questioned Gaillard.</p> + +<p>"I mean to take her away from here at all hazards," answered Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Quite right," nodded Gaillard.</p> + +<p>"But I can't very well pick her up and carry her off bodily," continued +Tournay. "And if I did she would be quite capable of surrendering +herself into the hands of the first committee in the first town where +they stop us to examine our passport."</p> + +<p>"Then we must induce her to go of her own free will."</p> + +<p>"Which she will not do," replied Tournay gloomily.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me," said Gaillard, speaking slowly, while he held his +glass of wine to the light and inspected it minutely, "that if some one +should approach Mademoiselle de Rochefort, purporting to come from some +of her friends who have already gone abroad, and should say he was sent +secretly to conduct her to them, she would be willing to go with him."</p> + +<p>"Unless she suspected him to be an impostor, she might possibly go," +replied Tournay.</p> + +<p>"He will have to convince her that he is not an impostor, and after a +night spent in the château alone she is more likely to believe in him," +was Gaillard's reply. "How about Gardin," he asked suddenly. "Do you +anticipate any further trouble from that quarter?"</p> + +<p>"I hardly think so," replied Tournay. "I shall go back to the château at +once and remain in the vicinity all night unknown to Mademoiselle de +Rochefort. See if you cannot procure a carriage here suitable for a long +journey. Then come up the château road. I shall be in waiting for you at +the entrance to the park. We will confer together as to a plan of action +to be carried out at daylight."</p> + +<p>"Good," replied Gaillard; "I will set about my part of the work at +once."</p> + +<p>The two men rose from the table; Gaillard went to the inn stables and +Tournay mounted his horse and rode toward the château.</p> + +<p>He had not made half the distance between the village and the château +when he heard a footstep crunch on the gravel of the road, and reined +in his horse just as the figure of a man crept by him.</p> + +<p>"Who is there?" cried Tournay, clicking the hammer of his pistol.</p> + +<p>"A good citizen," was the reply in a timid voice.</p> + +<p>"Father, is it you?" exclaimed Tournay, springing from his horse and +approaching the figure. "Is all well at the château?"</p> + +<p>"It is my son, Robert," cried the old man. "I did not recognize your +voice until after I had spoken; but I am no good citizen of your present +disorderly Republic."</p> + +<p>"Is all well at the château?" repeated Robert Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Well? How can we all be well when the doors are broken in and the +furniture strewn about the place in pieces? Can I call all well when"—</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle Edmé?" interrupted Robert, with impatience, "how about +her?"</p> + +<p>"She has gone," said Matthieu Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Gone!" cried Robert, clutching his father by the shoulder. "Gone—how +and where?"</p> + +<p>"You need not be alarmed for her safety," said the old man; "she is with +Agatha,—a brave, clever girl, capable of anything. They set out this +very night to seek a refuge with some relatives of Agatha who will keep +them in safety."</p> + +<p>"And you permitted them to go?" demanded the younger Tournay, almost +shaking his father in his excitement.</p> + +<p>"Permitted them? Yes, and encouraged them. I would myself have gone with +them if I had not feared that my feebleness would impede rather than +assist their flight. As it is, you need have no apprehension; when +Agatha undertakes a thing she carries it through, and mademoiselle also +is resolute and strong-willed. They will be safe enough, I warrant."</p> + +<p>"Where did they go?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"I've promised not to tell," said the old man doggedly.</p> + +<p>"Father," exclaimed young Tournay, "do you not see how important it is +that I should know where they have gone? If you have any affection for +mademoiselle you will tell me. Cannot you trust your own son?"</p> + +<p>"Will you promise not to prevent their going?" replied the old man.</p> + +<p>Tournay thought for a moment. "Yes."</p> + +<p>"To La Haye, in the province of Touraine, near the boundary of La +Vendée."</p> + +<p>"Will they reach there in safety?" inquired Tournay, half to himself.</p> + +<p>"You need have no alarm on that score. They have disguised themselves as +peasants; no one will be able to recognize them. Look!" he added +suddenly, pointing in the direction of the château.</p> + +<p>A tongue of flame shot into the night air, then another and another +followed in quick succession.</p> + +<p>"Is the château on fire?" cried Robert in consternation.</p> + +<p>As if in answer the flames burst fiercely forth, and the noble old pile +stood revealed to them by the light of the fire that consumed it.</p> + +<p>The surrounding landscape became brilliant as day, and the great oaks of +the park waved their bare branches frantically in the direction of the +edifice they had sheltered so many years; seeming to sigh pityingly as +one turret after another fell crashing to the ground.</p> + +<p>Young Tournay looked around to see if any of the attacking party were +still lurking in the vicinity; but with the exception of himself and his +father, no human eye was witness of the burning.</p> + +<p>"Gardin's men must have ignited that during their drunken invasion of +the wine-cellar," he exclaimed excitedly. Then in the next breath he +added, "Thank God! Mademoiselle has been spared this sight."</p> + +<p>Old Tournay stood looking at the conflagration in silence; then turning +away with a sigh, he said simply, "There goes the only home I have ever +known; where my father lived before me and where you were born, Robert. +I must now find a new place to pass what few days of life remain to me."</p> + +<p>Tournay laid his hand on his father's arm. "Will you come with me to +Paris?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No, no," replied his father. "I am not in sympathy with Paris, Robert, +nor with your ways. I don't understand them, boy. It may be all right +for you. I know you are a good son, you have always been that, but I +shall find a shelter in La Thierry. None will molest an old man like +me."</p> + +<p>Leading his horse by the bridle, Tournay walked back to the village with +his father. On the way they were met by Gaillard, who had seen the +flames and had guessed their meaning.</p> + +<p>Robert Tournay explained the situation to him as they all went back to +the inn. Greatly in need of rest, Robert threw himself down to wait +until the morrow.</p> + +<p>They were up with the dawn, when Gaillard had a new suggestion to offer.</p> + +<p>"You must return at once to Paris, my friend, for you must arrive there +before Gardin. You will need all the influence of your own military +position and the aid of your most powerful friends to enable you to meet +the charges that man will bring against you for frustrating the arrest. +I will try to find mademoiselle at La Haye, and will meet you at our +lodgings as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>Robert grasped his companion's hand warmly.</p> + +<p>"I shall never forget your friendship, Gaillard."</p> + +<p>"You may remember it as long as you like if you will not refer to it. I +can never repay you for your many acts of friendship toward me."</p> + +<p>"But your profession," interrupted Tournay, "how can you leave the +theatre all this time? How will your place be filled?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it will be filled very well. I arranged all that before leaving; +whether I shall find it vacant or not when I return is another matter. +But it does not trouble me; let it not trouble you, my friend." And with +a cheerful wave of the hand, Gaillard departed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>PÈRE LOUCHET'S GUESTS</h3> + + +<p>In the southern part of the province of Touraine, in the village of La +Haye, lived Pierre Louchet, or as his neighbors called him, Père +Louchet.</p> + +<p>Logically speaking, Louchet, being a bachelor, had no right to this +title, but as he took a paternal interest in all the young people of the +village, they had fitted him with this sobriquet, partly in a spirit of +gentle irony and partly in affectionate recognition of his fatherly +attitude toward them.</p> + +<p>Père Louchet lived alone in a little cottage that was always as neat and +well-kept as if some feminine hand held sway there. Indeed, if he fell +sick, or was too busy with the crops on his small farm to pay proper +attention to his household duties, there were plenty of women from the +neighboring cottages who were glad to come in and make his gruel or +sweep up his hearth, so it was not on account of any unpopularity with +the gentler sex that he lived on in a state of celibacy.</p> + +<p>In a society where marriage was almost universal, such an eccentricity +as that exhibited by Pierre Louchet in remaining single did not escape +comment. Indeed at the age of fifty he was as often bantered on the +subject as he had been at thirty. But neither the raillery and +innuendoes of the neighbors nor the entreaties, threats, and cajoleries +of his sister, Jeanne Maillot, had ever moved him to take a wife.</p> + +<p>"It's a family disgrace," said Jeanne, putting her red hands on her +hips, and regarding her elder brother with a look of scorn. "Here am I +ten years younger than you, and with five children. And Marie who lives +at Fulgent has eight. And you, the only man in our family, sit there by +the chimney and smoke your pipe contentedly, and let the young girls of +La Haye grow up around you one after another, marry, settle down, and +have daughters who are old enough to be married by this time; and you do +nothing to keep up the name of Louchet."</p> + +<p>"'T is not much of a name," replied Pierre.</p> + +<p>"It is one your father had, and was quite good enough for me, until I +took Maillot."</p> + +<p>"If I should marry, there would be less for your own children when I am +gone."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure it was your happiness I was thinking of before all," replied +Jeanne, mollified at this presentation of the case.</p> + +<p>"If it's my happiness you are thinking about, let me stay as I am. I and +my pipe are quite company enough, and if I want more I only have to step +across a field and I can find you and your good husband Maillot." And +Père Louchet's eyes would twinkle kindly while his pipe sent up a +thicker wreath of smoke.</p> + +<p>One young woman once declared maliciously that Père Louchet squinted. +But those who heard the remark declared that it was because he was +always endeavoring to look in any direction except towards her who +sought to attract his attention, and after that the slander was never +repeated.</p> + +<p>One morning in December the neighborhood of La Haye was set all in a +flutter of curiosity by a sudden increase in the family in Père +Louchet's cottage.</p> + +<p>As an explanation of it he remarked with his eyes twinkling more than +usual: "I am getting old and need help about the place, and that is why +a nephew and a niece of my brother-in-law Maillot have come to live with +me."</p> + +<p>Paul and Elise Durand were natives of "up north" and had never before +been as far south as La Haye. The woman was about twenty-five years old, +brown as a berry, with a sturdy figure and strong arms. Her brother was +tall and slender. He said he was nearly twenty, yet he was small for his +age and his entire innocence of any beard gave him a still more boyish +appearance. He spoke with a softer accent than most country lads in +those parts, but that was because he came from the neighborhood of +Paris; and then he and his sister had both been in the service of a +great "Seigneur" before the Revolution.</p> + +<p>In the neighboring province of La Vendée the peasants, led by the +priests and nobles, were threatening to take up arms in support of the +monarchy. But the inhabitants of La Haye took little interest in +political affairs, and although they shared somewhat the sentiment of +opposition in La Vendée to the new government in Paris, they busied +themselves generally with their vineyards and their crops and took no +active part in politics. Paul and Elise were content in the fact that +their new home was so quiet and so remote from the strife that was +raging so fiercely all about them.</p> + +<p>One morning, shortly after her arrival, Elise was resting by the stile +which divided the field of Père Louchet from that of his brother-in-law. +She had placed on the stile the bucket containing six fresh cheeses +wrapped in cool green grape leaves, while she herself sat down upon the +bottom step beside it, to remove her wooden sabot and shake out a little +pebble that had been irritating her foot. The wooden shoe replaced, she +took up her pail and was about to spring blithely over the stile, when +she drew back with a little cry of surprise mingled with alarm. Standing +on the other side, his arm resting on the top step, leaned a young man +who had evidently been watching her closely.</p> + +<p>Drawing a short pipe from between a row of white teeth, his mouth +expanded in a wide grin.</p> + +<p>"Did I frighten you?" he said, in a slight foreign accent but with an +extremely pleasant tone of voice.</p> + +<p>"Not at all," answered Elise, looking at him frankly. "I'm not easily +frightened. If you will move a little to one side, I can cross the stile +and go about my affairs."</p> + +<p>"What have you in the pail?" asked the man, as he complied with her +request.</p> + +<p>"Cheeses," she answered, as he came lightly over the wall. "It's clear +you're not of this part of the country or you would never have asked +that question."</p> + +<p>"I am not from this part of the country," said the stranger. "You ought +to know that by my accent."</p> + +<p>"Where is your native place?" asked Elise, her curiosity aroused.</p> + +<p>"A long distance from here—Prussia. Have you ever heard of that +country?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"We are most of us against the Republic—there," said he. "I am, for +one," and he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. She made no +reply. "Let me carry your cheeses," he said, laying his hand upon the +bucket.</p> + +<p>"They are not heavy," said Elise, "and I must hurry home."</p> + +<p>"All ways are the same to me and I will go along with you," he said, +taking the bucket from her. "It's heavy for you."</p> + +<p>"It's no burden for me, and as I don't know you I prefer to go home by +myself," she said frankly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm a merry fellow—you need not fear me. I am your friend."</p> + +<p>"I have no way of being sure of that," was the reply, "though you don't +look as if you could be an enemy."</p> + +<p>"I should be glad for an opportunity to prove myself your friend. And I +could prove that I am no stranger by telling you a good deal about +yourself and your brother Paul."</p> + +<p>"Indeed," was all Elise vouchsafed in reply, but she looked a little +uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>"I might tell you of an order of arrest that was not carried out; of a +château burned; of the midnight flight of two women and the arrival at +La Haye of a woman and her younger brother; all this I might tell you, +with the assurance that these secrets are safe in the keeping of a +friend."</p> + +<p>"How will you prove that you are a friend?" Elise said in a low voice +with apparent unconcern, although she felt her heart beating with fear.</p> + +<p>"The fact that I have just told you what I know and shall tell no one +else, should be one proof," he said. Elise did not answer, but looked at +him with a keen expression as if she would read his thoughts.</p> + +<p>He had a frank, open face, the very plainness of which bespoke the +honesty of the man.</p> + +<p>"Suppose I should say that I came from Hagenhof in Prussia and that I +was sent here by friends of your brother who have gone there. Suppose I +should say that they wanted you to join them and that I could take you +there with little risk to yourselves, would you be inclined to trust me +then?"</p> + +<p>"What risk do we incur by remaining where we are?" inquired Elise, +without answering his question.</p> + +<p>"You will always run the risk of discovery while in France," he replied. +"But tell me, are you inclined to trust me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Elise, stopping and looking him full in the face. "I +am."</p> + +<p>"Good," he cried, setting down the pail and extending his hand.</p> + +<p>"I am disposed to trust you," she went on, "but in order to do so fully +I should wish to see a letter from the friend you speak of."</p> + +<p>"It is dangerous to carry such a writing," he replied significantly.</p> + +<p>"True, but you can mention names."</p> + +<p>"I can, and will,—names your brother will know well. The Baron von +Valdenmeer, for instance. Besides, if I were your enemy I need not come +thus secretly. Your enemies can use open means."</p> + +<p>"I said"—Elise hesitated—"I am disposed to believe you are what you +claim to be, but I can do nothing without the consent of my brother."</p> + +<p>"Good! will you obtain his consent?"</p> + +<p>"I will try."</p> + +<p>"Good again. You will succeed. Talk with him and get his consent to +leave here. And as soon as possible I will make all the arrangements for +the journey so that we may leave in a week or at the latest a fortnight. +Then if you have not persuaded your brother that it is for his interest +to go with me, I will try and add my arguments to yours."</p> + +<p>"I trust you will find us ready," said Elise; "but in the mean time +shall you remain here?"</p> + +<p>"No, I must go to Paris," was the Prussian's answer. "If you should have +occasion to communicate with me, a word sent to Hector Gaillard, 15 Rue +des Mathurins, will reach me. But do not send any word unless it is of +the greatest importance, and then employ a messenger whom you can +trust."</p> + +<p>"Is that your name?" asked the woman.</p> + +<p>"That is my name while in France. Can you remember that and the +address?"</p> + +<p>"I can."</p> + +<p>"Then good-by. And a word at parting," he said—turning after he had +leaped the fence. "It is perhaps needless to caution you, but my advice +would be that your brother should not go too often to the village. His +hands are too small. Good-by." And he walked off up the lane smoking his +short pipe, and whistling gayly.</p> + +<p>Two days later Gaillard joined his friend Tournay in Paris. He found +Tournay much more hopeful than when he had left him, and his spirits +rose still more as he heard Gaillard's news.</p> + +<p>"It is Wednesday," Tournay said. "On Saturday the convention has +promised to send me back with my dispatches. Can you be ready for La +Haye by Saturday morning?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Gaillard, "twelve hours earlier if necessary."</p> + +<p>"It is agreed then for Saturday, unless the convention delays."</p> + +<p>Three days after her meeting with Gaillard, Elise, on returning from a +neighboring town where she had gone to dispose of some butter, found the +kitchen deserted and the fire out. She had expected to find a bowl of +hot potato soup and a plate of sausage and garlic. Instead she found a +cold hearthstone and an empty casserole.</p> + +<p>As usual, the first thought of the devoted sister was of Paul, and she +called his name loudly. It did not take long to ascertain that the house +was empty, and with her heart beating wildly with anxiety she ran +outside the cottage crying, "Oh, Paul, my child,—my brother, Paul!" +There was no answer save from the cattle in the outhouse who shook their +stanchions, impatient for their evening meal. She looked about for Père +Louchet. He also was absent. Evidently he had driven in the cows and had +been prevented from feeding them. Something serious had happened, and it +must have occurred within an hour, for at this time the cattle were +usually feeding.</p> + +<p>Elise sat down for a moment on an upturned basket to collect herself. +Her first thought was to go to Maillot's in search of them. They might +be there, yet it would take an hour to go to Maillot's and return. And +then what if Louchet and Paul were not there! What if the couple had +been murdered and the bodies were still on the farm? Elise shuddered at +the thought, and called loud again, "Paul, Paul, my brother, art thou +not here?"</p> + +<p>From the hay in the loft above came a smothered sound. With a glad cry +Elise sprang up the stairs, to see Père Louchet's head and shoulders +emerging from under a pile of clover.</p> + +<p>"Where is Paul?" cried Elise, pouncing upon him before he had freed +himself from the hay, and almost dragging him to his feet. He blinked at +her for a moment while he picked the stray wisps of straw from his hair +and neck.</p> + +<p>"Gone," he said laconically.</p> + +<p>"Gone! Where?" cried Elise, frantically taking him by the shoulders and +shaking him so that the hayseed and straw flew from his coat. "Père +Louchet, what is the matter? I never saw you like this before; have you +been drinking?"</p> + +<p>"No," he said slowly, and then as if the thought occurred to him for the +first time, he went toward a cask of cherry brandy which stood in a +corner of the granary and drew almost a tin-cupful.</p> + +<p>With blazing eyes Elise saw him measure out the liquor slowly, with a +hand that trembled slightly, and put the cup to his lips. She felt as if +she must spring upon him and dash the cup from his hands, but she +controlled herself with an effort. Louchet drained off the brandy to the +last drop, straightened up, and looked at Elise. He acted like a +different man.</p> + +<p>"Paul was taken from here about an hour ago by three men. They had +papers and red seals and tricolor cockades enough to take a dozen."</p> + +<p>"And you let them take him?" cried Elise.</p> + +<p>Père Louchet looked at his niece quizzically with his twinkling eye.</p> + +<p>"There were three of them, Elise, my child, and they had big red seals +and swore a great deal."</p> + +<p>"Of course," admitted the woman hastily, "you could do nothing by +force."</p> + +<p>"I did try to prevent them from going upstairs where Paul was," the old +man replied, "but one of them knocked me on the head and into a corner +where I lay like a log."</p> + +<p>"Oh that I had been here," moaned Elise, as she and Louchet went toward +the house. "If I could only know where they have taken Paul!"</p> + +<p>"To Tours," replied Père Louchet with decision.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?" asked Elise quickly.</p> + +<p>"I remember it plainly now. When I lay in the corner with a kind of +dazed feeling in my head, not wishing to get up and stir around, I saw +one of the men—not the one who hit me, but a smaller man with a larger +hat and more cockades and more seals, take a paper out of his pocket and +read it to Paul. I tried to make out what it said, for although I could +hear every word that was uttered, I could not get an idea in my head +that would hold together; but I was able to catch the word Tours; I am +sure they have gone to Tours."</p> + +<p>"How is your head now, Père Louchet?" asked Elise with feverish +eagerness.</p> + +<p>"As clear as a bell," was the reply. "Let me have one little nip more of +that brandy and it will be clearer."</p> + +<p>"Can you ride?"</p> + +<p>"Like a boy."</p> + +<p>"Good! Make up a bundle of food and clothing for a two-days' journey and +I'll have a horse at the door by the time you are ready."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later Père Louchet, with a bundle of necessities strapped on +his back, was mounted on one of his best horses which Elise had saddled +for him.</p> + +<p>"Now, where am I to ride to?" he demanded, directing his twinkling eye +down upon his niece.</p> + +<p>"Ride to Paris. Seek out Gaillard, 15 Rue Mathurins; give him this +letter. That is all I ask of you."</p> + +<p>"And you—what are you going to do?" said Père Louchet, putting the +letter in his inside breast pocket with a slap on the outside to +emphasize its safety.</p> + +<p>"I ride toward Tours," replied the intrepid woman.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>PRISON BOAT NUMBER FOUR</h3> + + +<p>Paul Durand was confined in the prison at Tours. The prison was so +crowded that he had to be placed in a small room at the top of the +building adjoining the quarters occupied by the jailer and his family.</p> + +<p>Paul was paler than usual, the result of fatigue from the long, rapid +ride from La Haye, but he showed no signs of fear and held up his head +bravely as the jailer entered the room. The latter carried a bundle +under his arm.</p> + +<p>"You are to take these clothes," he said, "go into the adjoining room, +and put them on in place of the garments you have on."</p> + +<p>Paul took the bundle and went into the next room. For fifteen minutes +the jailer sat upon the one chair the room contained, humming and +jingling his bunch of keys. Then the door into the outer corridor was +thrown open and a large man entered. The jailer sprang to his feet with +alacrity.</p> + +<p>"Where's the prisoner, Potin?" demanded the newcomer in a harsh voice.</p> + +<p>"In the next room, Citizen Lebœuf," replied Potin.</p> + +<p>Leb[oe]uf strode toward the door and laid his hand upon the latch.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Citizen Lebœuf, but the prisoner may not be ready +to receive you."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's no particular reason to be squeamish, is there?" asked +Lebœuf, screwing his fat face into a leer.</p> + +<p>"If you will wait another minute I think the prisoner will come out," +suggested Potin deferentially, jingling his keys.</p> + +<p>"Bah, you show your lodgers too much consideration, citizen jailer; you +spoil them." Nevertheless Lebœuf allowed his hand to drop from the +latch and took a few impatient strides across the floor.</p> + +<p>The door opened and, turning, Lebœuf saw Mademoiselle de Rochefort +standing on the threshold. She was thinner than when she left La +Thierry: but her eyes had lost none of their fire, and she looked +Citizen Lebœuf in the face without flinching. His dull eyes kindled +while he looked at her some moments without speaking.</p> + +<p>"Do you know who I am?" he inquired in his thick, husky voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I overheard the jailer call you Citizen Lebœuf."</p> + +<p>"Right. I am Citizen Lebœuf; and do you know why you have been +brought here?"</p> + +<p>"A paper was read to me last night which pretended to give some +explanation," was her quiet rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"In order to save time and expense your trial will take place at Tours, +rather than at Paris. I am one of the judges of this district."</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Edmé looked at him with an expression of indifference.</p> + +<p>"You do not appear to be afraid."</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid," was the quiet reply.</p> + +<p>Lebœuf eyed her with evident admiration.</p> + +<p>"Why did you put on boy's clothes?" he asked abruptly.</p> + +<p>"In order to avoid detection," she answered frankly, coming forward and +seating herself in the chair which Potin had vacated upon her entrance. +Lebœuf was standing before her, hat in hand, an act of politeness he +had not shown to any one for years.</p> + +<p>"And you did it well," he said. "You threw them off the track +completely. Had it not been for me, your hiding-place would never have +been discovered. It was a splendid trick you played upon those bunglers +from Paris." And he slapped his thigh in keen appreciation of it, and +laughed hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"I will take your boy's clothes with me," he continued as he prepared to +leave the room, "lest you should be tempted to put them on again from +force of habit. We don't want you turning into a boy any more. No, you +make too pretty a woman." Then going up to the jailer he said something +to him in a low voice which Edmé could not hear. Potin seemed to be +remonstrating feebly. Lebœuf scowled, and from his manner appeared to +insist upon the point at issue.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure you are not afraid?" he said again abruptly to Edmé as he +went to the door and stood with one hand on the latch looking back into +the room.</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>He looked at her admiringly.</p> + +<p>"Remember you are a woman now and have a perfect right to be afraid; +also to kick and scream when anything is the matter."</p> + +<p>Edmé made no reply.</p> + +<p>"In case you should ever feel afraid," he said significantly, "just send +for Lebœuf, that's all," and with this he left the room.</p> + +<p>Edmé remained in Potin's charge for two days. The jailer treated her +with great consideration, and she congratulated herself upon having +fallen into such kindly hands. She momentarily expected to be summoned +before the Tribunal. She did not know what the result would be; but she +looked forward to her trial with impatience. In any event it would end +the suspense in which she was living.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the second day Potin entered her room, accompanied +by one of his deputies.</p> + +<p>"You must prepare to go with this man, citizeness," said the little +jailer.</p> + +<p>"Has the Tribunal sent for me? she inquired.</p> + +<p>"Not yet. But you are to be transferred to another prison."</p> + +<p>"I prefer to stay here," she said. "Cannot you ask them to allow me to +remain?"</p> + +<p>"You have no choice in the matter, nor have I; I have only my orders."</p> + +<p>"From whom did the order come? From that man Lebœuf who came here the +other day?" she demanded quickly.</p> + +<p>"I am not at liberty to say," replied Potin, shifting his feet uneasily.</p> + +<p>"Are you forbidden to tell me where I am to be taken?" was her next +question.</p> + +<p>"To prison boat Number Four. The city prisons are so full," he +continued, in answer to her look of surprised inquiry, "that great +numbers have to be lodged in the boats anchored in the river. Number +Four is one of the largest," he added as if by way of consolation.</p> + +<p>In company of the deputy Edmé was conducted to the floating prison on +the Loire. As they stepped over the side they were met by a little +round-shouldered man with splay feet. His face was wrinkled and brown +almost to blackness; his dress showed that he had a fondness for bright +colors, as he wore a purple shirt with a crimson sash, a bright yellow +neckcloth, and a red cap. The deputy turned over his charge to him, +received his quittance, and went away.</p> + +<p>Edmé was conducted to a room in the stern of the vessel. It was a small +room and to her surprise she found it furnished comfortably, almost +luxuriously. On a table in the centre stood a carafe of wine and a +basket of sweet biscuit. Two or three chairs and a couch completed the +equipment of the room. At the extreme end, the porthole had been +enlarged into a window which looked out over the river. This window was +closed by wooden bars. Otherwise the place looked more like the +comfortable quarters of some ship's officer than a jail.</p> + +<p>"Is this where I am to remain?" she asked of her new jailer.</p> + +<p>The man nodded and withdrew, locking the door after him.</p> + +<p>Edmé threw herself into a chair. It was intended that she should at +least be comfortable while in prison, and this thought helped to keep up +her spirits. She rose, took a glass of wine and some of the biscuit, and +then after finishing this refreshment, feeling fatigued, she lay down +upon the couch and fell asleep.</p> + +<p>It was nearly dark when she awoke. Lying on the couch she could see the +dying light of the short December day shining feebly in at the window, +reflected by the metal of a swinging lamp over the table. As she lay +there she became aware of a noise that had evidently awakened her. It +was the sound of wailing and lamentation, accompanied by the creaking of +timber and the swash of water.</p> + +<p>Rising from the bed she went to the window and looked out over the +river.</p> + +<p>Going down the stream were two other prison boats. They were scarcely +fifty yards away and proceeded slowly with the current, the water +lapping against their black sides. They were old vessels, and creaked +and groaned as if they were about to fall apart from very rottenness. +From between their decks came the sound of human voices raised in cries +of fear, despair, and lamentation; all mingled in a strange, horrible +medley, which, borne over the water by the sighing night wind, struck a +chill into Edmé's heart.</p> + +<p>The vessels, stealing down the river with their sailless masts against +the evening sky, looked like phantom ships conveying cargoes of +unrestful, tortured spirits into darkness. The sight so fascinated Edmé +that she stood watching them until they drifted out of sight and the +cries of those on board grew fainter and fainter in the distance. So +absorbed had she been as not to hear the lock click in the door and a +man enter the room. She only became aware of his presence on hearing a +heavy sigh just behind her, and turning her head she saw Lebœuf's +heavy face at her shoulder. She gave a startled cry and stepped nearer +the window.</p> + +<p>"It is a sad sight, is it not," he remarked, with a look of sympathy +ill-suited to the leer in his eyes, "and one that might easily frighten +the strongest of us."</p> + +<p>"It is your sudden appearance, when I thought I was entirely alone, that +startled me," replied Edmé, regaining her composure with an effort. "I +was so intent upon looking at those boats that I did not hear you come +in."</p> + +<p>"I see you didn't. I may be bulky, but I'm active and can move quietly," +and he gave a chuckle.</p> + +<p>Edmé thought him even more repulsive than at the time of his visit to +the prison. His face seemed coarser and more inflamed, and his eyes, so +dull and heavy before, shone as if animated by drink.</p> + +<p>"Where are they taking those poor people?" she asked; "for I presume +those are prison boats."</p> + +<p>"They are," was the reply in a thick utterance. "Just like this. Are you +sure that you want to know where they are being taken?"</p> + +<p>"Would I have asked you otherwise?"</p> + +<p>"Are you sure you won't faint?"</p> + +<p>Edmé gave a shrug of contempt. She saw that he was trying to work upon +her fears, and felt her spirit rise in antagonism.</p> + +<p>The look of admiration that he gave her was more offensive than his +pretended sympathy. Leaning forward he whispered, "They are going down +the river for about two miles. There they will get rid of their +troublesome freight and return empty."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Edmé. "Where do they land the prisoners?"</p> + +<p>"They don't land them, they water them," and he gave a low, inward +laugh. "They drown every prisoner on board. Tie them together in +couples, man and woman, and tumble them overboard by the score."</p> + +<p>Edmé gave a cry of horror. "It is too horrible to be true. I don't +believe it!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?" asked Lebœuf; "drowning is an easy death, and every one of +them has been fairly and honestly condemned. This boat is to follow in +its turn. Every prisoner here has looked upon the sun for the last time, +though not one of them knows just when he is to die."</p> + +<p>The idea of such wholesale murder seemed so utterly impossible to her +that in her mind she set down Lebœuf's whole account as a fiction of +his drink-besotted brain, called up to frighten her. Yet at the moment +when she turned from him in disgust to look out of the window, she saw +that their own vessel had begun to move slowly through the water.</p> + +<p>"We have started," said Lebœuf, as if he were mentioning a matter of +the smallest consequence.</p> + +<p>"You say that every one upon this boat is a condemned person," said Edmé +quietly, repressing her terror with an effort.</p> + +<p>Lebœuf nodded.</p> + +<p>"But I am not. I have not even had a hearing."</p> + +<p>"No?" exclaimed Lebœuf in a tone of surprise. "Then those jailers +have made another mistake."</p> + +<p>Edmé advanced toward him one step, and in a tone which made the huge man +draw back, said:—</p> + +<p>"I was brought here by your order!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I knew nothing of the change. It was that villain Potin."</p> + +<p>"I was brought here by your order," she repeated. "I demand that I be +taken where I can have a trial."</p> + +<p>"Potin has made another mistake," was all Lebœuf would vouchsafe in +reply.</p> + +<p>"If there has been any mistake, it is yours. I demand that you set it +right."</p> + +<p>"It is too late!"</p> + +<p>"There must be some one aboard this vessel who has the power to do it, +if you have not. I will go and appeal for aid," and she took a step +toward the door.</p> + +<p>Lebœuf interposed his bulky body between her and the means of exit; +closed and locked the door on the inside.</p> + +<p>"I will cry aloud. Some one will hear me," she said in desperation.</p> + +<p>"Who will hear you above all that noise?" he inquired tersely.</p> + +<p>The prisoners on the boat, now fully aware that their time of execution +had come, were crying out against their fate,—some praying for mercy, +some calling down the maledictions of heaven upon their butchers, while +others wept silently.</p> + +<p>"Merciful Virgin, protect me. I have lost all hope," cried Edmé, turning +from Lebœuf and sinking despairingly upon her knees.</p> + +<p>"Ah, now you are frightened!" exclaimed Lebœuf, "admit that you are +frightened!"</p> + +<p>"If it is any satisfaction to have succeeded in terrifying a woman +unable to defend herself, I will not rob you of the pleasure, but know +that it is not death, but the manner of it, that I fear."</p> + +<p>"But you are afraid; you have confessed to it at last, and now Lebœuf +will see that they do not harm you." He gave a grim chuckle as if he +enjoyed having won his point. Rapidly pushing the table to one side, +turning back the rug that covered the floor, he stooped; and to Edmé's +astonished gaze lifted up a trap door in the floor of the cabin. Edmé +drew back from the black hole at her feet.</p> + +<p>"It is large enough to afford you air for several hours," Lebœuf +said. "By that time I will get you out again. Quick, descend the steps."</p> + +<p>Edmé, fearing further treachery, drew back in alarm. "I prefer to meet +my fate here."</p> + +<p>Lebœuf struck a light and by the rays of the lamp a ladder was +revealed.</p> + +<p>"I tell you it is certain death to remain here fifteen minutes longer. +Even I could not save you then. The more they throw into the water the +more frenzied they become for other victims. They will ransack the +entire boat; but they won't find you down there. Lebœuf alone knows +this place. Quick! If you would live to see the sun rise to-morrow, go +down the steps of that ladder."</p> + +<p>He took her by the shoulder to assist in the descent. His touch was so +distasteful to her that she threw off his hand and went down the ladder +unaided. "Make not the slightest sound, whatever you may hear going on +up here above you, and wait patiently until I come to release you."</p> + +<p>With these words the door was shut down and Lebœuf went out and up to +the deck alone.</p> + +<p>The vessel had reached a point in the river just outside the city. Here +the stream narrowed and ran swiftly between the banks.</p> + +<p>The sky was windy; and between the rifts of the high-banked clouds the +moon shone fitfully. To the east lay the city of Tours, its spires +standing out in sharp silhouette against the sky. On the river bank the +wind swept over the dead, dry grass with a mournful, swaying sound and +rattled the rotting halyards of the old hulk, which with one small sail +set in the bow to keep it steady, made slowly down the river with the +current, hugging the left bank as if fearful of trusting itself to the +swifter depths beyond.</p> + +<p>A rusty chain rasped through the hawse-hole, and the vessel swung at +anchor.</p> + +<p>In a small and close compartment in the ship's depths, totally without +light, and with her nerves wrought upon by Lebœuf's appalling story, +Edmé could only guess at what was happening above her head.</p> + +<p>She knew that something terrible was taking place. She could hear a +confusion of cries and trampling of feet; of hoarse shouts and commands; +and she pictured in her imagination scenes quite as horrible as were +actually taking place above her. In every wave that splashed against the +vessel's side she could see the white face of a struggling, drowning +creature, and every sound upon the vessel was the despairing death-note +of a fresh victim. Through it all she could see the large face of +Lebœuf leering at her with his bleary eyes. To have exchanged one +fate for a worse one was to have gained nothing, and in her mental agony +she almost envied those who a short time ago had been struggling +helplessly in the hands of their executioners, and whose bodies now were +quietly sleeping in the waters of the flowing river.</p> + +<p>A quiet fell upon the vessel. The last cry had been uttered, the last +command given, and no sound reached Edmé's ears but the soft plash of +the water as it struck under the stern of the boat.</p> + +<p>Then the remembrance of Lebœuf's face and look became still more +vivid. She feared him in spite of all her courage; in spite of her pride +that was greater than her courage, she feared him. The knowledge that he +was aware of his power and took delight in it made the thought that she +would soon have to face him there alone more terrible than her dread of +the worst of deaths.</p> + +<p>A footfall sounded on the floor above her head. That it was not +Lebœuf's heavy tread, Edmé was certain. Rather than fall into his +hands again she would trust herself to the mercies of the worst ruffian +among the executioners, and she struck with her clenched hand a +succession of quick knocks upon the trap.</p> + +<p>The footsteps ceased, and in the stillness that followed Edmé called out +to the man above her and told him where to find the opening. In another +instant the door was lifted up and she came up into the cabin.</p> + +<p>"Kill me," she cried out; "throw me into the river if it be your +pleasure, but I implore you, do not let"—</p> + +<p>The man's hand closed over her mouth, and lifting her in his arms he +carried her across the cabin. The room was dark; either Lebœuf had +put out the light when he left, or the newcomer had extinguished it, but +Edmé saw that he bore her toward the window from which the lattice had +been removed. She closed her eyes to meet the end. She felt herself +swiftly lifted through the window, and then instead of water her feet +struck a firm substance.</p> + +<p>"Steady for one moment," said a voice in her ear as she opened her eyes +in bewilderment to find herself standing on the seat of a small skiff, a +man supporting her by the arm. Her face was on a level with the window, +and looking back into the cabin she saw a light at the further end, as +the bulky form of Lebœuf appeared at the door, lantern in hand, his +heavy countenance made more ugly by an expression of surprise and rage.</p> + +<p>Voices were heard in hot dispute, then came two pistol shots so close +together as to seem almost one. A figure leaped through the smoke that +poured from the window, and Edmé from her seat in the skiff's bow where +she had been swung with little ceremony, saw a man cut the line, while +the other bent over his oars and made the small craft fly away from the +vessel, straight for the opposite shore. The man who had leaped from the +window took his place silently in the stern. Placing one hand on the +tiller, he turned and looked intently over his shoulder at the dark +outline of the prison ship, which was rapidly receding into the gloom.</p> + +<p>His hat had fallen off, and in the uncertain light Edmé saw for the +first time that it was Robert Tournay.</p> + +<p>Before a word could be uttered by any of them, a tongue of flame shot +out from the vessel behind them, followed by a loud and sharp report. +The dash of spray that swept over the boat told that the shot had struck +the water close by them.</p> + +<p>The man at the oars shook the water from his eyes and redoubled his +efforts. "Head her down the river a little," he said.</p> + +<p>"But the carriage is at least two miles above here," replied Tournay.</p> + +<p>"No matter," answered Gaillard. "The shore here is too steep. We must +land a little further down."</p> + +<p>Tournay altered their course and steered the boat slantingly across the +current.</p> + +<p>They were now nearing the right-hand shore, which rose abruptly from the +river to a height of some twenty feet. The current here was swifter, and +the greatest caution had to be exercised. A second flash flamed out from +the prison ship, a sound of crashing wood, and the little skiff seemed +to leap into the air and then slide from under their feet, while the icy +water of the Loire rushed in Edmé's ears,—strangling her and dragging +her down, until it seemed as if the water's weight would crush her. Then +she began to come upward with increasing velocity until at last, when +she thought never to reach the surface, she felt her head rise above the +water and saw the cloudy, threatening sky, which seemed to reel above +her as she gasped for breath.</p> + +<p>Another head shot to the surface by her side, and she felt herself +sustained, to sink no more. The words: "Place your right hand upon my +shoulder and keep your face turned down the stream away from the +current," came to her ears as if in a dream. Instinctively she obeyed. +With a few rapid strokes Tournay reached the shore. The bank overhung +the river and under it the water ran rapidly.</p> + +<p>With only one arm free he could not draw himself and Edmé up the steep +incline. Twice he succeeded in catching a tuft of grass or projecting +root, and each time the force of the current broke his hold upon it, and +twirling them round like straws carried them on down the stream.</p> + +<p>Gaillard, who had been struck by a splinter on the forehead, was at +first stunned by the blow, and without struggling was swept fifty yards +down the river. The cold water brought him back to consciousness, and he +struck out for the shore. He noticed, some hundred yards below, a place +where the river swept to the south and where the bank was considerably +lower. Allowing himself to be borne along by the current, he took an +occasional stroke to carry him in toward the shore, and made the point +easily.</p> + +<p>Drawing himself from the water by some overhanging bushes, he shook +himself like a wet dog, and sitting on the river's edge proceeded to +bind up his injured eye, while with the other he looked anxiously along +the river-side. Suddenly he bent down and caught at an object in the +water.</p> + +<p>"Let me take the girl," he said quickly. "Now your hand on this +bush—there!" And with a swift motion he drew Edmé up, and Tournay, +relieved of her weight, swung himself to their side.</p> + +<p>For a short time they lay panting on the bank. Gaillard was the first to +get upon his feet.</p> + +<p>"We shall perish of cold here," he exclaimed, springing up and down to +warm his benumbed blood, while the wet ends of his yellow neckerchief +flapped about his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Can you walk, Mademoiselle de Rochefort?"</p> + +<p>Edmé placed her hand upon her side to still the sharp shooting pain, and +answered "Yes."</p> + +<p>"Good; the road is only a few rods from here, but we must follow it at +least two miles to the west."</p> + +<p>"I shall be able to do it!"</p> + +<p>As she uttered these words the pain in her side increased. She felt her +strength leave her, and but for the support of Tournay's arm she would +have fallen to the ground.</p> + +<p>"She has fainted," cried Tournay in consternation.</p> + +<p>"No," she remonstrated feebly, struggling with the numbness that was +overpowering her. "It is the cold. Let me rest for a moment; I shall be +better soon."</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle, you must walk, else you will die of cold," exclaimed +Tournay. "Take her by the arm, Gaillard."</p> + +<p>Instead of complying with the request, Gaillard stood with head bent +forward peering up the road into the night gloom.</p> + +<p>"Gaillard! man, do you not hear me?"</p> + +<p>"The carriage! I hear the rattle of its wheels," cried Gaillard +joyfully. "Agatha can always be depended upon to do the right thing at +the right moment!"</p> + +<p>"Hurry to meet her," cried Tournay; "tell her we are here!"</p> + +<p>Gaillard sprang rapidly forward, shouting as he ran.</p> + +<p>"Courage but a little moment longer," whispered Tournay, and taking Edmé +in his arms he followed Gaillard as fast as his burden permitted.</p> + +<p>She had not entirely lost consciousness, but cold and fatigue had +combined to enervate and render her powerless of motion.</p> + +<p>In a half swoon she felt herself carried she knew not whither. She felt +Tournay's strong arms about her, and a sense of security came over her +as she faintly realized that each step took her further away from the +dreaded Lebœuf.</p> + +<p>Tournay hastened toward the carriage. The wind swept freshly over the +marshes, and he held Edmé close as if to shield her from the cold. Her +hair blew back into his face, covering his eyes and touching his lips. +As he felt her soft tresses against his cheek his heart throbbed so that +he forgot cold, fatigue, and danger.... Where they blinded him he gently +put the locks aside with one hand in a caressing manner and looked +tenderly down into the white face pressed against his wet coat.</p> + +<p>The sound of wheels upon the frozen road came nearer. Lights flashed +around a turn in the road, and Tournay staggered to the carriage door as +the vehicle drew up suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" cried Gaillard from the box, where he had taken the reins from +the driver. "We have won!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>OVER THE FRONTIER</h3> + + +<p>In the carriage Agatha related to her mistress what had occurred after +her disappearance from La Haye. How she had sent Père Louchet with the +message to Gaillard at Paris, and then had followed on to Tours and +discovered where her mistress was imprisoned. Tournay and Gaillard, +coming post haste to Tours, had reached there on the same day that saw +the transfer of Mademoiselle de Rochefort to the prison-ship upon the +Loire. Together with Agatha, they had formulated a plan of rescue and +put it into immediate execution.</p> + +<p>The two men had approached the vessel in a small skiff on the river, +while Agatha had awaited them in a carriage on the other side. The +moving of the prison ship down the river might have disconcerted their +plans had not the watchful Agatha seen the movement, and following along +the shore reached them when they had almost succumbed from the exposure +and cold.</p> + +<p>The carriage was a commodious one and well equipped for the long +journey, and in a few minutes Agatha had her mistress in a change of +warm clothing. As soon as Edmé was able, she bade Agatha call Tournay to +the carriage door.</p> + +<p>"Thanks are a small return for what you have done," she said as he rode +by her side, "yet they are all I have to give." Then she stretched her +hand out to him with an impulsive gesture,—"Robert Tournay, I misjudged +you when you were last at La Thierry. Will you forgive it?"</p> + +<p>It was the first time she had spoken to him as one addresses an equal, +and it moved him greatly. He leaned forward and took the hand she gave +him, looking down at her with a smile that lit up his face, as he +said:—</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle, I forgave the words you spoke as soon as they were +uttered. It is happiness enough to know that I have saved you." Before +he released it, he thought he felt the hand in his tremble a little.</p> + +<p>The remembrance flashed through her mind, how, years before, she had +once noticed Tournay's manly bearing as he rode into the château-court +upon a spirited horse. She had at that time thought him handsome, with +an air about him superior to his station, and then had dismissed him +from her thoughts. As he rode before her now, the water still dripping +from his clothing, hatless, with damp locks clinging to his forehead, +she thought she had never looked upon a nobler figure among all the +gentlemen who in the old days frequented the château of the baron, her +father.</p> + +<p>"Where are we going?" she asked, with more emotion than such a simple +question warranted.</p> + +<p>"To the German frontier," was the reply. "We must travel rapidly night +and day. I shall hardly dare to stop for rest until you are safely over +the border."</p> + +<p>"I leave myself in your charge," she said, leaning back in the carriage.</p> + +<p>He gave a word of command and the coach rushed forward through the +night.</p> + +<p>Tournay's words had recalled vividly to Edmé her unhappy situation. +Although innocent of all crime, she was proscribed and forced to fly +from her own country to take refuge among those who were invading it. +And the man who rode by the side of her carriage, and had undertaken to +convey her in safety across the border, was a soldier, fighting for the +government that persecuted her. Laying her head upon Agatha's shoulder +she felt her heart swell with bitterness. For hours, during which Agatha +imagined that she slept, she watched in silence through the window the +dark outlines of the swiftly moving landscape. Finally long after +Agatha's regular breathing announced her slumber, Edmé, worn out by the +excitement and fatigue, leaned back in the opposite corner and slept +like a tired child.</p> + +<p>For five days the coach rolled toward the frontier, Tournay and Gaillard +riding on horseback.</p> + +<p>Through Blois, Orleans, Arcis sur-Aube to Bar-le-Duc and on toward Metz +they went, stopping only to exchange their worn-out horses for fresh +ones, and for such few hours of rest as were absolutely indispensable.</p> + +<p>During all the journey, Tournay saw little of Mademoiselle de Rochefort, +although her comfort and her safety were his constant care. The +passport with which he was provided prevented all delay; and it was +thought best that mademoiselle should remain as secluded in the carriage +as possible. When she did step out for a breath of air or a few hours' +rest at some inn she always wore a veil to hide her features. Whenever +he approached her to inform her as to the route they traveled he always +did so with the greatest deference, showing marked solicitude for her +health and comfort; expressing deep regret that the nature of their +journey rendered the great speed imperative.</p> + +<p>One afternoon as they crossed the little stream of the Sarre, Tournay, +who had been riding some fifty yards in advance, drew rein and waited +for the carriage to come up to him.</p> + +<p>"In an hour, mademoiselle," he said, as in obedience to his signal the +vehicle drew up by the roadside, "we shall be across the frontier, and +in Germany. At Hagenhof resides the Baron von Waldenmeer, who I think is +known to you as your father's friend."</p> + +<p>"He was one of my father's friends," Mademoiselle Edmé acquiesced.</p> + +<p>"I remember having often heard his name mentioned at La Thierry," said +Tournay. "So I took this direction rather than further south, which +would have been somewhat shorter. A few hours will bring us to Hagenhof, +where you will be able to put yourself under the baron's protection."</p> + +<p>"And you?" inquired Edmé, "what are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"I shall return to France."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The armies of Prussia and Austria, three hundred thousand strong, were +drawing in on France, to help to crush out the Republic and restore the +old régime.</p> + +<p>The Baron von Waldenmeer's division was already on the frontier, +quartered at Falzenberg—waiting for other troops to come up before +joining the Austrian army at Wissembourg, near which the French had +concentrated a large force.</p> + +<p>On a cold December afternoon two batteries of Prussian heavy artillery +were proceeding through the wood on the road going east from Inweiler, +whence they had been sent to join the main body of troops at Falzenberg. +It was snowing and at five o'clock darkness was already settling down on +the woodland road. Over the snow-carpeted leaves the wheels of the gun +carriages rolled almost noiselessly.</p> + +<p>"Paff," growled Lieutenant Saueraugen, wiping the flakes from his +eyelashes for the twentieth time, as he thought of the hot sausages at +that moment being devoured in the mess-room at Falzenberg, and ten miles +between it and him. "A pest on such weather and such slow progress! at +this rate we shall not be at Falzenberg before midnight."</p> + +<p>"<i>Donnerwetter!</i> what is this?" he cried with his next breath, as along +the road that crossed from the north came a two-horse carriage at a +rapid gait. The driver of the vehicle saw the battery on the other road, +and tried to check the speed of his horses. The rider on the nigh leader +of the caisson whirled his horse to the left, but it received the +carriage pole on the right foreleg and went to the ground, dragging its +mate with it. Then followed a snorting of frightened animals and a +rattling of harness, flavored with the shouts and oaths of the +lieutenant and his men as they tried to bring order out of the +entanglement.</p> + +<p>Two men on horseback rode up from behind the carriage, and with their +assistance the fallen horses were brought to their feet and the broken +harness repaired.</p> + +<p>"Who the devil are you that tear through these woods like this?" +demanded the German, examining the abrasure on the leader's leg. "Come, +give account of yourselves." The two riders had remounted and seemed +anxious to be off.</p> + +<p>"We are bound for Hagenhof," replied one of them. "We are in a great +hurry, and regret this accident, for which we are entirely to blame. +Name the amount which you think a proper compensation for your injured +horse and broken harness and we will gladly pay it."</p> + +<p>He had spoken in German and in the easy, careless manner of one who +deemed the matter too trivial to be the cause of any controversy.</p> + +<p>"You are French!" exclaimed the lieutenant, looking at the party +closely.</p> + +<p>"We are," replied the man who had spoken before.</p> + +<p>"You must accompany me to Falzenberg," said the German officer, "and +interview the general there."</p> + +<p>"What does he say?" inquired the second Frenchman of his companion.</p> + +<p>"Come, you had best not chatter your French before me," put in the surly +lieutenant, as one of the Frenchmen proceeded to interpret to the other. +"You may be spies for all I know, but that we shall find out when we get +to Falzenberg."</p> + +<p>The dark eyes of the second Frenchman looked inquiringly at his comrade. +The other again translated the officer's words.</p> + +<p>"We are most unfortunate, Gaillard, to have fallen in with this +imbecile," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"My friend commends your prudence and judgment," repeated the +interpreter, his mouth widening and showing his white teeth, "and +desires me to tell you that we have important business at Hagenhof. If +you will send us there under an escort, we shall be able to prove that +we are not spying upon the movement of your troops."</p> + +<p>The lieutenant scowled. "Can so few words of your language stand for all +that in German?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>The Frenchman laughed lightly as he replied, "Our language is very +flexible."</p> + +<p>"So perhaps may be your necks," said the officer brutally, a suspicion +entering his mind that he was being laughed at. "But you must come with +me to Falzenberg, and there's an end of it."</p> + +<p>"Why not to Hagenhof?" persisted Gaillard with perfect good-humor.</p> + +<p>"To Falzenberg!" roared the Prussian officer, swearing roundly, "and +before we start, let me see what sort of freight you are carrying along +the road." He approached the carriage with the intention of opening the +door.</p> + +<p>Tournay wheeled his horse between him and the coach with a suddenness +that made the German jump aside to avoid being trodden upon by the +animal.</p> + +<p>"We are going to General von Waldenmeer at Hagenhof," he said, speaking +his own language, "and if you prevent or delay our journey you may rue +it."</p> + +<p>The lieutenant, infuriated at this interference, caught Tournay's horse +by the bridle with one hand, while the other flew to his belt; but the +mention of General von Waldenmeer's name and the ring of decision in the +speaker's voice caused him to pause.</p> + +<p>"General von Waldenmeer at Hagenhof," repeated Tournay slowly and +distinctly, as if he were speaking to a person of defective hearing.</p> + +<p>"Who is making so free with the name of Waldenmeer?" cried a voice in +the French tongue but with a strong German accent; and half a dozen +Prussian officers came riding out of the wood, the fresh-fallen snow +flying from the evergreen branches like white down as their horses drove +through them.</p> + +<p>They circled round the group by the carriage, drawing their animals up +with a suddenness that threw them on their haunches.</p> + +<p>"Who is it that claims the friendship of von Waldenmeer?" repeated one +of the number, this time speaking in German. He was a young man about +twenty-two, with short, dark red hair, and a small mustache. He rode a +black horse that pranced and curvetted nervously.</p> + +<p>"These people, my colonel," said the lieutenant, growing suddenly +polite. "I was about to tell them"—</p> + +<p>"Never mind what you were about to tell them, Lieutenant Saueraugen," +replied the colonel haughtily, "but inform me as briefly as possible +what has occurred."</p> + +<p>Confused by the thought that possibly he had been rude to friends of +General von Waldenmeer, the lieutenant stammered through a recital which +was far from clear.</p> + +<p>While the lieutenant was speaking, the young Prussian colonel was +slapping his boot sharply with his riding-whip, or checking the +impatient pawing of his horse.</p> + +<p>"<i>Potstausend!</i>" he exclaimed, interrupting the unhappy lieutenant in +the middle of his story. "I cannot make head or tail of your account, +Saueraugen. Broken harness, and French spies, closed carriage, and +injured horses." Then, turning to Tournay, he addressed him in French:—</p> + +<p>"I understand you are on your way to find General von Waldenmeer,—he is +in the field, quartered at present at Falzenberg. You can accompany me +there."</p> + +<p>"We are bound for General von Waldenmeer's castle at Hagenhof," replied +Tournay politely, "and with your permission we will proceed there."</p> + +<p>"Do you know the general?" inquired the Prussian colonel.</p> + +<p>"I have not that honor."</p> + +<p>"I am his son, Karl von Waldenmeer, and I think it would be best for you +to accompany me to Falzenberg, where I am going to join my father."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps if the baroness is still at Hagenhof it would better suit the +inclination of the lady whom I escort, Mademoiselle de Rochefort, to go +forward rather than be compelled to go to Falzenberg."</p> + +<p>Colonel von Waldenmeer sat in thought during the long space, for him, of +five seconds. "I think you would better come with me as far as +Falzenberg," he said.</p> + +<p>"As you command," answered Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Did I understand you to say that the occupant of that carriage was a +Mademoiselle de Rochefort?" asked the young von Waldenmeer, as Tournay +spoke aside to Gaillard.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What is the nature of your business with the baron my father?" was the +next question, abruptly put.</p> + +<p>"Will you permit me to discuss that with the baron himself?"</p> + +<p>"As you will," answered the Prussian colonel with hauteur. Then turning +to the group of officers who had sat motionless upon their horses, he +said:—</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, you will please accompany this carriage to Falzenberg. +Lieutenant Saueraugen, bring up your batteries with all possible speed +and report to me. Franz von Shiffen, you will please come with me." He +gave his black charger a slight touch with the spur, the spirited animal +sprang forward, and he was seen galloping down the road, with Franz von +Shiffen riding hotly after him.</p> + +<p>Baron von Waldenmeer, general of the division of the Rhine, was seated +with a beer mug before him and his pipe freshly lit, enjoying his +evening smoke, when word was brought to him that the party of Frenchmen, +encountered by his son and some other members of his staff on the road +from Inweiler, had arrived at Falzenberg, and was now awaiting his +pleasure in the room below. His son, who had come in some time before, +had told him of the incident of the meeting.</p> + +<p>The baron blew a cloud of smoke out of his capacious mouth.</p> + +<p>"Show the entire party up here at once. We can then hear their story and +decide as to the probability of it. You, Karl, send word to General von +Scrappenhauer that I shall have to defer our party of Skat for an hour. +Ludwig, have your father's beer mug replenished. Would you have his +throat become like the bed of a dried-up stream? And now send up your +Frenchmen; I am waiting for them."</p> + +<p>Ludwig von Waldenmeer, who was the picture of his younger brother Karl, +except that he was heavier in build and larger of girth, passed the +beer flagon from his end of the table to his father.</p> + +<p>Karl gave a few commands to an orderly, then took a seat by the +general's side. The latter was a man of about sixty. Around his shining +bald pate was a fringe of grizzled hair that had once been red. His +mustache was a bristling, scrubby brush of the same color. Although not +of great height he was broad of chest and still broader about the +waistband; and even in his lightest boots he rode in the saddle at two +hundred pounds.</p> + +<p>An orderly opened the door and ushered in the four French travelers. +Mademoiselle de Rochefort entered first. She paused for a moment at the +sight of a room full of officers. Then she took a few steps into the +room and stood awaiting the baron's command. The baron took one look at +the figure before him, then rose suddenly to his feet and came toward +her; the other officers took the signal and rose from their places at +the table and stood beside their chairs.</p> + +<p>"You are the daughter of Honoré de Rochefort. One has no need to ask the +question, it is answered by your face." And General von Waldenmeer took +Edmé by the hand and led her to a seat by his side. Agatha kept at her +mistress's elbow like a faithful guardian.</p> + +<p>Tournay and Gaillard, travel-stained and splashed with mud from head to +foot, remained standing by the door.</p> + +<p>"If you have come, as I surmise, to find in Prussia a home denied you by +your native land, let me say that nowhere will you find a warmer +welcome than under the roof of von Waldenmeer," and the general put her +hand to his lips.</p> + +<p>"I have come," she replied, "to find a refuge from the persecution which +follows me in my own unhappy country. Thanks to the devotion of these +friends," and she turned toward Tournay with a look of gratitude, "I +have been able to reach here in safety, to throw myself upon your +protection, and to ask your advice as to my future movements."</p> + +<p>"If you will pardon this reception in a rough soldier's camp, +mademoiselle, and can put up with such poor accommodation as this house +affords, to-morrow you shall be escorted on to Hagenhof, where my wife +will receive you as one of her own daughters." And he bent over her hand +for the second time.</p> + +<p>This unusual show of gallantry on the part of their general caused Franz +von Shippen to place his hand before his mouth to hide a smile, while +Ludwig von Waldenmeer looked up at the ceiling.</p> + +<p>"Franz," called out the general, "interview the good lady whose house we +occupy and see that the best room she has is prepared for Mademoiselle +de Rochefort. Ludwig, to-morrow you shall have the honor of escorting +this lady to Hagenhof. There you shall be welcome, mademoiselle, as long +as you choose to honor us with your company. But rest assured it will +not be long before your own country will be rescued from the miscreants +who are devouring it. All Europe is in arms to avenge outraged royalty; +the Prussian army of two hundred thousand men is now prepared to march +on Paris. With us are thousands of your own nobility. We make common +cause against anarchy and murder. We shall not rest until we have +restored the monarchy and chastised these insolent Republicans."</p> + +<p>Edmé looked quickly in the direction of Tournay, fearful lest the +baron's words should stir him to make a reply, but he and Gaillard stood +listening imperturbably. From their quiet and unobtrusive demeanor the +general had taken them for servants of Mademoiselle de Rochefort and had +not given them a second look.</p> + +<p>"But you are fatigued, mademoiselle," said von Waldenmeer. "To-morrow +morning will be a more fitting time to discuss your affairs. The good +hausfrau by this time is preparing your quarters. I will conduct you to +them. Your followers will be comfortably cared for outside."</p> + +<p>Edmé, glad of an opportunity to escape further conversation, was about +to thank the general for his permission to retire to her room, when the +outer door opened and a number of French noblemen, officers of the +general's staff, entered the room.</p> + +<p>Among them was the Marquis de Lacheville. His quick roving eye caught +sight of Edmé instantly. He stopped in the middle of a conversation with +a companion and looked over his shoulder hastily as if he would retrace +his steps without attracting attention; but it was too late. The deep +voice of General von Waldenmeer sounded in his ears.</p> + +<p>"Ah, here are some of your brave countrymen, mademoiselle, who deem it +no disgrace to serve under the flag of Prussia in order to reconquer the +throne for their rightful sovereign."</p> + +<p>The door behind de Lacheville was closed by the Count de Beaujeu, who +was the last to enter, and the marquis, drawing a deep breath between +his set teeth, stepped forward as one who suddenly resolves to take a +desperate chance.</p> + +<p>"Cousin Edmé!" he exclaimed, coming up to where she was seated and +endeavoring to take her hand. "Thank Heaven you have escaped!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am in a place of safety, thanks to a brave gentleman," she +replied, drawing back her hand. "But do not call me cousin. I ceased to +be your kinswoman when you deserted me at Rochefort. There are no +cowards of our blood." And she turned from him with a look of +unutterable contempt as if he were too mean an object to deserve her +passing notice. She had spoken in a low voice, yet so distinctly that +all in the room heard what she had said. A murmur of surprise ran round +the entire group of officers. The marquis drew back under the rebuff, +his face deadly pale, while he darted at Edmé a look of hatred as if he +could have killed her.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" roared the general as soon as he could master his +astonishment. "One of my aides a coward?"</p> + +<p>De Lacheville gave a quick glance around the room, as a hunted man, +brought suddenly to bay, might seek some weapon to defend himself. As he +caught sight of Tournay, his eyes gleamed wickedly.</p> + +<p>"This mad girl," he exclaimed, pointing to Mademoiselle de Rochefort as +soon as he could control his voice, "was once my affianced bride, but +she has found a mate better suited to her liking. She has been traveling +with him throughout France, and now she seeks to extenuate her own +conduct by slandering me, whom she has wronged."</p> + +<p>"If you are not the coward mademoiselle has called you, you will answer +to me for that lie," said Tournay, throwing Gaillard's restraining hand +off from his arm and advancing toward the marquis threateningly.</p> + +<p>De Lacheville drew back. He remembered the duel in the woods at La +Thierry. He looked again into the dark eyes of the stern man who +confronted him, and his mouth twitched nervously. Then with an effort he +turned to the French gentlemen at his side and said, speaking rapidly, +"This fellow is a Republican, one of those who clamored for King Louis's +death. Shall we forget our oath to kill these regicides wherever we may +find them?"</p> + +<p>Before he had finished speaking, three swords were out of their +scabbards and three infuriated French noblemen sprang at Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel!" shouted General von Waldenmeer, as his Prussian +officers beat down the points of the excited Frenchmen, "will you spill +blood here under my very nose? Colonel Karl von Waldenmeer, place those +French gentlemen under restraint, and let there be quiet here while I +examine into these charges."</p> + +<p>The Marquis de Lacheville had taken up a position near the door.</p> + +<p>"He is Robert Tournay, an officer of the Republican army!" he cried out +as he sheathed his sword. "While he is here in the disguise of a lackey +in waiting to Mademoiselle de Rochefort, his intention is to play the +spy and return with his information to France. For your own sake, +General von Waldenmeer, you should place him where he can do you no such +injury."</p> + +<p>"What answer have you to make to this?" said the old general, addressing +Tournay. "Are you a servant of Mademoiselle de Rochefort, or are you a +spy of those Republican brigands? Speak! I condemn no man unheard."</p> + +<p>Tournay looked round the room before replying.</p> + +<p>"I am a colonel in the Republican army," he said quietly. "But I came +here solely to bring mademoiselle to a place of safety; not to spy upon +your army, which as a matter of fact I thought twenty miles further +east."</p> + +<p>General von Waldenmeer broke the silence that followed this avowal.</p> + +<p>"You admit that you are an officer in the Republican army. You are +within our lines under very peculiar circumstances. You may have taken +advantage of Mademoiselle de Rochefort's confidence in you to play the +spy. Until it is proven to the contrary, I must take the ground that +both you and your companion are spies, and treat you accordingly. +Colonel von Waldenmeer, you will send for a file of soldiers and place +these two men under arrest."</p> + +<p>"General von Waldenmeer!" said Edmé de Rochefort, turning toward the old +baron with an appealing gesture, "you are about to commit an act of +grave injustice. Colonel Tournay is guiltless of the charge of being a +spy. The charge was brought against him out of malice and revenge by the +man who has just slandered me so basely."</p> + +<p>She did not look at the Marquis de Lacheville, but under the general +gaze which was directed toward him as she spoke, he quailed and shrunk +from the room, shivering as with ague.</p> + +<p>"This gentleman," she went on, looking at Tournay gratefully, "has +incurred great danger and endured much privation in order to bring me +here in safety. He has been brave and devoted when others cravenly +deserted me; and if he should be treated by you as a spy it would be as +if I had decoyed him here only to destroy him."</p> + +<p>"No, mademoiselle, no," said Robert Tournay in a low tone.</p> + +<p>By a quick gesture she bade him be silent.</p> + +<p>"General von Waldenmeer, you are a brave soldier. You have professed the +greatest friendship for your old friend's daughter. She now asks you to +release these gentlemen. As a soldier and a gentleman you are bound to +grant her prayer."</p> + +<p>She spoke the words simply and in the tone which was natural to her, as +if the request admitted of no denial; and laying her hand upon the +general's arm looked into his rough face.</p> + +<p>For a moment he sat in silence. His heavy brows came down until they +shaded his eyes completely. Then taking the hand that rested on his +sleeve, he said:—</p> + +<p>"At the risk of neglecting my duty as a soldier, I will grant your +request. These men shall go free, but," he added hastily, as though his +consent to their liberation had been given too quickly, "they must be +kept under surveillance here until to-morrow, and then they shall be +escorted back over the frontier. Colonel von Waldenmeer," he continued, +addressing his son, "I leave you to conduct these French gentlemen to +their quarters. I make you responsible for their keeping."</p> + +<p>Edmé held out her hand to Tournay. "Good-night, Colonel Tournay," she +said. "It is a great joy and relief to know that you are to come to no +harm through having brought me here. And you, who have done so much for +me, will surely overlook this last and slight indignity which you are +called upon to endure for my sake."</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," he replied, bending over her hand and speaking in a tone +so low that none other in the room could hear, "there is nothing in the +world I would not endure for your sake. To have you speak to me like +this repays me a thousand-fold. Adieu, mademoiselle. Now, Colonel von +Waldenmeer, I am ready;" and with Gaillard at his side he followed young +von Waldenmeer from the room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>UNDER WHICH FLAG?</h3> + + +<p>As the three men came out into the corridor, the large outer door opened +and a sergeant of artillery stepped over the threshold, saluted the +colonel, and stood awaiting orders. The fine snow drifted past him into +the hall, stinging the faces of von Waldenmeer and his two prisoners.</p> + +<p>The colonel turned toward the Frenchmen, and addressing them in his +quick way, said:—</p> + +<p>"It is a vile night. Give me your word not to leave the quarters to +which I assign you until sent for, and I will permit you to pass the +night more in comfort under this roof."</p> + +<p>Tournay gladly assented, the young von Waldenmeer spoke a few words of +command to the sergeant, who turned on his heel and repeated the order +in guttural tones to some snow-covered figures behind him. The door +closed with a loud bang and the escort was heard marching away.</p> + +<p>Colonel Karl then led the way up a broad oaken staircase to a room at +the end of a long corridor on the upper floor.</p> + +<p>"My own room is just opposite," said he with a gesture of the head, as +he threw open the door. "You will be more comfortable here than in the +guard-house."</p> + +<p>The house which General von Waldenmeer had chosen for his headquarters +at Falzenberg was a commodious one, built around an open court, where in +summer a fountain played in the centre of a green grass plot. Tournay +stepped to one of the windows and looked out upon the scene. The bronze +figure in the fountain was draped with ice, and a great mound of snow +filled the centre of the square, where the soldiers had cleared a +passage for themselves. On the opposite side were the stables, and from +the neighing and stamping of hoofs, Tournay judged more than a dozen +horses were kept there. Lights flashed here and there as a subaltern or +private moved about in the performance of the night's duties.</p> + +<p>The first thing which had struck Gaillard's eye on entering was a large +canopied bed. This reminded him too forcibly of his fatigue to be +resisted. He threw himself down upon it, boots and all, and was asleep +as soon as his head touched the pillow.</p> + +<p>Von Waldenmeer stood in the centre of the room, slapping his hessians +with a little flexible riding-whip. Tournay began to thank him for the +courtesy he had shown them, when the latter stopped him in his abrupt +way, saying:—</p> + +<p>"I was watching the Marquis de Lacheville's face while he was denouncing +Mademoiselle de Rochefort, and if ever I saw liar written upon a man's +countenance it was on his then. I wish that he had lied when he accused +you of being a colonel in the Republican army." And Colonel Karl strode +toward the door impatiently.</p> + +<p>"Why should you have wished that?" demanded Tournay. "I am proud of my +position."</p> + +<p>"Bah!" exclaimed the German, with his hand on the latch, "you should be +in the Prussian army. It is an honor to serve in the army that was built +up by the great Frederick. A man of your courage should not be content +to serve among those Republican brigands. Good-night,"—and he +disappeared rapidly through the door, slamming it behind him.</p> + +<p>Tournay roused Gaillard from his slumber. Both men were numb with +fatigue. They had not taken off their clothes and slept in a bed since +leaving Paris, and five minutes later they had thrown off their garments +and sunk into a deep sleep in the large, white bed.</p> + +<p>For ten hours Tournay slept without moving. Then he yawned, threw out +both arms, opened his eyes a little, and was preparing to sleep again +when he became conscious that a man was standing beside the bed. Opening +his heavy eyes a little further, he recognized Gaillard and said to him +drowsily:—</p> + +<p>"Well! What is it, Gaillard? Can't I get a few minutes' sleep +undisturbed?"</p> + +<p>"The forenoon is half gone," replied Gaillard; "you've slept enough for +one man."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say that it's morning already!" exclaimed Tournay, +leaning on one elbow and blinking at the light.</p> + +<p>"Morning! The finest kind of a morning," replied Gaillard gayly. "I've +been up these two hours. I gained permission to go to our carriage, and +I have taken out a change of linen from our equipment in the boot."</p> + +<p>Tournay sprang from the bed and looked out of the window. The sun was +high in the heaven, and the day was bright and cold.</p> + +<p>"That Lieutenant Sauerkraut, or whatever his name may be," said +Gaillard, "has just come up to say that the general would like to see +you at your convenience. The lieutenant was particularly civil, for him, +so I surmise nothing will interfere with our early departure. It's +astonishing how quickly an underling takes his tone from his superior +officer. I suppose it will be better for you to wait upon the general at +once, while the old gentleman is in a good humor," continued Gaillard, +"and as I have been given the liberty of the courtyard, I will employ +the time in looking after our horses."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Tournay. "I will go to General von Waldenmeer. I hope +nothing will interfere with our immediate departure."</p> + +<p>General von Waldenmeer was seated at his table with a pile of maps and +papers before him. At Tournay's entrance the two officers who were +standing at the general's side withdrew to the further end of the room. +It was the same room in which the scene of the previous evening had +taken place. On the table at the general's elbow stood his beer-mug, +filled with his morning draught. The old soldier was evidently very much +absorbed in the work before him, for his heavy brows were drawn over +his eyes and his lips were moving as he studied the papers. From time to +time he reached out his left hand mechanically and took up the beer-mug, +refreshing himself with a long pull. With the exception of the two +officers, there were no other occupants of the room.</p> + +<p>The picture of Mademoiselle Edmé, as she had appeared when pleading to +the general in his behalf, was so vivid in Tournay's mind that he stood +silently before the table, oblivious to his surroundings. He remained in +this position for some minutes when the general, upon one of his +searches for inspiration at the bottom of the beer-mug, glanced over the +rim and saw the Frenchman standing like a statue before him.</p> + +<p>"<i>Potstausend!</i>" he exclaimed, as soon as he had set down the mug and +wiped the white froth from his mustache. "You were so quiet that I +forgot your existence and have been studying out a plan of campaign +against General Hoche under your very nose. He's a clever little man, is +Hoche," continued the old German musingly. "There is some sport in +beating him."</p> + +<p>Tournay smiled quietly at hearing his idol patronizingly spoken of by an +officer who had not won half his fame.</p> + +<p>"I wish you better success than your predecessor in the attempt, General +von Waldenmeer," he said.</p> + +<p>The general smiled grimly at this hit and then changed the subject by +saying:—</p> + +<p>"Last evening I told you that I would send you back to France with an +escort to the frontier."</p> + +<p>Tournay bowed affirmatively.</p> + +<p>"Since then, Mademoiselle de Rochefort has told me in full the story of +her escape from Tours, recounting your part in it, and dwelling most +flatteringly upon your bravery and discretion."</p> + +<p>Tournay bowed again in acknowledgment.</p> + +<p>"The service you have rendered the daughter of my old friend, by +effecting her rescue and bringing her here in spite of such great +obstacles, makes my obligation to you deep, very deep. My honor and my +inclinations are one, when they move me to accord you, not only your +freedom, but to offer you a commission in my son's regiment, the Tenth +Prussian heavy artillery."</p> + +<p>If the general had ordered him out to instant execution or conferred +upon him in marriage the hand of his daughter Gretchen, Tournay could +not have felt more surprise. For a few moments he could find no words in +which to answer, and the general turned to the papers he had just laid +down.</p> + +<p>"Is my entry into your service made a condition of my freedom?" he +finally found breath to inquire.</p> + +<p>The Prussian general looked up from the map he had been studying, +pressing his fat finger upon it to mark the place.</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," he replied, "I make no conditions in paying a debt."</p> + +<p>"Then I will take my liberty, which you have promised to restore to me," +answered Tournay, "and return to France."</p> + +<p>It was now the general's turn to be surprised.</p> + +<p>"You mean to say that you will go back to Paris?"</p> + +<p>"I shall return to the French army at—It is needless to tell you where, +as you have been studying the map so attentively."</p> + +<p>"But," interrupted General von Waldenmeer, "within six months our allied +armies will be in Paris. There will be no more Republic, and every one +who has been instrumental in the death of King Louis XVI. and the +destruction of the monarchy will have to pay the penalty. You are a +young man. You have been led into this republicanism by older heads. I +offer you an opportunity—not only of escaping the consequences of your +folly but the chance of redeeming yourself by fighting on the right +side—and you refuse?" and the general reached out for the beer-mug to +sustain himself in his disappointment. He was so sincere in his offer +and in his amazement at its refusal that the angry color on Tournay's +cheek faded away and a smile crept to his lips.</p> + +<p>"Come," said the old general, putting down his mug after an unusually +long pull at the contents, "you are thinking better of it. I can +understand a soldier's disinclination to desert his colors, but this is +not as if I were asking you to be a traitor to your country. A von +Waldenmeer would cut out his own tongue rather than propose that to any +other soldier. I am putting it in your way to leave the service of a +faction who by anarchy and rebellion have gained control of France. +Under the banner of the allies are the true patriots of your country. +You have only to throw off that red, white, and blue uniform and put on +the colors of Prussia and you are one of them."</p> + +<p>Again the flush of resentment rose to Tournay's cheek, but as he looked +down upon the German general who in perfect good faith and seriousness +made him such a proposal, and as he realized the utter impossibility of +either of them ever seeing the subject in the same light, his look of +anger changed to one of amusement, and a grim smile twitched at the +corners of his mustache.</p> + +<p>"I appreciate the honor you would do me, General von Waldenmeer, but I +prefer to pay the penalty of my folly and remain loyal to the French +Republic."</p> + +<p>The general took up his papers again. "Very well," he said gruffly. "I +will provide you with an escort over the frontier. It will be ready to +start within the hour." His eyebrows came down and he became deeply +immersed in the study of the map.</p> + +<p>Tournay stood for a few moments looking at the fat forefinger of the old +soldier as it traced its way over the surface of the map. His thoughts +were of Mademoiselle de Rochefort. He wondered whether she had set out +on her way to Hagenhof. He almost hoped that she had left and that he +would be spared the pain of parting from her. Yet if she were still at +Falzenberg he knew he never could force himself to leave and not make an +attempt to bid her good-by.</p> + +<p>It was with these conflicting emotions, mingled with a reluctance to +mention her name to the gruff old general, that he said in a low +voice:—</p> + +<p>"Has Mademoiselle de Rochefort started on her journey to Hagenhof?"</p> + +<p>He received no answer.</p> + +<p>There had been a slight tremor in his voice as he spoke Edmé's name. +Hesitating for a moment, he stepped to the table and placing one hand on +it he asked again in a steady tone, "When does Mademoiselle de Rochefort +go to Hagenhof?"</p> + +<p>The one word "To-morrow" came abruptly out of the large head buried in +the papers before him.</p> + +<p>Tournay drew a sigh of relief. If she had gone away, leaving him no +word, he would have been the most miserable of men. Without further +words with the general he turned and left the room.</p> + +<p>As he went along the hallway be heard the rustle of a woman's gown +behind him, and turning, saw to his great satisfaction the figure of +Agatha hurrying toward him.</p> + +<p>"Agatha," he exclaimed, as she came up to him, "where is mademoiselle? +Can I see her?"</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle is in Frau Krieger's apartment at the further end of the +east wing. If you will come with me I will show you where it is. It is +fortunate that I have met you as I do, else it would have been difficult +to find you in this large place."</p> + +<p>"Then you were sent to fetch me?" inquired Tournay eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I did not say that," replied Agatha with a quiet smile.</p> + +<p>"But you evidently were in search of me," persisted Tournay.</p> + +<p>"I have no time to answer questions now," she replied, with a laugh. +"Here is the room," and she ushered him into a long old-fashioned salon, +whose uncomfortable pieces of furniture looked as if they had stood for +generations staring at their own ugly reflections in the polished +surface of the floor.</p> + +<p>At one end of the room stood a porcelain stove in which a fire was +burning; but the large white sepulchral object seemed to chill the +atmosphere more than the fire could warm it. Two high windows hung with +heavy curtains faced the square in front of the house, while in the rear +two other windows looked out upon the courtyard.</p> + +<p>Frau Krieger, the widow of a Prussian officer of high rank, had reserved +the salon and one or two adjoining rooms for her own use, and saw with +pride the remainder of her domicile turned into barracks by General von +Waldenmeer and his staff.</p> + +<p>"Wait here a moment and I will tell mademoiselle," said Agatha, +traversing the salon and disappearing through a door in the further +side. Tournay walked to the front window and glanced out on the street.</p> + +<p>The sentinel at the porte-cochère was on the point of presenting arms to +Ludwig von Waldenmeer, who rode out; and two of the general's staff +officers stood smoking and chatting in front of the building. Tournay's +alert ear caught the sound of light footsteps, and he turned just as +Edmé crossed the threshold from the inner room.</p> + +<p>He had told himself many times within the last few minutes that the +interview must be a brief one if he were to retain complete mastery over +his feelings. As he approached her, his face, in spite of his efforts to +control it, expressed some of the emotions which the sight of her +awakened.</p> + +<p>She extended her hand to him in her graceful, natural way, and he bent +over it, mechanically uttering the words he had been repeating over and +over to himself.</p> + +<p>"I have come, mademoiselle, to say adieu."</p> + +<p>At this, the color which had mantled her cheek as he touched her fingers +disappeared.</p> + +<p>"You have not seen General von Waldenmeer, then?" she asked quickly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mademoiselle, and because I have seen him I intend to start at +once."</p> + +<p>"General von Waldenmeer says that in less than three months' time the +Prussian army will be in Paris," said Edmé.</p> + +<p>A slight smile of incredulity was Tournay's only reply.</p> + +<p>"The monarchy will be restored," she continued; "little mercy will be +shown the Republicans. They will have justice meted out to them by their +conquerors."</p> + +<p>"The allied armies will never reach Paris, mademoiselle, and before they +restore the monarchy they must kill every Republican who stands between +them and the throne."</p> + +<p>"I do not want them to kill you," she said simply.</p> + +<p>His heart beat wildly. For an instant he did not speak. When he could +trust his voice to answer he said:—</p> + +<p>"I thank you deeply for your solicitude, mademoiselle, but whatever +happens I must go back to my duty."</p> + +<p>Edmé hesitated a moment, then spoke, at first with evident effort; then +warming into a tone of almost passionate entreaty.</p> + +<p>"You have done much for an unhappy woman, Robert Tournay. The +remembrance of the loyalty and devotion with which you watched over and +protected me shall never pass out of my memory. The de Rocheforts do not +easily forget such a debt as I owe you. In an attempt to repay it in +some measure, I persuaded General von Waldenmeer to offer you an +honorable position in his service. I am a proud woman, Monsieur Tournay, +and it cost me something to make such an appeal to the Prussian officer, +and now you reject his offer and present yourself before me so coolly +and say carelessly, 'I have come, mademoiselle, to bid you adieu.'"</p> + +<p>"You think it easy for me to say those words?" replied Tournay +vehemently.</p> + +<p>She did not wait for him to finish, but went on:—</p> + +<p>"I place it in your power to serve the rightful cause, honorably and +loyally,—the cause of the king; <i>my</i> cause, Robert Tournay, and you +refuse to do so."</p> + +<p>"Do you not see that what you propose would be my dishonor?" he asked +gently.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Edmé firmly. "You are a brave but obstinate man, who +madly pursues a wicked course; because, having once espoused it, you +think to desert it would be disloyal. You are mad, Robert Tournay, but I +will rescue you from your folly. I will save you in spite of yourself. I +command you to stay here!" and with the same imperious gesture which he +knew so well of old, she stood before him, her dark blue eyes, as was +their wont under stress of excitement, flashing almost black. The tone +was one of command, but there was in it a note of entreaty that went to +his heart. He caught the hand which she held out to him, and exclaimed +fervently:—</p> + +<p>"I would give ten years of life to be able to obey you, but it cannot +be. You do not know what you are asking of me or you would not put my +honor thus upon the rack. It is cruel of you, mademoiselle, but I +forgive you. You cannot understand. How should you—you are of the +Monarchy, and I am of the Republic. The Republic calls me and I must +go."</p> + +<p>"The Republic!" repeated Edmé, "Oh! execrable Republic! It has robbed me +of everything in the world—family, estate, friends, and now"—She +paused, the sentence incomplete upon her lips, and looked at him with an +expression of pain upon her face as if some violent struggle were +taking place within her. "And now you are going back to it. You may +become its victim; you, who are so brave and strong and noble. Yes," she +continued, "I will give the word its full meaning, Robert Tournay, you +are noble—too noble to become a martyr in such a cause. I entreat you +not to go. I fear for your safety."</p> + +<p>Tournay's head swam. For a moment he felt that he must fold her in his +arms and tell her that for her sake he would give up everything in the +world for which he had striven,—country, liberty, and honor; the +Republic itself.</p> + +<p>With a mighty effort he threw off the feeling of weakness, passionately +crying, "For God's sake, mademoiselle, do not speak to me like that. You +will make me forget my manhood. You will make me act so that your +respect, which I have been so fortunate as to win, will turn to +contempt. You could almost make me turn traitor to the Republic."</p> + +<p>"What is this Republic? this creature of the imagination which you place +above all else in the world?" she asked impetuously. "What has it done +for France? What has it done for you?"</p> + +<p>Before Tournay could answer, the sound of martial music was heard +outside, and the measured tread of passing troops shook the room. He +stepped to the window and drawing aside the curtains motioned Edmé to +come to his side.</p> + +<p>Wonderingly she approached and saw a brigade of infantry passing in +review of the general of division. They marched with absolute +precision, the sun reflecting on the polished barrels of their guns as +on a solid wall.</p> + +<p>"There go the best troops in the world," said Tournay. Edmé looked up in +his face with surprise at his sudden change of manner.</p> + +<p>"The soldiers of Prussia: at the command of their officers they will +march like that to the batteries' mouth, closing up the gap of the +fallen men with clock-work movements. There are two hundred thousand of +them, and they are preparing to attack France. Joined with them are the +tried veterans of Austria. On the sea," he continued, "the fleets of +England are bearing down upon the ports of France. In the south, Spain +is pouring her soldiers over the Pyrenees. These allied armies have +banded together to destroy France. Yet we shall throw them back again, +as we did at Wattignes and at Jemappes. There the flower of the European +armies was scattered by our raw French troops. Although outnumbered and +outmanœuvred, the <i>men</i> of France hurled back their foes in broken +and disordered array. And why? Because in the heart of every Frenchman +burns the new-born fire of liberty. He is fighting for the freedom he +has bought so dearly. He is fighting for that Republic which has made +him what he is—a <i>man</i>! It is France against the world! and by the +Republic alone will she triumph over her enemies. That is my answer, +mademoiselle. The Republic has made a new France, and <i>I</i> am part of it. +At her call I must leave everything and go to her defense."</p> + +<p>While he spoke thus, Edmé saw his face animated with a light she had +learned to know so well,—the same light that had shone from his eyes +when he confronted the mob in her château; the same fire that flashed as +he defended himself before General von Waldenmeer.</p> + +<p>"You say I place my duty to the Republic above any earthly +consideration," he said. "Let me tell you that I hold your respect still +dearer. If I should desert my cause, the cause for which I have lived, +should I not lose that respect? Ask your own heart, mademoiselle, would +it not be so?"</p> + +<p>She stood in silence. Then her eyes met his. He read her answer there +before she spoke, and in the look she gave him he thought he read still +more—something he dared not believe, scarcely dared hope.</p> + +<p>"You are right," she replied, speaking slowly and distinctly. "Go back +to France! It is I who bid you go."</p> + +<p>"I knew you would tell me to go," he replied.</p> + +<p>The sound of voices in the corridor outside fell upon their ears.</p> + +<p>"There are Gaillard and the escort," said Tournay, sadly. "Mademoiselle, +good-by! I may never see you again. But I thank God that you are here in +safety, and I shall find some happiness in the thought that I have been +an instrument in your deliverance."</p> + +<p>She did not answer, but stretched out her hand to him. He took it, and +dropping on one knee, put it to his lips. "It is for the last time," he +said, looking up at her. His face was deadly pale, and there was a look +of pleading in his brown eyes.</p> + +<p>She placed her other hand upon his head. It was but the slightest touch, +as if she yielded to a sudden impulse, and then with the same swift +movement she drew away from him.</p> + +<p>"As it <i>must</i> be, I pray you to go quickly," she said, and without +waiting for a reply she turned and left him.</p> + +<p>Tournay rose to his feet,—"I swear to you now, mademoiselle, that some +day I shall see you again," and he rushed from the room to the courtyard +below.</p> + +<p>"Are the horses ready?" he whispered hoarsely, grasping Gaillard by the +arm.</p> + +<p>"At the door with an escort of Prussian officers," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"What time is it?"</p> + +<p>"Three hours before dark."</p> + +<p>"We must be over the frontier and well into France by to-night," was +Tournay's rejoinder. "Come!"</p> + +<p>Standing by the window, Edmé saw him leap into the saddle. He gave one +look in her direction, but could not see her, concealed as she was by +the heavy curtains.</p> + +<p>She heard the officers laughing and talking among themselves. She saw +one of the men jump from his horse, tighten a saddle girth, and remount +with an agile spring. Then Colonel von Waldenmeer approached and +addressed some remark to Robert Tournay. The latter, who had been +sitting erect and motionless upon his horse, turned slightly in the +saddle to answer the Prussian officer.</p> + +<p>Edmé could see that his features were set and their expression stern.</p> + +<p>Colonel von Waldenmeer mounted his own horse, gave a word of command, +and the party started forward.</p> + +<p>Edmé watched them as they went up the road. Ten horses riding two +abreast, the snow flying out from under the heels of the galloping +hoofs. She watched them until the square shoulders of Colonel Tournay +were hardly distinguishable from those of Colonel Karl who rode beside +him. The cavalcade disappeared around a bend in the road, and Edmé +turned from the wintry aspect without to the dreary salon with a heavy +heart.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THE FOUR COMMISSIONERS</h3> + + +<p>Under the escort of Karl von Waldenmeer and half a dozen of his French +officers, Tournay and Gaillard rode rapidly toward the French boundary.</p> + +<p>It had stopped snowing during the night, and the weather was clear and +cold.</p> + +<p>They rode in silence, no sound being heard but the regular dull beating +of their horses' hoofs on the snow-covered ground.</p> + +<p>They drew out of the wood and saw the frozen surface of the Rhine before +them, the sun dazzling their eyes with its reflected light upon the ice.</p> + +<p>With one accord the party reined in their horses and sat motionless, +looking at the glorious sight of the ice-bound river.</p> + +<p>Karl von Waldenmeer was the first to break the silence. Pointing with +his gloved hand toward the opposite shore he said:—</p> + +<p>"There, gentlemen, is France, and my road ends here."</p> + +<p>Tournay merely made an inclination of the head in assent. He was +thinking sadly of Edmé standing by the window in the cheerless old salon +at Falzenberg; but as he looked out over the river towards his own land +he remembered the army on the other side of the Vosges; the prospect of +the impending campaign caused his spirits to revive, and he replied:—</p> + +<p>"We owe you thanks, Colonel von Waldenmeer, for the kindness you have +been pleased to show us. When we meet again it will doubtless be upon +the field of battle, but I shall not even then forget your courtesy of +to-day."</p> + +<p>"It will always give me pleasure to meet you again, under any +circumstances, Colonel Tournay," said the Prussian, "and if it be on the +field, to cross swords with you. A brave foe makes a good friend, and I +shall be glad to count you as both of these. And now, gentlemen, we will +relieve you of our escort; there lies your way over that bridge, just +below here. We return to Falzenberg."</p> + +<p>"Let us cross upon the ice," said Gaillard to Tournay; "it will bear our +weight easily."</p> + +<p>They rode down the bank. At the brink their horses drew back, but being +urged by their riders, went forward, feeling the ice daintily with their +forefeet with cat-like caution. Seeing that the ice was quite safe, the +Frenchmen put spurs into their horses and the animals swung into a +gallop, their iron-shod feet cutting into the ice with a pleasant, +crunching sound.</p> + +<p>Reaching the further side, they rode up the steep bank, then reined in +their horses and looked back. The declining rays of the sun tipped the +snow-clad hemlock trees on the other side of the river with crimson, +and against the dark outline of the forest behind, the figures of +Colonel von Waldenmeer and his officers sat motionless as statues. Each +party gave the military salute, and the Prussians rode back into the +wood, while Tournay and Gaillard sat looking after them until they were +no longer in sight.</p> + +<p>"We are on French soil once more," exclaimed Tournay, "and now to join +General Hoche and fight for it."</p> + +<p>"I had best return to Paris," said Gaillard.</p> + +<p>"I fear to have you return there now, after having put your head in +danger by assisting me," said Tournay anxiously.</p> + +<p>"I shall be as safe in Paris as anywhere in the world," replied his +friend. "Nobody will suspect the actor Gaillard of having any connection +with the flight of Mademoiselle de Rochefort. I cannot do better than to +return to Paris and resume my usual mode of life there. While, if you +are suspected, as is more likely, of instigating or effecting +Mademoiselle de Rochefort's escape from Tours, you must look to your +military reputation and your influence in the convention to protect you +from an inquiry on the part of the rabid revolutionists."</p> + +<p>"What you say, Gaillard, is sound reasoning. I will follow your advice. +Embrace me, my friend, and let us part here."</p> + +<p>"Good-by until we meet again, my colonel!" was Gaillard's only audible +reply, and then he rode off toward the west, while Tournay turned his +horse in the direction of the north, where the French troops lay +encamped.</p> + +<p>It was about noon of the next day when he reached the French army, and +stopping only at his own tent to put on his uniform he hurried to the +headquarters of General Hoche and reported for duty. He had traveled so +rapidly from Tours that he reached the army almost as soon as General +Hoche expected him, and the general attributed the delay of a day or so +to the bad condition of the roads.</p> + +<p>Tournay hesitated to set him right in the matter, as he deemed it more +prudent to refrain from mentioning to anyone his part in Mademoiselle de +Rochefort's escape.</p> + +<p>"What news do you bring from the convention?" was the question of the +general as they were seated alone.</p> + +<p>"Bad!" replied Tournay, "as you can tell by the tone of these +dispatches. The convention has many able men in it, but they are +dominated too entirely by the Revolutionary Tribunal, and that body is +dominated too much by one man. His power is ruining the Republic. Unless +we get rid of Robespierre, we might as well go back to the monarchy."</p> + +<p>After a few moments spent in reading the papers Tournay had put in his +hand, General Hoche looked up with an expression of annoyance on his +brow.</p> + +<p>"Yes; the insulting tone of this dispatch is almost beyond endurance. I +am glad after all that my business is out here fighting the external +enemies of France. Were I at Paris, I should be embroiling myself daily +with some of those who are in power. If we meet with the slightest +reverses here at the front there is a howl from St. Just and that crowd +that we are betraying the Republic. Meanwhile they furnish us with a +beggarly equipment. It is they who are betraying the Republic. Were it +not for Danton we should get nothing. He alone makes success against our +enemies possible. And we must be successful, Colonel Tournay; look here +at the plan of campaign."</p> + +<p>And the young general, in his military ardor, forgetting entirely the +insulting dispatch, turned with enthusiasm to the maps which lay spread +out on the table.</p> + +<p>"Here are the bulk of the Austrian forces at Wissembourg. That old +German beer-barrel von Waldenmeer is at Falzenberg. He intends to +concentrate his troops there and then bring them up to join the Austrian +general, Wurmser."</p> + +<p>Tournay started at his own general's accurate information in regard to +the enemy's position and plans.</p> + +<p>"We must attack Wurmser at once before he can receive reinforcements, +and then proceed to Landau. They have beaten us once at Wissembourg and +will not be looking for us to take the offensive again so soon. I have +already given the order to mobilize the troops. I and my staff will ride +forward this evening. By to-morrow night we shall have retaken +Wissembourg."</p> + +<p>"One moment, general," interrupted Tournay, as Hoche took up another +map. "I wish to tell you that I have just seen General von Waldenmeer at +Falzenberg."</p> + +<p>Hoche looked at his officer with surprise.</p> + +<p>"I went to the Prussian frontier on an errand, the nature of which I +should prefer to keep secret for the present. I was suspected of being a +spy, taken prisoner, and brought before General von Waldenmeer. He +listened to my explanations and released me under circumstances no less +peculiar than those which brought me within his lines." Here Tournay +stopped, the blood coming to the surface under the bronze of his cheek +at the steady gaze of General Hoche.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" inquired the latter.</p> + +<p>"That is all," answered his colonel, "except that had I not made this +detour I should have been here twenty-four hours earlier, and that as I +got within the Prussian lines by mistake and did not go as a spy, I can +give you no information which you have not already obtained."</p> + +<p>"If you had arrived twenty-four hours later you would have missed the +grandest opportunity of your life; I intend to give you, Colonel +Tournay, the command of a brigade in the approaching battle."</p> + +<p>"A brigade?" echoed Tournay in surprise.</p> + +<p>"You shall atone for your breach of discipline by bearing great +responsibility in the attack. I intend your brigade to be where the +fight is hottest, and if there is anything left of it after the +engagement, and of you, colonel, you shall continue to command it and I +will recommend you for promotion."</p> + +<p>Tournay grasped his chief by the hand.</p> + +<p>"You may be sure, General Hoche, that I shall do my utmost to deserve +the honor you have done me."</p> + +<p>"I was persuaded of that before I determined to give you the command," +replied Hoche; "now go forward and join your regiment. By midnight I +shall be at Wissembourg and shall have one last word with all of my +generals. I do not believe in protracted councils of war."</p> + +<p>That evening Colonel Tournay was encamped before the field of +Wissembourg. He sat in his tent waiting for the summons that should +bring him to General Hoche's council board.</p> + +<p>An orderly entered with the word that a commission of four men from the +Committee of Public Safety at Paris wished to speak to him.</p> + +<p>Tournay started from the reverie into which he had fallen. His thoughts +had been dwelling upon the events of the past week, and the announcement +struck a discordant note in his meditation. "Show them in," he replied +briefly.</p> + +<p>In another moment the four commissioners stood before him. Three of the +men were unknown to him, but the fourth was Gardin. The latter, as +spokesman, stood a little in advance of the others. On his face there +was a look of mingled insolence and triumph.</p> + +<p>Tournay's gorge rose at sight of the man, but remembering that he was +the recognized emissary from the committee he controlled his impulse to +kick him from the tent.</p> + +<p>"Will you be seated, citizens?" he said, rising and addressing his +remark more to the three commissioners who were not known to him than to +Gardin. "Orderly, bring seats."</p> + +<p>"Our business with you will be of such short duration that we shall have +no need to sit down," answered Gardin curtly.</p> + +<p>"Orderly, do not bring the seats," was Tournay's quick order, as he +resumed his former place on a camp-chair and sat carelessly looking at +the four men standing before him. This placed Gardin in just the +opposite rôle from that he had intended to assume. He saw his mistake at +once, and hastened to recover his lost ground.</p> + +<p>"Citizen colonel," he said, drawing a paper from his pocket and putting +it in Tournay's hands, "here is a document from the committee which even +you cannot question. It is addressed to Robert Tournay."</p> + +<p>Tournay broke the large red seal of the letter and read:—</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Citizen Colonel Robert Tournay</span>; with the Army of the Moselle, +Citizen General Lazare Hoche commanding:—</p> + +<p>The Citizen Colonel Tournay is hereby summoned to appear before +the Committee of Public Safety to answer charges affecting his +patriotism and loyalty to the Republic. He will resign his +command at once, and return to Paris in the company of the four +commissioners who bring him this document.</p> + +<p>Signed: For the Committee of Public Safety,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Couthon,</span><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">St. Just.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This 5th Pluviose, the year II. of the French Republic one and +indivisible.</p></blockquote> + +<p>When he had finished reading the document Tournay folded it carefully +and placed it in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Well?" demanded Gardin impatiently.</p> + +<p>"I cannot at present leave the army," was the reply.</p> + +<p>The four commissioners exchanged looks.</p> + +<p>"We are on the eve of a decisive engagement with the enemy. When that is +over—in a few days, if I am alive, I will answer the committee's +summons."</p> + +<p>"We were instructed to bring you back with us at once," said one of the +commissioners.</p> + +<p>"And we'll do it, too," muttered another under his breath.</p> + +<p>The fourth pulled Gardin by the sleeve and whispered something in his +ear.</p> + +<p>"I regret, citizen commissioners," repeated Tournay, "that I cannot at +present leave the army."</p> + +<p>Then rising suddenly and confronting Gardin he said passionately:—</p> + +<p>"Tell your masters that it is not necessary to drag Robert Tournay to +Paris like a felon, that he will appear before the committee of his own +free will; that he regards the welfare of France as paramount to +everything else, and that his duty to her will take him to the field +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Your answer is not satisfactory to us," persisted Gardin, "nor will it +be to the committee. Once more, and for the last time, citizen colonel, +will you obey this summons as it is written?"</p> + +<p>"No!" thundered Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Then in the name of the Republic I suspend you from your command, and +arrest you as a traitor. Lay hands upon him!"</p> + +<p>Gardin himself, remembering his previous encounter with Tournay in which +he had come off so poorly, merely gave the command, leaving the others +to execute it. Two of them stepped forward with alacrity, one upon each +side of Tournay, and grasped him by the arms.</p> + +<p>He offered no resistance, but raising his voice a little called out:—</p> + +<p>"Officers of the guard!"</p> + +<p>Half a dozen of his Hussars who were in the adjoining tent hastened in +at his call.</p> + +<p>"Arrest these four men!" commanded Tournay quietly.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" cried Gardin; "arrest us at your peril. We are the authorized +emissaries of the Committee of Public Safety," and he flourished his +commission in the soldiers' faces. "We are but carrying out our strict +orders. To lay hands upon us will be to bring down upon your heads the +vengeance of Robespierre."</p> + +<p>The Hussars stood still. The name of the man who governed France under +the cloak of the Republic made them hesitate.</p> + +<p>"Conduct the prisoner away with as much dispatch as possible," said +Gardin in a quick, low tone to his companions.</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Dessarts, arrest these four men instantly," repeated +Tournay. There was a ring in his voice which his subordinates well +understood, and without further hesitation they laid hands upon the +Paris commissioners and proceeded to drag them from the tent by force.</p> + +<p>"He has been relieved of his command and therefore has no right to give +you orders. Are you slaves that you obey him thus?" yelled Gardin, +struggling with the big corporal who held him.</p> + +<p>"See that no harm is done them, Lieutenant Dessarts," Tournay called out +as the men were led away. "Conduct them outside our lines and give +orders that they shall not be permitted to return."</p> + +<p>Following them to the door of his tent, Tournay coolly watched the +unhappy commissioners as they were led away, protesting vehemently +against the indignity of their arrest and vowing vengeance for it.</p> + +<p>It was a cold winter night, and the wind blew down through the mountain +passes of the Vosges with biting keenness. Throwing his cloak over his +shoulder he strolled out through the camp. In spite of the chilling wind +the soldiers showed the greatest enthusiasm. As he went down the long +line of camp-fires, he was recognized and cheered roundly. Cries of +"We'll beat them at Wissembourg to-morrow, colonel!" "Landau or death!" +greeted him on all sides.</p> + +<p>The next day showed that they had not uttered vain boasts.</p> + +<p>Tournay's command, sweeping through a narrow defile in the face of a +destructive fire, tore through the enemy's centre, and combining with +Dessaix on the left, and Pichegru on the right, sent Wurmser's troops +backward before his Prussian allies could come to his assistance.</p> + +<p>With the cry of "Landau or death!" the victorious French dashed on +toward the beleaguered city and raised the siege just as the brave +garrison was in the last extremity for want of food and ammunition.</p> + +<p>The day after the relief of Landau, Colonel Tournay entered the tent of +the commander-in-chief. Hoche rose to meet him, and taking him by the +hand said warmly:—</p> + +<p>"Colonel Tournay, in the name of France I thank you for the efficiency +and bravery displayed yesterday. The victory of Wissembourg will live in +the annals of history, and a full share of the glory belongs to you. In +my dispatches to the convention I have not omitted to mention your noble +conduct."</p> + +<p>The generous Hoche pressed the hand of his colonel in fraternal feeling. +He was two years younger than Tournay, although care and fatigue gave +him the looks of an older man. At twenty-four this remarkable man had +risen to be preëminently the greatest general in France, and but for his +premature death might in later years have contested with Napoleon for +his laurels.</p> + +<p>"I have come, general, to ask your permission to return to Paris," said +Tournay, much gratified by the words of praise from the lips of one whom +he regarded as the greatest military hero of the age.</p> + +<p>"Again?" said Hoche, in a tone of surprise.</p> + +<p>"The Committee of Public Safety have seen fit to summon me to appear +before them," Tournay continued. "Some one has been found to impeach my +loyalty, and I must answer the charge."</p> + +<p>A shade passed over the face of Hoche.</p> + +<p>"But I can ill spare you, Colonel Tournay. What does this committee mean +by suspecting the integrity of an officer in whom I have implicit faith? +By Heaven, I will not permit it! If they arrest you, I'll throw my +commission back in their faces before I will allow you to answer their +charges."</p> + +<p>"That, my general, would but work injury to France, who depends upon +such a man as you to save her. You surely will not desert her because a +few overheated brains at Paris have seen fit to listen to some of my +traducers. I will go back to Paris and confront my enemies. My conduct +at Wissembourg will be an answer to their charge of treason." And the +colonel drew himself up with a flash of pardonable pride in his dark +eyes.</p> + +<p>"You may be right," replied Hoche, "but I would not trust them. The +reputation which your conduct at Wissembourg will create for you will +make them jealous, and they will whisper it about that your popularity +renders you dangerous. I know them. They become jealous of any man's +reputation. They will have me before the bar of their tribunal as soon +as they feel that they can spare me."</p> + +<p>And Hoche laughed scornfully as he uttered the prophecy which was so +soon to be fulfilled.</p> + +<p>"I have no fear but that I shall be able to satisfy them as to loyalty," +replied Tournay, smiling at the absurdity of the great and popular Hoche +pleading before the tribunal.</p> + +<p>"Well, go if you will, but understand, Tournay, that if you refuse to +obey this summons, I will protect you. They shall bring no fictitious +charges against a trusted officer in my army without entering into a +contest with me."</p> + +<p>"I thank you again, my general, but I will not permit you to embroil +yourself with the committee on my account. You are too indispensable to +France. Now I will take the leave of absence you accord me. In ten days +you may look for my return."</p> + +<p>General Hoche shook his head as Tournay left his presence:—</p> + +<p>"I fear it will be longer than that, my friend," he sighed to himself.</p> + +<p>Colonel Tournay, accompanied by but one orderly, rode toward Paris. The +feelings of pride and pleasure which his general's praise had raised in +his heart were subdued by the humiliation at being summoned before the +Committee of Public Safety. But there was a fire in his eye, and a +hardening of the lines near the mouth which boded that he would not +submit tamely to insult nor an unjust sentence.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE SWORD OF ROCROY</h3> + + +<p>Citizen St. Hilaire had just come in from making a few purchases at the +baker's shop in the Rue des Mathurins. Shortly after dusk that evening +he had recalled to mind that he was without the gill of cream for his +next morning's coffee, and also that the small white loaf which formed a +part of his breakfast was at that moment reposing crisp and warm on the +counter of the baker's shop a few doors distant.</p> + +<p>As Citizen St. Hilaire was very particular about his coffee and always +liked to have a certain choice loaf that Jules, the baker in the Rue des +Mathurins, made to perfection late every afternoon, he had braved the +wind and rain of a stormy January evening, and gone out to procure his +next morning's repast.</p> + +<p>Returning to his small apartment at the top of the house, he threw off +his wet cloak and was on the point of extracting from his pocket a +little can of cream, when a knock sounded at the door of the chamber +which served him for sitting-room, dining-room, and library. Putting the +can upon the table, he took up a lamp and went to the door.</p> + +<p>A young woman stood upon the threshold. She had evidently come in a +carriage, for the costly clothes she wore were quite unspotted by the +rain.</p> + +<p>"This is Citizen St. Hilaire," she said in a tone of conviction as she +stepped into the room.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire bowed and stepped back to place the lamp upon a small table +near at hand, and stood waiting the further pleasure of his visitor.</p> + +<p>As he stood within the circle of light, the young woman looked from him +to his modest surroundings with marked curiosity, her eyes dwelling upon +each object in the room in turn. It did not take long to note every +piece of furniture; the table, arm-chair, a few books, the violin case +in the corner, with a picture or two and a pair of rapiers upon the +wall. When she had completed her survey of the room her gaze returned to +him once more.</p> + +<p>He was plainly dressed in a suit of dark brown color. His linen was +exquisitely neat, and his figure was so elegant that although his coat +was far from new, and of no exceptional quality, it became him as well +as if it were of the most costly material.</p> + +<p>"Will you be seated?" said St. Hilaire, drawing forward the arm-chair +from its corner.</p> + +<p>The young woman took the seat he offered her.</p> + +<p>"And so you are Citizen St. Hilaire," she repeated as if the name +interested. "I—I am Citizeness La Liberté. I remember you well," she +continued; "I saw you a number of times, years ago, at the home of the +Marquis de——But why mention his name? There are no more marquises in +France, and he was a worthless creature," and she tossed back her head +with a gesture of careless freedom.</p> + +<p>"No," he repeated, "there are no more marquises," and with a laugh he +seated himself opposite her. The sharp end of the crisp loaf in his +pocket made him aware of its presence. He took it out and put it in its +place upon the table beside the cream.</p> + +<p>"The Republic has caused many strange changes, but I should never have +dreamed of finding you here like this, Citizen St. Hilaire," and again +she eyed him wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"The Republic has done a great deal for you?" said St. Hilaire, raising +his eyebrows inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Everything," replied La Liberté with emphasis, while her eyes and the +jewels on her bosom flashed upon him dazzlingly. Her look indicated that +she thought the Revolution had not dealt so generously by him.</p> + +<p>"It has done much for me too," said St. Hilaire.</p> + +<p>"What good has it done you?" inquired La Liberté incredulously.</p> + +<p>"It has taught me wisdom," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Oh," she answered contemptuously, "it has brought me pleasure. +Therefore I love it. But you, Citizen St. Hilaire,—will you answer me a +question?"</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire bowed in acquiescence.</p> + +<p>"Are you satisfied with this Republic? I know it is dangerous to speak +slightingly of it in these days, but between us, with only the walls to +hear, do you like it?"</p> + +<p>"I am never satisfied with anything," replied St. Hilaire with just a +touch of weariness in his voice.</p> + +<p>"I should think that you would hate it. I should were I you," and La +Liberté shook her brown curls with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Notwithstanding," said St. Hilaire, "I would not go back to the old +régime."</p> + +<p>"I do not understand you at all," exclaimed La Liberté in despair, with +a puzzled look on her brow.</p> + +<p>"Why try?" he asked dryly. "I have given it up myself. Tell me in what +way I can serve you?"</p> + +<p>"I have come here to do you a service," she answered. The room was warm, +and as she spoke she threw her ermine-lined cloak over the back of the +chair.</p> + +<p>A slight trace of surprise showed itself upon Citizen St. Hilaire's face +as he looked at her inquiringly.</p> + +<p>She had evidently found the chair too large to sit in comfortably, for +she perched herself upon its arm with one foot on the floor while she +swung the other easily.</p> + +<p>"That is extraordinary!'" he exclaimed. "It is a long time since any one +has gone out of his way to do me a service. May I ask why you have done +so?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can hardly tell you why," she replied, tapping her boot heel +against the side of the chair. It was a very dainty foot and clad in +the finest chaussure to be found in Paris. "You were once kind to a +friend of mine," she went on to say, slowly—"and I rather liked +you—and so I have come to show you this." She put a slip of paper into +his hand.</p> + +<p>It was headed, "List for the fifteenth Pluviose." Then followed a score +of names. St. Hilaire saw his own among them near the end.</p> + +<p>The young woman watched him earnestly while he read it. The careless +look had quite disappeared from her face, and given place to one of +seriousness.</p> + +<p>"It is a list of names," said St. Hilaire, turning the paper over and +looking at the reverse side to see if it contained anything else. "And +my name is honored by being among them. Where did it come from? What +does it mean?"</p> + +<p>"I picked it up," replied La Liberté. "I saw it lying on a table. I did +not know the other names upon it and should never have touched it had I +not seen your name. And I resolved that you should see it also, and be +warned in time. But you have little time to spare. To-morrow is the +fifteenth."</p> + +<p>"Warned?" repeated St. Hilaire, "of what?"</p> + +<p>"Every man whose name is upon that list will be arrested to-morrow. It +may be in the morning, it may be during the day, it may be late at +night. But it will surely be to-morrow. Oh! I have seen so many of those +lists, and of late they are longer and more frequent."</p> + +<p>"Whose handwriting is this?" inquired St. Hilaire, looking at +critically.</p> + +<p>"I dare not tell," said La Liberté in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"As long as you have revealed so much, why not go a step further and +make the information of greater value?" he insisted quietly.</p> + +<p>"One of the committee, I dare not mention his name even here," and she +looked around the room furtively. "One of the most powerful," she went +on, in a very low tone, as if frightened at her own temerity. "Cannot +you guess?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think I can," rejoined St. Hilaire musingly.</p> + +<p>"Now that you have had this warning I hope you will be able to elude +them. Give me the paper again, Citizen St. Hilaire, that I may replace +it before it is missed. He is at the club now, but I must hurry back. +Never mind the light; I can find my way well enough. My eyes are used to +the dark."</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire took up the lamp, and in spite of her remonstrances +accompanied her down the four flights of stairs. At the door stood a +handsome equipage.</p> + +<p>"That is mine," she said, as St. Hilaire escorted her to the carriage; +there was the same slight touch of pride in her tone that had crept out +once before. "This once belonged to the Duchess de Montmorenci," she +said. "It is rather heavy and old-fashioned, but will do very well until +I can get a new one."</p> + +<p>"I see that you have had the coat of arms erased," St. Hilaire +remarked. "I suppose your new carriage will have a red nightcap on the +panel."</p> + +<p>"Now you are laughing at me," she said, tossing back her brown curls +with a pout. "Good-night, marquis," she added in a low voice in his ear +as he was closing the door of the carriage.</p> + +<p>"Citizen St. Hilaire," he corrected gravely, as she drove away. "You +forget there are no more marquises in France."</p> + +<p>After La Liberté's departure the Citizen St. Hilaire retraced his steps +up the stairs, humming quietly to himself. On reaching the top landing +he entered his room and sitting down by the window he looked out over +the lights of Paris. For two hours he sat thus buried deep in thought +and scarcely moving. When he finally arose from his chair the city clock +had long struck the hour of midnight.</p> + +<p>First drawing the bolt to the door as if to prevent intrusion even at +that late hour, he opened an old armoire in the corner of the room and +took from it an object carefully wrapped in a velvet cover. He took from +the covering a sword, with golden hilt studded with jewels. The +scabbard, too, was of pure gold, set profusely with diamonds, emeralds, +and rubies. Unsheathing the weapon he held it to the light. He held it +carefully, almost reverently, as one holds some sacred relic. His eye +was animated and had he uttered his thoughts he would have spoken +thus:—</p> + +<p>"This is the sword that a marshal of France wielded upon the field of +battle. He was my ancestor, and from father to son it has come down to +me, the last of my race. It is as bright to-day as when it flashed from +its sheath at Rocroy. I have kept it untarnished. It is the sole +remaining relic of the greatness of our name."</p> + +<p>Replacing the sword carefully in its scabbard, he buckled it around his +waist. Then taking a cloak from the armoire he enveloped himself in it, +so as to completely hide the jeweled scabbard. This done, he went into +his bedroom and drew from under his couch a small chest from which he +took a purse containing some money. All these preparations he made +quietly and with great deliberation. Returning to the sitting-room he +unbolted and opened the door. All was quiet. A cat, that frequented the +upper part of the building, and made friends with those who fed it, +walked silently in through the open door and arching her back rubbed +purringly against his leg. He went to the cupboard, and getting out a +saucer filled it with the cream that was to have flavored his next +morning's cup of coffee, and placed it on the floor. The animal ran to +it greedily, and for a few moments St. Hilaire stood watching the little +red tongue curl rapidly out and in of the creature's mouth as she lapped +up the unexpected feast. Then giving a glance about the room, but +touching nothing else in it, he extinguished the light and went out into +the corridor, leaving the door ajar.</p> + +<p>When he passed out into the street he noticed that the rain had ceased. +The wind blew freshly from the west and the night was cool. Drawing his +cloak closer about him and allowing one hand to rest upon his +sword-hilt, he walked rapidly away, humming softly to himself. In the +room he had just left, the cat licked up the last few drops of cream in +the saucer; signified her contentment by stretching herself, while she +dug her forepaws into the carpet several times in succession; then +jumped into his vacant arm-chair and curled up for a nap.</p> + +<p>The Citizen St. Hilaire had always foreseen the possibility of just such +an emergency as now confronted him. He was quite prepared to meet it.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the river in the small and quiet Rue d'Arcis dwelt +an old man. The house in which he lived, number seven, was also very +old. It was large and rambling. St. Hilaire knew it well. As a child he +had played in it. It had once belonged to him, and he had deeded it to +an old servant of his father at a time when he regarded old houses as +encumbrances upon his estates, and when aged servants had found no place +in his retinue. If for no other reason, his family pride had caused him +to make generous provision for a faithful retainer, and now that his own +worldly fortunes were reduced, he knew where to find a home until he +could carry out his plans for leaving the country. For some time past he +had been forming such plans, but with his customary indifference to +danger he had delayed their execution from day to day.</p> + +<p>Crossing the Seine by the bridge St. Michel and following the Quai, St. +Hilaire remembered an unfrequented way to the house in the Rue d'Arcis. +From the Quai on the left was a blind alley that ended at a row of +houses. Through one of these houses had been cut an arched passage to +the street beyond. The passageway came out on the other side almost +directly opposite number seven, and offered a tempting short-cut.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire walked quietly up the alley and had almost reached the +farther end, when a door on the opposite side opened and a woman came +out. The lateness of the hour and the signs of timidity which the woman +showed, caused St. Hilaire to stop in the entrance to the passageway and +look back to observe her actions.</p> + +<p>She peered first down the street cautiously, as if to see that there +were no passers on the Quai, then up at the windows of the houses +opposite to assure herself that she was unobserved from that quarter. +Satisfied as to both of these points, she closed the door noiselessly, +and hurriedly passed down the street. She was, however, not destined to +reach the Quai unnoticed by any other eyes than St. Hilaire's, for she +had not gone fifty paces when a party of four men, talking in loud +voices, crossed the street on the Quai. At sight of them the woman +stopped short and hesitated. The four also stopped and looked at her. +One of them called out to her. Evidently frightened she turned, and +crossing the street hurried back. To St. Hilaire's surprise, she passed +by the house from which she had recently come, and made straight for +the passageway where he stood. The four men gave chase, one of them +overtaking her before she had reached the entrance. He placed his hand +upon her arm, while she cried and struggled to free herself. The hood +fell over her shoulders, and in the light from a lantern, hung upon a +projecting crane from one of the houses, St. Hilaire recognized Madame +d'Arlincourt.</p> + +<p>The exertion to free herself from the man's grasp had caused her hair to +fall down upon her shoulders. Her blue eyes had a wild look like those +of a person whose mind is strained almost to madness. She fought +fiercely for her freedom.</p> + +<p>A dove striking its pinions against a lion's paw could have been able to +effect its release as quickly as the poor little countess from the huge +hand that held her.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire was as gallant a gentleman as ever drew a sword, or raised a +lady's fingers to his lips. On the instant, he forgot his own danger and +the cause of his flight, and stepped forward into the circle of light.</p> + +<p>"How now, citizen? What have you to do with this young citizeness?" he +cried out in distinct tones.</p> + +<p>In his surprise at St. Hilaire's sudden appearance, the man loosened his +grasp upon Madame d'Arlincourt's shoulder. With a cry she flew instantly +to St. Hilaire's side for protection.</p> + +<p>"Defend me, sir, oh, save me from them!" she cried, catching hold of his +arm.</p> + +<p>"I will not let them harm a hair of your head," he whispered in reply; +"calm yourself, my dear madame."</p> + +<p>The quiet way in which he spoke seemed to bring back some part of her +self-control. She ceased crying and stood by his side like a statue, +although he could feel by the pressure on his arm that she still +trembled.</p> + +<p>"Well, citizen, what would you with this citizeness?" repeated St. +Hilaire in a loud voice, as the other men came up behind their comrade.</p> + +<p>"Her actions are suspicious; she may be an aristocrat. We want to bring +her to the Section for examination," answered one of them.</p> + +<p>"Let her come to the Section," echoed another.</p> + +<p>The fellow who had first laid hands upon the countess now recovered +speech. "If she's an aristocrat here's at her; I've killed many an +aristocrat in my day." As he spoke he drew himself together and raising +his musket leveled it at the woman's head.</p> + +<p>The countess tightened her grasp on St. Hilaire's arm with both her +hands, rendering him powerless for the moment.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire pushed her gently behind him, and looking straight into his +opponent's face, said firmly:—</p> + +<p>"She shall certainly go to the Section, citizen, but first put down your +weapon and let me speak. I am Citizen St. Hilaire—were we in the +Faubourg St. Michel almost anybody would be able to tell you who I am."</p> + +<p>"I know you, citizen!" exclaimed one of the men in the rear, "and you +should know me also. My name is Gonflou!" and the fellow grinned +good-naturedly over the shoulder of his companion, as if he recognized +an old friend.</p> + +<p>"Ah yes, good citizen Gonflou!" repeated St. Hilaire. "Restrain the +ardor of this patriot who handles his musket so carelessly, while I +question the little citizeness."</p> + +<p>"Lower that musket, Haillon, or I'll beat your head with this," said +Gonflou, rattling his heavy sabre threateningly.</p> + +<p>Haillon muttered an oath and lowered the muzzle of his weapon.</p> + +<p>"We can't be all night at this," he growled. "Better let me take a shot +at the woman; she's an aristocrat, that's flat."</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire bent over the countess.</p> + +<p>"Release my arm!" She obeyed like a child. Stepping back with her a +couple of paces, he continued:—</p> + +<p>"Who is in the house you have just come out of? Answer me truthfully and +fearlessly."</p> + +<p>She looked up into his face, and he saw that she now recognized him as +she answered in a whisper, "My husband. He is ill. I could only venture +out after midnight to summon a physician who is known to us."</p> + +<p>"Well," exclaimed Haillon, impatiently grinding the butt of his gun on +the pavement, "how long does it take to find out about an aristocrat?"</p> + +<p>"She was going to summon a doctor to attend a sick father," said St. +Hilaire without looking at Haillon.</p> + +<p>"Bah," growled the latter.</p> + +<p>"Right behind us," continued St. Hilaire, in a very low voice, and +looking into the countess' face earnestly to enforce his words, "is a +passageway that leads to the Rue d'Arcis."</p> + +<p>Madame d'Arlincourt nodded. She understood.</p> + +<p>"When I next begin to talk to these men, you must go through that +passage to the house opposite. It is number seven. You will not be able +to see the number, but it is directly opposite; you cannot mistake it. +Knock seven times in quick succession. Some one will inquire from +within, 'Who knocks?' You must reply 'From Raphael.' Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the countess.</p> + +<p>"You are taking up too much of our time, citizen," interrupted Haillon, +"let me take a hand at questioning."</p> + +<p>"Be silent, Haillon;" said St. Hilaire in a tone of quick authority.</p> + +<p>"The door will be opened without further question. Once inside you must +tell them that you were sent by Raphael, and that they are to keep you +until it is safe for you to return to your own domicile. Now +remember!—as soon as I enter into conversation with these men."</p> + +<p>"I can remember," replied the countess, "but what are you going to do +after that? Will they not harm you?"</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire laughed lightly. "Oh, I will take care of that. I expect to +follow you in a few minutes." Then he turned and advanced a few steps in +order to cover her retreat more fully.</p> + +<p>"The citizeness has convinced me that she is nothing but a poor +sewing-girl in great distress at the illness of her father. I have told +her that she might continue on her errand for a doctor unmolested. You +are over-zealous, good Haillon, to see an aristocrat in every shadow."</p> + +<p>"She has disappeared," cried Gonflou.</p> + +<p>Haillon raised his musket with finger on the trigger. St. Hilaire's hand +struck upward just as the detonation echoed through the quiet street. +Then the smoke, clearing away, revealed Haillon upon the pavement, while +the sword in St. Hilaire's hand was red with blood.</p> + +<p>"He has killed a citizen," bellowed Gonflou. "Comrades, cut him down. +Avenge the death of a patriot."</p> + +<p>Three sabres were uplifted against the citizen St. Hilaire. He drew back +a pace or two and with a smile upon his lips warded off the blows aimed +at his head and breast. Then he poised himself and set his face firmly. +The sword which had first won renown on the field of Rocroy now flashed +in the light of the flickering lamp of the passage d'Arcis, and another +of his assailants fell to the ground.</p> + +<p>The wrist that wielded it was just as supple and the white fingers that +held the jeweled hilt just as strong as when, in the days gone by, the +Marquis de St. Hilaire was known as the best swordsman in his regiment.</p> + +<p>His two remaining adversaries hesitated in their attack for a moment. +Then Gonflou, bleeding from two deep wounds and bellowing like an angry +bull, sprang at him again with his heavy sabre lifted in both hands.</p> + +<p>One of the two fallen men had half raised himself and dragged over to +where Haillon lay. He drew a pistol from the dead man's belt and, +leaning forward, fired under Gonflou's arm. The blow from Gonflou's +sabre was parried, then Jean Raphael de St. Hilaire fell forward on his +face and lay without moving upon the pavement, while the sword of Rocroy +fell ringing to the ground.</p> + +<p>One of the attacking party was still unhurt. He raised his weapon over +the prostrate body at his feet. Gonflou pushed him aside roughly. +"That's enough, citizen. We'll take him to the Section without cutting +him up." The man who had fired the shot had since busied himself with +tying up his own wounded arm. He now bent over St. Hilaire. "He still +breathes," he said. "Had we not better finish him?"</p> + +<p>"No, my little Jacques Gardin," was Gonflou's answer, who, the moment +the fight was over, became as good-natured as before; "let us take him +to the Section."</p> + +<p>"But he has killed Haillon," persisted young Jacques, who had reloaded +the pistol and was handling it lovingly.</p> + +<p>"Pah," replied Gonflou, with a laugh, "Haillon should have been careful +when playing with edged tools. Come, citizens, take hold and we'll carry +them both to the Section. You may take your choice, Citizen Ferrand, the +corpse or the dying man. I'll carry either of them, and little Jacques +shall run ahead. Forward, march, comrades."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>SOMETHING HIDDEN</h3> + + +<p>"Colonel Robert Tournay, you are summoned before the Committee of Public +Safety!" Silence followed this call. The clerk repeated his summons. +Again silence.</p> + +<p>"I move," said one of the members, "that the examination proceed. The +citizen colonel was summoned and has not appeared. If he is not here to +defend himself, that is his affair, not ours."</p> + +<p>"Citizen Bernard Gardin," said the president, "repeat to the committee +the result of your interview with the Citizen Tournay."</p> + +<p>Gardin rose. "The said citizen, Colonel Tournay, refused to recognize +the mandate of the Committee of Public Safety. The commissioners sent to +apprehend his person were treated with marked disrespect and expelled +from the camp with insult." Gardin spoke the words with bitter emphasis.</p> + +<p>Without even looking at him, Danton interrupted the witness. "The +citizen colonel pleaded that an impending battle made it necessary for +him to remain in the field, did he not?"</p> + +<p>"He did make some such excuse," sneered Gardin.</p> + +<p>"Instead of refusing to obey the summons, the citizen colonel stated +that, the battle once decided, he would hasten to Paris, did he not?" +continued Danton, lifting his voice and turning his eyes full upon +Gardin.</p> + +<p>"He did say he would come at some future time," admitted Gardin, "but he +refused to obey the summons which called upon him to return with the +commissioners."</p> + +<p>"And thereby insulted the committee," said Couthon.</p> + +<p>"If the committee recalls our officers from the field upon the eve of +battle they must expect our armies to be defeated," Danton remarked +dryly. "Colonel Tournay refused to obey the letter of the summons and +remained at his post of duty. The French armies have just won a glorious +victory at Wissembourg in which the accused distinguished himself by +great bravery and devotion to the Republic. I move that when he does +appear he receive the thanks of this committee in the name of France."</p> + +<p>"Do you advocate rewarding him for his disobedience and his indifference +to our authority?" inquired President Robespierre.</p> + +<p>"I believe that victories are more important to France at this juncture, +citizen president, than any slight disregard of the letter of the +committee's authority."</p> + +<p>Robespierre shut his thin lips together and turned to St. Just.</p> + +<p>"Let us proceed with the inquiry," he said after a moment's +consultation. "Clerk, call the other witnesses."</p> + +<p>"Are you not going to give Colonel Tournay twelve hours longer in which +to appear in person?" persisted Danton.</p> + +<p>"Of what use would that be?" asked Couthon. "He will not come within +twelve months."</p> + +<p>"Let the inquiry proceed," commanded the president impatiently.</p> + +<p>As if to show his indifference to the proceedings, Danton rose from his +seat, yawned, and then strolled to the window. As he did so, a sudden +shout rose from a crowd gathered below. Danton bent forward and looked +out into the street to ascertain the cause.</p> + +<p>The door swung open and Colonel Tournay entered the room. He was +followed by many of the crowd. The news of the great victory of the +French armies on the frontier had just reached Paris and stirred it with +enthusiasm. The people in the streets had caught sight of his uniform +and surmising that he had just come from the scene of war pressed about +him closely, crying for details of the battle. Some had recognized him +personally and called out his name. The great crowd had taken it up, and +cheered wildly for one of the heroes of Wissembourg and Landau.</p> + +<p>There was a flush of excitement on his cheek and a sparkle in his eye as +he stepped forward.</p> + +<p>"I understand that I am called before this committee to answer certain +charges," he said in a clear ringing voice. "What is the accusation? I +am here to answer it."</p> + +<p>The crowd outside the door took up the shout.</p> + +<p>"Yes, of what is the citizen colonel accused? Who accuses the hero of +Landau?"</p> + +<p>Robespierre changed color and hesitated. Danton eyed the president with +a sneer upon his lips, which he made no attempt to conceal. The breach +between the two men had widened to such an extent that it had become a +matter of common gossip.</p> + +<p>"You are accused of winning a battle," said Danton with a laugh,—"a +rare event in these days."</p> + +<p>Robespierre turned and whispered to St. Just. The latter answered +Tournay.</p> + +<p>"There are three charges against you," he said. "First, you are accused +of having been concerned in the rescue of a certain Citizeness de +Rochefort from prison boat number four on the River Loire. Secondly, of +escorting the said Citizeness de Rochefort across France under a false +name. Thirdly, of having insulted the authority of four commissioners +sent by the Committee of Public Safety to arrest you. These accusations +have been preferred against you before this committee, which feels +called upon to investigate them carefully. If they decide that there is +sufficient evidence to warrant it, they will bring the case before the +Revolutionary Tribunal. Now that you have heard the charges, I ask you: +Do you wish to employ counsel?"</p> + +<p>"With the permission of the committee I leave my case in the hands of a +member of the convention, Citizen Danton," said Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Call the first witness," said St. Just.</p> + +<p>"Citizen Lebœuf to the stand," cried the clerk.</p> + +<p>The bulky form of Lebœuf lumbered forward. His face was red and his +eyes heavy. His testimony was given hesitatingly, as if he were +endeavoring to conceal some of the facts. He deposed that the accused, +Tournay, had assisted in rescuing the Citizeness de Rochefort from the +prison boat number four on the River Loire on the fifth Nivose. +Cross-examined by Danton, he admitted reluctantly that he could not +swear to the identity of the accused, but felt certain it was he. It was +a man of just his height and general appearance; he had good reason to +know that the citizen colonel was much interested in the fate of the +Citizeness de Rochefort.</p> + +<p>Danton dismissed him with a contemptuous wave of the hand, and Lebœuf +retired, outwardly discomfited and purple of face, yet with a certain +inward sense of relief that the examination was over.</p> + +<p>"The citizen colonel admits that he escorted a woman to the frontier," +Danton went on, "but it was under a passport issued by the Committee of +Public Safety. It has not been proven that this woman was the escaped +prisoner, Citizeness de Rochefort. He also admits having refused to +accompany the commissioners to Paris, and having expelled them from his +camp. For this act of discourtesy to the committee he offers an apology, +and pleads in extenuation that it was on the eve of a battle in which +his presence was necessary to our armies."</p> + +<p>Robespierre turned to St. Just and Couthon. They held an animated +discussion, during which both the latter were seen to remonstrate. +Finally at a signal from the president, the entire committee withdrew +for consultation.</p> + +<p>Tournay glanced about the room. He knew that he had the interest and +sympathy of most who were present, and from the manner in which the +inquiry had been conducted, he felt little anxiety as to the result.</p> + +<p>He had not long to wait before the members of the committee entered the +room and took their places.</p> + +<p>The president touched the bell. St. Just rose, and speaking with +apparent reluctance said:—</p> + +<p>"The committee do not find sufficient evidence to warrant the trial of +Colonel Robert Tournay upon the charge of treason to the Republic."</p> + +<p>A cheer rang through the room, which was re-echoed in the corridor and +out into the street beyond.</p> + +<p>The president touched his bell sharply. St. Just continued:—</p> + +<p>"The committee relieves Colonel Tournay from his command for the +present. He will await here in Paris the orders of the committee in +regard to returning to the army. The inquiry is now ended, and the +meeting adjourns."</p> + +<p>Tournay walked out of the court accompanied by Danton and through the +street to his friend's lodgings, followed by an admiring crowd cheering +the hero of Landau.</p> + +<p>Two incidents took place in quick succession during the short walk to +Danton's house.</p> + +<p>These incidents had no relation to each other, yet they both gave +Tournay the uncomfortable sensation that besets a man when he is +contending with unknown or secret forces.</p> + +<p>In passing by the Jacobin Club he saw a man enter at the door. He could +not see the face, but the figure and movements were so much like those +of de Lacheville that had he not felt sure that it would be equivalent +to the marquis's death-sentence for him to be found in Paris, he would +have been certain it was his enemy. The idea was so unlikely, however, +that he dismissed it from his mind.</p> + +<p>As they passed down the Rue des Cordelières and reached the door of +Danton's house, a man, issuing from the crowd, brushed closely against +Tournay's shoulder. In doing so the colonel felt a letter slipped into +his hand. "From a friend," sounded in his ear. "Examine it when alone." +Tournay mechanically put the paper in his pocket, and followed Danton +into the house, upon the giant uttering the laconic invitation:—</p> + +<p>"Come in."</p> + +<p>"You have not said a word about the prompt dismissal of the charges +against me," said Tournay, as they entered the dingy room which served +Danton for office as well as salon.</p> + +<p>The giant threw off his coat and filled his pipe. Taking a seat he began +to smoke rapidly.</p> + +<p>"There is more behind it," he said.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Did you not notice that no attempt was made to convict you?"</p> + +<p>"I did, but I attributed it to lack of evidence on their part."</p> + +<p>"Lack of evidence!" repeated Danton. "They are capable of manufacturing +that when needed."</p> + +<p>"I confess I thought it possible that the popularity of the army with +the people had something to do with it."</p> + +<p>Danton smiled pityingly.</p> + +<p>"I tell you that there is something behind it all. I cannot account for +Robespierre's sudden change. It was he who directed your acquittal. +There is something behind all this. He works in the dark, and secretly. +Tournay, I mistrust that man as much as I hate him," and he began to +smoke violently.</p> + +<p>"Why do you not crush him, Jacques?" asked Tournay coolly.</p> + +<p>"Ay, that's the question I often ask myself," said Danton, lifting up +his mighty arm and looking at it, smiling grimly the while as if he were +thinking of Robespierre's sallow face and puny body.</p> + +<p>"If you don't crush him, he will sting you to death," added Tournay +impressively, as he rose to go.</p> + +<p>Danton doubled up his arm once more till the muscles swelled into great +knots upon it. "Ha, ha," he laughed, "I don't fear that, Tournay; he's +too much of a coward to lay hands upon me."</p> + +<p>"Do you never fear for your own safety when you see so many falling +beneath the hand of this man who rules France?" asked Tournay.</p> + +<p>Danton started at the words "rules France."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he does rule France. He rules the tribunal. He rules me, curse +him! But as for fearing him, Jacques Danton fears nothing in this world +or the next."</p> + +<p>"Good-night," said Tournay shortly. "But remember, Jacques, you, of all +men, can crush the tyrant if you will."</p> + +<p>"Good-night," said Danton, placing his huge hand on Tournay's shoulder. +"Be assured that Robespierre is holding something back. There is +something behind the mask. Be prepared."</p> + +<p>Tournay laughed. "I cannot, perhaps, say unreservedly that I fear +nothing in this world or the next, Jacques, but be assured, I do not +fear him." And he walked away with head erect and military swing, toward +the Rue des Mathurins. Danton resumed his pipe, muttering to himself +like some volcano rumbling inwardly,—</p> + +<p>"Jacques, you can crush him if you will!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE PRESIDENT'S NOTE</h3> + + +<p>As Tournay entered the doorway of 15 Rue des Mathurins an excited little +man brushed quickly past him, muttered an apology, and ran hurriedly up +the street. Under his arm he carried a handsome coat.</p> + +<p>"I'll wager that's some thief who has been plying his trade upstairs," +thought Tournay. "It was clumsy on my part to let him get by me. But I'm +too tired to run after him. He can wear his stolen finery for all me." +And he climbed up the stairs to the fourth landing.</p> + +<p>"Welcome, my general!" cried Gaillard, rising up and throwing to one +side the theatrical costume into which he was neatly fitting a patch.</p> + +<p>"Not general yet, my little Gaillard," was the reply, as the two friends +embraced warmly.</p> + +<p>"How? Not a general yet?" exclaimed the actor. "Why, all the city is +ringing with news of the victory of Wissembourg and the hero of Landau!"</p> + +<p>"That may be, my friend, but I have not received my promotion, and, what +is more, I am not expecting it. I shall be quite satisfied to have the +convention send me to the front again, where there is work to be done."</p> + +<p>"Bah! Is the convention mad that it overlooks our bravest and best +officer?" exclaimed Gaillard in a tone of disgust.</p> + +<p>"Wait until you have heard what I have to tell you, and then say whether +I shall not be fortunate if permitted to return to my command, even if +it be but one regiment."</p> + +<p>"Danton is right," said Gaillard, when the colonel had finished his +account of the day's proceedings. "Undoubtedly there is something behind +all this; what it is, the future will show."</p> + +<p>"In the mean time let us have something to eat," said Tournay; "I am as +hungry as a wolf. Is there any food in the house?"</p> + +<p>"An unusual supply," was Gaillard's answer. "We will dine in your honor, +colonel, and though the convention has not seen fit to adorn your brow +with laurels, I will make some amends by pledging your health in a glass +of wine as good as any that can be found in Paris to-day."</p> + +<p>"I shall be pleased to eat a dinner in any one's honor, for I have eaten +nothing since daylight, and it is now four o'clock."</p> + +<p>"Sit down for one moment then, while I take a few last stitches in my +work here. I had expected to wear a new costume in the piece to-night, +'Le Mariage de Figaro,' but the tailor brought a garment that fitted +abominably, and to the insult of a grotesque fit he added the injury of +an exorbitant bill, so I refused the coat and dismissed him with an +admonition."</p> + +<p>"I must have encountered your tailor as I came up," said Tournay. "He +was very pressed for time, and seemed to have taken your admonition much +to heart."</p> + +<p>"Not exactly to heart," replied Gaillard, his mouth widening with a +grin, "for I emphasized my remarks rather forcibly with my shoe. I +kicked him down one flight of stairs, and he ran down the others."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid your dramatic nature causes you to be rather precipitate at +times, Gaillard," remarked Colonel Tournay, smiling.</p> + +<p>"On this occasion all the precipitation was on the part of the tailor," +replied Gaillard. "Well, this old costume is mended; it will have to +serve me for a few nights. Now for dinner. Take your place at the table. +I shall sit at the head, and you, as the guest, shall occupy the place +at my right hand. You will excuse me for one moment, will you not, while +I serve the repast?" and before Tournay could answer Gaillard had left +the room.</p> + +<p>Tournay seated himself at the table, and took from his pocket the letter +which had been placed in his hands on the street. It was addressed in a +large hand to "Citizen Colonel Robert Tournay." The writing was that of +a person who evidently wielded the pen but occasionally, and he could +not be sure whether it came from a man or woman. He broke the seal and +read:—</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Citizen Colonel</span>,—Your attitude toward some of the members of +the Convention has made you a number of enemies. Do not take +the dismissal of the charges brought against you before the +committee as an evidence that these enemies are defeated; they +have merely resolved to change their tactics during your +present popularity. Had you been defeated at Wissembourg and +Landau, you would not now be at liberty. You may be sure these +men have your ultimate downfall in view. Distrust them all.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Tournay ran his eyes hastily over a list of a dozen names, among which +were Couthon, St. Just, and Collot-d'Herbois.</p> + +<p>"Here it is, hot and succulent from the kitchen of Citizeness Ribot," +called out Gaillard, appearing from an inner room with a steaming dish, +which he placed before him. "What have you got there?" he asked, blowing +on his fingers to cool them.</p> + +<p>Tournay handed him the paper. "All of them either friends or tools of +Robespierre," was Gaillard's comment. "How did this come into your +hands?"</p> + +<p>Tournay told him. His friend stepped to the fireplace.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" inquired Tournay.</p> + +<p>"I make it a point never to keep anything with writing on it. It may be +a tradition of my profession, for on the stage trouble always lurks in +written documents. We must burn this."</p> + +<p>"Do not be so hasty, Gaillard; you may burn it after I have committed +those names to memory."</p> + +<p>"Then I will put it here on the chimney-piece for the present. Don't +carry it about you. It is a dangerous paper in times like these."</p> + +<p>"Very well, I will be guided by your counsels. And just at this moment +you advise dining, do you not?" and Tournay turned to the dish on the +table. "It has a very agreeable odor. What is it?"</p> + +<p>"The menu, to-day, consists of three courses; bread, salt, and,"—here +the actor removed the cover of the dish with a flourish—"rabbit +ragout."</p> + +<p>"Will you assure me that the rabbit did not mew at the prospect of being +turned into a ragout?" inquired Tournay, holding out his plate while +Gaillard heaped it with the stew.</p> + +<p>"You will have to ask the cook, my little war-god. When I delivered to +her the material in its natural state it consisted of two little gray +tailless animals with long ears; but to exonerate her, I call your +attention to the house-cat at this moment poking her nose in at the +door. And let me say further, that whether it be cat or rabbit you seem +to be able to dispose of a goodly quantity of it."</p> + +<p>"My dear Gaillard, I am a soldier and can eat anything," was Tournay's +rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"But cast not your eyes longingly upon the poor animal who has come in +attracted by the smell of dinner; she is my especial pet. Let me divert +your attention from her by pouring you a glass of wine."</p> + +<p>"Gaillard, your dinner is most excellent; your pet shall be safe."</p> + +<p>Gaillard filled two glasses with wine.</p> + +<p>"Your very good health, Colonel Tournay, of the Army of the Moselle."</p> + +<p>"Yours, my dear friend Gaillard."</p> + +<p>The two friends rose and touched glasses over the little table.</p> + +<p>"That wine is wonderful," said Tournay as he put down the glass. "What +do you mean by drinking such nectar? Do you live so near the top of the +house in order that you may spend your savings on your wine cellar?"</p> + +<p>"That bottle is one of six presented to me by our neighbor, Citizen St. +Hilaire. He has been living modestly in the attic overhead, but he +evidently had a knowledge of good wine."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Citizen St. Hilaire," repeated Tournay. "He is a man who should +well know good wine; but you said he has been living overhead. Is he not +there now?"</p> + +<p>"Three days ago he disappeared. He left a note for the Citizeness Ribot +with the money due for rent, and stated that he should not return. His +action was explained next morning when a gendarme from the section made +his appearance and inquired for Citizen St. Hilaire. Since then his +chamber is watched night and day. I doubt if he returns."</p> + +<p>"He is quite capable of keeping out of danger or getting into it, as the +fancy suits him, if he is the man I once knew," remarked Tournay.</p> + +<p>Gaillard filled the glasses again. "Let us not talk about him in too +loud a tone," he said, "but quietly pledge him in his own Burgundy."</p> + +<p>Tournay took the proffered glass. The gentle gurgle down two throats +told that St. Hilaire's health was drunk fervently if silently.</p> + +<p>"With your permission I will propose a toast," said Tournay, as Gaillard +emptied the last of the bottle into their glasses. The actor nodded.</p> + +<p>"To the French Republic," exclaimed Tournay. "May victory still perch +upon her banners."</p> + +<p>"To the Republic," echoed Gaillard.</p> + +<p>Again the glasses clinked over the small wooden table.</p> + +<p>"As long as we have victory," continued Tournay, "what care we whether +we be colonels, generals, or soldiers of the line? Our victories are the +nation's. All are sharers in its glory."</p> + +<p>"Long live the Republic!" they cried in concert, and set down their +empty wineglasses.</p> + +<p>"Now I must fly to the theatre," exclaimed Gaillard; "you have made me +late with your republics"—</p> + +<p>"And I must to bed," said Tournay. "This morning's dawn found me in the +saddle in order to reach the convention at an early hour."</p> + +<p>"You have made a mistake, citizen sergeant," exclaimed Gaillard +suddenly, as an officer of gendarmerie appeared at the open door. "The +floor above is where you want to go."</p> + +<p>"I want to see the Citizen Colonel Tournay," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"I am he," said Tournay.</p> + +<p>The sergeant awkwardly gave the military salute. "Here is a letter for +you, citizen colonel."</p> + +<p>Tournay took the paper, and the sergeant turned toward the door.</p> + +<p>"Is there any answer required?" asked Tournay, as he broke the seal.</p> + +<p>"None through me. Good-night, citizen colonel." And the heavy jack-boots +were heard descending the stairs.</p> + +<p>Gaillard began hurriedly to make a bundle of his theatrical costume, +while Tournay broke the seal and glanced over the contents of the +letter.</p> + +<p>"Read this," he said, passing the paper to Gaillard, who stood by his +side, bundle under arm.</p> + +<p>Gaillard read:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>To <span class="smcap">Citizen Colonel Robert Tournay</span>, Rue des Mathurins 15.</p> + +<p>Will the patriotic citizen colonel call upon the humble and +none the less patriotic citizen, Maximilian Robespierre, this +evening at seven, to discuss affairs pertaining to the good of +the nation? If the Citizen Tournay can come, no answer need be +sent.</p> + +<p>(Signed) <span class="smcap">Maximilian Robespierre</span>.</p> + +<p>17th Pluviose, Year II. of the French Republic, one and +indivisible.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"He evidently takes it for granted that I will come, for his messenger +waited for no answer," added Tournay.</p> + +<p>"It's the sequel of this afternoon's inquiry," said Gaillard, as he +returned it, "and too exquisitely polite for a plain citizen. What are +you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"I am going to see him, of course," replied Tournay. "It is the only way +to find out what he wants."</p> + +<p>Gaillard nodded. "That's true; I almost feel like going with you and +remaining outside the door," and Gaillard placed his package on the +table.</p> + +<p>"That is unnecessary, my friend; I never felt more secure in my life. Go +to your performance of Figaro and on your return you will find me here +in this easy-chair, smoking one of your pipes."</p> + +<p>Gaillard took up his bundle again. "Very well, but mind, if I do not +find you seated in that arm-chair smoking a pipe I shall know you are in +trouble."</p> + +<p>Tournay laughed. "You will find me there, never fear. And now let us go +out together."</p> + +<p>"I am abominably late!" exclaimed Gaillard, as they parted at the +corner. "The director will have the pleasure of collecting a fine from +my weekly salary. Good-night—embrace me, my little war god! Au revoir," +and the actor hurried down the street, whistling cheerfully.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>BENEATH THE MASK</h3> + + +<p>An atmosphere of secrecy seemed to pervade Robespierre's house, and +Tournay, following the servant along the dimly lighted corridor, passed +his hand over his eyes, as one brushes away the fine cobwebs that come +across the face in going through the woods.</p> + +<p>The rustle of a gown fell upon his ear as he entered the salon, and at +the further end of the apartment he saw a woman who had evidently risen +at his entrance, and now stood irresolute, with one hand on the latch of +a door leading into an adjoining room, as if she had intended making her +exit unobserved by him.</p> + +<p>She stood in such a manner that the shadow of the half-open door fell +across her face, but he could see that she was a young woman of small +stature and well proportioned figure. At the sound of his voice she +allowed her hand to fall from the latch, then lifting her head erect, +walked toward him.</p> + +<p>"La Liberté!" ejaculated Tournay. He had not seen her since the day he +had left her dancing on the cannon-truck, winecup in hand; but she still +kept her girlish look, and except in her dress she had not greatly +changed.</p> + +<p>She still showed a partiality for bright colors, by her gown of deep +crimson. But the material was of velvet instead of the simple woolen +stuff she used to wear. Her hair, which had once curled about her +forehead and been tossed about by the wind, was now coiled upon her +head, from which a few locks, as if rebellious at confinement, had +fallen on her neck and shoulders. She wore nothing on her head but a +tricolored knot of ribbon, the color of the Republic.</p> + +<p>"How does it happen that we meet here?" asked Tournay after a moment, +during which he had gazed at her in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Never mind about me for the present," she said, looking up in his face, +half defiantly, half admiringly; for as he stood before her, framed in +the open door, he was a striking picture, with his handsome, bronzed +face and brilliant uniform.</p> + +<p>"Let us speak of your affairs," she continued. "I am told the committee +has ordered you to await its permission before returning to the army."</p> + +<p>"How did you know that?" he demanded in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know many things that are going on in this strange world," and +she gave the old toss of her head. "Now do not talk, but listen. You +must return to the army. A soldier like you is at a disadvantage among +these intriguers. They will suspect you for the simple reason that they +suspect every one. You, who are accustomed to fight openly, will fall a +victim to their wiles."</p> + +<p>"My enemies may find that I can strike back," said Tournay quietly.</p> + +<p>La Liberté shrugged her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Did you receive a letter this afternoon?" she asked quickly.</p> + +<p>"Did you write that letter?"</p> + +<p>"I never write letters," she answered significantly; "but if you +received one and read it, you know the names of some of your enemies. +What can you do with such an array against you? I repeat, you are no +match for them. You must go back to your command."</p> + +<p>"That is what I desire above all else," answered Tournay.</p> + +<p>"You can go to-morrow, if you wish," said the demoiselle.</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"By listening to what the president of the committee has to say to you, +and agreeing to it. Yield to his demands, whatever they may be, and you +will be permitted to set out to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I shall be glad to meet the committee more than halfway. I will agree +to everything they wish, if I can do so consistently."</p> + +<p>"Consistently!" she repeated. "I see you will be obstinate." Then she +stopped and looked full in his face. "I might know that you would after +all only act according to your convictions, and that any advice would be +thrown away on you. Well, I must say I like you better that way, and +were I a man I should do the same."</p> + +<p>She placed one hand upon her hip where hung a small poniard suspended +by a silver chain about her waist, and went on earnestly: "But listen to +this word of advice. You, who have been so long absent from Paris, do +not realize Robespierre's power. It is sometimes the part of a brave man +to yield. Give way to him as much as your <i>consistency</i> will permit. Now +adieu." She turned away; then facing him suddenly with an impulsive +gesture she came toward him.</p> + +<p>"Compatriot!" she said with an unwonted tremble in her voice, "will you +take my hand?" He took the hand extended to him.</p> + +<p>"I do not forget, Marianne, that you and I both came from La Thierry. If +ever you are in need of a friend, you can rely upon me."</p> + +<p>For one moment the brown head was bent over his hand, and La Liberté +showed an emotion which none of those who thought they knew her would +have believed possible. Then throwing back her head she disappeared +through the door beyond, as Robespierre entered from the corridor.</p> + +<p>Much absorbed in his meditations, Robespierre did not appear to notice +that any one had just quitted the room. He walked very slowly as if to +impress Tournay with his greatness, and did not speak for some moments. +He no longer affected the great simplicity of dress which had +characterized him at the beginning of the Revolution, and the coat of +blue velvet, waistcoat of white silk, and buff breeches which he wore +were quite in keeping with his fine linen shirt and the laces of his +ruffles.</p> + +<p>It was Tournay who first broke the silence.</p> + +<p>"Citizen president, you see I have been prompt to comply with your +request; I am here in answer to your summons."</p> + +<p>Robespierre raised his head, and started from his soliloquy.</p> + +<p>"Ah yes, you are the citizen colonel who appeared to-day before the +committee to answer certain charges."</p> + +<p>"I am," replied Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Citizen colonel," said Robespierre, "I will be perfectly frank with +you. The Committee of Public Safety, whose dearest wish, whose only +thought, is the welfare of the Republic," here the president's small +eyes blinked in rapid succession, "is not quite satisfied with the +condition of affairs in the army."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to hear that, citizen president, and in behalf of the army, +I would call the committee's attention to the recent battles in which +the soldiers of France have certainly borne themselves with great +bravery. I speak now as one of their officers who is justly proud of +them."</p> + +<p>"It is not the conduct of the soldiers of which the committee finds +cause of complaint," replied Robespierre, "but of their generals."</p> + +<p>"It is not for me to criticise my superior officers," said Tournay. "I +leave that to the nation."</p> + +<p>"The committee has good reason to criticise the attitude of certain of +its generals, who seem to have forgotten that they are merely citizens. +They have been chosen to serve the Republic only for a time in a more +exalted position than their fellow citizens, yet they have become +swollen with pride, and take to themselves the credit of the victories +won by their armies. Their dispatches to the convention are couched in +arrogant and sometimes insolent language."</p> + +<p>Tournay bowed. "Again I must refrain from expressing my opinion on such +a matter," he said.</p> + +<p>"Ever since the treason of General Dumouriez," Robespierre went on, "the +committee has had its suspicions as to the conduct of several of its +generals. Hoche is one."</p> + +<p>Tournay started.</p> + +<p>"What you are pleased to impart to me, citizen president, sounds +strange. Permit me to state that I feel sure the committee's suspicions +are unfounded."</p> + +<p>Robespierre looked at him closely. "Does General Hoche take you into his +entire confidence?" he inquired quickly; his weak eyes blinking more +rapidly than ever.</p> + +<p>"No, I am merely a colonel in his army. Though I have good reason to +believe he places confidence in me, he naturally does not inform me of +his plans before they are matured."</p> + +<p>"Citizen colonel, the committee also places great confidence in you, and +for that reason it wishes you to return at once to the army."</p> + +<p>"I obey its orders with the greatest pleasure in the world," said +Tournay.</p> + +<p>"The committee also desires," Robespierre continued, "that you send to +its secretary each week a minute report of everything that passes under +your notice, particularly as regards the actions of Citizen General +Hoche. Do not regard anything as too trifling to be included in your +report; the committee will pass upon its importance."</p> + +<p>Tournay had listened in silence. His teeth ground together in the rage +he struggled to suppress. He felt that if he made a movement it would be +to strike the president to the floor.</p> + +<p>"I must decline the commission with which the committee honors me. I am +not fitted for it," he replied.</p> + +<p>"The committee has chosen you as eminently fitted for the work. The +confidence that General Hoche places in you makes you the best agent the +committee could employ."</p> + +<p>"Then tell your committee, citizen president, that it must find some +less fitting agent to do its dirty work. My business is to fight the +enemies of France, not to spy upon its patriots."</p> + +<p>Robespierre's sallow face became a shade more yellow. "Have a care how +you speak of the committee. In the service of the Republic all +employment is sacred and honorable."</p> + +<p>"I prefer my own interpretation of the words," answered Tournay, with a +look of scorn.</p> + +<p>"And yet you yourself have somewhat strange ideas of what is honorable," +remarked Robespierre sneeringly.</p> + +<p>"I do not understand what you mean," replied Tournay.</p> + +<p>Robespierre stepped to the wall and pulled the bell-rope. "Perhaps when +it is made clear to you, your mind may change."</p> + +<p>The colonel made no reply, but the next moment uttered an exclamation of +surprise as the Marquis de Lacheville entered the room. Robespierre +turned toward Tournay with the shadow of a smile hovering on his thin +lips.</p> + +<p>"You know this citizen?" he asked in his harsh voice.</p> + +<p>Tournay looked at the marquis curiously, wondering why he had +jeopardized his own safety by returning to Paris. The look of hatred +which the nobleman shot at him served as an explanation.</p> + +<p>"I know him as a former nobleman, an emigré, who is proscribed by the +Republic; I wonder that he puts his life in danger by returning to the +land he fled from."</p> + +<p>The marquis made an uneasy gesture, and was about to speak when +Robespierre said:—</p> + +<p>"He has taken the oath of allegiance to the Republic."</p> + +<p>Tournay laughed outright at this. "And do you trust his oath?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"And for the service he now renders the nation, his emigration and the +fact of his having been an aristocrat are to be condoned." As he spoke, +a grim smile hovered about Robespierre's lips. It faded away instantly, +leaving his face as mirthless and forbidding as before.</p> + +<p>"Shall we ask the Citizen Lacheville to tell us when he last saw you?" +he went on sternly.</p> + +<p>"It is unnecessary. We met last at Falzenberg," said Tournay, eyeing him +with disdain.</p> + +<p>"Where you were on terms of intimacy with Prussian officers," said de +Lacheville. "I will not dwell upon the fact of your having assisted an +aristocrat to escape from prison; but I will testify to your having come +in disguise to the enemies of France and entered into a secret +understanding with them. I was serving those same enemies at the time, I +will admit," and the marquis shrugged his shoulders, "but as the Citizen +Robespierre has said, I have repented of it, and have come here to make +atonement by faithful devotion to the nation. One of the greatest of my +pleasures is to help unmask a hypocrite."</p> + +<p>Tournay addressed Robespierre.</p> + +<p>"Do you believe this man's story?"</p> + +<p>"You have already admitted having gone over the frontier," was the suave +rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"I did go, yes."</p> + +<p>"Will you deny having been closeted alone with General von Waldenmeer?"</p> + +<p>"No, but"—</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose any tribunal in the land would hold you guiltless upon +such testimony and such admissions?"</p> + +<p>"Permit me to ask you two questions," said Tournay.</p> + +<p>Robespierre acquiesced.</p> + +<p>"Admitting that this—<i>citizen's</i> accusation is true, why did I return +to Wissembourg and do my best to defeat the enemy with whom I am accused +by him of being on friendly terms?"</p> + +<p>"There are hundreds of similar precedents—Dumouriez's, for example."</p> + +<p>"Admitting, then, that I have already been false to one trust, how is it +that you are prepared to trust me now to play the spy for your +committee?" continued Tournay, with contempt ringing in his voice.</p> + +<p>Again the peculiar smile flitted across Robespierre's pale features.</p> + +<p>"All men are to be trusted as far as their self-interest leads them," he +answered. "None are to be trusted implicitly. You will be watched +closely and will doubtless prove faithful. It will be to your decided +advantage to attend to the committee's business efficiently. Your little +interview with the Prussian general, from which nothing has resulted, +may be forgotten for the time."</p> + +<p>Tournay's anger during the interview had several times risen to white +heat. Not even his sense of danger enabled him longer to repress it.</p> + +<p>"I have already told you that I would have nothing to do with the +commission of your committee!" he cried hotly. "And as for this man's +accusations, let him make them in court and I will answer him. Let him +repeat them in the streets and I will thrust the lies back into his +throat and choke him with them." As he spoke he advanced toward de +Lacheville who paled and retreated a step or two. "If any man accuses me +of disloyalty to the Republic," continued Tournay, turning and +addressing Robespierre, "unless he takes revenge behind the bar of a +tribunal he shall answer to me personally. I will defend my honor with +my own hand."</p> + +<p>Robespierre turned pale and took a step or two in the direction of the +bell-rope.</p> + +<p>"You may have an opportunity to answer the charges before the tribunal," +he said coldly.</p> + +<p>"Why did you not bring them in to-day's inquiry?" demanded Tournay.</p> + +<p>"I do not announce my reasons nor divulge my plans," was the reply. "It +is enough to know that I had need of you. Neither am I in the habit of +having my will opposed. You would do best to yield before it is too +late."</p> + +<p>"Robespierre," cried Tournay, the blood mounting to his forehead, "you +have played the tyrant too long! You are not 'in the habit of having +your will opposed?' I have not learned to bend and truckle to your will, +doing your bidding like a dog; and, by Heaven! I will not now. Bring +your charges against me before your tribunal, packed as it is with your +creatures, and I will answer them, but my answer shall be addressed to +the Nation. My appeal will be to the People. I will denounce you for +what you are, a tyrant. And a coward—too"—he continued, as +Robespierre, with ashen lips, rang the bell violently. "You shall be +known for what you are, and when you are once known the people will +cease to fear you."</p> + +<p>He strode toward the committee's president, who, with trembling knees, +stood tugging at the bell-rope. De Lacheville had long since fled from +the room; and Robespierre, pulling his courage together with an effort, +lifted his hand and pointed a trembling finger at Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Stop where you are!" he shrieked. "Come a step nearer me at your +peril!"</p> + +<p>"I am not going to do you any injury," was Tournay's reply in a tone of +contempt; "I despise you too much to do you personal violence; I leave +you to your fears, citizen president."</p> + +<p>There was a sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor, and Tournay moved +toward the door to be confronted by a file of soldiers.</p> + +<p>"Henriot, you drunken snail," cried Robespierre, "why did you not answer +my summons? Arrest this man."</p> + +<p>Tournay turned a look upon Robespierre which made the latter quail +notwithstanding the guard that surrounded him.</p> + +<p>"You had this all arranged," said the colonel quietly.</p> + +<p>"I was prepared," replied Robespierre grimly.</p> + +<p>Tournay turned away with contempt. "Dictator, your time will be short," +he murmured.</p> + +<p>"Come, citizen colonel," said the Commandant Henriot, "I must trouble +you for your sword."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to take me?" asked Tournay as he delivered up his +weapon.</p> + +<p>Henriot glanced at his chief as if for instructions.</p> + +<p>"To the Luxembourg," was the order. Then, without looking at Tournay, +Robespierre left the room.</p> + +<p>"May I send word to a friend at my lodgings?" Tournay asked of Henriot.</p> + +<p>"No," was the short rejoinder, "you must come with me on the instant."</p> + +<p>In the corridor stood de Lacheville. He smiled triumphantly as he saw +Tournay pass out between the file of soldiers.</p> + +<p>"De Lacheville," said Tournay scornfully, "you have played the part of a +fool as well as a coward. A few days and you also will be in prison."</p> + +<p>His guards hurried him on, and he could not hear de Lacheville's answer.</p> + +<p>At the doorway that led into the street stood La Liberté.</p> + +<p>"Out of the way, citizeness!" growled Henriot.</p> + +<p>"Out of the way yourself, Citizen Henriot," was the woman's reply, and +she pushed through the soldiers until she stood at Tournay's elbow.</p> + +<p>"Come, citizeness, none of that; you cannot speak to the prisoner," +growled Henriot a second time.</p> + +<p>"I was afraid of this," she whispered in Tournay's ear.</p> + +<p>"Will you take a message for me?" he asked in a quick whisper.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Go to Gaillard, 15 Rue des Mathurins, wait until he comes. Tell him I +am arrested. That is all."</p> + +<p>With a nod of intelligence, La Liberté left his side and disappeared in +the darkness.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>PIERRE AND JEAN</h3> + + +<p>As Gaillard stepped out from the theatre into a dark side street a hand +fell upon his right shoulder. He looked around and saw a tall gendarme +standing by his side. The prospect did not please him, so he turned to +the left and saw another gendarme standing there. This one was short, +and stout with a smile on his red face. Then Gaillard stopped.</p> + +<p>"Well, citizens of the police," he exclaimed, "I don't need any escort. +I can find my way home alone."</p> + +<p>"Is your name Gaillard?" asked one.</p> + +<p>"I have every reason to believe so," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Actor?" demanded the other.</p> + +<p>"Ah, there I am not so certain," he answered.</p> + +<p>"How? You do not know your own vocation?"</p> + +<p>"My friends say I am an actor, and my enemies dispute it. What is your +opinion?"</p> + +<p>"I can say you are an actor, for I have seen you act," said the stout +gendarme. "And a very good actor you were. You made me laugh heartily."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall count you among my friends!" exclaimed Gaillard. "And +between friends now, what is it that you want of me?"</p> + +<p>"We are going to take you to the Luxembourg."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"I will read you the warrant," said the tall gendarme. "Come under the +light of the lantern yonder."</p> + +<p>Gaillard accompanied the two police officers to the other side of the +street.</p> + +<p>One of them took a large paper from his breast-pocket:—</p> + +<p>"Warrant of arrest for the Citizen Gaillard, actor of the theatre of the +Republic. Cause: Friend of the Suspect Tournay, and, therefore, to be +apprehended."</p> + +<p>Gaillard repressed the start that the sight of his friend's name gave +him. "'The Suspect Tournay.' My colonel has been arrested," he said to +himself. Then heaving a deep sigh he exclaimed aloud in a pathetic tone +of voice:—</p> + +<p>"It is very sad to think I should be arrested just as I was going to +have such a good part in the new piece at the theatre."</p> + +<p>"Was it a funny one?" inquired the short gendarme.</p> + +<p>"Funny! why if you should hear it, you'd laugh those big brass buttons +off your coat."</p> + +<p>"It's a shame you can't play it," was the sympathetic rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what you can do," said Gaillard. "Go with me to my house, +15 Rue des Mathurins, and let me fetch the part so that I can study it +while in prison; then, if I should be released soon I shall be prepared +to play the part."</p> + +<p>"It's against our orders," said the tall gendarme. "We must take you at +once to the Luxembourg."</p> + +<p>"It's very near here," persisted Gaillard, "and I will read one or two +of the funniest speeches while we are there."</p> + +<p>"It will not take us more than fifteen minutes," interposed the stout +gendarme, looking at his mate.</p> + +<p>"And when I am released," said Gaillard persuasively, "and play the +part, I'll send you each an admission."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the tall gendarme, "we'll go."</p> + +<p>"You see," explained Gaillard as they walked off in the direction of the +Rue des Mathurins, "my arrest is a mistake, that's clear. Whoever heard +of an actor being mixed up in politics!"</p> + +<p>"That's so," remarked the short gendarme.</p> + +<p>"Yes," admitted the long one, "I have arrested many a suspect, and +you're the first actor. But I have my duty to perform, and if the +warrant calls for an actor, an actor has to come."</p> + +<p>"Of course," agreed Gaillard, "you are a man of high principle, as any +one can see."</p> + +<p>Gaillard knew that as soon as he was arrested his rooms would be +searched for any evidence of a suspicious nature. In all the house there +was only one document which could possibly compromise either himself or +Tournay, and that was the letter his friend had received that same +afternoon, and which was now lying upon the chimney-piece.</p> + +<p>"Here we are at No. 15; I live on the fourth floor," he said, as they +came to the door.</p> + +<p>"Whew!" exclaimed the stout gendarme. "You'll have to give us half a +dozen of the best jokes if we go way up there."</p> + +<p>"You shall have as many as you can stand," answered Gaillard. "Now, +citizen officers, mind the angle in the wall, that's it. It's not a hard +climb when you're used to it."</p> + +<p>"Whew!" exclaimed the stout man as they entered Gaillard's apartment, "I +could not climb that every day." He sank down in a chair and mopped the +perspiration from his brow.</p> + +<p>"I wish I was sure of climbing it every day of my life," said Gaillard. +"It's thirsty work, however, so let us have something to refresh +ourselves with;" and he took out from the closet a bottle of the choice +Burgundy and three glasses.</p> + +<p>"Here's to the gendarmerie," he said as he filled the glasses.</p> + +<p>A moment later two pairs of lips smacked approvingly in concert.</p> + +<p>"That's a vintage for you," said the short gendarme approvingly.</p> + +<p>"I never drank but one glass of better wine than this in my life," said +the tall gendarme meditatively.</p> + +<p>"When was that?" asked Gaillard as he filled the glasses again.</p> + +<p>"That was when the Count de Beaujeu's house was sacked, and the citizens +threw all the contents of his wine cellar into the street."</p> + +<p>"You did not drink a glass that time," remarked the stout gendarme, "you +had a hogshead."</p> + +<p>The tall man scowled.</p> + +<p>"Well, there's plenty of this," said Gaillard; "have another glass?"</p> + +<p>"We will," said both of the gendarmes. "Let us have a few of the funny +lines of your new part, citizen actor," said the stout gendarme +swallowing his third glass of Burgundy.</p> + +<p>"Willingly!" exclaimed Gaillard. He turned toward the chimney-piece and +took from it the manuscript of his part. Close beside it lay the letter. +His fingers itched to take it, but the eyes of the police officers were +upon him so closely that he dared not touch it.</p> + +<p>"Let us fill our glasses again before I begin," said the actor, +producing another bottle from the closet.</p> + +<p>"How many bottles of that wine have you?" inquired the tall gendarme.</p> + +<p>"Two more besides this," answered Gaillard, drawing the cork.</p> + +<p>"We might as well drink them all, now that we are here," said the +officer solemnly.</p> + +<p>"It would be a pity to leave any of it," Gaillard acquiesced.</p> + +<p>The short gendarme nodded his approval.</p> + +<p>"I wish I had a hogshead of it," thought Gaillard. "I'd put you both in +bed and leave you."</p> + +<p>After filling the glasses once again, Gaillard took up the lines and +began to act out his part. If he had been playing before a large and +enthusiastic audience, he could not have done it more effectively.</p> + +<p>The stout gendarme was soon in such a state of laughter that the tears +ran down his red cheeks. His merriment continued to increase to such an +extent as to alarm his companion.</p> + +<p>"He'll die of apoplexy some day, if he is so immoderate in his +raptures," said the tall man, shaking his head sadly.</p> + +<p>The fat gendarme was now coughing violently. Gaillard stopped to slap +him on the back. When the paroxysm was over, the actor brought out the +two remaining bottles of Burgundy.</p> + +<p>"A little of this wine may relieve your throat," he said, and filled the +glasses all round.</p> + +<p>"Continue, my friend," called out the jolly-faced officer; "don't stop +on my account."</p> + +<p>Gaillard went on with his rehearsal. The tall gendarme drank twice as +much wine as his stout companion, who was now rolling on the floor with +shouts of laughter.</p> + +<p>Finally, when the merry fellow could laugh no more, and the last drop of +wine had disappeared, the tall gendarme stooped, and lifting his fallen +companion to his feet leaned him up against the wall. "Jean," he said, +"thou art drunk. Shame upon thee." Then he turned toward Gaillard. +"Come, citizen actor, we must take you to the Luxembourg."</p> + +<p>"Let us at least smoke a pipe of tobacco before we go," said Gaillard, +bringing out smoking materials from the closet.</p> + +<p>"No time, citizen; as it is we may get in trouble through Jean's +indulgence in the bottle." The short gendarme certainly showed the +effect of the wine he had taken, though he straightened up and denied +it.</p> + +<p>"Pierre, thou liest, thou hast taken twice the quantity I have," he +rejoined, waving his hand toward the empty bottles.</p> + +<p>This also was true; and Gaillard looked with wonder at the solemn +countenance of the tall gendarme.</p> + +<p>"In any case, let us light our pipes and smoke them as we go along the +street," said the actor as he filled the pipes and handed one to each of +the police officers.</p> + +<p>"I'm quite agreeable to that," said Gendarme Pierre.</p> + +<p>Gendarme Jean made no reply, but endeavored to light his pipe over the +flame of the candle.</p> + +<p>Through a defect in vision occasioned by his potations, he held the bowl +several inches away from the flame and puffed vigorously.</p> + +<p>At this the tall gendarme laughed audibly for the first time during the +evening. Gaillard felt relieved. "He can laugh," he murmured.</p> + +<p>"Wait one moment and I will give you a light," he said, and taking a +piece of paper from the chimney-piece he carelessly twisted it in his +fingers, ignited it in the candle's flames, and held it over Jean's +pipe. Then he repeated the service to Gendarme Pierre, and ended by +lighting his own pipe, holding the offending list until the flame +touched his fingers and it was entirely consumed.</p> + +<p>"Forward, my children!" cried the stout gendarme gayly. "We must be off. +Shall we place seals upon the doors, comrade?" he said addressing his +friend Pierre.</p> + +<p>"No, my little idiot Jean, you will remember we are not supposed to have +come here at all. The seals will be placed here by men from the section. +Hurry forward now."</p> + +<p>They descended the stairs in single file. The tall gendarme leading, and +stout Jean bringing up the rear. He would stumble from time to time and +strike his head into Gaillard's shoulders. "Very awkward stairs," he +would murmur in apology, "very awkward."</p> + +<p>Once in the street he got along better, although his knees were a little +weak, and he showed an inclination to sing.</p> + +<p>"Be quiet, Jean," expostulated his companion in arms; "you will get both +of us in trouble."</p> + +<p>"As mute as a mouse, my clothespin," was the obedient reply.</p> + +<p>"You would better take his arm, citizen actor. We shall get along +faster." Gaillard complied, and arm in arm they walked off in the +direction of the Luxembourg.</p> + +<p>"What's this?" demanded the warden in the prison lodge, rubbing his +sleepy eyes as three men appeared before him in the gray light of early +morning.</p> + +<p>"Hector Gaillard, actor; domicile Rue des Mathurins 15; suspect. Warrant +executed by Officers Pierre Echelle and Jean Rondeau," said the tall +gendarme.</p> + +<p>The sleepy guardian turned over the pages of his book.</p> + +<p>"Ah yes, here it is. Bring your prisoner this way, citizen gendarme."</p> + +<p>Whereupon the stout gendarme, who had been quiet for some time, burst +into tears.</p> + +<p>"In God's name, what's the matter with him?" asked the astonished +warden.</p> + +<p>"He always does that way," said the gendarme Pierre. "'Tis his +sympathetic nature. He gets very much attached to his prisoners. Cease +thy tears, Jean, thou imbecile," and he cursed his brother gendarme +under his breath.</p> + +<p>Jean drew a long sob. "Adieu, my friend," he said, throwing his arms +about Gaillard's neck.</p> + +<p>"Why weepest thou?" inquired the actor pretending to be much affected.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid they will guillotine thee, my beautiful actor, before I +have laughed all the brass buttons off my coat at the play."</p> + +<p>"Courage, my friend," replied Gaillard; "I trust for thy sake that I may +live to act in many plays. Adieu, my gendarme," and he was led away to a +cell.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE LUXEMBOURG</h3> + + +<p>Robert Tournay breathed easier after having sent the message to Gaillard +by La Liberté. Gaillard at least was not likely to become implicated; +and the anonymous communication once destroyed, nothing of an +incriminating nature would be found, should their lodging be visited. +Nevertheless, he could not repress a feeling of disquiet as the iron +door of the Luxembourg clanked behind him and he found himself a +prisoner.</p> + +<p>The cell into which he was conducted was absolutely dark.</p> + +<p>"It will not be so bad during the day," volunteered the jailer. "There +is a small window that looks out on the courtyard." Tournay drew a sigh +of thankfulness on hearing this.</p> + +<p>"Your bed is near the door. Can you see it?" asked the jailer.</p> + +<p>"I can feel for it," replied Tournay. "Yes, here it is."</p> + +<p>"Very well, I will now lock you up safely. Pleasant dreams in your new +quarters, citizen colonel." And with this parting salute the cheerful +jailer went jingling down the corridor, leaving Tournay in the darkness, +seated on the edge of his narrow bed, with elbows on knees and his chin +resting in the palms of his hands.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he sat up straight and listened attentively. The sound of +regular breathing told him that he was not the sole occupant of the +cell. "Whoever he may be, he sleeps contentedly," thought Tournay; "I +may as well follow his good example." In a very few minutes a quiet +concert of long-drawn breaths told of two men sleeping peacefully in the +cell on the upper tier of the Luxembourg prison.</p> + +<p>The little daylight that could struggle through the bars of the tiny +window near the ceiling had long since made its appearance, when Robert +Tournay opened his eyes next morning.</p> + +<p>His fellow prisoner was already astir; and without moving, Tournay lay +and watched him at his toilet. He was most particular in this regard. +Despite the diminutive ewer and hand basin, his ablutions were the +occasion of a great amount of energetic scrubbing and rubbing, +accompanied by a gentle puffing as if he were enjoying the luxury of a +refreshing bath. After washing, he wiped his face and hands carefully on +a napkin correspondingly small. He proceeded with the rest of his toilet +in the same thorough manner, as leisurely as if he had been in the most +luxurious dressing-room. A wound in his neck, that was not entirely +healed, gave him some trouble; but he dressed it carefully, and finally +hid it entirely from sight by a clean white neckerchief which he took +from a little packet in a corner of the room near the head of his bed. +Having adjusted the neckcloth to his satisfaction, he put on a +well-brushed coat, and, sitting carelessly upon the edge of the +table,—the room contained no chair,—he began to polish his nails with +a little set of manicure articles which were also drawn forth from his +small treasury of personal effects.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a> +<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>ADJUSTED THE NECKCLOTH TO HIS SATISFACTION</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The light from the slit of a window above his head fell on his face. It +was thin and haggard, like that of a man who had undergone a severe +illness, but, despite this fact, it was an attractive face, and the +longer Tournay looked at it, the more it seemed to be familiar to him, +recalling to his mind some one he had once known.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the colonel sprung to his feet. "St. Hilaire!" he exclaimed +aloud, answering his own mental inquiry.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire rose from his seat on the table and saluted Tournay +graciously.</p> + +<p>"I am what is left of St. Hilaire," he replied lightly. "And you +are—For the life of me I cannot recall your name at the moment. Though +I am fully aware that I have seen you more than once before this."</p> + +<p>"My name is Robert Tournay."</p> + +<p>"Of course. I should have remembered it. You must pardon my poor +memory." Then, looking at him closely, he continued: "You wear the +uniform of a colonel. You have won distinction, and yet I see you here +in prison."</p> + +<p>"It matters not how loyal a soldier or citizen one may be if one incurs +the enmity or suspicion of Robespierre," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"What you say is true, Colonel Tournay," said St. Hilaire.</p> + +<p>"Do you also owe your arrest to him?" asked the colonel.</p> + +<p>"No," replied St. Hilaire, resuming his former seat. "I became involved +in a slight dispute with some of the gendarmerie about a certain +question of—of etiquette. The altercation became somewhat spirited. +They lost their tempers. I nearly lost my life. When I regained +consciousness I discovered what remained of myself here, and I am +recovering as fast as could be expected, in view of the rather limited +amount of fresh air and sunlight in my chamber."</p> + +<p>Tournay thought of the brilliant and dashing Marquis Raphael de St. +Hilaire as he had seen him in his boyhood, and looked with deep interest +at the figure sitting easily on the edge of the table in apparent +contentment, cheerfully accepting misfortune with a smile, and parrying +the arrows of adversity with the best of his wit, like the brave and +sprightly gentleman he was.</p> + +<p>"The resources here are somewhat limited," St. Hilaire continued. "But +by placing the table against the wall and mounting upon it one can +squeeze his nose between the bars of the window and get a glimpse of the +courtyard beneath. Occasionally the jailer has taken me for a promenade +there. It seems that we prisoners on the second tier are considered of +more importance, or else it is feared that we are more likely to attempt +to escape, for we are kept in closer confinement than those who are on +the main floor. Although this may be construed as a compliment, it is +nevertheless very tedious. But I am keeping you from your toilet by my +gossip. I have left you half of the water in the pitcher. Pardon the +small quantity. We will try to prevail upon our jailer to bring us a +double supply in future. He is an obliging fellow, particularly if you +grease his palm with a little silver."</p> + +<p>Tournay accepted his share of the water with alacrity grateful for the +courtesy that divides with another even a few litres of indifferently +clean water in a prison cell.</p> + +<p>After this toilet, and a breakfast of rolls and coffee, partaken +together from the rough deal table, the two prisoners felt as if they +had known each other for years.</p> + +<p>The lines of their lives had frequently run near together during the +years of the Revolution, yet in all that whirl of events had never +crossed till now, since the summer day in the woods of La Thierry, when +the Marquis de St. Hilaire had placed his hand upon the boy's shoulder +and bade him save his life by flight.</p> + +<p>By some common understanding, subtler than words, no reference to past +events was made by either of them. They began their acquaintance then +and there; the officer in the republican army, and the Citizen St. +Hilaire; fellow prisoners, who in spite of any misfortune that might +overtake them would never falter in their devotion and loyalty to their +beloved country, France, and who recognized each in the other a man of +courage and a gentleman.</p> + +<p>So the day passed in discussing the victories of the armies, the +oppression and tyranny practiced by the committee, and the prospects of +the future.</p> + +<p>A few days after Tournay's incarceration the turnkey came toward +nightfall to give them a short time for recreation in the courtyard. +This, though far from satisfying, was hailed with pleasure by the +prisoners, and especially by Tournay, who, accustomed to the violent +exertion of the camp and field, chafed for want of exercise.</p> + +<p>They were escorted along the upper corridor, whence they could look down +into the main hall on the first floor of the Luxembourg. Here, those +prisoners who were happy enough not to be confined under special orders, +had the privilege of congregating during the hours of the day and early +evening. Looking down upon this scene shortly after the supper hour, +Tournay drew a breath of surprise. He felt for a moment as if he were +transported back to the days before the Revolution and was looking upon +a reception in the crowded salons of the château de Rochefort where the +baron entertained as became a grand seigneur. The republican colonel +turned a look of inquiry toward St. Hilaire. The latter gave a slight +shrug as he answered:—</p> + +<p>"The ladies dress three times a day and appear in the evening in full +toilet. As for the men, they also wear the best they have. You will see +that many wear suits which in better days would have been thrown to +their lackeys. Now they are mended and remended during the day, that +they may make their appearance at night, and defy the shadows of the +gray stone walls and the imperfect candlelight quite bravely." And St. +Hilaire himself pulled a spotless ruffle below the sleeves of his +well-worn coat.</p> + +<p>"And so," mused Tournay, "they can find the heart to wear a gay exterior +in such a place as this?"</p> + +<p>"No revolution is great enough to change the feelings and passions of +human nature," replied St. Hilaire. "They only adapt themselves to new +conditions. Here, within these walls, under the shadow of the +guillotine, Generosity, Envy, Love, and Vanity play the same parts they +do in the outer world. Affairs of the heart refuse to be locked out by a +jailer's key, and these darkened recesses nightly resound with tender +accents and the sighs of lovers. Bright eyes kindle sparks that only +death can quench. Jealousy, also, is sometimes aroused, and I am told +that even affairs of honor have taken place here."</p> + +<p>"I should never have dreamed it possible," said the soldier, looking +with renewed interest upon the moving picture at his feet; from which a +sound of vivacious conversation arose like the multiplied hum of many +swarms of bees.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire leaned idly with one arm on the gallery rail, while he +flecked from his coat a few grains of dust with a cambric handkerchief. +Suddenly he straightened himself and grasped the railing tightly with +both hands.</p> + +<p>"Good God! can it be possible?" he exclaimed to himself.</p> + +<p>Tournay looked at him, surprised by his sudden change of manner. St. +Hilaire did not notice him, but looked intently at some one in the hall +below.</p> + +<p>Tournay followed the direction of his companion's eyes and saw a young +woman, with childish countenance, standing by the elbow of a woman who +was seated in a chair occupied with some needlework.</p> + +<p>"Countess d'Arlincourt," St. Hilaire continued sadly, speaking to +himself. "I hoped that I had saved her."</p> + +<p>The woman glanced upward, and her large blue eyes met St. Hilaire's +gaze. After the first start of surprise her look expressed the deepest +gratitude, while his denoted interest and pity.</p> + +<p>Then he turned away. "Come citizen jailer," he said, addressing the +attendant, "lead us back to our cell."</p> + +<p>As Tournay was about to follow St. Hilaire, he saw, to his amazement, +the figure of de Lacheville standing apart from the rest, in the shadow +of the wall, as if he preferred the gloomy companionship of his own +thoughts to the society of his fellow beings in adversity.</p> + +<p>"Do you see that man skulking in the shadow by the wall?" asked Tournay, +pointing de Lacheville out to the jailer. "When did he come here?"</p> + +<p>"A few days ago. Either the same evening you were brought in, or the +day following," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"The same evening!" exclaimed Tournay to himself as he followed St. +Hilaire to their cell. "Robespierre has indeed been consistent in that +poor devil's case."</p> + +<p>The Countess d'Arlincourt drew up a little stool and placed herself at +the feet of her friend, Madame de Rémur. The latter was still a woman in +the full flush of beauty. She was dressed in black velvet which seemed +but little worn, and which set off a complexion so brilliant that it +needed no rouge even to counteract the pallor of a prison.</p> + +<p>The countess leaned her head against the knees of her friend, allowing +the velvet of the dress to touch her own soft cheek caressingly.</p> + +<p>"Do not grieve, my child," said Madame de Rémur, laying down her +embroidery and placing one hand upon the blonde head in her lap. "Grieve +not too much for your husband; there is not one person in this room who +has not to mourn the loss of some near friend or relative, and yet for +the sake of those who are living they continue to wear cheerful faces. I +only regret that you, who were at that time safe, should have +surrendered yourself after the count was taken. It has availed nothing, +and has sacrificed two lives instead of one."</p> + +<p>"Hush, Diane; a wife should not measure her duty by the result. He was a +prisoner. He was ill. It was my duty to come to his side."</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, dear child. You, with your baby face and gentle manner, +have more real courage than I. I hardly think I could do that for any +man in the world."</p> + +<p>"You always underrate yourself, dear Diane, you who are the noblest and +most generous of women!" exclaimed the countess, rising. "Now I am going +to speak to that poor little Mademoiselle de Choiseul. It was only +yesterday that they took her father." And Madame d'Arlincourt moved +quietly across the room.</p> + +<p>"I cannot understand the courage and devotion of that child," said +Madame de Rémur, addressing the old Chevalier de Creux who stood behind +her chair. "I might possibly be willing to share any fate, even the +guillotine, with a man if I loved him madly; but"—and Madame de Rémur +finished the sentence with a shrug of her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the countess loved her husband," suggested the young +Mademoiselle de Bellœil who sat near the table, bending over some +crochet work, but at the same time lending an ear to the conversation.</p> + +<p>"How could she?" said Diane, "he was so cold, so austere, and so +dreadfully uninteresting, and then I happen to know she did not, +because"—</p> + +<p>"Because she loved another gentleman," said the chevalier, completing +the sentence with a laugh. "Under the circumstances I do not know +whether I admire the countess's loyalty in following her husband to +prison, or condemn her cruelty in leaving a lover to pine outside its +walls."</p> + +<p>"She was always a faithful wife, I would have you understand, you wicked +old Chevalier de Creux!" exclaimed Madame de Rémur, looking up at him as +he leaned over the back of her chair.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the lover may be confined in the prison also," suggested the +philosopher, who had also been a silent listener to the dialogue.</p> + +<p>"More than likely," assented the chevalier dryly.</p> + +<p>"Whether he were here or not," said madame decidedly, "she would have +done the same."</p> + +<p>"Here is the Count de Blois," said the chevalier; "let us put the case +before him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you men," laughed Madame de Rémur. "I will not accept the verdict +of the best of you. But the count is accompanied by the poet; let us get +him to recite us some verses." And she tossed her fancywork upon the +table at her side.</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Blois, with his arm through the poet's, bowed low before +them. The count had been in the prison for over a year, and the poor +gentleman's wardrobe had begun to show the effect of long service.</p> + +<p>"They have evidently forgotten my existence entirely," he had said +pathetically one morning to a friend who found him washing his only fine +shirt in the prison-yard fountain. "When this shirt is worn out, I shall +make a demand to be sent to the guillotine from very modesty."</p> + +<p>A few days later he had received a couple of shirts and a note by the +hand of the jailer.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Dear de Blois," the letter had read. "I am called, and shall +not need these. If they prevent you from carrying out your +threat of the other morning, I shall go with a lighter heart.</p> + +<p>"Yours, V. de K."</p></blockquote> + +<p>"De Blois!" said the chevalier, drawing the count away from the table of +Mademoiselle de Bellœil, "you are called to decide a point of the +greatest delicacy."</p> + +<p>The count put his glass to his eye as if to look at the chevalier and +the philosopher, but in reality he only saw Mademoiselle de Bellœil +bending over her embroidery.</p> + +<p>"If a lady," continued the chevalier, his bright eyes twinkling, +"voluntarily puts herself into a prison where are confined both her +husband and her lover, what credit does she deserve for her action? Can +it be called self-sacrifice?"</p> + +<p>Before replying, the count looked attentively at the group before him: +at the philosopher's impenetrable countenance; at the chevalier's +quizzical and wrinkled brown physiognomy; then at Madame de Rémur's +handsome face, and lastly and most tenderly at the drooping eyelids of +the delicate Mademoiselle de Bellœil.</p> + +<p>"She would be twice revered," replied de Blois.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle de Bellœil's needle stopped in its click-click.</p> + +<p>"Why so, monsieur le comte?" inquired the philosopher. "If she has a +double motive for the sacrifice, should not the honor of it be only half +as great?"</p> + +<p>"She should receive credit for her loyalty to the husband whom she had +sworn to obey, and homage for her devotion to the lover on whom by +nature she has placed her affections," replied the count, bowing to +Madame de Rémur, while he noted with a certain satisfaction the smile of +approval on the lips of Mademoiselle de Bellœil.</p> + +<p>"And no one has said that she has a lover," declared Madame de Rémur +warmly.</p> + +<p>"Did you not imply as much, dear madame?" asked the old chevalier slyly.</p> + +<p>"I intimated that she might have had one—if—let us change the subject. +I move that the poet read us his latest verses. I am dying for some +amusement."</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen," cried the old chevalier, clapping his hands +together to attract the attention of all those in the room, "this +brilliant young author and poet, who needs no introduction to you, has +consented to read his latest production. Will you kindly take places?"</p> + +<p>There was some polite applause. "The poem! let us hear the poem," buzzed +upon all sides, and the throng began to settle down around the poet, the +ladies occupying the chairs, and the gentlemen either leaning against +the walls or seated upon stools by the side of those ladies in whose +eyes they found particular favor.</p> + +<p>In a few moments a hush of expectancy fell upon an audience delighted at +the prospect of being entertained.</p> + +<p>"This is a play in verse," began the poet, taking a roll of manuscript +from his pocket.</p> + +<p>"A play! how charming," said Mademoiselle de Bellœil.</p> + +<p>"It is in three acts," continued the author. "Act first, in the prison +of the Luxembourg, where the young people first meet and fall deeply in +love."</p> + +<p>A rustle of approval ran through his audience.</p> + +<p>"Act second is in the prison yard where they are separated, she being +set at liberty and he conducted to the guillotine."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how terrible!" murmured the young damsel.</p> + +<p>"One moment, monsieur le poëte," said Madame de Rémur. "How does it end? +I warn you that I shall not like your play if it ends unhappily."</p> + +<p>"You shall judge of that in a moment, madame," replied the poet, bowing +to her graciously.</p> + +<p>"In the third act," he continued, "the lovers are brought together under +the shadow of the guillotine, whither she has followed him. The knife +falls upon both of them in quick succession, and their souls are united +in the next world, never to be separated more."</p> + +<p>"What a beautiful ending," cried Mademoiselle de Bellœil, and the +exclamation on the part of the audience showed that her sentiment was +echoed generally.</p> + +<p>"Continue," said Madame de Rémur. "I was afraid it was going to end +unhappily."</p> + +<p>The chevalier took a pinch of snuff and settled himself back in the +arm-chair which was accorded to him as a tribute to his advanced age; +and the poet unfolded his manuscript and began to read.</p> + +<p>It was an intensely appreciative audience that listened to the dramatic +work of the poet. They followed with breathless interest the meeting of +the young lovers in the hall of the Luxembourg; assisted smilingly at +their rendezvous in the corridors and shadowy corners of the old prison; +and sighed gently during the most tender passages. At the scene of +separation, tears of regret flowed freely, and in the meeting in the +last act, tears of joy and sorrow mingled together in sympathetic +unison.</p> + +<p>As the young poet ended he folded up his manuscript and bowed his +blushing acknowledgments to the storm of applause that greeted him.</p> + +<p>The wave of approbation had not ceased to resound through the room when +the outer door opened, and the jailer and some half a dozen gendarmes +entered abruptly.</p> + +<p>Instantly the hum of conversation stopped, and an icy chill fell upon +the assemblage. Faces that the moment before were wreathed in smiles now +became pale and marked with fear.</p> + +<p>"The call of to-morrow's list to the guillotine," rang out through the +room in harsh notes.</p> + +<p>Amid the silence of death, a captain of gendarmerie took a slip of paper +from his pocket, while a comrade held a lantern under his nose. Some of +those who listened wiped the clammy perspiration from their foreheads, +others trembled and sat down. Some affected an air of indifference, and +began a forced conversation with their neighbors; but all ears were +strained. Each dreaded lest his own name or that of some loved one +should be called out by that monotonous, relentless voice.</p> + +<p>"Bertrand de Chalons."</p> + +<p>An old man stepped forward.</p> + +<p>"Annette Duclos."</p> + +<p>There was a pause after each name, during which the suspense was +intensified.</p> + +<p>"Diane de Rémur."</p> + +<p>Madame de Rémur laid aside her work and rose.</p> + +<p>"Diane! Diane! I cannot bear it!" cried the Countess d'Arlincourt, +throwing her arms about her friend's neck. "Oh, sirs, have pity!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, my dear," replied Madame de Rémur soothingly. "Chevalier, look to +the poor child; she is hysterical." The chevalier gently drew the +countess aside, then took Madame de Rémur's hand and silently bending +over it, put it to his lips.</p> + +<p>"Take your place in the line, citizeness," called out a gendarme, and +Madame de Rémur stood with the others.</p> + +<p>"André de Blois!"</p> + +<p>As de Blois' name was called, a shrill cry echoed through the room, and +Mademoiselle de Bellœil fell back into the chair from which she had +just risen. She did not swoon, but sat like one in a dream, staring with +wide-open eyes.</p> + +<p>The count stepped to her side.</p> + +<p>"Adèle," he said, bending down and speaking in a low voice, "give me one +of those roses you are wearing on your breast." Mechanically she took +the flower from her bosom and put it in his hand. He placed it over his +heart. "It shall be here to the last," he said softly; "now farewell;" +and he pressed a kiss upon her cold lips.</p> + +<p>"Maurice de Lacheville."</p> + +<p>A man crouched down behind a group of prisoners, and all heads were +turned in his direction.</p> + +<p>"Maurice de Lacheville, you are called," said a gendarme, going up to +him and seizing him by the arm with no gentle grasp.</p> + +<p>"There is some mistake," cried de Lacheville pitiably.</p> + +<p>"There is no mistake, your name is here."</p> + +<p>"I say, there must be some mistake. My arrest was a mistake. I was +promised"—</p> + +<p>"Into the line with you," was the gruff interruption. "Many would claim +there was a mistake if it would avail them to say so."</p> + +<p>"But in my case it is true," pleaded de Lacheville. "Send word to +Robespierre; he promised"—</p> + +<p>"Into the line, I tell you!" cried the exasperated gendarme. "There is +no mistake; your name is written here. You go with the rest."</p> + +<p>"One moment, one little moment," implored the wretched marquis in an +agony of fear. "Oh, messieurs the gendarmes, if you will but hear me, I +have an important communication to make." All this time he was fighting +desperately as the two officers of the law dragged him toward the door.</p> + +<p>"Silence, idiot!" yelled the angry captain, "or I will have you bound +and gagged. Take example from these women who put you to shame."</p> + +<p>"Idiot that I was," cried de Lacheville, "why did I ever return from a +place of safety? None but a fool would have trusted the word of +Robespierre."</p> + +<p>"Bind him," ordered the captain.</p> + +<p>With a strength no one would have believed that he possessed, de +Lacheville threw off those who held him.</p> + +<p>"Stand back!" he shouted wildly, as the officers endeavored to seize +him. He drew an object quickly from his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Take care, Jean. He has a weapon," cried one.</p> + +<p>There was a report of a pistol, and the marquis fell forward to the +floor.</p> + +<p>A murmur of horror filled the prison hall. Women fainted, and men turned +away their heads. The gendarmes hastened to bend over him.</p> + +<p>"I believe he is dead, captain," said one after a brief examination.</p> + +<p>"Carry him out with the others just the same," ordered the captain. +"Pierre, continue with the list."</p> + +<p>"Bertrand de Tourin."</p> + +<p>"Here."</p> + +<p>"Adèle de Bellœil."</p> + +<p>There was a cry of joy in the answer:—</p> + +<p>"I am here. The Blessed Virgin has heard my prayer;" and Mademoiselle de +Bellœil stepped forward. "André, I come with you; we shall go +together where they can never separate us." And she threw herself into +the arms of her lover.</p> + +<p>"About face—fall in—forward! march." The heavy door closed, and those +who had been called were led away, while those remaining in the prison +went quietly to their cells, to recommence the same life on the morrow +until the next roll-call.</p> + +<p>"The nobility of France," said the chevalier to the philosopher, "may +not have known how to live, but it knows how to die."</p> + +<p>"Except the Marquis de Lacheville," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Bah. He was always one of the canaille at heart; he only proves my +assertion," and the chevalier took an extra large pinch of snuff and +limped off to his mattress of straw.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>TAPPEUR AND PETITSOU</h3> + + +<p>"What are you bringing us now?" growled a voice from a corner of the +cell. Gaillard heard the rustling of straw, but his eyes were not enough +accustomed to the gloom to enable him to see what sort of being it was +who gave utterance to this harsh welcome.</p> + +<p>"Are not two enough in a trap like this?" the speaker went on, rising +and coming forward. "There's hardly enough air for us as it is, without +your putting in another one."</p> + +<p>"So it's you, Tappeur, complaining again," remarked the jailer. "You had +better be thankful you're not four in a cell as they are in most of +them. The prison is full to overflowing. No matter how many they take +out, there's always more to fill their places. You'll have to make the +best of it." And he closed the door with an unfeeling slam.</p> + +<p>Tappeur brushed some of the straw from his hair and beard. "A plague +upon these suspects that fill up our prisons!" he exclaimed with an +oath; "we honest criminals have to put up with the vilest accommodations +because you crowd us to the wall by force of numbers. You <i>are</i> a +suspect, aren't you?" he demanded, coming nearer and putting a dirty +face close to Gaillard's.</p> + +<p>The cell which they occupied was below the level of the ground. Overhead +at the juncture of the ceiling and wall was a grating through which came +all the light and air they received.</p> + +<p>"You are a suspect, is it not so?" repeated Tappeur as Gaillard made no +answer.</p> + +<p>"I have not the honor of being an 'honest criminal,'" replied the actor, +drawing away with a movement of disgust from the seamed and distorted +visage thrust close to his.</p> + +<p>"Bah, I thought not," said Tappeur with another oath. "Well, suspect, +come over here under the grating and let me take a good look at your +face," and he seized Gaillard roughly by the arm.</p> + +<p>Tappeur received a violent blow on the chest which sent him reeling into +a dark corner of the cell, clutching at the empty air as if to sustain +himself by catching hold of the shadows. His fall to the ground was +followed by an explosion of oaths in a new voice, in which explosion +Tappeur himself joined vigorously.</p> + +<p>"I've stirred up a nest of them," said Gaillard to himself, and then +stood awaiting developments.</p> + +<p>The torrent of profanity having exhausted itself, Tappeur emerged from +the shadowy recess of the wall followed by a smaller man.</p> + +<p>"How do you like my looks?" inquired Gaillard cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"I'm satisfied for the present," replied Tappeur.</p> + +<p>"Your fist is hard enough; what may your trade be?"</p> + +<p>"I have no regular profession, I'm a little of everything. What's +yours?"</p> + +<p>"I belong to the 'Brotherhood of the Ready Hand.' Our motto is 'Steal +and Kill;' our watchward 'Blood and Death;' and our coat of arms 'A Cord +and Gallows.'" And Tappeur chuckled gleefully.</p> + +<p>"You are evidently a rare accumulation of talent and virtue. I should +enjoy knowing more of you. Is this a member of your band?" and Gaillard +pointed to the man who had just been awakened, and who was yawning and +stretching his arms.</p> + +<p>"Our band, oh no, this is the great Petitsou."</p> + +<p>"And who is Petitsou?"</p> + +<p>"What! you don't know Petitsou?" demanded Tappeur pityingly.</p> + +<p>"Never heard of him."</p> + +<p>"He never even heard of you, Petitsou!" exclaimed Tappeur, turning to +his companion with a gesture of disgust.</p> + +<p>Petitsou shrugged his shoulders in reply, as if to say, "He has been the +only loser."</p> + +<p>"Pray let me be compensated for my ill fortune, by learning all about +you now, Citizen Petitsou."</p> + +<p>"I have made more counterfeit money than any man in France now living, I +might say more than any man who ever has lived, but I believe some one +or two of the old kings have surpassed me," said Petitsou.</p> + +<p>"He is an artist," whispered Tappeur; "he does not make you a clumsy, +bungling coin only to be palmed off upon women and blind men. He creates +an article finer to look at than the government mint can produce. +<i>Pardieu</i>, I'd rather have a pocket full of his silver than that bearing +either the face of Louis Capet or of this new Republic." And Tappeur +looked at his friend the artist admiringly.</p> + +<p>"It was when the government issued these assignats that my great fortune +was made," continued Petitsou. "In fact, it was too much success that +brought me here. I found them so easy to make that I manufactured them +by the wholesale. I stored my cellar with them. I even had the audacity +to make the government a small loan in assignats on which I did the +entire work myself, reproducing the very signatures of the officials who +received the funds. Oh, it was a rare sport."</p> + +<p>"But your forgeries were finally detected?" said Gaillard inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"The workmanship and the signatures never. I could have gone on making +enough to buy up the whole government, but for a mishap. I made a +glaring error in the date of a certain issue of assignats. I never liked +the new calendar, and always had to take particular care to get it +right, but one day my memory slipped up, and I dated a batch of one +hundred thousand francs, November 14, 1793, instead of 25th Brumaire, +year II. Oh, that was an unpardonable slip, and I deserved to pay the +penalty."</p> + +<p>"It seems cruel," remarked Gaillard, "to keep a useful member of +society, like you, in this filthy dungeon."</p> + +<p>"The greatest cruelty is in keeping the materials of my trade away from +me. They know my love for my art, and take delight in torturing me. +Although I promise not to try any dodge, they won't trust me. If they +would only let me have a little pen, ink, and paper, I should be happy."</p> + +<p>"Pen, ink, and paper?" repeated Gaillard. "That's a modest desire."</p> + +<p>"They won't let him have them," put in Tappeur. "He'd play them all +sorts of tricks. He'd forge all sorts of documents, and worry the life +out of the jailers."</p> + +<p>The door opened a few inches, and a jug of water and a large square loaf +made their appearance, pushed in by an invisible hand.</p> + +<p>"Let's divide our rations for the day," suggested Petitsou. "Have they +given us a larger loaf, Tappeur, on account of our increased number?"</p> + +<p>"But very little larger," replied Tappeur, picking up the loaf of black +bread and surveying it hungrily.</p> + +<p>"Is that all we receive in the way of food?" asked Gaillard ruefully. He +had missed his usual supper after the theatre the night before, and was +quite ready for breakfast.</p> + +<p>"That's all, unless you've got money. You can buy what you like with +that." And Tappeur eyed him slyly out of his deep-set eyes.</p> + +<p>"What do you say to some wine in place of this cold water, and some +white bread, with perhaps a little sausage added by the way of relish?" +suggested Gaillard mildly.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you jailer!" called out Tappeur, frantically rushing toward the +door, fearful lest the man might be out of hearing. The jailer retraced +his steps reluctantly.</p> + +<p>"A commission from the new lodger. A bottle of wine. A white loaf in +place of this vile, sour stuff, and some sweet little sausage. A little +tobacco also. Am I not right, my comrade?" asked Tappeur, looking at +Gaillard inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Some tobacco, of course," nodded Gaillard, producing a coin.</p> + +<p>"Have it strong; I have tasted none for so long that it must bite my +tongue to make up for lost time. Hurry with thy commissions my good +little citizen jailer; the new lodger is hungry, and we, too, have no +small appetites."</p> + +<p>"Tobacco," said Petitsou, "next to ink and paper, I have longed for +that. And I have money, too!" and he produced a five-franc piece. "As +good a piece of silver as ever rang from the government mint, and yet +that cursed jailer refuses to take it, or bring me the smallest portion +of tobacco for it. The donkey fears I have manufactured it here on the +premises, or that I extracted it from thin air like a magician."</p> + +<p>The breakfast being brought, Tappeur rolled a couple of large stones +toward the lightest portion of the cell, and placed a board across them +for a table. They had nothing to sit upon but their heels. The two +criminals had accustomed themselves to this method of sitting at meals, +but Gaillard found it more comfortable to partake of his food standing +with his shoulders to the wall.</p> + +<p>"Fall to, comrades!" cried Tappeur, breaking off an end of the loaf and +taking a sausage in his other hand. "There's no cup, so we must drink +from the bottle." And he handed the wine to Gaillard first, by way of +attention.</p> + +<p>Gaillard put the bottle to his lips and took a long draught of the +contents while Tappeur watched him anxiously. He then passed it over to +Petitsou, who treated it in a like manner. Tappeur received it in his +turn in thankful silence, and after having punished it severely, put it +down by his side. Gaillard helped himself to a piece of bread and a +sausage, and ate with good appetite, leaving his new companions to +finish the wine, to the evident satisfaction of those two worthies.</p> + +<p>"You have a hard fist, my brave comrade!" exclaimed Tappeur, filling a +pipe as short and grimy as the thumb that pushed the tobacco down into +the bowl. "A hard fist and a free purse and Tappeur is your friend for +life." To give emphasis to his words he puffed a cloud of blue smoke up +into Gaillard's face, and drained the last few drops of wine in the +flagon.</p> + +<p>"That's very good stuff," he continued, balancing the empty bottle upon +its nose, "but brandy would be more satisfying."</p> + +<p>Gaillard refused to take the hint, and turned away to spread his cloak +in a corner of the cell, where he lay down upon it and was soon in a +deep sleep.</p> + +<p>Week followed week, and Gaillard continued to live below the ground far +from the sunlight which he loved so dearly, while Tournay, confined in +the cell upon the second floor, wondered why he received no word from +the friend in the outside world.</p> + +<p>Thus they lived within one hundred yards of each other, thinking of each +other daily, and with no means of communication. One thing Gaillard had +to be thankful for, and that was the sum of money the theatre manager +had paid him on the very night of his arrest. With it he had purchased +many comforts to make his life more bearable. He had procured a fresh +supply of straw and a warm blanket for his bed; some candles and a rough +chair upon which he took turns in sitting with the two jail-birds, his +companions, although at meals he always occupied it by tacit consent.</p> + +<p>Under the influence of the additional food which Gaillard's purse +supplied, Tappeur grew fat and better natured, though he swore none the +less, and drank and smoked all that Gaillard would provide for him. +Indeed, he thought the actor a little niggardly in furnishing the +brandy, and one day, after a good meal, was inclined to be swaggering, +intimating that, with respect to drink, the rations should be increased. +Whereupon Gaillard cut off his potations entirely for twenty-four hours, +and he became as meek as a lamb and remained so ever after.</p> + +<p>Both the bully and Petitsou would frequently regale Gaillard with long +accounts of their past crimes. During the recitals, Tappeur, although +always boastful on his own account, showed a certain deference to the +forger.</p> + +<p>"I can cut a throat or rob a purse with the best blackguard in France," +he would say to the actor, "but that little Petitsou is the true +artist."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding these diversions, the time dragged wearily, and +Gaillard's face began to lose its roundness, while the smile did not +broaden his wide mouth so frequently as of old. His money began to get +low, and he looked forward with dread to the time when it would be +entirely gone and he would have to divide the musty black loaf and the +pitcher of fetid water with the two criminals, without the wherewithal +to buy even such good nature and entertainment as they could furnish. He +longed for the time of his trial to come. He knew from what he had heard +of the experiences of others, that he might be called for trial any day, +or that he might languish in jail for months, forgotten and neglected. +Every day when he asked the jailer who brought their food, "Have I not +been called for trial?" and received the response, "Not to-day," his +heart sank lower.</p> + +<p>One day when he had only five francs left in his purse, and had +refrained from ordering any wine, much to Tappeur's disgust, the jailer +came to inform him that he was to come forth for trial.</p> + +<p>"Good luck attend you, citizen actor," said Petitsou, with some show of +friendship, as Gaillard prepared to leave them, smiling.</p> + +<p>"As we must lose you in one way or another," called out Tappeur after +him as he disappeared down the corridor, "let us hope that the national +razor will not bungle when it shaves you, my brave."</p> + +<p>Gaillard's spirits rose as he came up to the light of day. In a few +hours he would know what his destiny would be, and the fresh air gave +him renewed courage to meet it. His wish to learn just what fate had +overtaken Tournay gave him an additional interest in life.</p> + +<p>Passing through the main corridor he heard his name called, and looking +toward the corridor of the upper tier he saw the face of his friend.</p> + +<p>It was only an instant, and then Gaillard passed out with others to the +street. At first Tournay's heart throbbed with apprehension at the sight +of his friend. He had feared all along that had Gaillard been at liberty +he would have received some message from him, or other evidence of his +existence, and now his fears were confirmed. Yet somehow the very sight +of Gaillard's cheerful face, smiling up at him, reassured him.</p> + +<p>"Am called for trial," the actor's lips framed. "And you?" Tournay made +a negative gesture.</p> + +<p>"Paper destroyed," Gaillard next signaled with his lips, but he dared +not make the words too plain for fear of detection, and the message was +lost on Tournay. Then they saw each other no longer.</p> + +<p>It was into a small court room that Gaillard saw himself conducted. He +looked round with surprise. The trials were usually attended by large +and interested crowds of people.</p> + +<p>"I am evidently considered of small importance, and so am disposed of by +an inferior court," thought he. "So much the better."</p> + +<p>The case being tried at the moment was one of petty larceny. "The other +courts must be doing an enormous business, to oblige them to turn some +of us over to these little criminal courts," continued Gaillard musingly +as the affair in question was disposed of and he was called.</p> + +<p>"Read the act of accusation," said the judge, "and hurry the affair. I +wish to go to dinner."</p> + +<p>"Don't let me detain you," thought Gaillard. Then he put his hands to +his head to ascertain if his ears were in their proper place, for he +could not understand a word of the accusation as read by the clerk. He +heard a jumble about "coat," "personal assault," "refused payment," then +looked in bewilderment at the judge and prosecuting attorney, till from +them his eyes wandered about the dingy court room. All at once the sight +of a face in the witness box caused a light to flash through his brain, +and elucidate the whole matter. He recognized his tailor, who sat with +vindictive eyes, holding over his arm the identical coat that had been +the cause of the dispute on the very day of his arrest.</p> + +<p>Gaillard could barely repress his merriment. The rancor of the little +tailor had followed him to prison, and dragged him out to answer a +complaint of assault and intent to defraud.</p> + +<p>"I wonder," thought Gaillard, "if I am convicted and sentenced for this +crime, and subsequently condemned to the guillotine, which penalty I +shall have to pay first?"</p> + +<p>"Have you any counsel, prisoner?" demanded the judge.</p> + +<p>"I will plead my own case," replied Gaillard cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"Call the complainant and witness."</p> + +<p>After a long recital on the part of the tailor of the history of the +coat, and the treatment he had received at the hands of the brutal +prisoner, during which the judge yawned, indicating his desire to get +out to dinner, Gaillard took the stand.</p> + +<p>"My sole defense," said he smilingly, "is that the tailor wittingly, +maliciously, and falsely, endeavored to palm off upon me, a poor actor, +a garment never made for me."</p> + +<p>"How will you prove it?" demanded the judge.</p> + +<p>"By simply trying on the coat," answered Gaillard. "If you decide it was +made for me, I will abandon my defense."</p> + +<p>"Let the prisoner have the garment," ordered the judge.</p> + +<p>Gaillard slowly proceeded to divest himself of his own coat and don the +offending garment which the tailor now presented to him reluctantly.</p> + +<p>It had fitted him badly on the first occasion he had tried it on, and +now, by a slight contortion of his supple body, the actor made the +misfit ridiculously apparent.</p> + +<p>The court officers grinned, even the judge could not repress a smile, +and the tailor looked foolish.</p> + +<p>"That is quite sufficient," said the justice. "How much did the tailor +want you to pay for this grotesque garment?"</p> + +<p>"Two hundred francs the bill calls for."</p> + +<p>"Two hundred francs?" ejaculated the judge.</p> + +<p>"In gold coin," emphasized Gaillard.</p> + +<p>"It is very expensive material," explained the tailor ruefully.</p> + +<p>"Down how many flights of stairs does the complaint state the prisoner +kicked the tailor?" asked the judge.</p> + +<p>"Only one short one," volunteered Gaillard, grinning at the discomfited +tailor.</p> + +<p>"Only one short one?" repeated the judge. "You were very moderate; such +an absurd garment would have justified three flights."</p> + +<p>There was a laugh in the court room. The judge tapped for order.</p> + +<p>"The prisoner is discharged," he said.</p> + +<p>Gaillard rose and looked for the guards who had escorted him from the +Luxembourg, thankful for the brief respite he had had from the tedium of +confinement.</p> + +<p>"You are a free man, Citizen Gaillard," said the judge, waving his hand +toward the open door.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean I can leave the court room by that door?" asked Gaillard, +his heart rising up in his throat.</p> + +<p>"Certainly; I dismiss the complaint."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, your honor," said Gaillard, stepping quickly through the +doorway into the street.</p> + +<p>"Your honor!" gasped a court attendant hurriedly appearing at the +judge's desk.</p> + +<p>"I have no time to listen to anything further now. I am off to dinner," +said the judge snappishly.</p> + +<p>"But does your honor know? Is your honor aware that the prisoner was a +suspect from the Luxembourg, brought here by me for trial on this charge +of assault, to be returned after"—</p> + +<p>"Bring him back at once!" yelled the judge. "You idiot, why didn't you +say so before?"</p> + +<p>"But, your honor, I"—</p> + +<p>"After him, constables; be quick, he cannot have gone fifty yards."</p> + +<p>Half a dozen men rushed into the street and looked in all directions. +But Gaillard was not to be seen.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE MICHELET</h3> + + +<p>One April day a wave of excitement swept through the entire prison. It +was repeated in every cell and whispered in every ear.</p> + +<p>"The lion has been taken in the mesh! The great Danton is a prisoner in +the Luxembourg!"</p> + +<p>At first Tournay could not believe the report. It seemed as if those +giant arms need but to be extended to break the bonds that held them, +and allow their owner to walk out into the air a free man.</p> + +<p>Yet it was indeed true, and one day, for a few moments only, Tournay had +an opportunity to see and converse with the fallen chieftain as he stood +in the door of his cell, talking in a loud voice to all who were near +enough to hear him.</p> + +<p>As Danton saw Colonel Tournay he ceased speaking and held out his hand. +In his eyes there was a peculiar look which the latter understood.</p> + +<p>"You see, it has come at last even to me," said Danton quietly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, why did you not crush the snake before it entwined you with its +coils?" asked Tournay sadly.</p> + +<p>"I did not think he would dare do it," replied Danton. "Robespierre is +rushing to his ruin. What will they do without me? They are all mad."</p> + +<p>"You should have distrusted their madness, even if you did not fear it," +was the rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"The end is near," answered Danton. "It is fate. Yet if I could leave my +brains to Robespierre and my legs to Couthon, the Revolution might still +limp along for a short time," and he laughed roughly. "Good-by, +Tournay," he said in a tone of kindliness. "You are a brave man and a +true Republican; such men as you might have saved the Republic, but it +was not to be." He entered his cell, and Tournay never saw him again.</p> + +<p>The next day Danton was taken to the conciergerie and to his trial, and +the day following to the guillotine. The lion head was parted from the +giant trunk, and the Revolution swept on.</p> + +<p>The weeks dragged on monotonously to Colonel Tournay and St. Hilaire in +the Luxembourg. The trees in the gardens beyond their prison walls had +put forth their leaves, and the song of birds was borne sometimes even +into the recesses of their cell.</p> + +<p>"Why are we left to rot here in this stifling place?" exclaimed Colonel +Tournay for the thousandth time. "Why are we not even called for trial? +Has Robespierre forgotten our existence?"</p> + +<p>"Let us hope that he has," rejoined St. Hilaire. "As long as we are +overlooked we shall get into no worse trouble. We are not so very +uncomfortable here," and St. Hilaire sprang upon the table to put his +nose out between the window bars, like a fox in a cage, to get what air +there was stirring and to look at the little patch of blue sky.</p> + +<p>Tournay smiled sadly. He envied St. Hilaire his cheerfulness and +adaptability, while he felt his own spirit breaking under the long +confinement.</p> + +<p>He sat down upon the edge of the bed and wondered what had happened in +the world since he had been cut off from it. His thoughts were +frequently of Gaillard, and he wished he could learn something about his +friend. As he was sitting thus, oppressed by the warmth of a June +afternoon, the turnkey entered the cell.</p> + +<p>"There is an old man come to see you," he said, addressing Tournay. +"Your uncle from the provinces, I believe. You may see him outside here +in the corridor."</p> + +<p>"I wonder who this visitor may be," thought Tournay as he followed the +turnkey. "Had I not received word of my poor father's death two months +ago I should expect to find him."</p> + +<p>An old man stood leaning on his cane at the end of the corridor. He +seemed quite feeble, and the jailer, moved to compassion by his +infirmity, placed a stool for him to sit upon.</p> + +<p>"My nephew!" exclaimed the old man in tremulous accents as Tournay made +his appearance.</p> + +<p>Apparently the old man had made some mistake. To Colonel Tournay's eyes +he was an entire stranger; but being aware that the slightest suspicion +aroused in the mind of the prison authorities sometimes led to very +serious consequences, he determined to wait until the turnkey was out of +hearing before undeceiving the mild-eyed old gentleman.</p> + +<p>"My uncle," he answered, taking the venerable citizen by the +outstretched hand, "how did your old legs manage to"—</p> + +<p>The septuagenarian squeezed the colonel's hand until the fingers +cracked.</p> + +<p>"My old legs would have brought me here long before," said the voice of +Gaillard in guarded tones, "but it took me two weeks to get this +disguise!"</p> + +<p>"Gaillard! In heaven's name can it be you?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis I! I may have aged since we last met, my colonel, but my heart is +as young as ever."</p> + +<p>"My dear Gaillard, how did you manage to leave this prison? What are you +doing? Is this not dangerous?" asked Tournay, putting the questions in +rapid succession.</p> + +<p>"Gaillard's liberty would not be worth a brass button if he should come +here," replied the actor, "but old Michelet has nothing to fear. I have +been playing hide and seek with the police for the past fortnight. I am +now living at 15 Rue des Mathurins."</p> + +<p>Even Tournay, who knew his friend so well, started.</p> + +<p>"It is a very long story, and I can only give you an outline of it," +said Gaillard, seating himself on the stool and leaning heavily on his +cane, while he turned his face so that he could see from one corner of +his eye every motion the turnkey might make.</p> + +<p>"I escaped from my dungeon below the ground; I will tell you how when we +have more leisure. The first thing I thought of, when I was once out in +the free air, was a bath. I wanted to drown out the recollection of +assassins and dirty straw, vile air and counterfeiters with whom I had +been on such intimate terms for so many weeks.</p> + +<p>"I was afraid to go to any bath houses lest I should be seen and +recognized; besides, I had no money, so I finally concluded to try the +river. I therefore skulked in unfrequented byways until nightfall, when +I went swimming in the Seine by starlight, and I can assure you I never +before appreciated the kindly properties of water to such an extent. My +next desire, after I had slept in the arches of the bridge St. Michel +and broken my fast with a crisp roll, was to see you."</p> + +<p>"My dear old uncle!" exclaimed Tournay aloud, placing his hand +affectionately on Gaillard's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I knew that I should be safe if I could procure a good disguise, but +that it would be folly to attempt it without one," continued Gaillard. +"The want of money was still an obstacle. 'Among the costumes in my +chest at home,' thought I, 'is material to disguise a whole race of +Gaillards.' Ah, but how to reach them? That was the matter that required +careful study. Those annoying little red seals that the government +places on the doors of all arrested persons are terribly dangerous to +meddle with. Yet within were clothing and disguises, and a very little +sum of money stowed away for an emergency. Meanwhile, in the evening, I +promenaded down the Rue des Mathurins to look the ground over. There, +planted in front of the house, staring up at the windows of our +apartment, was a great hulking gendarme.</p> + +<p>"That night I slept again under the St. Michel bridge,—commodious and +airy enough, but a little damp in the morning hours. Before daylight I +was up and off to the Rue des Mathurins, drawn like a criminal to the +scene of his misdeeds, to inspect the enemy unseen by him.</p> + +<p>"There is a certain mouselike gratification in watching from afar the +cat, which, with claws extended, is lying in wait, ready to pounce upon +you as soon as you show your nose." And Gaillard stopped to take a pinch +of snuff and blink at the light with a pair of mild blue eyes. Then, +after applying a colored handkerchief to his nose, he resumed his +narrative.</p> + +<p>"At all hours of the day, late at night, or early in the morning, there +was always some officer of police staring persistently at my windows as +if he expected me, furnished with a pair of wings, to come flying in or +out of a fourth story. 'Not yet, my fine fellow,' said I, and vanished +around the corner.</p> + +<p>"One night it rained dismally; a cold mist was rising from the river. +The St. Michel bridge had little attraction as a bedroom for me at that +moment, I can assure you. Muffling myself in my cloak, I directed my +steps toward my old abode, hoping that owing to the inclemency of the +weather the officers of the law might be less vigilant. For I had +resolved, the opportunity offering, to make an attempt to enter my own +domicile that very night. Imagine my disgust when, upon arriving, I saw +two gendarmes sheltered in the entrance of the house opposite. Both of +them were obtrusively wide-awake and alert.</p> + +<p>"I do not know whether one of them noticed me, lurking by the corner, +but he immediately started to walk in my direction, and not wishing to +run any chances I darted into an alley blacker than a whole calendar of +nights, scaled a wall, and found myself in the narrow court which flanks +our own building. Here I resolved to wait until I could safely venture +out upon the street once more.</p> + +<p>"The rain had almost ceased, but I could still hear the gurgle of the +water coming down the spout from the roof. You know that water spout, my +little colonel? It is made to carry off the water from three houses, is +unusually large, and is held firmly in place a few inches from the house +wall by iron braces at intervals of five to six feet. I placed my hand +on one of these braces, and instantly the thought flashed through my +brain, 'It can be done.'"</p> + +<p>"You are not going to tell me that you attempted to climb up by the +water pipe?" demanded Tournay incredulously.</p> + +<p>"I divested myself of my cloak, coat, and waistcoat, removed my heavy, +rain-soaked shoes, and began the ascent as bravely as any seaman +ordered to the foretop," replied Gaillard.</p> + +<p>"I could reach the brace above while standing on the one beneath, and +partly using my knees and partly drawing myself up by the arms, I made +quicker progress than I had deemed possible. In fact, I went up so +vigorously that on reaching the third story I struck my knee against a +piece of loose stucco which was clinging to the wall, waiting for the +first strong wind to blow it to the ground.</p> + +<p>"Crash! the plaster fell to the courtyard pavement, where it was +shivered into a thousand fragments.</p> + +<p>"The blow on my kneecap made me shiver with pain, and I rested on the +brace just outside the window of the little soubrette, clinging tightly +with both hands to the spout.</p> + +<p>"'Thank heaven that it was the stucco that fell, not I,' I whispered +devoutly, just as a window opened on the floor above, and our old +neighbor Avarie appeared. He is always on the lookout for robbers, and +keeps at his bedside a big blunderbuss, with a muzzle like a +speaking-trumpet.</p> + +<p>"'Thieves,' I heard him mutter. I kept perfectly quiet, not giving vent +even to a breath.</p> + +<p>"'Who's there?'</p> + +<p>"I clung close to the shelter of my friendly water pipe.</p> + +<p>"'Speak, or I'll fire!'</p> + +<p>"I knew he could not see me, and if he did fire his old cannon, I felt +sure that it would explode and blow him into atoms; but the noise would +alarm the neighborhood, and I had a vision of a score of lights +flashing; night-capped heads appearing in all the surrounding windows; +gendarmes running up with their lanterns, and poor Gaillard, clinging +like a frightened cat to the water spout.</p> + +<p>"That gave me an idea.</p> + +<p>"'Miauw!' answered I plaintively.</p> + +<p>"'It's a cat!' exclaimed old Avarie in disgust.</p> + +<p>"'Mew—mew—mew,' cried I.</p> + +<p>"'What is it?' said a woman's voice, evidently his wife's.</p> + +<p>"'Nothing but a cat,' growled Avarie. 'But I think I will let drive at +her just because she disturbed my sleep.'</p> + +<p>"I stopped my mewing on the instant.</p> + +<p>"'Don't,' pleaded the woman, 'the gun may kick.'</p> + +<p>"'Bah, do you think I can't handle a gun?' And I heard a click.</p> + +<p>"'Good-by to thee, old Avarie,' I said under my breath.</p> + +<p>"'Don't be a fool, husband, and awake the whole neighborhood just for a +cat!' exclaimed his wife.</p> + +<p>"Almost at my window another window was thrown open and the little +soubrette's head appeared. She is very fond of cats.</p> + +<p>"'Here puss, puss, puss,' she cried.</p> + +<p>"'Is that your cat, citizeness?' asked old Avarie.</p> + +<p>"'It must be; he has stayed out all night, the naughty fellow. Kitty, +kitty, poor kitty, come in out of the wet.'</p> + +<p>"My teeth were chattering with cold and fatigue and that was just what I +most desired, but I did not dare to risk it.</p> + +<p>"'You ought to keep the animal at home, and not let him out to disturb +everybody's sleep,' called out the testy old man as he closed his window +with a bang.</p> + +<p>"Luckily for me the little soubrette's attention was all directed toward +the roof of the lower extension on the left where her pet evidently had +a habit of straying. She did not see me, crouched behind the pipe so +near as to almost be able to touch her by putting out one hand. By the +way, she looked very pretty in her little white nightcap edged with +lace. I was not very sorry, however, to see her close the window and to +be left alone with my water spout. A few minutes later I had pushed open +the window of my kitchen and wriggled into the room.</p> + +<p>"I dared not strike a light for fear of its reflection on the wall +opposite, and groped my way about the room in the dark. My heart leaped +with joy when I had assured myself that no seal had been placed on the +windows nor upon any of the inside doors; the one seal on the outer door +evidently having been deemed sufficient. The dust was an inch thick over +everything, and I moved about in ghostly stillness, struggling to +repress a sneeze. Nothing appeared to have been touched since the night +of my enforced departure.</p> + +<p>"I hugged myself with a childish glee at being alone in my little home +in the dead of night. The thought of the gendarmes outside in the rain +made my sides ache with suppressed laughter.</p> + +<p>"First, I unearthed my little economies of last winter. Thirteen francs, +five sous. 'Gaillard you're a prodigal fellow,' I said to myself as I +dropped them into my pouch, 'but it is better than nothing.' Then I +collected a few necessities. My beautiful wig of silver hair, and a +suitable dress to go with it. I handled lovingly a few other costumes, +but had the strength of mind to return them to the chest. I should like +to have appeared before you as the 'Spanish outlaw' but it would have +been too dangerous. The character of the English 'milord' would have +been congenial but equally hazardous. So I sensibly adhered to my sober +selection, and tied up all my effects in a neat bundle.</p> + +<p>"When all was completed I took one last, longing survey of my rooms, +went to the casement, and, dropping the bundle, held my breath. Thud! it +reached the bottom and lay there innocently in the court. Not a sound +was heard. Old Citizen Avarie, in the adjoining apartment, was snoring +in a way that would put his blunderbuss to shame, and the little +citizeness below had evidently retired into the recess of her +lace-trimmed nightcap to dream of her missing pet.</p> + +<p>"Sliding silently from the window I found the iron brace with my toes, +and grasped the clammy water pipe with both hands. I could not close +the casement. 'Never mind, they will think it was the wind that opened +it,' I said, and I descended to the ground with an agility born of +practice.</p> + +<p>"In the early morning hours I retired to my bridge, put on my silver wig +and old man's dress, sunk my other clothes to the river bottom, and +appeared in the light of day as an old man.</p> + +<p>"I now walk the streets in safety under the very noses of my old +enemies, the police; I come to you and I ask, 'How do you like your old +uncle?'"</p> + +<p>"You deceived me completely, my Gaillard," Tournay confessed; "but tell +me this. You said you were still residing at 15 Rue des Mathurins. May I +ask in what capacity? As cat?"</p> + +<p>"Having little money, I must earn some more in order to live. I went to +my dear friend, the theatre director, just as I am, and asked him to +employ me about the theatre in any capacity. He did not recognize me, +and putting his hand in his pocket, brought out a piece of forty sous."</p> + +<p>"'Sorry, my poor fellow, but I have no place for you. Take this.'"</p> + +<p>"I would trust my manager with my life, so I leaned forward to his ear. +'I am Gaillard, hunted, proscribed, but always your old friend Gaillard. +Call me Citizen Michelet.' He gave me a look for which I could have +taken him to my heart, there in his bureau, and hugged him.</p> + +<p>"'Citizen Michelet,' he said, 'there is a place of a doorkeeper which +you can have. The pay is small, fifteen francs the week, but it may +suffice your needs.' I knew it was five francs more than old Gaspard +received,—the doorkeeper who drank himself to death,—and I took the +place gladly. When one is old, my nephew, one does not despise even +fifteen francs," and Gaillard looked pathetically into Tournay's face. +"Now I sit every evening at the stage door of the theatre and see the +familiar faces pass in and out. They do not recognize me; but they are +beginning to address kindly nods and occasional words to old Michelet.</p> + +<p>"I found a vacant room to let on the ground floor of No. 15 Rue des +Mathurins, so I took the lodging and live there quietly. I am on the +best of terms with the gendarmes, and I talk with them out of my window, +where we exchange pinches of snuff and other like civilities."</p> + +<p>"My dear friend"—began Tournay.</p> + +<p>"You might as well call me uncle," interrupted Gaillard, "to accustom +yourself to it, for under this guise I shall visit you again."</p> + +<p>"My dear <i>uncle</i>, it is like a draught of wine to a thirsty man to hear +you talk. It is like a ray of sunshine to see your wrinkled old face."</p> + +<p>"I hope to be the ray of sunshine to light you out of this prison," said +Gaillard.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid that will be a difficult matter," replied Tournay. "I am not +so clever as you in wearing disguises."</p> + +<p>"You will wear no disguise," answered Gaillard. "Are you in a cell by +yourself?" he asked in the next breath.</p> + +<p>"No, strange to say I have a companion, Citizen St. Hilaire."</p> + +<p>"That is not so bad; only we shall have to include him in our plans," +replied Gaillard. "You can trust him?"</p> + +<p>"Implicitly."</p> + +<p>"When I lean forward over my stick," said Gaillard, "run your hand +stealthily up the back of my head under my long hair. Now."</p> + +<p>Tournay did as he was bid.</p> + +<p>"Do you feel it?"</p> + +<p>"I feel something hard, like a little file."</p> + +<p>"Good! You could not expect a chest of tools; the jailer searched me +thoroughly. Untie that little file from the hair. Can you do it?"</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"I tied it quite firmly for fear it would fall out. Do not be afraid of +pulling my hair, but do not pull the wig off. You may take both +hands,—the turnkey is not paying any attention,—as if you were +arranging your old uncle's coat collar."</p> + +<p>"I'll have it in a moment. There!"</p> + +<p>"Slip this up your sleeve, my colonel. Now a few questions and remarks. +How many bars has your window?"</p> + +<p>"Four."</p> + +<p>"How long will it take you to file them all?"</p> + +<p>Tournay considered. "We could only work in any safety in the middle of +the night, perhaps four hours in the twenty-four."</p> + +<p>"How long do you think it will take you to cut through the four bars?"</p> + +<p>Tournay thought for a moment. "We can work only at intervals in the +dead of night," he replied, "so it may take several days."</p> + +<p>"Good! In four days I will bring you a rope."</p> + +<p>"In God's name, Gaillard, how can you manage to bring a rope into this +place?"</p> + +<p>"I am not certain of that point yet, but I shall manage it," was the +cool rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"My dear Gaillard, I believe you. If you were to promise me to bring a +spire of Notre Dame wrapped up in gold paper I should expect to see it +at the appointed hour. With a rope in our possession and the bars cut, +we can get down the forty feet to the yard beneath. But there is the +sentry, and the difficulty of escape from the yard!"</p> + +<p>"I will take care of the sentry and the escape," replied Gaillard, "and +in four days I shall be here again. Meanwhile cut through the bars so +that you can push them out of place at any moment. Attention; here comes +the turnkey.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, my nephew. Be of good cheer. A good patriot need have no +fear," said Gaillard in a quavering voice.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, my uncle," rejoined Tournay as he went back to his cell. "I +shall see you then next week at the same hour," he called out through +the bars of the door.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, good-by again. Mind the step. Be careful lest my uncle +trip, citizen turnkey; he is old and rather venturesome for one of his +years."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>CITIZENESS PRIVAT</h3> + + +<p>"Agatha," said Mademoiselle de Rochefort, "I am going back to Paris."</p> + +<p>Agatha turned and looked at her mistress in the greatest surprise.</p> + +<p>"Do I understand you, mademoiselle, or am I dreaming? It is impossible +that you could have said"—</p> + +<p>"I am going back to Paris."</p> + +<p>Edmé repeated the words quietly, but there was a decision in her manner +which Agatha understood full well. She gave a gasp of consternation and +sank into a chair, fixing her wide-open eyes upon Edmé's face, while she +waited to hear more.</p> + +<p>Edmé was seated in her bedroom in the Castle of Hagenhof. It was +evening, and two candles, one upon the dressing-table, the other upon a +stand at Agatha's side, gave to the room a mild half-light. The curtains +were not yet drawn, and through the large casement the stars gleamed +softly.</p> + +<p>"During the five months we have lived in absolute quiet and security +here at Hagenhof," Edmé continued, looking out of the window at the +forest of pine trees that stretched away from the castle like a sea of +ink, "we have been completely shut off from the world outside, hearing +almost nothing of the events taking place there."</p> + +<p>"That was your wish, was it not?" asked Agatha as Edmé paused.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle de Rochefort did not make any direct reply, but continued +speaking as if she was answering her own thoughts, rather than +conversing with her maid.</p> + +<p>"There was a great battle fought. It was a full month afterward that I +heard of it and of the glory won by Colonel Tournay. The Republicans +were victorious. Had they been defeated, the restoration of the Monarchy +would have been one step nearer. But the allies were defeated, their +finest troops were sent flying back before the raw recruits. And I! Did +I mourn the defeat of our allies as much as I rejoiced in Colonel +Tournay's triumph? <i>The hero of Landau!</i> That is what he was called."</p> + +<p>Then, turning toward Agatha, she exclaimed: "How do you think they have +rewarded him in France? They have thrown this hero into prison. They +have kept him there for months. And I heard of it only to-night from the +officers who returned with Colonel von Waldenmeer yesterday. They spoke +of affairs in France. They said that the Republic is approaching its +final doom. The leaders are now at discord. The terrible Danton has been +sent to the guillotine. They said that the officers of the army are +being suspected; mentioned Colonel Tournay's arrest, and then casually +passed on to other topics. I heard no more. I could not listen after +that, and came up here as soon as I could withdraw from the table. +Agatha, I am going back to France."</p> + +<p>"Why are you going?" asked Agatha gently, fearing to antagonize her +mistress in her present mood.</p> + +<p>Again Edmé looked out of the window at the swaying tops of the mournful +pines. "I cannot stay here," she answered fiercely. "The melancholy of +the place is killing me."</p> + +<p>"Do not be a child, mademoiselle," said Agatha in the tone of authority +she sometimes employed in reasoning with her beloved mistress. "If you +are not happy here, we will leave. Perhaps we can go to Berlin, or to +London. But never to France!"</p> + +<p>"Twice has he risked his life for me," said Edmé, again speaking to +herself. "I owe so much to him, and have repaid him nothing."</p> + +<p>"All that is true," persisted the cool-headed Agatha. "He aided you +because he had the power; if you could serve him, it would be different. +But you can do nothing. If you go to Paris, you will be arrested and +guillotined. That is all. No, my dear mistress, you must not go."</p> + +<p>"I shall go," answered Edmé firmly. "If I am apprehended, so much the +worse."</p> + +<p>"You will only place yourself in peril," cried Agatha. "You must not +go!"</p> + +<p>"When Colonel Tournay parted from me," said Edmé impressively, "he swore +that we should some day meet again. He would keep his word if it were +possible. Fate has decreed that he shall not come to me; she decrees, +instead, that I shall go to him."</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," cried Agatha in a horrified tone, "what are you saying? +Think of your rank, think of your family, your pride of birth!"</p> + +<p>"My rank!" laughed Edmé scornfully. "Did that avail me when I crossed +the river Loire? My pride of birth! Did that protect and bring me safely +out of France? A brave and loyal man was my sole protection. He is now +in the greatest danger. I am going to him."</p> + +<p>There was a ring in her voice as she spoke that seemed to bid defiance +to the long line of ancestry behind her.</p> + +<p>"Now that you know that I am not to be swayed from my determination, +will you go with me or remain here?"</p> + +<p>"I shall go with you, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"We must leave here clandestinely, Agatha. I little thought, when the +kindly Grafin von Waldenmeer took me under her roof, I should leave it +like this."</p> + +<p>"We shall have to travel through France in the disguise of peasants, +mademoiselle," said Agatha.</p> + +<p>"We have had some experience in that disguise, Agatha. You know how well +I shall be able to play my part."</p> + +<p>From Hagenhof, starting at dead of night, the two women traveled to +Paris. It took them three weeks to make the journey that they had once +made in five days. But they were obliged to travel slowly, as became +two women of their class.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the twentieth day they found themselves in the Rue +Vaugirard in Paris, almost under the very shadow of the Luxembourg. +Agatha stopped before the doorway of a small house in the window of +which a placard announced that lodgings were to let within.</p> + +<p>"This is what we want, mademoiselle," said the girl. "I will knock +here."</p> + +<p>A woman answered the summons. She was about forty years old, with +stooping shoulders, and hands gnarled and twisted by hard work. Her skin +was dark, but an unhealthy pallor was upon her face, which, thin and +worn, was lightened by a pair of brilliant eyes.</p> + +<p>"Can we obtain lodging here, good citizeness?" inquired Agatha. The +woman did not reply at once, being busy looking at them closely with her +bright eyes.</p> + +<p>"Have you any lodgings to let?" said Agatha once more.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," repeated Edmé somewhat impatiently. "Do you not know?"</p> + +<p>"I am Citizeness Privat," the woman answered. "There are lodgings to let +in this house, most assuredly, and I have charge of the renting of them; +but I act for another, and he," with emphasis on the pronoun, "insists +that I shall only take those who can furnish references. Can you do so?"</p> + +<p>"Let us come inside and we will see what can be done," said Agatha, +pushing forward. The woman stepped back, and Edmé followed Agatha into +the house. Agatha closed the door before speaking.</p> + +<p>"Citizeness Privat," she said, "we are two women from the country, who +have come to Paris for the first time. We know no one here, and can give +you no references except money. Will that not satisfy you?" And Agatha +drew a purse from her pocket.</p> + +<p>"It will satisfy me, but not him who employs me. If I disobey him I may +lose this place which is my only shelter." Edmé caught a glimpse of a +neat sitting-room through a half-open door. The cool and quiet of the +house were doubly attractive after the noise and heat of the city +streets.</p> + +<p>"We must stay here," she whispered to Agatha. The latter opened her +purse.</p> + +<p>"We will pay you well," she said persuasively. The citizeness shook her +head mournfully, and put one hand upon the handle of the door.</p> + +<p>"Stay one moment, I implore you!" exclaimed Edmé impulsively. "Listen to +what I have to say."</p> + +<p>The citizeness turned her strange eyes upon Edmé. The latter started as +she beheld the expression on the pale face.</p> + +<p>"Agatha! look!" Edmé cried out in alarm, and the next instant the +Citizeness Privat had fallen to the floor. Quickly Edmé bent over her. +"She has fainted. How cold her hands are! Look at her face. It is +ghastly. It cannot be that she is dead, Agatha?" Edmé continued in a +tone of awe.</p> + +<p>Agatha took one hand and began to chafe it to restore the circulation +while Edmé rubbed the other. "She is breathing," said Agatha. "Perhaps +with your assistance, mademoiselle, we can lift and carry her into one +of the rooms."</p> + +<p>Between them the Citizeness Privat was carried gently into her room and +placed upon a bed. To their intense relief, the woman gave a sigh, and +opened her eyes as she sank back on the pillows.</p> + +<p>"Are you in great suffering, poor creature?" asked Edmé, compassionately +surveying the pale features. Citizeness Privat signed that she was not +in any pain, and after a few moments, during which her breath came +regularly, she said faintly:—</p> + +<p>"I shall be better soon; I am used to these attacks of sudden giddiness. +My greatest fear is that they may seize me some day while I am in the +streets. For that reason I dread to go out alone."</p> + +<p>"Let us remove her clothing and put her in the bed where she will be +more comfortable," suggested Mademoiselle de Rochefort, and in spite of +the feeble remonstrances of the sick woman they soon had her comfortably +installed between the sheets.</p> + +<p>"You are very good," she murmured.</p> + +<p>As Agatha removed the gown a card fell from the pocket to the floor.</p> + +<p>"I shall be unable to attend to my task this evening," sighed the woman +Privat, as if the fluttering pasteboard recalled to mind some urgent +duty. "I can ill afford to let the work go either. It helps so much +towards my support, but to-day it will be impossible."</p> + +<p>Edmé picked up the card, and in doing so glanced at it casually, then +read it with a start:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL.</p> + +<p>Permit the Citizeness Jeanne Privat to enter the various rooms +of the tribunal when engaged upon her routine duties.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Citizeness Privat smiled faintly. "I see you wonder what I have to +do with the tribunal," she said; "I merely go there in the afternoon at +dark and clean up the rooms. There are many of them, and as I am the +only person employed to look after them, they get into a dreadful state +of disorder and dirt." Here the citizeness was taken with a fit of +coughing.</p> + +<p>Edmé thrust the card mechanically into her pocket, and ran to fetch a +glass of water.</p> + +<p>"You are very good to me," said she faintly as soon as she could speak. +"I turned you away," a slight flush coming to her cheek. "Believe me, it +was not my heart that spoke when I told you that I could not let you +have the lodging; I was merely obeying the commands of the owner, who +allows me my bare rent for my services. He is very strict, but at the +risk of incurring his displeasure, I shall refuse to let you go after +this kindness."</p> + +<p>"Do not fear; do not trouble about that," replied Mademoiselle de +Rochefort quietly, "but tell me more about your work in the tribunal. Is +it that which has worn you so?"</p> + +<p>"No, it is not so wearing, only I am far from strong, and sometimes I +get so fatigued. My brother, who is a turnkey in the conciergerie, +obtained this employment for me, as it was thought I could do it; but I +fear I shall have to give it up."</p> + +<p>Edmé smoothed the counterpane. "Do not worry," she said gently, "but go +to sleep now. We will remain here until you are better."</p> + +<p>The citizeness smiled faintly, her lips moved as if in apology; then she +fell into a quiet sleep.</p> + +<p>Agatha turned to her mistress.</p> + +<p>"Go into the next room, mademoiselle, and rest there. I will watch over +this sick woman."</p> + +<p>"I cannot rest, dear Agatha; I have something else to do, but you must +stay here until I return."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"To the Luxembourg."</p> + +<p>"Not now, mademoiselle; wait—I will accompany you."</p> + +<p>"No, Agatha, I prefer to go alone; you must remain here until I come +back," commanded Edmé.</p> + +<p>Agatha knew it would be useless for her to remonstrate further, so she +resumed her place by the bedside, and with the greatest anxiety saw her +mistress leave the house, and, passing by the window, disappear up the +street.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>CITIZENESS PRIVAT'S CARD</h3> + + +<p>"How does one obtain admission to visit a prisoner, citizen doorkeeper?"</p> + +<p>"How does one obtain permission?" repeated the keeper without looking up +from the work with which he was occupied. "One waits in that room," and +he gave a wave of the pen, "until the proper hour, then if one passes +satisfactorily under the inspection of the chief prison-keeper and +everything appears to be quite regular, one is allowed to see and +converse with the prisoner for a short time."</p> + +<p>"I wish to see some one here. Pray tell me where I shall find the chief +keeper?"</p> + +<p>"I am he," replied the keeper, pausing as he dipped his pen in the ink, +and looking over the top of his desk saw a woman neatly but simply +dressed, as became a citizeness of the Republic. The outlines of her +features were partly hidden by the hood of a gray cloak drawn up about +her head, but the shadows cast by this garment were not deep enough to +hide altogether the beauty of the oval face beneath it.</p> + +<p>"Whom do you wish to see?" he asked, evidently satisfied with his +inspection, for he dipped his pen in the ink-bottle and resumed his +work of ruling perpendicular lines in a ledger.</p> + +<p>"I wish to see the prisoner, Robert Tournay."</p> + +<p>The jailer put down his ruler. "That is impossible; the prisoner Tournay +is not here."</p> + +<p>"Not here! Then he has been set at liberty!" The cry of joy that sprang +to her lips checked itself, frozen by the quick negative gesture on the +keeper's part. She placed one hand upon the iron rail before her and +closed her fingers tightly around it. "He is not—Do not tell me he is +dead!" she whispered, looking up at the inexpressive face with a +pleading expression in her eyes, as if the jailer were the arbiter of +Tournay's fate.</p> + +<p>"Transferred to the conciergerie. You may see for yourself, citizeness," +and he held up the book and pointed with his forefinger to the notation +upon the neatly ruled page, "'Trans. to C.' That means that Robert +Tournay, former colonel in the army of the Republic, was yesterday +transferred to the prison of the conciergerie."</p> + +<p>Edmé's heart grew cold. She had no means of knowing the full purport of +the change, but she felt that it boded nothing but ill to Robert +Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me why this removal was made?" she asked, although fearing +to hear the answer.</p> + +<p>"To facilitate his trial. As every one knows the Revolutionary Tribunal +is in the same building with the conciergerie. A prisoner may be brought +from his cell in the prison into the tribunal chamber, be tried, +sentenced, and returned to his dungeon without once being obliged to go +outside. He only passes out into the streets on his way to the +guillotine."</p> + +<p>"Has the trial already taken place? Can I see him if I go there at +once?" she demanded hurriedly.</p> + +<p>As the jailer saw the young woman's evident distress his voice softened +a little as he made reply: "That you may be prepared for another +disappointment, I tell you now, that in order to visit him in the +conciergerie, you will have to be furnished with a written permit from +some member of the committee. Robert Tournay is confined 'in secret.'"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, citizen jailer," was the faint reply. As Edmé turned and +left the prison lodge, the custodian of the Luxembourg bent over his +work again. The book was already filled with lists of names, written +evenly in long columns. This book was the record of all the prisoners of +the Luxembourg. When one left the prison his departure was duly noted in +the space opposite his name. His transfer to another jail was indicated +by the abbreviation "trans." If he was summoned before the tribunal and +acquitted, this fact was chronicled by the letters "acq." If he was +sentenced to death by the guillotine, the jailer marked him with a +little black cross "X." He had once been a schoolmaster, and it was his +pride to keep his prison records with neatness and accuracy.</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, I am going to the conciergerie," said Edmé to herself as +she passed along the Rue Vaugirard; "to the conciergerie," she +repeated. She stopped abruptly in the street as the remembrance of the +Citizeness Privat came to her mind. Putting her hand into her pocket, +she drew out the card. "'Permit the Citizeness Privat to enter the rooms +of the tribunal.' I will be Madame Privat to-night" was Edmé's +resolution. "Once in the tribunal chamber, I shall at least be very near +the prison."</p> + +<p>It was late in the afternoon when she reached the Quai de l'Horloge that +skirted the frowning walls of the formidable prison. She passed the iron +grating of the yard, and looking in, wondered why some sparrows which +were twittering and fighting on the pavement beneath an unhealthy +looking tree should remain for a moment in a prison yard when they had +the whole outside world to fly in. Her pace, which had been a rapid one +all the way from the Luxembourg, slackened as she approached the main +entrance, and her fingers closed tightly on the card in her pocket, +while the heart beneath the gray cloak beat rapidly.</p> + +<p>She did not know where to find the tribunal chamber. She had never been +in that part of Paris before. She only knew that somewhere in that pile +of gray stone were the old Parliament rooms, at present converted into +the tribunal chambers of the Republic. Once in those rooms she would be +under the same roof with Robert Tournay. Passing along the prison wall, +she turned up the Rue Barillerie, and there saw the words "Revolutionary +Tribunal," in large letters over a doorway. Here was the place to begin +the rôle of the Citizeness Privat.</p> + +<p>The June evening was warm, and the air in the street fetid, as if it +were poisoned by the prison atmosphere; yet with a quick movement of the +hand she pulled the hood closer about her face, and rapidly ascended the +stone staircase.</p> + +<p>A porter sitting by the doorway looked at her with indifferent gaze, but +said nothing as she showed him the permit. She passed into the large +hall with a strange feeling, as if she were no longer Edmé de Rochefort.</p> + +<p>From the information she had received Edmé knew that there was some +means of communication between this hall and the prison. This +communication she must discover, but she resolved to set about the task +coolly and carefully in order that she might not arouse suspicion in the +minds of any chance observer.</p> + +<p>She imagined that she heard footsteps in a corridor on the other side of +the chamber, and this reminded her forcibly that she must play the part +of the Citizeness Privat. She gave a glance around the room, wondering +how the worthy citizeness did her work. The room certainly was dirty and +needed a good deal of cleaning. Bits of paper littered the floor and +were scattered about upon the desks. Upon a set of shelves, some books +and pamphlets were buried so deeply in dust that Edmé began to think the +Citizeness Privat had been somewhat lax in the performance of her duty. +After a short investigation she discovered a broom in an ante-room; and +armed with this she returned to the hall and began to sweep into a heap +the scraps of paper that littered the floor. This work soon began to +fatigue her, and it also rolled up billows of dust which settled down +over chairs and tables. She placed the broom in a corner, and looked +about for some easier work which would serve her turn as well.</p> + +<p>She espied a green cloth protruding from the edge of a table drawer. +Opening the drawer she put in her hand and was surprised to find that +the innocent cloth encased a large pistol. She removed the weapon and +returned it to the drawer, while with the green case as a dust-cloth she +made an attack upon the shelves of books with such violence and success +as to cause her to draw back quickly with a sneeze. She stopped, and, +with the green dust-cloth poised in air, listened attentively. No sound +was heard. Cautiously approaching the door she looked up and down the +passageway.</p> + +<p>At the further end of this corridor she could see a small iron-barred +door. This, she rightly conjectured, led to the conciergerie, and +through it passed the prisoners when they were brought in for trial. She +determined to pass into the prison through this door, and went toward it +with a firm step. Taking hold of the bars with both hands, she pressed +her face against the ironwork.</p> + +<p>"What do you want here?" demanded a voice, and Edmé saw in the sombre +half light the figure of a sentry. He stood so near the door upon the +other side that by stretching her hand through the bars she could have +touched him.</p> + +<p>"I wish to enter here," Edmé replied.</p> + +<p>"One does not enter here, citizeness. Go around to the main entrance on +the Quai."</p> + +<p>"It is so far," she demurred pleadingly. "I have been doing my work here +in the tribunal chambers, and now wish to have a few words of +conversation with the turnkey Privat."</p> + +<p>"Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"I—I am Jeanne Privat, his sister."</p> + +<p>"Well—such being the case, I will let you come through, but you must be +sure to come out this way, citizeness. If you were seen going out of the +lower entrance, not having entered there, it might get both of us in +trouble. And you might lose your place as well as I."</p> + +<p>As he spoke he opened the lower half of an iron wicket. "Duck your head +a little, citizeness, and enter quickly."</p> + +<p>Edmé did not need a second bidding; the gate closed with a snap, and she +was inside the conciergerie.</p> + +<p>"Privat is in the second corridor. Go to the right and then turn to the +left," said the warder. "There he is now, just at the corner," he added +hastily. "Hey, Privat," and he gave a prolonged, low whistle, "here is +your sister, come to see you."</p> + +<p>François Privat was slow of speech as well as of brain, so he merely +stood gaping with amazement at sight of the young woman who claimed him +as a brother, and who bore not the slightest resemblance to his sister +Jeanne. Edmé stepped quickly forward toward the turnkey, saying in a low +voice as she approached him:—</p> + +<p>"I bring <i>a message</i> from your sister; the good sentry should have told +you." Then in the same breath, she went on hurriedly to say: "The poor +woman was taken quite ill this afternoon, so ill that she had to be put +to bed. I came to do her work in the tribunal chambers, but thought you +should be told of your sister's illness, so asked the sentry to let me +speak to you."</p> + +<p>In her trepidation, she hardly knew what words came to her lips.</p> + +<p>There was silence; then after Privat had gotten the information into his +head, and had digested it, he said slowly:—</p> + +<p>"Tell Jeanne Privat that I shall come to see her—let me see—day after +to-morrow—no—the day after that, Thursday, my first free time."</p> + +<p>Edmé looked up into his face. He was very tall and of a ruddy +complexion, fully fifteen years younger than his sister.</p> + +<p>"Is that all your message?" she inquired, in order to gain time for +thought.</p> + +<p>"At four o'clock in the afternoon, if you like, but she knows the time +well enough—from four to six."</p> + +<p>Then without showing any further interest in the subject, the +imperturbable Privat took up his bunch of keys and began to polish one +of them upon his coatsleeve.</p> + +<p>There was a pause.</p> + +<p>Edmé summoned all her courage and spoke with as much composure as she +could assume, although she felt that her voice trembled:—</p> + +<p>"Citizen Privat, I have an urgent request to make you."</p> + +<p>Privat blinked at her out of his stupid eyes.</p> + +<p>"But I am prepared to pay for it."</p> + +<p>A sign of animation seemed to come into the turnkey's face, but he did +not move nor seek to question her.</p> + +<p>"What I am about to ask may be very difficult for you to do, and that is +why I am prepared to pay you <i>well</i>." She dwelt upon the last words, +seeming to guess that she had struck the right note.</p> + +<p>"How much are you prepared to pay?" he asked in his slow way.</p> + +<p>Edmé drew a purse from the folds of her gown, and opening it disclosed a +number of shining gold pieces. Privat's eyes were animated now.</p> + +<p>"All that!" he exclaimed. "What do you want me to do for it? It must be +something dangerous. I—I am not a brave man."</p> + +<p>"It is merely," continued Edmé, holding the open purse in her hand, "to +procure me speech with a prisoner."</p> + +<p>"What prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"Colonel Robert Tournay."</p> + +<p>"But it is impossible; he is in secret confinement."</p> + +<p>"I know he is, but what I ask is not impossible. There are five hundred +francs here; five hundred francs, all for you, if you will but bring me +to the cell of Robert Tournay."</p> + +<p>"I cannot do that; I have not the key."</p> + +<p>"You know who has the key. Surely some of this gold will enable you to +get it. I leave the means with you."</p> + +<p>Privat's mind seemed to be going through the process which served him +for thought.</p> + +<p>"At the further end of the south corridor," he finally said, motioning +with a key, "in half an hour, the prisoner Tournay will be allowed to +walk for exercise. The south corridor is separated from this one by a +grated door. I will see that you get through that door. That is all I +can do."</p> + +<p>Edmé pressed the purse into his huge palm, which closed upon it +greedily.</p> + +<p>"Shall I come with you now?" she asked, her pulse beating high between +expectation, hope, and fear.</p> + +<p>"No, wait here in the shadow until I come to fetch you to him. I shall +also come to tell you when you must leave the south corridor. You will +have to do so quickly and go back the same way you came. If you are +discovered here, I shall get into trouble. You understand?"</p> + +<p>"I understand," she answered.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>TOURNAY'S VISITOR</h3> + + +<p>For three days Tournay and St. Hilaire worked away persistently at the +bars of their window. They only dared work between the hours of one and +four in the morning. Not only secrecy but great ingenuity was called +for, as it was necessary that the bars should preserve in the daytime +their usual appearance of solidity.</p> + +<p>To do this, all the filings were kept, and at the termination of each +night's work, this dust, moistened by saliva into a paste, was smeared +into the fissure they had made. Their intention was to cut each bar +nearly through, leaving it standing, but so weakened that it could be +torn out by a sudden wrench.</p> + +<p>On the morning which terminated their third night's labor, just as the +first gray streak in the east announced the early coming of the long, +hot summer day, the third bar had been cut halfway through. The two +prisoners looked into each other's eyes. Both realized that they must +work rapidly in order to complete their task in time.</p> + +<p>"At all hazards we must begin earlier to-night," whispered St. Hilaire +significantly. Tournay nodded. "There is still a good deal of work to +be done, although a thin man might squeeze through," he said.</p> + +<p>"Not a man of your breadth, colonel," replied St. Hilaire, carefully +rubbing the dampened filings into the crevice. "We shall have to cut +through all of them, and even then it will be a narrow passageway for +your shoulders."</p> + +<p>"Now for a little rest," he continued, descending from the table as +quietly as a cat, and putting it in another part of the cell.</p> + +<p>Tired out by their work and the attendant excitement, the two men threw +themselves, fully dressed, upon their beds and slept until late in the +morning. Their slumber might have continued until past noon had they not +been rather unceremoniously awakened by the appearance of the turnkey +and a couple of gendarmes by their bedside.</p> + +<p>"What is wanted?" exclaimed Tournay sleepily.</p> + +<p>"You are to be transferred to the conciergerie, citizen colonel, that is +all," was the reply, although the tone implied a deeper meaning.</p> + +<p>Tournay sprang from the bed, wide enough awake now, and with a sickening +feeling at his heart. He looked at St. Hilaire, who was lying upon his +own pallet outwardly indifferent to the announcement, but whose fingers +silently stole under the mattress and closed upon the file that had been +placed there the night before. St. Hilaire continued to lie there +motionless, feigning sleep; but his alert brain was busy with the +problem as to where it would be possible for him to deftly and +successfully hide the useful little tool in case the guards had also +come to search their cell.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready, citizen colonel?"</p> + +<p>Tournay gave a quick glance at their window. St. Hilaire rose to a +sitting posture.</p> + +<p>"Citizen colonel," he said, "will you take my hand at parting?"</p> + +<p>Tournay stepped to his bedside. Outwardly calm, the two prisoners +clasped hands. Tournay felt the hard substance of steel against his +palm.</p> + +<p>Giving no sign of his surprise, he shook his head sadly. "It is +useless," he said.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, citizen colonel," said St. Hilaire carelessly, as one might +bid adieu to a chance acquaintance. "I am thinner than you, and I may +grow still more so if they keep me here many days longer." He gave an +imperceptible glance of the eye in the direction of the window.</p> + +<p>The colonel turned away while the file slid up his coat sleeve.</p> + +<p>"I am ready, citizen officers," he said.</p> + +<p>The two gendarmes preceded him into the corridor. As he stepped over the +threshold, Gendarme Pierre caught him quickly by the wrist and the next +instant had the file in his own possession.</p> + +<p>It was done so adroitly and quickly that Tournay could have offered no +resistance even had he been so inclined. The other gendarme was not even +aware of what took place.</p> + +<p>"I like a clever trick," said Pierre with a chuckle.</p> + +<p>"You are quite a magician," was Tournay's rejoinder.</p> + +<p>The tall gendarme gave his grim chuckle. "I am called Pierre the +prestidigitateur," he said, "though you are yourself fairly adept at +palming. What have you been doing with this little plaything?" he +continued, as they walked down the corridor.</p> + +<p>"You mean 'What did I intend to do with it?' do you not?"</p> + +<p>The gendarme examined the file carefully.</p> + +<p>"No, I mean what have you been using it on," he said.</p> + +<p>Tournay was silent.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you need not hesitate to speak; it will be found out."</p> + +<p>Tournay shrugged his shoulders, and made no reply.</p> + +<p>"Well, you are right," said the gendarme. "It is for us to find out." +And he relapsed into a silence that was not broken until they reached +the conciergerie.</p> + +<p>"You will hardly escape from this place though you had a whole workshop +of tools," he said grimly at parting.</p> + +<p>Tournay realized the truth of this statement, for he was now in the most +dreaded of all the prisons of Paris, and he knew well what his transfer +foreshadowed.</p> + +<p>Tournay had no certain means of knowing whether their attempt to cut +their way out of the Luxembourg had been discovered; and he still +cherished the slight hope that St. Hilaire might be able to escape from +the Luxembourg with the assistance of Gaillard.</p> + +<p>Had they both escaped, St. Hilaire and he had formed a daring plan to +rescue the Republic from the hands of those who were destroying it. And +now, even though it was frustrated, he could not help going over all the +details in his mind, although the thought of their complete failure +added to his misery.</p> + +<p>The news of the arrest of General Hoche had reached Tournay's ears some +time before, and although it had caused him great pain to learn of the +misfortune that had befallen his chief, he felt that the event would +embitter the army, and that they would the more readily give their +support to any plan that would of necessity liberate Hoche.</p> + +<p>This plan had been made for Tournay to reach the army and enlist the +officers in his support; then return to Paris with a sufficient force at +his back to destroy the tyrants and overawe that part of the Commune +that still idolized them. That would give an opportunity for the cooler +and more moderate heads in the convention to come to the front, restore +order, and form a stable government based upon the constitution.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire, meanwhile, was to remain in hiding; but the first approach +of the national troops and the first blast of the counter-revolution was +to be the signal for him to appear in the faubourgs, supported by all +the followers he could muster, armed with all the eloquence he could +command, to move the people to action, and fan to white heat the flame +of opposition to the Terrorists which was already smouldering on every +side.</p> + +<p>But now all the fabric of the carefully spun scheme had been blown +roughly aside by one puff of adverse wind.</p> + +<p>Once in the conciergerie, a prisoner was not kept in uncertainty for any +length of time. The next day after his transfer Tournay was summoned for +trial. At first he attempted to defend himself with all the eloquence +which the justice of his case called forth. All the fire of his nature +was aroused, and as he spoke the attention of the crowded court room was +held as if by a spell. Murmurs of applause rose from the multitude, even +among those who had come in the hope of seeing him judged guilty.</p> + +<p>But upon his judges he made no visible effect. They refused to call his +witnesses. They suppressed the applause, and cutting short his defense +hastened to conclude his trial. Tournay saw the futility of his defense. +He read the verdict in the eyes of the judges, and sat down.</p> + +<p>After the verdict had been given he was taken back to the conciergerie, +"sentenced to die within eight and forty hours."</p> + +<p>"Oh, for a month of freedom!" he cried inwardly, as he reëntered the +prison. "For one short month of liberty! After that time had passed I +would submit to any death uncomplainingly."</p> + +<p>Withdrawing to the further end of the corridor where he was permitted +to walk for a short time, he sat down by a rough table where some of the +lighter-hearted prisoners had, in earlier days, beguiled the time at +cards. Here he rested his head upon his arm and sat motionless.</p> + +<p>Then his thoughts returned to Edmé, or rather continued to dwell upon +her, for no matter what he did or spoke or thought, no matter how +absorbing the occupation of the hour, she was always in his mind, the +consciousness of her presence was ever in his heart.</p> + +<p>"Oh, for one little month of liberty," he cried aloud, "to make one +attempt to rescue France, and to see you, Edmé, once again!" He rose +from his seat with a gesture of despair, and turning, saw her standing +there before him. He stood in silence, looking at her as if she were the +creation of his fancy, stepped for a moment from the shadow of the gray +walls to melt into nothingness, should he, by speaking, break the spell.</p> + +<p>She came toward him, putting her finger to her lips as a sign of +caution. "Speak low," she whispered, "lest they hear you!"</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle de Rochefort," he replied in a low voice, "is this really +you? In God's name tell me how you come to be here?"</p> + +<p>"I have come to you," she answered simply, putting her hands in his. +"When I heard that you had been arrested and put in prison, I knew that +I should come and find you. You see all France was not wide enough to +keep me from you."</p> + +<p>"Then you are not a prisoner?" he exclaimed joyfully.</p> + +<p>"No, I came in of my own free will. No one suspects who I am."</p> + +<p>"Merciful God, do you know the risk you run? Why have you done this?"</p> + +<p>"Have you not risked your life more than once for my sake? Did you think +that Edmé de Rochefort would do less for you?"</p> + +<p>"Edmé!"</p> + +<p>For a moment the prison walls vanished. His shattered plans were +forgotten. The redemption of the Republic became as nothing; he only +knew that Edmé de Rochefort had proved beyond all human doubt her love +for him, and that it was her loyal, loving heart he could feel +throbbing, as he pressed her to his breast.</p> + +<p>Only for a moment, then the full realization of the terrible risk she +ran smote him with redoubled force. He turned pale. She had never seen +him so deadly white before, and it frightened her.</p> + +<p>"Hush," he whispered before she could speak, and stepping cautiously to +the grated door he peered out between the bars. As far as the elbow of +the corridor, he could see no one. With a sigh of relief he came back to +her. His fears for her safety restored the activity of his mind.</p> + +<p>"It is dangerous for you to go about the city. The merest accident, the +slightest inquiry in regard to you might lead to your detection."</p> + +<p>"I will be very careful," she replied submissively.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Edmé," he said, "who am I to deserve such a love as yours? The +thought of the risk you incur almost drives me mad. The knowledge of +your love will make my last hours the happiest of my life."</p> + +<p>"Do not speak of dying, Robert," she said. "There must still be hope. +They dare not condemn you."</p> + +<p>The words, "You do not know," sprang to his lips, but the look upon her +face told him that she was as yet in ignorance of his sentence. He +lacked the courage to tell her.</p> + +<p>"It must come, Edmé; we should not be blind to that. I would gladly +live, if only long enough to see France freed from the talons that rend +it, and the true Republic rise from under the tyranny that is crushing +it to death. I would gladly live for your love, a love I never dared to +hope for either on earth or in heaven. Surely I ought to be the happiest +of men to have tasted such bliss even for a moment; and to die with the +firm belief that we shall meet beyond the grave."</p> + +<p>She did not answer. The quick heaving of her bosom and the quiet sobbing +she struggled to suppress went to his heart.</p> + +<p>"Do not grieve for me so much," he whispered, drawing her to him; "after +all, it will only be for a little while."</p> + +<p>"For you who go the time may seem short," she answered mournfully; "but +each year that I live without you will seem an eternity. I cannot bear +it."</p> + +<p>"Courage, dear one, I beseech you; do not grieve for me. Why, I might +have met death any day within the past years. I have come to regard it +with indifference. Not that I despise life," he added quickly. "Life +with you would be more than heaven, but the very nature of a soldier's +life makes him look upon his own sudden death as almost a probability. +It is but a pang, and all is over."</p> + +<p>"I will not grieve for you, Robert," she replied with firmness, "not +while there is something to be done. Something that I can do. They shall +not murder you."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" he asked quickly, fearing that some rash +undertaking had suggested itself to her mind.</p> + +<p>"This Robespierre rules through the fear he has inspired, but he is +hated," replied Edmé. "The people accept his decrees like sheep, but +they obey sullenly. They do not criticise him, but that bodes him the +greater ill. It needs but one blast to make the whole nation turn +against him. There must be men in the convention who are ready to rebel +against him," she continued, talking rapidly. "I shall go to them."</p> + +<p>"No, Edmé, you shall not. It would be"—</p> + +<p>"Listen to what I have to say," she said, interrupting him with an +imperative gesture. "I shall find them out; I shall go to their houses. +It needs but a little fire; I will kindle it. I will plead with them. If +they have any regard for their Republic they will listen to me. Your +name, Robert, shall not be mentioned, but it will be my love for you +that shall speak to them. In the name of the Republic I shall plead with +them, but it will be only to save you. If they have any courage or +manhood left, they will accept now."</p> + +<p>Robert Tournay looked at her with wonder and admiration as, with a flush +of excitement on her cheek, she outlined clearly and rapidly a plan +strikingly similar to that evolved by St. Hilaire and himself,—similar, +but more daring, more impossible; one that could not fail to be +disastrous to her, whatever the ultimate result.</p> + +<p>For a moment he feared to speak, knowing the inflexibility of her will. +"I pray you, Edmé, abandon your design. It will only drag you into the +net and will not avail me."</p> + +<p>"Robert, my mind is fixed; my action may result in saving you, but if +not, your fate shall be mine also."</p> + +<p>"Edmé! Do not speak thus. The thought of you standing on that scaffold, +the terrible knife menacing your beautiful neck, will drive me mad. Oh, +the horror of it!" and he put his hand before his eyes and trembled.</p> + +<p>"Promise me that you will not do this," he continued pleadingly. +"Robespierre's power will come to an end, but the time is not yet ripe. +Do not try to save my life. Do not even try to see me again." He took +her head between his hands. "Let this be our last adieu," he pleaded. +"Listen! the turnkey is advancing down the passageway. I touch your +lips; the memory of it shall dwell in my soul forever."</p> + +<p>She threw her arms about his neck for a moment, then before the heavy +turnkey entered the inclosure she had passed quickly along the dark +corridor through the wicket gate into the Tribunal Hall.</p> + +<p>The chamber was dimly lighted by two smoky oil lamps, one on each side +of the room; but they gave out enough light to enable her to see the way +between the desks and chairs toward the door through which she had first +entered from the street.</p> + +<p>Edmé turned the handle of the door but could not open it. It had been +locked on the outside. She ran to one of the front windows. By the faint +light in the Rue Barillerie, she could discern an occasional passer-by. +With an effort she raised the heavy sash and leaned out. It was between +eight and nine o'clock, and the small street was very quiet. The few +pedestrians were already out of hearing, and had they been nearer she +would have feared to call out to them. She looked down at the pavement. +The height was twenty feet; she closed the window with a shudder. +Looking about the room she saw, what had before escaped her notice, a +ray of light coming through the crack of a door into an adjoining room.</p> + +<p>A number of voices in conversation was audible. She resolved to play +again the part of Citizeness Privat. Whoever might be there, when he +learned that she had been accidentally locked in while at work, would +show her the way out.</p> + +<p>The door opened wider, and a man came forth. Edmé, who had hastily taken +up the same broom she had before used, pretended to be at work, while +she summoned her self-possession. The man gave her no more than a casual +glance as he went to a table, took out from a drawer a bundle of papers, +and proceeded to look them over.</p> + +<p>Edmé looked at him closely, sweeping all the while. Her first +apprehension was quieted when she saw he was a very young man with rosy +cheeks and a pen behind his ear. He was evidently one of the government +clerks, staying late at the office to finish some piece of work.</p> + +<p>She breathed more freely every moment notwithstanding the amount of dust +she raised. The clerk put the bundle of papers under his arm with a +gesture of annoyance, and went back to the other room.</p> + +<p>Edmé waited a few minutes, put the broom under her arm, and approached +the door which the clerk had left ajar. She could not help starting as +she read the large letters on the panel of the door. The room which +contained the apple-faced and harmless looking little scribe was +designated "Chamber of Death Warrants."</p> + +<p>"Here's a pretty state of affairs, Clément," she heard a voice exclaim +in a tone of annoyance. "The list of warrants for 'La Force' to-morrow +consists of thirty-seven names while I have only thirty-six documents."</p> + +<p>"Count them again, Hanneton; you know at school you were always slow at +figures."</p> + +<p>"I have compared the warrants with the list of names twice most +carefully. I assure you one warrant is missing. See for yourself, +'<i>Bonnefoi, Charles de, ex-noble</i>' is on the list, but there is not a +single Bonnefoi among to-morrow's pile of warrants."</p> + +<p>"Have you looked through those of day after to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"I have, both of the day after to-morrow and the day following that. In +fact, I have gone over all the warrants for all the prisoners, but still +no <i>Bonnefoi, Charles de, ex-noble</i>."</p> + +<p>"Lucky for Bonnefoi!"</p> + +<p>"But unlucky for me. I shall be discharged if I let these go out this +way."</p> + +<p>"I tell you what to do," said Clément, "take one from the day after +to-morrow. They are in too great a hurry in the office these days to +compare the lists; they just see if the number tallies, and send off the +warrants to the keepers of the various prisons."</p> + +<p>"But if I do that I shall still be one short, day after to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"No you will not," replied the facile Clément; "you just take one from +the day following that, and so on and so forth. You merely keep the +thing going. Your lists and warrants will agree as to number every day. +No question arises, and the only result is that some fellow gets shoved +along under the national razor just twenty-four hours earlier than he +would have, had not some one,—I won't say named Hanneton,—but some one +who shall be nameless, made a little blunder."</p> + +<p>"I rather dislike to do such a thing, Clément."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Hanneton, my boy, I always said you were slow. What's twenty-four +hours to a man who has got to die anyway? and then think of Bonnefoi; +he'll be overlooked for a long time. Some of those fellows among the +aristocracy have been in prison two or three years already. They get to +like it and lead quite a jolly life there. I am told they have fine +times in some of the prisons. Bonnefoi will be wondering why they don't +come to shave him, but he won't say anything. Bonnefoi won't peep. You +can count on his silence."</p> + +<p>"But my friend Clément, it will be discovered some day."</p> + +<p>"Well, I can't look ahead so far as that. If you are found out you can +say you made a mistake. They can't any more than discharge a man for +making a mistake."</p> + +<p>"I'll do it, Clément. Here goes—good luck to Bonnefoi."</p> + +<p>"And good luck to the fellow you shove ahead in his place; we'll drink +an extra glass to him when we finish work to-night. Let's see what may +his name be."</p> + +<p>"'<i>Tournay, Robert, former Colonel!</i>' Hello, what's that?" cried +Clément, interrupting him.</p> + +<p>"I did not hear anything," replied Hanneton.</p> + +<p>"The sound seemed to come from the next room."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's only that woman who is cleaning the place. She has knocked +over a table or a chair. Come. Let's go out and get something to eat. +I'm famished. We can return later, and finish our work."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>TWO WOMEN</h3> + + +<p>The revelation that Tournay was condemned, the awful knowledge that he +would be executed on the morrow, conveyed to her thus suddenly, made the +room reel before Edmé's eyes. In her dizziness she fell against one of +the tables and held to it for support.</p> + +<p>In the quiet that followed the departure of the clerks she pressed her +head and tried to think. At first her benumbed brain refused to work; +then as the full significance of the clerk's action came back to her, +when she realized just what he had done and what she in her turn might +do, she stood erect, alert, and courageous.</p> + +<p>The warrant for Robert's death; could she get possession of it? With a +beating heart she glided into the chamber of death warrants.</p> + +<p>A lamp was burning in the room, and there in plain view upon the table +were three packets of black-covered papers. She bent over them hastily +and at once took up the file marked: "Warrants of the eighth Thermidor." +With nervous fingers she ran them through, looking at each name until +she came to that of "Tournay, Robert, ex-colonel." At sight of the name +she gave a half-suppressed cry, and took it quietly from the others. +"They shall not send you to the guillotine to-morrow, Robert," she +breathed. Her first thought was how to make way with the fatal paper. +She looked round the room; it had one window and two doors. The window +looked out upon the street. One doorway led back into the tribunal +chamber. Through the other, a small one, the two clerks must have passed +out. She hastened towards it, praying fervently that they had omitted to +fasten it. Vain prayer, the clerks had not been remiss in their duty +here. It was locked. Yet it was not a strong barrier. A few blows struck +with some heavy object might break it through; or better still there was +a pistol in the drawer of one of the desks; with that she could blow the +lock to atoms. Either method would make a noise, but she must take the +risk.</p> + +<p>Just as these thoughts flashed through her mind, she saw to her +consternation the door-handle turn, and heard the grating of a key on +the outside.</p> + +<p>"The employees returning," she thought, and had just presence of mind +enough to pass her left hand, which still clutched the death warrant, +behind her back, when the door opened, and she was face to face with a +woman.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" said the latter, "I expected to find Clément and Hanneton here. +Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"I—I am,—I came in the place of Madame—of Citizeness Privat."</p> + +<p>"You seem a little put out, citizeness, at the sight of La Liberté. You +have never seen me before? That's why, eh? Tell me, now, what are you +doing here?"</p> + +<p>"I am doing the work of Citizeness Privat, who is ill," replied Edmé, +recovering her self-possession.</p> + +<p>"Hum," said La Liberté with a slight sniff, as she closed the door and +passed toward the centre of the room. Edmé slowly revolved on her heel, +keeping her face toward La Liberté, and her left hand behind her back.</p> + +<p>"What are you trying to hide there?" demanded La Liberté quickly, whose +bright brown eyes took in every motion of Edmé.</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to hide."</p> + +<p>La Liberté's glance went from Edmé to the warrants on the table, and +then back to Edmé's face again.</p> + +<p>"You are hiding something behind your back," persisted La Liberté, +trying to obtain a peep at it by making a circle around Edmé. Edmé +continued to turn, always keeping her face toward La Liberté.</p> + +<p>The latter stopped. "I will see what you have there," she declared with +a toss of her head, her curiosity aroused to the burning point.</p> + +<p>"You shall not. It does not concern you," was the firm reply.</p> + +<p>For an instant each looked into the other's eyes in silence. Both +breathed defiance; both were equally determined.</p> + +<p>Then with a tigerlike spring La Liberté dashed forward, seized Edmé +about the waist with one arm, while she endeavored to secure the +parchment with her other hand. Edmé quickly passed the document into her +right hand, bringing it forward high above her head. With the same +cat-like agility, La Liberté sprang for it on the other side and managed +to get hold of it by one corner. There was a short struggle; a tearing +of paper, and each held a piece of the document in her hand.</p> + +<p>"A warrant!" exclaimed La Liberté, darting back a few paces and shaking +out the piece of paper in her hand. "You have been tampering with +these," she added quickly, putting one hand upon the pile of documents +on the table.</p> + +<p>Edmé made no reply.</p> + +<p>"Why did you take it?" inquired La Liberté, taking her portion of paper +near the light to examine it, while she kept one eye fixed upon her late +antagonist, in fear of a sudden attack.</p> + +<p>The warrant had been divided nearly down the centre; but the last name +of the condemned man was upon the piece held by La Liberté.</p> + +<p>"Tournay!" she cried out in surprise. "Robert Tournay! What object have +you in destroying this warrant?"</p> + +<p>"I have not destroyed it," replied Edmé, making the greatest effort to +maintain an outward calm. "It was you who tore it."</p> + +<p>"Don't try any of those tricks with me," snapped La Liberté. "Come, what +was your object in taking this warrant? It is a dangerous thing to +tamper with those documents."</p> + +<p>"I shall not answer any of your questions," was Edmé's rejoinder.</p> + +<p>For a space of ten seconds the two women stood again confronting each +other, as if each waited for the other to move. La Liberté's eyes looked +fixedly at Edmé, as if they would read her through and through.</p> + +<p>"You are not what you pretend to be," she said finally; "you are no +woman of the people." Then, suddenly flinging aside the torn paper, she +rushed forward and seized Edmé's arm.</p> + +<p>"I know who you are now!" she exclaimed excitedly. "You are an +aristocrat! Don't deny it!" she continued passionately. "I came from La +Thierry. I was a young girl when I left there, but my memory serves me +well. Your name is Edmé de Rochefort. You are an aristocrat, and you +love the republican colonel! You destroyed this warrant. You risked your +life in the attempt to prolong his."</p> + +<p>"Whoever I may be, whatever I attempted to do, you tore that paper. It +was you who destroyed it," said Edmé as she wrenched herself free from +the woman's grasp.</p> + +<p>The only answer of La Liberté was a loud and scornful laugh. She +approached Edmé again with a malignant glitter in her eyes; but Edmé +held her ground and confronted her bravely.</p> + +<p>"So you are Edmé de Rochefort," repeated La Liberté slowly. "I remember +having seen you years ago when I was a girl of fifteen, at my father's +mill near the village of La Thierry. You were a pale-faced girl then. +You didn't wear coarse clothes then! You drove in your carriage, and +didn't look at such as me; but I saw you, and hated you for being so +proud. Then there was a certain marquis." A bright spot appeared on +Edmé's cheek, but she did not speak.</p> + +<p>"He came to pay his court to you, but he made love to me. He never even +made a pretense of loving you. But he cared for me in his cold, selfish +way. He took me to Paris, gave me everything money could buy, for a +while. Then he left me, and went back to you. I hated you for that. You +did not care for him. You did not marry him. That made no difference to +me. Then there was another man. He was not for you. He was of my class, +not yours. You had no right to his love. He never loved me, I know. I am +too proud to say he loved me when it was not so. But he was kind to me. +He was noble and generous, and I loved him. You had no right to him. I +hate you for that more than all." Her passion wrought upon her so that +her once pretty face was something fearful to behold. Edmé expected at +each breath she would spring forward and tear her like a tiger cat.</p> + +<p>"I care not for your hatred," Edmé retorted calmly. "I never willfully +wronged you. Your hatred cannot harm me."</p> + +<p>"No?" demanded the frenzied La Liberté. "It can restore this paper. I +can denounce you. I can send you with your lover to the guillotine."</p> + +<p>"That does not terrify me," replied Edmé. "You can send the woman you +hate and the man you profess to love into another world together. That +is all you can do. I am above your hatred."</p> + +<p>La Liberté started to speak, then checked herself.</p> + +<p>"You say you love him. Love," repeated Edmé in a tone of deep disdain. +"You dare to call that love which would destroy its object? Such as you +are not capable of love."</p> + +<p>"If it were not that <i>you</i> loved him, I would let them cut me into +pieces for his sake," retorted La Liberté fiercely.</p> + +<p>"You say that you love him, and you are willing to send him to the +guillotine," repeated Edmé.</p> + +<p>"If it were not that it would be giving him to you, I would give my life +a thousand times to save him," was the answer.</p> + +<p>Edmé caught La Liberté by the arm.</p> + +<p>"You have it in your power to cause my arrest. If you will not use that +power, if you will give me only twenty-four hours, I may be able to save +Robert Tournay's life. At the expiration of that time, whether I succeed +or fail, I will surrender myself. I will denounce myself before the +Committee of Public Safety."</p> + +<p>La Liberté looked into Edmé's face searchingly but made no reply.</p> + +<p>"You understand what I propose," Edmé continued in a cool, firm voice. +"If you agree to it you can accomplish what you desire; the rescue of +Robert Tournay and my death."</p> + +<p>"Bah," said La Liberté with a shrug; "you are very heroic, but, Robert +Tournay once out of danger, you would not give yourself up to the +committee. In your place, I should not do it, and I will not trust you."</p> + +<p>"I give you my promise to appear before Robespierre himself."</p> + +<p>"Your promise," repeated La Liberté, "you ask me to accept your simple +word?"</p> + +<p>"The word of a de Rochefort," said Edmé with quiet dignity.</p> + +<p>"The word of an aristocrat," continued La Liberté slowly. "You +aristocrats vaunt your devotion to honor."</p> + +<p>"And will you not trust it when Colonel Tournay's life is at stake?" +asked Edmé.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will," La Liberté burst forth in fierce energy. "I <i>will</i> trust +your word, and test your honor."</p> + +<p>"Then for twenty-four hours you will let me go free? You will not have +me watched nor interfered with in any way?"</p> + +<p>"I give you <i>my</i> word," said La Liberté, drawing herself up, "and my +word is as good as that of the proudest aristocrat."</p> + +<p>Then changing her manner she asked quickly: "How do you propose to save +Robert Tournay? What can you do?"</p> + +<p>Edmé had no intention of imparting her plan to La Liberté, yet she did +not wish to antagonize her by refusing to confide in her.</p> + +<p>"There is not time to go into the details of it now. First help me to +get away from here. Those clerks may return."</p> + +<p>"I will prevent that," said La Liberté quickly. "I know where they sup. +I will go there and delay their return. They are convivial youngsters +and never refuse a glass or two. In the meantime you must see to it that +those three files of warrants do not retain the slightest appearance of +having been handled. Be sure that every object in the room is just as +you found it."</p> + +<p>By this time La Liberté was outside the door. Looking back into the +room, she said: "When you have done that, go down this staircase, cross +the street, and wait for me in the shadow of the building opposite. I +will then conduct you to my house," and La Liberté's feet sprang nimbly +down the stairs.</p> + +<p>Quickly Edmé picked up the pieces of torn warrant, intending to take +them away and burn them. Then she turned her attention to the documents +on the table, and in a few minutes had them arranged just as she found +them. She placed the chairs in a natural position before the table, and +stepped back for a final survey to assure herself that she had not left +a trace which might arouse the suspicion of the clerks.</p> + +<p>No, there was nothing that Hanneton or even Clément would be likely to +notice. She had been none too rapid in the arrangement of these details. +The door of the adjoining chamber was unlocked and some one entered.</p> + +<p>Edmé could tell by the footfalls that the person was traversing the room +with measured tread. Then came the sound of a chair being drawn up to a +desk. Then a dry cough echoed through the deserted hall as a man cleared +his throat.</p> + +<p>Edmé gave a glance toward the door that led down the staircase taken by +La Liberté. It stood invitingly open, but to gain it she would have to +pass the door that communicated with the tribunal. This also was open. +She started on tiptoe across the floor.</p> + +<p>The words "Bring me a light here, will you?" fell upon her ears in a +harsh tone of authority. She started at this sudden command. She had +made no noise, yet the mysterious personage seemed to be aware of her +presence.</p> + +<p>"In the next room there, whoever you are, bring in more light; this lamp +burns villainously!"</p> + +<p>Edmé hesitated no longer but caught up the lamp from the table and +entered the tribunal chamber. As she obediently placed the light upon +the desk the man who was writing there looked up with impatient gesture. +Although she had never seen him before, she had heard him described many +times, and she knew that he was Robespierre.</p> + +<p>"Well!" he exclaimed, "who are you?"</p> + +<p>"I—I am here in place of the Citizeness Privat."</p> + +<p>"The Citizeness Privat?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she cleans up the rooms, and being ill"—</p> + +<p>"Cleans!" repeated Robespierre with a laugh, blowing the dust from the +top of the table, "Is that what you call it? This Privat is like all the +rest, willing to take the nation's pay and give nothing in return. And +you are also like the rest, eh?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know what you mean. I am doing her work as well as I can. With +your permission I will hasten to complete my task," replied Edmé.</p> + +<p>In spite of her abhorrence of him she could not help looking at him +intently, her eyes expressing the horror which she felt. To her, he was +the embodiment of all that was evil, the very spirit of the Revolution. +As her glance rested upon the white waistcoat, fitting close to his +meagre figure, and as she thought of the cruel heart that beat beneath +it, the vision of Charlotte Corday and the vile Marat flashed before her +eyes with startling vividness.</p> + +<p>What if heaven had decreed that she should be the means of ridding the +world of this monster? What if the opportunity was about to present +itself? She pushed the thought away from her, with the inward +supplication, "God keep me from doing it."</p> + +<p>Robespierre noticed the look of horror on her face, and attributed it to +the fear his presence inspired. His small eyes blinked complacently.</p> + +<p>"Stay," he said; "you have nothing to fear if you are a good patriotic +citizeness. And you may be pardoned if you neglect your work for a few +minutes to converse with Robespierre."</p> + +<p>There was an insinuating softness in his tone as he spoke that made her +nerves creep and increased her loathing for him. He sat leaning back +negligently in his chair, and she stood looking down upon him like some +superb creature from another world.</p> + +<p>"By the power of beauty," he exclaimed suddenly, "you are a glorious +woman! I have always said that only among women of the people is true +beauty to be found."</p> + +<p>She neither moved nor spoke, but stood still as a statue.</p> + +<p>He leaned forward in his chair. "You shall lay aside your broom and +dust-rags. I would see more of you. I have it. You shall be the Goddess +of Beauty at our next great fête. In that rôle Robespierre himself will +render you homage." Rising, he took one of her hands in his.</p> + +<p>She shuddered. It was as if a snake had coiled itself about her fingers. +The contact with her soft hand sent just a drop of blood to his sallow +cheek.</p> + +<p>"What sayst thou, O glorious creature? Wilt thou be a goddess of beauty +and sit enthroned upon the Champ de Mars, dressed in radiant clothing, +instead of these poor garments?" He spoke in low tones meant to be +tender.</p> + +<p>Again the vision of Charlotte Corday flashed before her.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" she cried out, more in answer to the thought that terrified +her than to his question.</p> + +<p>"Fear nothing, fair one," he said soothingly. "Robespierre is only +terrible to the guilty; to the good he is always magnanimous and kind. +Some say that I abuse my power, but that is false. True, I condemn many, +but 'tis done with justice; and I also pardon many. Should I receive no +credit for my clemency?" he continued, as if he were arguing with some +unseen personage.</p> + +<p>He released her hand and leaned his elbow on the desk. Her hand fell +cold and numb to her side, but the spell in which he had held her was +broken. A sudden daring resolve entered her head.</p> + +<p>"I have been told that you were a cruel monster, who condemned for the +pleasure of condemning; who did not know the meaning of clemency," she +said, "and therefore I am afraid of you."</p> + +<p>"They have maligned me," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Will you prove it by granting me a pardon, one that I can use as I may +wish?"</p> + +<p>Robespierre became alert on the instant.</p> + +<p>"You would set some man at liberty?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Your lover, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"I pray you, do not ask me."</p> + +<p>"Do not ask you!" repeated Robespierre. "And yet you ask me to pardon +him. Why should I do it?"</p> + +<p>"To prove that you know what clemency is."</p> + +<p>"I would rather show it in some other way. I should be a fool to set +your lover at liberty, so that you both might laugh at me."</p> + +<p>"I have not said that it was my lover."</p> + +<p>"No, but I say so."</p> + +<p>"You said a moment ago that you knew what mercy was, yet you cannot +understand my feeling at the thought that he must die."</p> + +<p>Robespierre took up a pen from the table and poised it over a sheet of +paper. The pleading look in the beautiful eyes gave him great enjoyment, +and he took a keen relish in prolonging it.</p> + +<p>"A few words from my pen," he said tantalizingly, "would set the man at +liberty. How would you reward me if I wrote them for you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I pray you to do so," she cried out, throwing herself at his feet. +"I pray you to write them. If you have the power, use it for mercy."</p> + +<p>Robespierre gazed deep into the eyes which looked up at him imploringly.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" he demanded with the energy of sudden passion. "You are +no woman of the common people. Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"One who would have you do a noble action," she answered. "One who is +pleading with you for your own soul's sake."</p> + +<p>"Whoever you may be, you have bewitched me. Promise you will come hence +with me, and I will write the release."</p> + +<p>"Write it," she whispered faintly.</p> + +<p>Robespierre dashed off a few hurried lines.</p> + +<p>"What is the fellow's name?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Sign the paper," she murmured, dropping her eyes. "I implore you, do +not ask me his name. Let me fill that in."</p> + +<p>"I will free no man from prison unless I know his name," replied +Robespierre.</p> + +<p>"I will never tell you that," she replied, rising to her feet and going +to the other side of the desk, "never."</p> + +<p>"What foolish nonsense," he complained, signing his name. "Now," he +continued, shaking the sand box over the wet ink, "tell me his name, and +I will send this pardon to the conciergerie at once. See, I have written +'immediate release' upon it. You have only to tell me his name. Do you +still hesitate?"</p> + +<p>There was a sudden rattle in the drawer on Edmé's side of the desk. +Leaning forward, she brought one hand down upon the paper, while with +the other she pointed a pistol at Robespierre's head.</p> + +<p>He turned deadly white and drew back in his chair.</p> + +<p>"Would you murder me?" he gasped out.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus5" id="illus5"></a> +<img src="images/illus5.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>"WOULD YOU MURDER ME?"</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"If you make one movement," she replied, "Marat's fate will be yours." +He cringed further away from the muzzle of the weapon that stared him in +the face. With one hand she folded up the document and put it in the +bosom of her dress, all the while keeping the pistol aimed steadily at +him.</p> + +<p>"Now," she continued coolly, "you have the key of the door. Make no +movement," she added quickly, bringing the pistol still nearer him, "but +tell me where to find it."</p> + +<p>"It is in the door now," he snarled.</p> + +<p>She came cautiously around the corner of the desk, still keeping the +weapon leveled at his head.</p> + +<p>He rose to his feet and sprang toward her. The pistol snapped. He caught +her by the wrist. Then pinning both her arms to her side with his arms +about her waist he breathed in her ear:—</p> + +<p>"You cannot fire a pistol that is not loaded, though you <i>did</i> startle +me. Now give me that paper."</p> + +<p>Edmé did not speak, but struggled desperately to break from his grasp. +She determined that he might kill her before she would give back the +paper. So fiercely did she struggle that he had to exert all his +strength to hold her.</p> + +<p>"I'll have that paper again if I have to strangle you to get it!" he +muttered through his teeth. He succeeded in holding down both arms with +one of his, leaving his left arm free.</p> + +<p>Before he could make use of it, he felt himself seized from behind. His +nerves, strained by his previous fright, gave way completely at this +unexpected attack. Uttering a cry, he released his hold completely.</p> + +<p>"Save yourself; I will not hold you to your promise!" cried a voice. +Edmé waited to hear nothing more, but darted swiftly from the room, +leaving the baffled Robespierre confronted by La Liberté.</p> + +<p>For a moment he stood still, his surprise rendering him incapable of +speech or action. La Liberté walked jauntily to the door through which +Edmé had just vanished, locked it, and stuck the key in her belt beside +the knife she always wore there.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what you are doing, you mad creature?" cried Robespierre, +running to the door and putting his hand upon the latch. "Unlock this +door at once."</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment; I have something to say to you," was La Liberté's +rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"Give me that key instantly, do you hear?" he yelled, stamping his foot +upon the floor. "You do not know what you are doing."</p> + +<p>"I know," said La Liberté, nodding her head. "I have seen and heard +everything; I have been watching you from the door of the back +staircase."</p> + +<p>"The back staircase!" exclaimed Robespierre, starting toward it.</p> + +<p>"You need not trouble to go to it. I locked that door when I came in."</p> + +<p>Robespierre came toward her, furious with passion. "I will have none of +your escapades," he said fiercely; "give me that key or I will"—</p> + +<p>"Keep off! keep off!" cried out La Liberté, bounding lightly out of his +reach with a little mocking laugh. "Don't catch me about the waist; I +carry my sting there."</p> + +<p>"You wasp! I will crush you!" he cried out, foaming with rage.</p> + +<p>"Better take care how you handle wasps," was her rejoinder as she +perched herself upon the edge of a desk and shook her brown curls +defiantly at him.</p> + +<p>"Come, Liberté," he said, trying a coaxing tone, although his anger +almost choked him; "I know you will open the door at once when I tell +you that woman has obtained from me by a skillful ruse a pardon in +blank. I don't know whose name will be filled in. Perhaps some great +enemy of the Republic will be set at liberty, unless I can send word at +once to the conciergerie and forestall it."</p> + +<p>"I know who will be liberated," sang La Liberté, swinging her feet.</p> + +<p>"You do!" vociferated Robespierre in genuine astonishment. "Is this a +plot? Are you concerned in it?" And he came toward her, his small eyes +winking rapidly.</p> + +<p>"You don't get it yet," laughed La Liberté, sliding over to the other +side of the desk. "I am concerned in enough of a plot to keep you from +sending to the scaffold a man to whom I've taken a fancy. I do not very +often take a particular interest in any one person, but when I do, it is +lasting." And she regarded him airily from her point of vantage.</p> + +<p>"I'll send you to the guillotine," hissed Robespierre between his teeth, +striking his clenched fist upon the desk in front of him. "I'll have you +arrested to-night. I'll bear with you no longer. I have permitted you to +swagger around in public, to come into the Jacobin Club and flourish +your pistols, because it amused the populace, and I laughed with them at +your antics; but now you have overstepped the line. This meddling with +national affairs will cost you your life."</p> + +<p>For a moment La Liberté confronted him from behind her barricade, her +eyes darting fire.</p> + +<p>"How dare you threaten me!" she cried shrilly.</p> + +<p>"You have conspired against the Republic; you shall pay for it," he +repeated, his fingers working convulsively as if he would like to lay +hands upon her.</p> + +<p>"My name is La Liberté," she said proudly, drawing herself up. "I am a +child of the Revolution. I have drunk of her blood. Do you think, +Robespierre, to terrify me with your shining toy, the guillotine? Bah! I +snap my fingers at it;" and speaking thus, she advanced toward him, one +hand resting on the dagger at her hip. He fell back before her, step by +step, until they reached the door. Voices were heard outside and some +one tried to enter.</p> + +<p>"Break the door down, whoever you are!" cried Robespierre. "Kick the +panel in; throw your whole weight against it."</p> + +<p>"We are Hanneton and Clément, clerks; we found the rear doorway +locked"—</p> + +<p>"Break in, I say!" called out Robespierre impatiently.</p> + +<p>The hall reverberated with the noise of an attack made by Hanneton's +heavy shoes and Clément's shoulder.</p> + +<p>La Liberté inserted the key in the lock. "I might as well open it now," +she said, throwing back the door.</p> + +<p>The two clerks stood on the threshold in open-mouthed surprise.</p> + +<p>La Liberté passed them like a fawn and sped swiftly down the staircase.</p> + +<p>"We were merely returning to finish up a little work," stammered +Clément, who was the first to recover the use of his tongue; "but if we +intrude"—</p> + +<p>"Come in," interrupted Robespierre quickly. "I have an errand of +importance for you." Seating himself at a table, he dashed off two short +notes. The clerks exchanged glances from time to time.</p> + +<p>"Here!" said Robespierre looking at Clément, and sealing the letters as +he spoke. "You look the less stupid. Take this at once to the keeper of +the conciergerie, then report to me in person at my house. You other +fellow, take this to Commandant Henriot. You will find him either at the +Hôtel de Ville or at the Jacobin Club. Tell him to report to me in +person. Now go, both of you."</p> + +<p>The two clerks did not wait to be twice bidden, and Robespierre followed +them from the room.</p> + +<p>An hour later the commandant stood before the president of the committee +in his own house.</p> + +<p>"Well," asked Robespierre, "have you executed the warrant?"</p> + +<p>"The Citizeness Liberté has been incarcerated in the Luxembourg prison," +was the reply.</p> + +<p>Robespierre's eyes blinked rapidly. "She is a child of the Revolution," +he repeated softly, "and does not fear my toy."</p> + +<p>Upon Henriot's heels entered Clément. Robespierre turned to him eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Fifteen minutes before I reached the conciergerie, a prisoner, named +Robert Tournay, was liberated on a release signed by you, citizen +president. It was delivered by a woman," was the brief report.</p> + +<p>An oath sprang to Robespierre's lips. "Tournay!" he cried out. "So it +was Tournay whom that woman has freed. The man is dangerous," he +continued, speaking to himself. "He should have perished long ago had I +not wished to get at Hoche through him. But he shall not escape me; nor +shall the woman."</p> + +<p>"Henriot," he exclaimed in his next breath, "order every route leading +out of the city guarded. Lodge information at every section for the +arrest of Robert Tournay, and of one other, a woman."</p> + +<p>"Yes, citizen president, and who"—</p> + +<p>"Wait, I will write her description for you," cried Robespierre. "There +it is. Now be prompt, my patriot. We can still recapture our prisoner, +and then"—He did not complete the sentence, but his teeth came together +with a snap, and he drew his thin lips over them tightly.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>NO. 7 RUE D'ARCIS</h3> + + +<p>The order signed by Robespierre for the immediate release of a prisoner +had not been questioned by the keeper of the conciergerie, and within a +few minutes from the time when Edmé presented the document with a heart +fluctuating between the wildest hope and the greatest fear, Colonel +Tournay walked out of the prison a free man.</p> + +<p>The sudden manner of his release, the fact that it had been effected by +Edmé's own daring and sagacity, and that he owed his life to her whom he +loved, made his brain reel. Then the recognition of the danger that +still menaced him, and above all the woman who was by his side, brought +him back to himself, and he was again cool, alert, and determined as she +had always known him. Drawing her arm through his and walking rapidly in +the shadows of Rue Barillerie, he said quickly:—</p> + +<p>"The pursuit will be instant. Robespierre will ransack all Paris to find +us. But I know a hiding-place. Come quickly."</p> + +<p>She looked up at him. "I feel perfectly safe now," she said, and +together they hurried onward.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she stopped. "But how about Agatha!" she exclaimed, as the +thought of her faithful companion came to her mind for the time.</p> + +<p>"Agatha! Where is she?" asked Tournay almost impatiently, chafing at a +moment's delay.</p> + +<p>"At the Citizeness Privat's in the Rue Vaugirard. They will surely find +and arrest her. Robert, we must not let them."</p> + +<p>"The delay may mean the difference between life and death," replied +Tournay, turning in the direction of the Rue Vaugirard; "but we must not +let Agatha fall into Robespierre's clutches."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes they passed up the Rue Vaugirard. "Which is the house?" +asked Tournay anxiously.</p> + +<p>"There; the small one with the blinds drawn down. Agatha will be +anxiously waiting for me, I know. There she is now in the doorway. She +sees us! Agatha, quick! Never mind your hat or cloak. Ask no questions. +Now Robert, take us where you will."</p> + +<p>Passing Edmé's arm through his own, and with Agatha on the other side, +Tournay conducted the two women rapidly down the street.</p> + +<p>At the same moment gendarmes were running in all directions carrying +Robespierre's orders.</p> + +<p>Two of them hastened to the house of Citizeness Privat. They found her +in bed. Awakened from her sleep, she could only give meagre information +about her lodgers. There were two of them; one, she thought, was still +in the room across the hall. A tall gendarme opened the door and walked +in without ceremony. He found the room empty, although a few articles +of feminine apparel indicated that it had been occupied recently.</p> + +<p>"Hem!" sniffed the tall gendarme, "women!" Then he called in his +companions, and they proceeded to examine everything in the hope of +finding a clue.</p> + +<p>At that moment Robert Tournay, Edmé, and Agatha were approaching the Rue +d'Arcis.</p> + +<p>"It is only a step from here," said Tournay encouragingly as they +crossed the bridge St. Michel. "Once there we cannot be safer anywhere +in Paris. I know of the place from a fellow prisoner in the Luxembourg."</p> + +<p>They passed through a narrow passageway and underneath some houses, and +emerged into the Rue d'Arcis. Crossing the street, and looking carefully +in both directions to see if they were unobserved, Tournay struck seven +quick low notes with the knocker on the door. They waited in silence for +some time; then Tournay repeated the knocking a little louder than +before. They waited again and listened intently. Edmé's teeth began to +chatter with nervous excitement, and Tournay looked once more +apprehensively up and down the street.</p> + +<p>"Who knocks?" was the question breathed gently through a small aperture +in the door.</p> + +<p>"From Raphael," whispered Tournay, "open quickly."</p> + +<p>"Enter."</p> + +<p>The door swung inward on its hinges, and the three fugitives hastened to +accept the hospitality offered them.</p> + +<p>It was an old man who answered their summons and who closed the door +carefully after them. He now stood before them shading with his palm a +candle, which the draft, blowing through the large empty corridors, +threatened to extinguish altogether. The dancing flame threw grotesque +shadows on the wall. As the light played upon the features of the old +man, first touching his white beard and then shining upon his serene +brow, Edmé thought she looked upon a face familiar to her in the past, +but, no sign of recognition appearing in the eyes that met her gaze, she +attributed it to fancy.</p> + +<p>"Your name is Beaurepaire?" inquired Tournay.</p> + +<p>"That is my name," was the old man's answer.</p> + +<p>In a few words Colonel Tournay told of his acquaintance with St. +Hilaire, and explained how, had their plan of escape succeeded, they +would have come there together. Unfortunately he alone had escaped,—and +now came to ask that he and his two companions might remain there in +hiding for a few days.</p> + +<p>"You came from Raphael," replied Beaurepaire with the dignity of an +earlier time. "The length of your stay is to be determined by your own +desire."</p> + +<p>He led the way along the corridor, down a short flight of steps, through +a covered passageway, into what appeared to be an adjoining house; +Tournay asked no questions, but, with Edmé and Agatha, followed +blindly.</p> + +<p>Their aged conductor ushered them into a large room, which had formerly +been a handsome salon; but the few articles of furniture still remaining +in it were decrepit and dusty. The once polished floor was sadly marred, +and appeared to have remained unswept for years. The room was wainscoted +in dark wood to the height of six feet, and upon the wall above it hung +portraits of ladies and gentlemen of the house of St. Hilaire. Here they +had hung for years before the Revolution, dusty and forgotten.</p> + +<p>At the end and along one side of the room ran a gallery which was +reached by a short straight flight of stairs, and around this gallery +from floor to ceiling were shelves of books.</p> + +<p>Beaurepaire mounted the stairs, and looking among the books as if +searching for a certain volume, pushed back part of a bookcase and +revealed a door. He motioned them to ascend.</p> + +<p>"In here," he said, pointing to a small room with low-studded ceiling, +"the two ladies can retire. It is the only room in the house suitable +for their comfort. You, sir," he continued, looking at Colonel Tournay, +"will have to lie here upon the gallery floor. There is only a rug to +soften the oak boards, but you are, I see, a soldier. To-morrow I will +see what can be done to make the place more habitable."</p> + +<p>Edmé and Agatha passed through the aperture in the wall, the venerable +Beaurepaire bowing low before them.</p> + +<p>"At daylight I will bring you some food; until then I wish you good +repose." He withdrew, and Colonel Tournay was left to stretch himself +out upon the gallery floor to get what sleep he could.</p> + +<p>It was daylight when he opened his eyes, and looking through the +balustrade to the room below, saw a loaf of bread, some grapes, and a +steaming pitcher of hot milk set on a large mahogany table which stood +against the wall. He had evidently been awakened by the entrance of his +host, for the figure of Beaurepaire was standing with his back to him, +looking out of the window into the courtyard. The colonel kicked aside +the rugs which had served him for a bed, and rising to his feet, started +to descend.</p> + +<p>The figure at the window turned at the sound of the tread upon the +stairs, and Tournay stopped short with one hand on the rail. "He has +shaved off his flowing beard overnight," was his astonished thought. +Then the next instant he recognized that it was not Beaurepaire, but +Father Ambrose, the old priest of La Thierry, who stood before him.</p> + +<p>The latter approached with his usual dignity.</p> + +<p>"Father Ambrose," exclaimed Tournay in surprise, "how can this be? Who, +then, is this Beaurepaire?"</p> + +<p>"He is my brother. I have lived here for more than six months. I saw you +when you came last night, but waited until now before making myself +known. Inform me, my good sir, how fares it with Mademoiselle de +Rochefort?"</p> + +<p>"You shall see her presently. She and Agatha are in the chamber behind +the secret panel. They are doubtless much fatigued from the excitement +of yesterday, and we would better let them sleep as long as they can. In +the meantime I will eat some of this food, for I am desperately hungry."</p> + +<p>"Do so, my son," replied the priest. "I would eat with you, but for the +fact that I never break my fast before noon."</p> + +<p>Tournay helped himself to a generous slice of bread and a bunch of +grapes.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," he asked, as he began on the luscious fruit, "how do you +obtain the necessities of life? Do you dare venture out to buy them?"</p> + +<p>"I have not set my foot outside the door since I first entered. All the +communication with the outside world has been held by my brother, who +has managed to keep free from suspicion, and who goes and comes in his +quiet way as the occasion arises."</p> + +<p>A knock upon the door brought Tournay to his feet. He stopped with the +pitcher of milk in one hand and looked at Father Ambrose.</p> + +<p>"There is no cause for alarm," said the priest; "it is my brother's +knock;" and going to the door he drew back the bolt.</p> + +<p>Tournay set down the milk jug untasted, with an exclamation of surprise, +as he saw Gaillard burst into the room, followed by the old man +Beaurepaire. The actor, no longer dressed in the disguise of an old man, +was greatly excited.</p> + +<p>"Great news, my colonel!" he exclaimed without stopping to explain how +he had found his way there. "Robespierre has been arrested by the +convention."</p> + +<p>Tournay sprang forward and grasped his friend by both shoulders. "At +last they have done it!" he cried excitedly. "Gaillard, tell me about +it. How was it brought about?"</p> + +<p>"Embrace me again, my colonel," exclaimed Gaillard, throwing his arms +about Tournay and talking all the time. "It was this way: I heard the +cry in the streets that the convention had risen almost to a man and +arrested Robespierre and a few of his nearest satellites. At once I ran +to the conciergerie to try and see you. Everything was in confusion. The +news of Robespierre's arrest had just reached there. 'Can I see Colonel +Tournay?' I demanded of the jailer.</p> + +<p>"'He is not here,' he answered, turning from me to a dozen other excited +questioners.</p> + +<p>"'He has not been sent to the guillotine?' I cried, with my heart in my +mouth.</p> + +<p>"'No; liberated by Robespierre's order last night.'</p> + +<p>"'What!' I shouted, thinking the man mad.</p> + +<p>"'The order was countermanded fifteen minutes after the citizen colonel +had left the prison,' cried the warden in reply. 'Don't ask me any more +questions. My head is in a whirl; I cannot think.'</p> + +<p>"I, myself, was so excited I could not think; but when I collected my +few senses I recollected that St. Hilaire had told you of a place of +refuge in case of emergency. 'My little colonel is there,' I said to +myself, and flew here on the wind. Everywhere along the way people were +congratulating one another. The greatest excitement prevailed. No notice +was taken of an old man of eighty running like a lad of sixteen. When I +reached your door I took off my wig and beard and put them in my pocket. +Ah, my colonel, we shall wear our own faces; we shall speak our own +minds, now that the tyrant himself is in the toils."</p> + +<p>"Will they be able to keep him there?" asked Father Ambrose; "he will +not yield without a struggle. The Jacobins may try to arouse the masses +to rescue him."</p> + +<p>"The populace is seething with excitement," said Gaillard. "Some +quarters of the town are for the fallen tyrant; others are against him. +In the Faubourg St. Antoine, the stronghold of the Jacobins, Robespierre +is openly denounced by some, yet his adherents are still strong there +and are arming themselves. The convention stands firm as a rock. 'Down +with the tyrant!' is the cry."</p> + +<p>"There is work for us," exclaimed Tournay. "Father Ambrose," he +continued, turning to the priest, "I must go out at once. I leave you to +tell the news to Mademoiselle de Rochefort. Tell her to remain here in +the strictest seclusion until I return and assure her that we can leave +here in safety. I leave her in your keeping, Father Ambrose. Now, +Gaillard, let us go."</p> + +<p>In the streets, Tournay found that his friend had not exaggerated the +popular excitement. As they walked along both he and Gaillard kept +their ears alert to hear everything that was said.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a noise caused them to stop and look into each other's faces +with consternation.</p> + +<p>"The tumbrils!" exclaimed Gaillard, in answer to Tournay's look.</p> + +<p>"That looks bad for our party," said Tournay. "One would expect the +executions to cease, or at least be suspended, on the day of +Robespierre's arrest."</p> + +<p>"There is no one to give a coherent order," replied Gaillard. "Some of +the prison governors do not know which way to turn, or whom to obey. The +same with the police. They need a leader."</p> + +<p>As he spoke they turned into the Rue Vaugirard and saw coming toward +them down the street two death carts, escorted by a dozen gendarmes. The +street was choked with a howling mass of people, and from their shouts +it was manifest that some were demanding that the carts be sent back, +while others were equally vociferous in urging them on. Meanwhile, the +gendarmes stolidly made their way through the crowd as best they could.</p> + +<p>Many of the occupants of the tumbrils leaned supplicatingly over the +sides of the carts and implored the people to save them.</p> + +<p>The crowd finally became so large as to impede the further progress of +the carts.</p> + +<p>"My God!" cried Tournay, grasping Gaillard by the arm. "There is St. +Hilaire."</p> + +<p>In the second cart stood the Citizen St. Hilaire. He held himself erect +and stood motionless, his arms, like those of the rest of the +prisoners, tightly pinioned behind him. But it could be seen that he was +addressing the populace and exciting their sympathy. By his side was +Madame d'Arlincourt, her large blue eyes fixed intently upon St. +Hilaire; she seemed unmindful of the scene around her, and to be already +in another world.</p> + +<p>In the rear of the cart, dressed in white, was La Liberté. Her face was +flushed and animated, and she was talking loudly and rapidly to the +crowd which followed the tumbril.</p> + +<p>Tournay sprang to the head of the procession. He still wore his uniform, +and the crowd made way for him.</p> + +<p>"Why did you take these tumbrils out to-day?" he demanded of the +gendarmes. "Do you not know that Robespierre is in prison and the +executions are to be stopped?"</p> + +<p>"I have my orders from the keeper of the Luxembourg. I am to take these +tumbrils to the Place de la Révolution," replied the officer; then +addressing the crowd, he cried, "Make way there, citizens, make way +there and let us proceed!"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" cried a great number of voices, while others cried out, "Yes, +make way!" But all still blocked the passage of the carts.</p> + +<p>"The keeper of the Luxembourg had no authority to order the execution of +these prisoners to-day. Take them at once back to the prison," ordered +Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Where is your authority? Show it to me and I will obey you," replied +the police officer.</p> + +<p>"This is not a day on which we present written authority," answered +Tournay. "I tell you I have the right to order you back to the prison. +It is the will of the convention."</p> + +<p>"I take my orders from the Commune," replied the gendarme stubbornly. "I +must go forward."</p> + +<p>Gaillard had meantime worked his way to Tournay's shoulder, and the +latter said a few words in his ear. Gaillard plunged into the crowd and +was off like a shot in the direction of the convention.</p> + +<p>"Citizens, let us pass!" cried the gendarmes impatiently.</p> + +<p>"Citizens," Tournay cried out in a loud voice, "it is the will of the +convention that no executions take place to-day. These carts must not +go. I call upon you to help me." As he spoke he ran to the horses' +heads. The crowd swept the gendarmes to one side, and in a moment's time +the tumbrils were turned about.</p> + +<p>Then a clatter of hoofs was heard, accompanied by angry shouts, and the +crowd broke and scattered in all directions, as Commandant Henriot, +followed by a troop of mounted police, rode through them.</p> + +<p>"What is the meaning of this?" he roared out.</p> + +<p>"Where shall we go, back to the Luxembourg or forward to the Place de la +Révolution?" cried out the bewildered gendarmes who guarded the +tumbrils.</p> + +<p>"To the guillotine, of course, always the guillotine," answered Henriot. +"About, face! Citizens, disperse!"</p> + +<p>The crowd had closed up and were muttering their disapproval, many even +going so far as to flourish weapons.</p> + +<p>"Citizens," cried Tournay fearlessly, "this man Henriot has been +indicted by the convention. He should now be a prisoner with +Robespierre."</p> + +<p>"Charge the crowd!" yelled Henriot to his lieutenant. "I will deal with +this fellow; I know him. His name is Tournay." And he rode his horse at +the colonel.</p> + +<p>The latter sprang to one side, and seizing a sword from a gendarme, +parried the trust of Henriot's weapon. Catching the horse by the bridle, +he struck an upward blow at the commandant. The animal plunged forward +and Tournay was thrown to the pavement, while the crowd fled before the +charge of the mounted troops.</p> + +<p>Before Henriot could wheel his charger, Tournay was on his feet, and +realizing the impossibility of rallying any forces to contend with +Henriot's, he took the first corner and made the best of his way up a +narrow and deserted street.</p> + +<p>He was somewhat shaken and bruised from his encounter, and stopping to +recover breath for the first time, he noticed that the blood was flowing +freely from a cut over the forehead which he had received during the +short mêlée.</p> + +<p>As he stanched the wound with his handkerchief, he heard footsteps +behind him, and turning, saw a man dressed in the uniform of his own +regiment running toward him. Wiping the blood from his eyes, he +recognized Captain Dessarts who had served with him for the past year.</p> + +<p>"You are wounded, colonel!" exclaimed Dessarts, taking the hand which +Tournay stretched out to him. "Can I assist you?"</p> + +<p>"It is only a scalp wound, but it bleeds villainously. You can tie this +handkerchief about my head if you will."</p> + +<p>"I tried to help you rally the crowd, my colonel, but it was hopeless. +Yet with a few good soldiers behind his back, one could easily have +cleared the streets of those hulking gendarmes. Do I hurt you?" he +continued as he tied the knot.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Tournay. "Tie it quickly and then come with me."</p> + +<p>"I must go to the barracks, Colonel Tournay," replied Dessarts. "Your +old regiment has been disbanded. I am here with my company, ordered to +join another regiment and proceed to the Vendée."</p> + +<p>"Where are your men quartered?" asked Tournay excitedly.</p> + +<p>"Two streets above here."</p> + +<p>"Will they obey you absolutely?"</p> + +<p>"To the last man, my colonel."</p> + +<p>"Will you follow me without a question?"</p> + +<p>"To the death, my colonel."</p> + +<p>"Come then, and bring me to your men at once. Every instant is worth a +life. Let us run."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<h3>THE END OF THE TERROR</h3> + + +<p>Surrounded by Henriot's mounted guards, the tumbrils lumbered slowly to +the Place de la Révolution. There a large crowd had assembled to witness +the daily tribute to the guillotine.</p> + +<p>"You shall not be disappointed, my patriots!" cried Henriot.</p> + +<p>They answered him with a cheer. The crowd here was in sympathy with him, +and he felt grimly cheerful.</p> + +<p>"My friends, you will cheer again when you learn that one hour ago +Robespierre was set free by me. The convention is trembling. The Commune +triumphs."</p> + +<p>Again the crowd cheered.</p> + +<p>Henriot rode up to the guillotine.</p> + +<p>"Sanson," he cried out to the executioner, "here is your daily +allowance. We have kept you waiting, but you can now use dispatch."</p> + +<p>The occupants in the tumbrils had seen their last hope of deliverance +vanish in the Rue Vaugirard. They were fully prepared for death. One +after another they mounted the fatal scaffold and were led to the +guillotine.</p> + +<p>Some went bravely forward to meet their fate. Others almost fainted and +were nearly dead from fear by the time they reached the hands of Sanson.</p> + +<p>La Liberté came forward with a firm step. As she did so, the crowd set +up a deafening shout. It was a shout of genuine astonishment at the +sight of this well-known figure, though mingled with it were cries of +satisfaction from those who had been jealous of her popularity. Some +thought it was a new escapade on her part, and they applauded it all the +louder because of its daring nature.</p> + +<p>Even the red-handed Sanson opened his huge bull's-mouth with surprise as +she appeared before him.</p> + +<p>"Bon jour, Sanson," said she airily; "you did not look for me to-day, I +imagine. Do not touch me," she exclaimed as he stretched out his large +hand towards her. "I have sent too many along this road, not to know the +way myself, alone." Then walking down until she stood under the very +shadow of the knife she looked out over the sea of faces.</p> + +<p>The mighty yell was repeated.</p> + +<p>The pallor of approaching death was on her face, but unflinchingly she +met the gaze of thousands, while with a toss of her chestnut curls she +surveyed them proudly, taking the shouts as a tribute to herself.</p> + +<p>Suddenly her face became animated and the color rushed back to her +cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Well done, my compatriot!" she exclaimed aloud; she no longer saw the +crowd at her feet, but stood transfixed, her gaze on the further corner +of the square.</p> + +<p>There Robert Tournay, at the head of some of his own men, charged upon +Henriot's troops. Steel clashed upon steel, and Tournay's men pressed +on.</p> + +<p>"Bravely struck, my compatriot. Well parried, my compatriot. That was +worthy of my brave colonel. One little moment, Sanson," she pleaded as +the burly executioner caught her by the arm.</p> + +<p>"You have had twice the allotted time already," he objected; "you are +keeping the others waiting."</p> + +<p>"One more look, Sanson, just one! Ah, well done, my brave."</p> + +<p>"En avant," said the ruthless Sanson.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, compatriot," murmured La Liberté, a tear glistening in her +eye. The knife descended, and La Liberté was no more.</p> + +<p>"Another!" said the insatiable executioner, extending his huge hands +towards the cart.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire looked into Madame d'Arlincourt's face. Their eyes met full.</p> + +<p>"Madame," he said, "in such a case as this you will pardon me if I +precede you," and stepping in front of her he walked quietly up the +scaffold.</p> + +<p>Meantime Colonel Tournay, with Captain Dessarts at his shoulder and a +company of his own troops behind him, had dashed out of a side street +into the Place de la Révolution.</p> + +<p>Tournay, with the ends of the blood-stained kerchief flapping on his +forehead, and the sword wrested from the gendarme waving in his hand, +urged his men forward.</p> + +<p>Commandant Henriot, his forces augmented by a company of civic guards, +charged upon them. The commandant's men outnumbered those led by the +colonel, two to one, but in the shock that followed the tried veterans +held together like a granite wall, and broke through Henriot's troops, +hurling them in disorder to the right and left of the square.</p> + +<p>Tournay saw the white-clad figure of La Liberté disappear under the +glittering knife. He saw St. Hilaire standing on the scaffold with head +turned toward Madame d'Arlincourt.</p> + +<p>"Soldiers, on to the guillotine!" cried the colonel, dashing forward at +full speed.</p> + +<p>The populace, who, between the blood of the executions and the battle +going on in the square, were mad with excitement, pressed forward, and +circled about the scaffold, angrily menacing the approaching troops, who +seemed about to put an end to their entertainment.</p> + +<p>"Sweep them away!" cried Tournay ruthlessly, his eye still upon the +scaffold where St. Hilaire stood. "Use the bayonet!"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Henriot, by desperate efforts, had rallied his own troopers at +the other side of the square, while his civic guards, having no further +stomach for the fray, had fled incontinently.</p> + +<p>"Colonel, they are about to attack us in the rear," said Dessarts +warningly.</p> + +<p>Tournay wheeled his men about as the enemy rode at them for a second +time. Henriot, with his brandy-swollen face purple with excitement, was +reeling drunk in his saddle, yet he plunged forward with the desperate +courage of a baited bull.</p> + +<p>"Down with the traitor!" he yelled. "The Commune must triumph; +Robespierre is free, and the Republic lives."</p> + +<p>With the answering cry of "Long live the Republic!" Tournay's men braced +themselves firmly together.</p> + +<p>"Fire!" commanded the colonel. A deadly volley poured into the +commandant's forces.</p> + +<p>"Charge!"</p> + +<p>Henriot's troops were dashed back, scattered in all directions, and +their drunken commander, putting spurs to his horse, fled cursing from +the scene.</p> + +<p>The populace, now thoroughly dismayed and frightened, parted on all +sides before the soldiers. Tournay ran to the guillotine. He leaped up +the steps of the scaffold.</p> + +<p>"In the name of the convention, halt!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"I know nothing about the convention," protested Sanson, laying his hand +upon St. Hilaire's shoulder. "This man is sent to me to be +guillotined—and"—</p> + +<p>Tournay threw the executioner from the platform to the ground below, and +cutting the cords that bound St. Hilaire set his arms at liberty.</p> + +<p>Captain Dessarts formed his men around the scaffold to prevent +interference on the part of the crowd. St. Hilaire took Tournay by the +hand.</p> + +<p>"You have come in time, colonel, to do me a great service," he said. +"Now give me a weapon, and let me take part in any further fight."</p> + +<p>Tournay gave him a pistol. St. Hilaire went to the side of Madame +d'Arlincourt. The crowd began again to surge around the soldiers +threateningly.</p> + +<p>"Let the guillotine go on!" "Let the executioner finish his work!" were +the cries from all sides.</p> + +<p>"Citizens," yelled Sanson, who had risen to his feet and was now rubbing +his bruised sides, "you are a thousand. They are only a few soldiers. +Take back the prisoners and I will execute them."</p> + +<p>"Make ready—aim," was Colonel Tournay's quick command. The muskets +clicked; the crowd fell back. "Fix bayonets, forward march." And through +the press Colonel Tournay bore those whom he had saved from the +guillotine.</p> + +<p>No organized attempt was made to attack them, and the party proceeded to +the Rue d'Arcis unmolested. Here Tournay turned to his captain.</p> + +<p>"Dessarts, leave a file of men here and take the others back to their +barracks for repose, but hold them subject to immediate orders."</p> + +<p>"Very good, my colonel," and the soldiers were marched away.</p> + +<p>Madame d'Arlincourt showed signs of succumbing to the effects of the +terrible strain to which she had been subjected, and St. Hilaire, +supporting her gently, hastened to the door of his former servant.</p> + +<p>In another instant they were all inside.</p> + +<p>They passed through the corridor and entered the wainscoted salon. As +they did so the bookcase above moved gently. Edmé entered through the +secret door and stood for an instant surrounded by a frame of dusty +books, looking down upon them.</p> + +<p>In her plain gown of homespun, with her skin browned by exposure to the +air, and cheeks which had the glow of health in them despite the +hardship she had undergone, Edmé de Rochefort was a different picture +from that of the girl of five years before. Yet it was not the present +Edmé that suffered by comparison.</p> + +<p>With a cry of joy she hastened down the stairs. "I have been told the +glorious news," she cried. "Have you returned to tell me it is all true? +But you are wounded!" she exclaimed in the same breath, with a cry of +alarm.</p> + +<p>"'Tis nothing," Tournay replied, folding her in his arms. "I do not even +feel it."</p> + +<p>"Is all the danger over?" she asked anxiously, looking up in his face.</p> + +<p>"Not all over," he answered caressingly. "The result hangs in the +balance, but we shall win, we shall surely win. At present we have need +of a little food and repose. St. Hilaire and myself must go out again +shortly. Has Gaillard come with a message? I expected him from the +convention," he continued, addressing Beaurepaire.</p> + +<p>"He has not returned," was the answer.</p> + +<p>Edmé turned to assist Agatha in caring for Madame d'Arlincourt, while +old Beaurepaire busied himself in setting forth some food upon the +table.</p> + +<p>At this moment Gaillard burst into the room, followed by Father Ambrose.</p> + +<p>"I bring glorious news!" cried the actor excitedly. "Robespierre, at one +time released by the aid of Henriot, has been rearrested. He has +attempted suicide. Henriot, St. Just, Couthon, are also arrested. They +will all be sent to the guillotine. The convention triumphs. The Commune +is defeated. The Reign of Terror is at an end."</p> + +<p>The news was received with a great shout of joy. "Listen," called out +Gaillard, "and you will learn what the people think."</p> + +<p>The booming of guns and the ringing of bells throughout the city +verified his statement.</p> + +<p>"We have won!" said Colonel Tournay.</p> + +<p>"Let us celebrate the victory by this feast that Beaurepaire has +provided!" exclaimed St. Hilaire.</p> + +<p>Tournay drew Edmé into the recess of one of the large windows. The sound +of a whole city rejoicing at the abolition of the Reign of Terror filled +the air. In the room at the back the voices of Gaillard and St. Hilaire +were heard in joyful conversation.</p> + +<p>For a moment they stood in silence. She looked into his eyes and read +the question there.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus6" id="illus6"></a> +<img src="images/illus6.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>A MOMENT THEY STOOD IN SILENCE</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"Yes," her eyes answered.</p> + +<p>"In order to save your life," he said, "Father Ambrose once stated that +you and I were man and wife. It was a subterfuge, and had no other +meaning. We now stand before him once again; will you let him marry us +now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Robert."</p> + +<p>With a look of pride and happiness upon his face Tournay faced about and +addressed the company.</p> + +<p>"There can be no more fitting time than this," he said, "to present to +you my bride," and he looked proudly down at Edmé who still had her arm +through his.</p> + +<p>"Father Ambrose," Tournay went on, "will you marry us now?"</p> + +<p>The priest, who had evidently had a premonition of the event, was all +prepared; and in the wainscoted salon, with the portraits of the old +régime looking down upon them from the walls, Robert Tournay, a colonel +of the Republic, and Edmé de Rochefort, of the ancient Régime of France, +were made man and wife.</p> + +<p>"Let us drink a toast to them!" cried St. Hilaire as the happy party +gathered about the table after the ceremony. "Long life and happiness to +Colonel Robert Tournay and his bride!"</p> + +<p>Beaurepaire filled their glasses with some rare old Burgundy, which he +drew from some hidden stores in the cellar, and the toast was drunk with +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>St. Hilaire's eyes met Madame d'Arlincourt's, and the look that was +interchanged foretold their future.</p> + +<p>Tournay stood in silence for a moment, and when he did speak there was a +note in his voice which showed how deep was his emotion. "I will give +you a toast. Let us drink to the new France; for after all," he +continued, looking from one to the other, "we are all Frenchmen. The +fate of France must be our fate. With her we must stand or fall. A new +France has now risen from the ashes of the old. To her we turn with new +hope."</p> + +<p>"Long live the Republic!" cried Gaillard.</p> + +<p>Tournay, St. Hilaire, and Gaillard touched glasses and looked into one +another's eyes. They understood one another as brave men do.</p> + +<p>"Nations may rise or they may crumble into dust," said Colonel Tournay, +"but Justice and Liberty are eternal. They will live always in the +hearts of men."</p> + +<p>"And Love also," whispered Edmé in his ear.</p> + +<p>"Yes, truly, and Love also, sweetheart."</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Robert Tournay, by William Sage + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT TOURNAY *** + +***** This file should be named 34846-h.htm or 34846-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/8/4/34846/ + +Produced by Bethanne M. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Robert Tournay + A Romance of the French Revolution + +Author: William Sage + +Release Date: January 4, 2011 [EBook #34846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT TOURNAY *** + + + + +Produced by Bethanne M. Simms, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + ROBERT TOURNAY + + A Romance of the French Revolution + + BY WILLIAM SAGE + + + _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + ERIC PAPE AND MARY AYER_ + + BOSTON AND NEW YORK + + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + + The Riverside Press, Cambridge + 1900 + + COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY WILLIAM SAGE + + AND HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + TO MY MOTHER + TO WHOM I OWE EVERYTHING + I LOVINGLY DEDICATE + THIS STORY. + + +[Illustration: "A CHEER FOR THE GODDESS OF LIBERTY"] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. HOW TOURNAY CAME TO PARIS + +II. A LITTLE BREAKFAST AT ST. HILAIRE'S + +III. THE BAKER AND HIS FAMILY + +IV. THE "BON PATRIOT" + +V. A BROKEN DOOR + +VI. A MAN AND A MARQUIS + +VII. GAILLARD GOES ON A JOURNEY + +VIII. PERE LOUCHET'S GUESTS + +IX. PRISON BOAT NUMBER FOUR + +X. OVER THE FRONTIER + +XI. UNDER WHICH FLAG? + +XII. THE FOUR COMMISSIONERS + +XIII. THE SWORD OF ROCROY + +XIV. SOMETHING HIDDEN + +XV. THE PRESIDENT'S NOTE + +XVI. BENEATH THE MASK + +XVII. PIERRE AND JEAN + +XVIII. THE LUXEMBOURG + +XIX. TAPPEUR AND PETITSOU + +XX. UNCLE MICHELET + +XXI. CITIZENESS PRIVAT + +XXII. CITIZENESS PRIVAT'S CARD + +XXIII. TOURNAY'S VISITOR + +XXIV. TWO WOMEN + +XXV. NO. 7 RUE D'ARCIS + +XXVI. THE END OF THE TERROR + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"A CHEER FOR THE GODDESS OF LIBERTY" + +DE LACHEVILLE FACING A YOUNG WOMAN + +"STOP!" CRIED TOURNAY + +ADJUSTED THE NECKCLOTH TO HIS SATISFACTION + +"WOULD YOU MURDER ME?" + +A MOMENT THEY STOOD IN SILENCE + + + + +ROBERT TOURNAY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +HOW TOURNAY CAME TO PARIS + + +The Marquis de Lacheville sat in the dining-hall of the chateau de +Rochefort. In his hand he held a letter. Although it was from a woman, +the writing was not in those delicately traced characters which suggest +the soft hand of some lady of fashion. The note-paper was scented, but +the perfume, like the color, was too pronounced; and the spelling, +possibly like the lady's character, was not absolutely flawless. + +A smile played about the cold thin lips of the marquis; he carelessly +thrust the missive into his pocket, as one disposes of a bill he does +not intend to pay, and lifting his eyes, allowed his gaze to wander +through the open window toward the figure of a young girl who stood +outside upon the terrace. + +She was watching a game of tennis in the court below, now and then +conversing with the players, whose voices in return reached de +Lacheville's ears on the quiet summer air. + +A few minutes before in that dining-hall the Baron de Rochefort had +betrothed his daughter Edme to his friend and distant kinsman, Maurice +de Lacheville. In the eyes of the world it was a suitable match. The +marquis was twenty-five, the girl eighteen. She was an only child; and +their rank and fortunes were equal. + +They did not love each other. The marquis loved no one but himself. +Mademoiselle had been brought up to consider all men very much alike. +She might possibly have had some slight preference for the Marquis de +St. Hilaire, who was now playing tennis in the court beneath; but it was +well known that he was dissipating his fortune at the gaming-table. +Mademoiselle did not lack strength of will; but, her heart not being +involved, she allowed her father to make the choice for her, as was the +custom of the time. + +De Lacheville continued sitting at the table, now looking +dispassionately at the woman who was to become his wife, now looking +beyond toward the wide sweep of park and meadow land, while he +calculated how much longer his cousin, the baron, would live to enjoy +possession of his great wealth. + +What the young girl thought is merely a matter of conjecture. She was as +fresh and sweet as the pink rose which she plucked from the trellis and +gayly tossed to the marquis below. He caught it gracefully and put it to +his lips--while she laughed merrily with never a thought for the marquis +within. + +Near the tennis court stood another man. He was tall and well-made, +with dark eyes and a sun-browned face. Beyond furnishing new balls and +rackets when required, he took no part in the game, for he was the son +of the intendant of the chateau and therefore a servant. + +He watched the rose which the lady so carelessly tossed, with hungry +eyes, as a dog watches a bone given to some well-fed and happier rival. +At the call from one of the players he replaced a broken racket, then +took up his former post, apparently intent upon the game, but in reality +his mind was far afield. + +It was in the early summer days of the year 1789. Looking out over the +baron's noble estates through the eyes of a girl like mademoiselle, the +world was very beautiful. Glancing at it through the careless eyes of +the prodigal St. Hilaire, it seemed very pleasing; but in spite of these +waving crops, and wealthy vineyards, in spite of the plenty in the +baron's household and the rich wines in his cellar, throughout France +there were many who had not enough to eat. Men, and women too, were +crying out for their share of the world's riches. + +A new wave of thought was sweeping over France. A thought as old as the +hills, yet startlingly new to each man as he discovered it. Books were +being written and words spoken which were soon to cause great political +changes in a land already seething with discontent. Change and Progress +at last were in the saddle, and they were riding fast. As the careless +noblemen batted their tennis balls back and forth, thinking only of +their game; as the young girl leaned over the rose-covered terrace, +thinking of the sunlight, the flowers, and the beauty of life, Robert +Tournay, the intendant's son, pondered deeply on the "rights of man" +while he ran after the tennis balls for those who played the game. + +As if wearied by the contemplation of his prospective married bliss, +Monsieur de Lacheville yawned, arose from his seat and strolled +leisurely from the room, descended the staircase and came out into the +park in the rear of the chateau, unobserved by the tennis players. The +note in his pocket called him to a rendezvous; and the marquis, after +some deliberation, had decided to keep it. Once in the wooded park and +out of sight of the house, he quickened his pace to a brisk walk; +proceeding thus for half a mile he suddenly left the driveway and +plunging through the thick foliage by a path which to the casual eye was +barely visible, came out into a shady and unfrequented alley. + +A few minutes after de Lacheville's disappearance into the woods, the +other noblemen, wearied of their sport, retired into the house for +refreshment. + +This left young Tournay free for the time being, and he availed himself +of the opportunity to go down toward a pasture beyond the park where +some young horses were running wild, innocent of bit or bridle. It was +Tournay's intention to break one of these colts for Mademoiselle de +Rochefort. She was a fearless rider, and it gave the young man pleasure +to be commissioned to pick out an animal at once gentle and mettlesome +for the use of his young mistress. + +The Tournays, from father to son, had been for generations the +intendants of the de Rochefort estate. With the baron's permission +Matthieu Tournay had sent his son away to school, and he had thus +received a better education than most young men of his class. He was of +an ambitious temper, and this very education, instead of making him more +contented with his lot in life, increased his restlessness. It only +served to show him more clearly the line that separated him from those +he served. In his own mind he had never defined his feeling for +Mademoiselle de Rochefort. He only knew that it gave him great pleasure +to serve her; and yet, as he did her bidding, he felt a pang that +between them was the gulf of caste; that even when she smiled upon him +it was merely the favored servant whom she greeted; that although he +might be as well educated as the Count de Blois, a better horseman than +St. Hilaire, and a better man than de Lacheville, _they_ could enter as +equals into the presence of this divine being, while such as he must +always take his place below the salt. + +It was with such thoughts as these revolving in his brain that the +intendant's son walked through the woods of the park. He followed no +path, for he knew each tree and twig from childhood. Suddenly he was +interrupted in his reverie by the sound of voices, and stopping short, +recognized the voice of the Marquis de Lacheville in conversation with +a woman. Tournay hesitated, then went forward cautiously in the +direction whence the sound came. Had he been born a gentleman he would +have chosen another way; or at least would have advanced noisily. +Indeed, such had been his first impulse,--but a much stronger interest +than curiosity impelled him forward; and drawing near, he looked through +a gap in the hedge. + +On the other side stood de Lacheville facing a young woman. Her cheeks +were flushed, and the manner in which she toyed with a riding-whip +showed that the discussion had been heated. Although she was handsomely +dressed in a riding-habit and assumed some of the airs of a lady, +Tournay recognized her at once as a young girl who had disappeared some +months before from the village of La Thierry, and whose handsome face +and vivacious manner had caused her to be much admired. Near her stood +the nobleman, calm and self-composed. Before men, de Lacheville had been +known to flinch; but with a woman of the humbler class the marquis could +always play the master. + +"And now, Marianne," said the nobleman slowly, "you had better go,--and +do not make the mistake of coming here again." + +Although she had evidently been worsted in the argument, a defiant look +flashed in her dark eyes as she answered him: "If I believe you speak +the truth I shall not come here again." + +[Illustration: DE LACHEVILLE FACING A YOUNG WOMAN] + +"Of course I speak the truth," replied de Lacheville lightly. "I shall +marry Mademoiselle de Rochefort"-- + +The young woman winced, but she did not speak. + +De Lacheville went on slowly as if he enjoyed the situation--"In a year +or two--I am in no hurry. She is very beautiful"--here he paused +again--"but I prefer your style of beauty, Marianne; I prefer your +vivacity, your life, your fire; I like to see you angry. My engagement +to Mademoiselle de Rochefort need make no difference in my regard for +you. That depends upon yourself." Here the marquis stepped forward and +kissed her on the lips. + +Tournay controlled himself by a great effort, his heart swelling with +the resentment of a man who hears that which he holds sacred insulted by +another. And this man who held Mademoiselle de Rochefort in such slight +esteem was to be her husband. + +"And now, Marianne," said the nobleman, "you must ride away as you +came," and suiting the action to the words he swung her into the saddle. +She was docile now and gathered up the reins obediently. "And, +Marianne," continued the nobleman, "never write letters to me. I am +rather fastidious and do not want my illusions dispelled too soon. +Good-by, my child." + +She flushed as he spoke, and a retort seemed about to spring to her +lips; but instead of replying she shrugged her shoulders, gave a sharp +cut of the whip to the horse, and rode off down the pathway. + +De Lacheville laughed. "She has spirit to the last. She pleases me;" and +turning, beheld Robert Tournay in the path before him. + +For a moment neither spoke; then the nobleman asked sternly, "Have you +been spying upon me?" + +"I have heard what has passed between you and that woman," replied +Tournay with a significance that made the marquis start. + +"You villain," replied the nobleman hotly, "if you breathe a word about +what you have seen I will have you whipped by my lackeys." + +Tournay's lips curled defiantly. + +"Or," continued the marquis, "if one word of scandal reaches the ears of +Mademoiselle de Rochefort"-- + +Before the words had left his lips, Tournay sprang forward and had him +by the arm. + +"Do not stain her name by speaking it," he cried fiercely. "I have heard +you insult her; I have seen how you would dishonor her; you, who are not +worthy to touch the hem of her garment. What right have you to become +her husband? Your very presence would degrade her. You shall not wed +her." + +White with rage, if not from fear, the marquis struggled to free himself +from Tournay's grasp, but he could neither throw off his antagonist nor +move his arm enough to draw his sword. Finding himself powerless in the +hands of the stronger man, he remained passive, only the twitching of +his mouth betraying his passion. + +"And you would prevent my marriage," he said coldly. "So be it. Go to +the baron; tell your story. Go also to mademoiselle, his daughter; +repeat the scandal to her ears; say, 'I am your champion;' and how will +they receive you? The baron will have you kicked from the room and +mademoiselle will scorn you. Championed by a servant! What an honor for +a lady!" + +The truth of what he said struck Tournay harder than any blow; his arms +dropped to his side, and he stepped back, as if powerless. + +The marquis arranged the lace ruffle about his neck. Placing his hand +upon his sword he eyed Tournay as if debating what course to pursue. He +smarted under the treatment he had received, and his eyes glittered +viciously as if he meditated some prompt reprisal. But above all the +marquis was politic, and he also knew that in his biting tongue he +possessed a weapon keener than a sword. + +He stooped and plucked a flower from the border of the path, and as he +spoke a sarcastic smile played mockingly about his lips. + +"I shall marry mademoiselle," he began, slowly dwelling on each word, +while he plucked the petals from the flower, and tossed them, one by +one, into the air. The gesture was a careless one, but there was a +vicious cruelty about his fingers as he tore the flower. "And you," +continued the marquis,--"you, who one might think had dared to raise +your eyes toward the lady's face"-- + +Tournay stood dumb before his inquisitor. His heart raged and he writhed +as if under the lash, but still he stood passive and suffering. + +"And you shall be our servant," ended the nobleman, with a laugh, +turning and walking haughtily up the path, but with his hand still on +his sword-hilt lest he should be again taken by surprise. + +As the heels of the marquis crunched the gravel-walk Tournay felt the +truth of each word that he had spoken borne in upon his mind with +overwhelming force. It was not fear of the marquis's sword that had kept +him silent. It was the hopelessness of his own position. What right had +he to speak? And who would listen to him? + +Silently the young man slipped into the forest as if to seek consolation +from the great murmuring trees. As he walked slowly beneath their green +arches as under some cathedral roof, a quiet strength came to his soul. +He seemed to feel that the day would come when his voice would be heard +and listened to. Until then he must bide his time; and in this frame of +mind he went back to the chateau. + +When Tournay reached the house he was greeted by an order from the +baron. The tracks of a boar had been recently discovered in the forest +by one of the gamekeepers, and the intendant's son, who was himself a +keen huntsman, was directed to escort the party of gentlemen through the +woods to a glade where the animal was supposed to have his lair. + +After he had collected the guns and ammunition, called up the dogs and +ordered the grooms to bring round the horses, Tournay went to the front +of the chateau to await the pleasure of the young gentlemen who intended +participating in the hunt. + +There were half a dozen of them standing under the porte-cochere, and +Tournay disliked them all in greater or less degree; excepting perhaps +the Marquis de St. Hilaire. St. Hilaire was the eldest of the group, the +tallest and the handsomest. He rarely addressed any remark to Tournay, +but when he did, it was with perfect politeness. When the Marquis de St. +Hilaire rode his horse he did it with a grace none could surpass; when +he shot, he hit the mark. He had the reputation of being one of the most +dissipated young noblemen in the kingdom. He certainly spent money more +lavishly than the most prodigal. This reputation was at once the envy +and admiration of a host of young followers; and yet if asked, no one +could mention any particular debauchery of which he had been guilty. +When his companions, under the excitement of wine, committed extravagant +follies and excesses, St. Hilaire, although by no means sparing of the +winecup, maintained a certain dignity essentially his own. At the +gaming-table it was always the Marquis de St. Hilaire who played the +highest. He won a fortune or lost an estate with the same calm and +outward indifference. On every occasion he was the cool, polished +gentleman. + +As Tournay approached the group of noblemen, the Marquis de Lacheville, +determined to keep him in a state of submission, greeted him with an +arrogant rebuke. + +"You have kept us waiting a pretty length of time." + +"I only received notice of your intended hunt a short time ago, and +various preparations had to be made," was the rejoinder. + +"Make no excuses," continued the marquis,--"you always have plenty of +those upon the end of your tongue." + +Tournay bit his lip to keep from replying. + +"Whose horse is that?" called out the marquis a moment later, pointing +out one of the animals among the number which were being led up by the +grooms. + +"My own, monsieur le marquis--a present from the baron." + +"Well, it is by all odds the best one among them; I will ride it." And +the marquis swung himself into the saddle without waiting for a reply. + +Tournay made no audible reply, but the color deepened on his cheek, as +he quietly took another horse. + +"We shall never see that boar if we delay much longer," called out St. +Hilaire, who was long since in the saddle. "Are you ready, gentlemen?" + +With one accord they all started down the avenue at a swift gallop; +Tournay following a short distance behind them. + +For a mile or so they swept along the parkway until they arrived at the +gate which led into the wood. De Lacheville had been correct in his +judgment of the horse, and was the first to reach the gate. This seemed +to make him good-natured for the time being; and as they cantered +through the forest he allowed Tournay, who was best acquainted with the +ground, to ride in advance. + +On approaching the entrance to the glade, the party dismounted and the +horses were fastened to the trees. The Counts d'Arlincourt and de Blois +went to the right; the Marquis de St. Hilaire to the left; Tournay took +two dogs and went toward the northern end; while de Lacheville remained +near the entrance. + +It was arranged that Tournay with the dogs should rout the animal from +its lair in the upper end of the dale, and, the thicket being +surrounded, one of the gentlemen would be sure to bring it down with a +shot as it ran out. + +Tournay had not gone half the distance when he heard a noise in the +underbrush, and looking in the direction whence it came, saw the boar +making its way leisurely down the glade, snuffing from time to time at +the roots of trees for acorns. + +Tournay tried to work down ahead of the animal and drive him off to his +right in the direction of the Marquis St. Hilaire, as he was the best +shot in the company, and with a sportsman's instinct Tournay wanted to +give him the opportunity to win the tusks. One of the dogs, however, +upset this plan by slipping the leash and bounding off in the direction +of the boar; that animal took the alarm at once and started on a run +down the glade with Tournay and the two dogs after him in full pursuit. + +"The Marquis de Lacheville will be the one to shoot him," thought +Tournay bitterly. + +The boar, plunging through a thicket, made straight for the spot where +the horses had been tied, and where the Marquis de Lacheville had taken +up his position. + +"Why does he not fire?" was Tournay's mental inquiry as he followed the +trail at full speed, with ear alert in the momentary expectation of +hearing the sound of a gun. "Can it be that the marquis is going to risk +attacking him with the knife?" And he dashed into the thicket, +regardless of the brushwood and briars that impeded his progress, to +come out on the other side, leaving a portion of his hunting blouse in +the grasp of a too-persistent bramble. + +Here he beheld so ludicrous a sight that it would have moved him to +merriment, had it not overcome him with wonder. The marquis lay +sprawling on the grass, his eyes rolling with terror and his loaded gun +lying harmlessly by his side. The horses were straining at the tethers +and neighing with fright, while in the wood beyond, the boar was +disappearing from sight with the dogs upon his haunches. + +As Tournay approached, the marquis struggled to his feet. For a moment +he stood silent and then said gruffly:-- + +"The brute sprang through the bushes before I expected him; my foot +slipped and I fell, so he got by me." + +In the instant it flashed through Tournay's mind that the marquis had +fallen in trying to avoid the boar. He received the explanation in +silence, his face clearly betraying his suspicion. + +The marquis eyed him savagely. "Where are the others?" he demanded. + +"They have evidently missed all the sport," was the curt rejoinder. + +The marquis scowled, but his anxiety to conceal the mishap from his +companions led him to overlook the ring of sarcasm in Tournay's voice. + +"Did they hear or see the boar?" he inquired. + +"I fear not. The animal started too near the centre of the glade, and +luckily for him made straight for you." + +"We have not seen him, either," was the cool rejoinder. + +"But I saw him," exclaimed Tournay with open-eyed astonishment. + +"Up in the thicket beyond? Possibly," admitted the marquis, who had now +regained his self-possession and had resolved to put the best possible +face on the matter. + +"No! Right here in the open, as he ran into that clump of beeches." + +"You are mistaken. I did not see him," the marquis insisted, approaching +his horse and untethering him. + +"Monsieur le marquis was possibly not looking in the right direction." + +De Lacheville mounted his horse. He bent down from the saddle, saying +fiercely, "Twice this day you have ventured to oppose me. Have a care! +You will rue the hour when you dispute any statement of mine." + +Tournay looked up at him defiantly, and with a significance too deep to +be misconstrued, said: "I will not lie at your bidding, Monsieur de +Lacheville." + +"You insolent villain!" and the marquis' whip fell viciously across the +defiant brow. The next instant the nobleman was dragged from the saddle +and his riderless horse galloped off through the woods. + +For a moment the two men stood looking at each other. + +Tournay was the first to speak: "You will fight me for that blow, +Monsieur de Lacheville." + +The marquis gave a harsh laugh: "We do not fight lackeys--we whip them." + +"We are alone, and man to man you shall fight me with my weapons, +monsieur le Marquis." Tournay spoke with a certain air of dignity and +with a suppressed fierceness that made the marquis draw back; yet such +was the nobleman's contempt for the man of humble birth that he made no +response beyond flicking the whip which he still retained in his hand, +and looking at him disdainfully. + +"You have a hunting-knife at your side; arm yourself," commanded Tournay +sternly, at the same time drawing from beneath his hunting-blouse a +long, keen blade. + +The marquis turned pale. "I do not fight with such a weapon," he +faltered, looking about him as if in hopes of succor from his friends. + +"Then for once the low-born has the advantage," replied Tournay +pitilessly, "and unless Heaven intervenes, I shall kill you for that +blow." + +The blow itself was forgotten even as he spoke, and he felt a fierce joy +as he whispered to himself, "If heaven so wills it, you shall never +marry her, Marquis de Lacheville." + +There was no fire of revenge in his eyes as he advanced, but the marquis +saw the light that burned there and, realizing his pressing danger, drew +his own hunting-knife. + +There was a thrust and parry. Tournay closed in upon him, and the +nobleman fell backward with a groan. + +The next instant Tournay threw aside the knife and stood looking with +awe upon the prostrate body. The bushes behind him parted with a rustle +and he looked over his shoulder to see the Marquis de St. Hilaire +standing by him. + +"What's the matter?" inquired the latter sternly. "Has the marquis +injured himself?" + +"He struck me," exclaimed Tournay, his face, except for a bright red +line across the brow, deadly pale. "And I--I have killed him." + +St. Hilaire stooped down and undid the marquis's waistcoat, Tournay +giving way to him. "He's not dead," said St. Hilaire, after a short +examination. "Your blade struck the rib. He is not even fatally hurt, +but has fainted." + +Tournay stood passive and silent. + +St. Hilaire rose to his feet and proceeded to cut some strips from his +own shirt to make a bandage for de Lacheville's wound. + +"As far as you are concerned, you might as well have killed him," he +said as he bound up the wound. "The penalty is the same." + +"I'm not afraid of the penalty." + +"Young man," said St. Hilaire, busying himself over the wound, "mount +that horse of yours and ride away from this part of the country as fast +as you can. I shall not see you." + +"I'm not a coward to run away." + +"Don't be a fool and stay," replied St. Hilaire sharply, without looking +up from his occupation. "You have acted as I would have done had I been +in your place, but I should not stay afterward with all the odds against +me. Come, you have only a minute to decide. I'll see the marquis has the +proper care." + +In another minute Robert Tournay was on his horse's back riding swiftly +away from the scene. He only thought of one point of refuge and that was +the city of his dreams, the great city of Paris. Toward it he turned his +horse's head. When he had gone far enough to no longer fear pursuit he +dismounted and turned the horse loose, knowing that a man riding a fine +animal could be more easily traced; so the rest of his journey of a +hundred miles was made on foot. + +It was about the noon hour, July 12, 1789, when he entered the southern +gates of the city. He had been walking since early morning, yet when +once in the town he was not conscious of any fatigue. + +It seemed to him that there was an unwonted excitement in the air, and +the faces of many people in the crowded streets wore an anxious or an +expectant look. Several times he was on the point of stopping some +passer-by to ask if there was any event of unusual importance taking +place, but the fear of being thought ignorant of city ways deterred him. +So he wandered about the streets in search of some cheap and clean +lodging suitable to the size of his purse, where he could be comfortably +housed until his plans for the future matured. He went through narrow, +ill-smelling streets, where strange-looking faces peered at him +curiously from low wine-shops. Thence he wandered into the neighborhood +of beautiful gardens, where he marveled at the splendid buildings, any +one of which he fancied might be the home of the Marquis de St. Hilaire. +Finally, he came upon a number of people streaming through an arcade +under some handsome buildings. Judging that something of unusual +interest was going on there, and being moved by curiosity, he pushed his +way in with the rest, and found himself in a quadrangle of buildings +enclosing a garden. This garden was filled with a dense crowd. Turning +to a man at his elbow, he asked the reason of such an assemblage. + +"The king has dismissed Necker," was the reply, "and the people are +angry." + +"I should think they might well be angry," replied Tournay, who admired +the popular minister of finance. "Did the king send away such a great +man without cause?" + +"I know not what cause was assigned, I do not concern myself much with +such affairs, but I know the people are very wroth and there has been +much talk of violence. Some blood has been shed. The German regiments +fired once or twice upon a mob that would not disperse." + +"The villainous foreign regiments!" said Tournay. "Why must we have +these mercenary troops quartered in our city?" He had been in the city +but a few hours, but in his indignation he already referred to Paris as +"our city." + +"The native troops would not fire when ordered, and were hurried back to +the barracks by their officers. Worse may come of it. There is much +speech-making and turmoil; I am going home to keep out of the trouble;" +and the stranger hurried away. + +Tournay elbowed through the crowd. Standing upon a table under one of +the spreading trees, a young man was speaking earnestly to an excited +group of listeners that grew larger every moment. Tournay pressed near +enough to hear what he was saying. + +He was tall and slender, with dark waving hair and the face of a poet. +He spoke with an impassioned eloquence that moved his hearers mightily, +bringing forth acclamation after acclamation from the crowd. He +denounced tyranny and exalted liberty till young Tournay's blood surged +through his veins like fire. He had thought all this himself, unable to +give it expression; but here was a man who touched the very note that he +himself would have sounded, touched the same chord in the heart of every +man who heard his voice, and by some subtle power communicated the +thrill to those outside the circle till the crowd in the garden was +drunk with excitement. + +"Citizens," cried the young man, "the exile of Necker is the signal for +a St. Bartholomew of patriots. The foreign regiments are about to march +upon us to cut our throats. To arms! Behold the rallying sign." And +stretching up his arm he plucked a green leaf from the branch above his +head and put it in his hat. + +The next instant the trees were almost denuded of their leaves. Tournay, +with a green sprig in his hat, swung his hat in the air, and cried, "To +arms--down with the foreign regiments--Vive Necker!" + +He struggled to where the orator was being carried off on men's +shoulders. "What is it?" he said, in his excitement seizing the young +man by the coat,--"what is it that we are to do?" + +"Procure arms. Watch and wait,--and then do as other patriots do," was +the reply. + +The crowd surged closer about him. The coat gave way, and Tournay was +left with a piece of the cloth in his hand. Waving it in the air with +the cry of "Patriots, to arms!" he was forced onward by the crowd. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A LITTLE BREAKFAST AT ST. HILAIRE'S + + +The Marquis Jean Raphael de St. Hilaire was giving a breakfast-party. It +was not one of those large affairs for which the marquis was noted, +where a hundred guests would sit down in his large salon to a repast +costing the lavish young nobleman a princely sum. This being merely the +occasion of a modest little dejeuner, the covers were laid in the +marquis's morning cabinet on the second floor, which was more suitable +for such an informal meal. + +There were present around the table the Count and Countess d'Arlincourt; +the old Chevalier de Creux; the witty Madame Diane de Remur; the Count +de Blois, dressed in the very latest and most exact fashion; and the +Marquis de Lacheville, with the pallor of recent illness on his face. At +the lower end of the board sat a young poet who was riding on his first +wave of popularity; and next to him was a philosopher. + +The guests, having finished the dessert, were lingering over a choice +vintage from the marquis's cellar. + +The host, leaning back in his chair with half-closed eyes, listened +carelessly to the hum of conversation while he toyed with a few sugared +almonds. + +"And so you think, chevalier," said the Countess d'Arlincourt in reply +to a remark by the old nobleman, "that our troublesome times are not yet +over?" + +"Not yet, my dear countess, nor will they be over for a long time to +come." + +"Oh, how pessimistic you are, chevalier; for my part I do not see how +affairs can be worse than they have been for the last year." + +"For a longer period than that," remarked her husband, the Count +d'Arlincourt. + +"Well, I remember particularly, it was a year ago when you first told me +that you could not afford to make me a present of a diamond crescent to +wear in my hair at the Duchess de Montmorenci's fancy dress-ball. You +had never used that word to me before." + +"You have been extremely fortunate," said the Chevalier de Creux, +turning a pair of small, bright eyes upon the countess and speaking with +just the slightest accent of sarcasm. "Even longer ago than a year, many +persons were in need of other necessities than diamonds." + +"Oh, yes, I know," interrupted the countess hastily, anxious to show +that she was not as ignorant as the chevalier's tone implied,--"bread. +Why don't they give the people enough bread? It is a very simple demand, +and things would then be well." + +"My dear child," put in Madame de Remur, "it would do no good to give +them bread to-day; they would be hungry again to-morrow. The trouble is +with the finances. When they are set right everything will go well; and +the people can buy all the bread they want, and you can have your +diamond crescent," and the speaker smiled at the chevalier and shrugged +her white shoulders. + +"Yes, but," persisted the countess, raising her pretty eyebrows, "when +_will_ the finances be set right? The people cannot go forever without +bread." + +"Nor can women go forever without diamonds," laughed Madame de Remur. + +"Women with your eyes, fair Diane, have no need of other diamonds," said +the Marquis de St. Hilaire debonairely. The lady smiled graciously at +the compliment. She was a young and attractive widow and she looked at +St. Hilaire not unkindly. + +"We have frequently had financial crises in the past," said +d'Arlincourt, "and gotten safely over them; and so we should to-day, +were it not for the host of philosophical writers who have broken loose; +who call the people's attention to their ills, and foment trouble where +there is none. Of course you will understand that I make the usual +exception as to present company," he added, bowing slightly to the +philosopher. But the latter seemed lost in thought and did not appear to +hear the count's remark. The poet took up the conversation in a low +tone. + +"Should we not look to these very men, these philosophers, these +encyclopaedists, to point the way out of the difficulty?" and he turned +from one to the other with a shrug. + +"Bah, no! They are the very ones to blame, I tell you," repeated +d'Arlincourt. + +"My dear count," cried Madame d'Arlincourt, "I cannot permit you to +speak slightingly of our philosophers. They are all the fashion now. The +door of every salon in Paris is open to them. The other night, at a +great reception given by the Duchess de Montmorenci, half the invited +guests were philosophers, poets, encyclopaedists. They say that even some +of the nobility were overlooked in order to make room for the men of +letters." + +The Marquis de St. Hilaire threw a small cake to the spaniel that sat on +its haunches begging for it. + +"We cannot very well overlook this new order of nobility of the +ink-and-paper that has exerted such an influence during the last +generation," he said carelessly. + +"I should not overlook them if I had my way," cried the Count +d'Arlincourt. "I should lock them safely up in the Bastille." + +"Oh!" cried the ladies in one breath; "barbarian!" + +"These men are doubtless responsible for the inflamed state of the +public mind," said St. Hilaire, again taking up the conversation. + +"Of course they are," agreed the count. + +"And so are Calonne and Brienne," continued the marquis. "They +mismanaged affairs during their terms of office." + +Here the philosopher smiled an assent. + +"But the blame rests more heavily upon other shoulders than those of +scribbling writers or corrupt officials," and the marquis paused to look +around the table. + +"I am all attention," cried the Countess d'Arlincourt, prepared for +something amusing. "Upon whom does it rest?" + +"Upon the nobility themselves," answered St. Hilaire. + +For a moment there was silence; then came a storm of protests from all +sides, only the chevalier and the philosopher making no audible reply, +although the latter said to himself:-- + +"You are right, monsieur le marquis." + +"St. Hilaire is in one of his mad fits," de Lacheville exclaimed. + +"If it were not for the nobility there would be no poetry, no wit," +murmured the poet. + +"The nobility is the mainstay of the throne, the vitality of the +country," said d'Arlincourt. + +"What have _we_ done?" cried the ladies in concert. "We ask for nothing +better than to have everybody contented and happy." And they shrugged +their pretty white shoulders as if to throw off the burden that St. +Hilaire had placed there. + +"Look at me," exclaimed St. Hilaire, rising and speaking with an +animation he had not shown before. He was a man of twenty-five with a +face so handsome that dissipation had not been able to mar its beauty. +"I am a type of my class." + +"An honor to it," said the poet. + +"Thank you; then you will agree that the cap which I put on will fit +other heads as well. I have wasted two fortunes." + +"St. Hilaire is in one of his remorseful moods," whispered de Lacheville +in the ear of Madame de Remur. + +"I have spent them in riotous living with men like myself." Here he +looked at de Lacheville. + +"I feel deeply honored, my dear marquis," said the latter, bowing. + +"When I wanted more money I knew where to get it." + +"Happy fellow," called out de Lacheville with a laugh. + +"I went to the steward who managed my estates. I have estates, or rather +had them, for they are now mortgaged to the last notch, in Normandy, +Picardy, Auvergne and Poitou--I would say to my steward, 'I need more +money.'" + +"'Very well, monsieur le marquis, but I must put on the screws a little +to get it.' + +"'Put on a dozen if you like, but get me the funds.' + +"'It shall be done, monsieur le marquis.' + +"Again and again I went to him for money. He always responded in the +same manner, but each time the screws had to be turned a little tighter. +Do you suppose my peasants love me for that? No, they hate me just as +yours hate you, de Lacheville, and yours hate you, d'Arlincourt." De +Lacheville laughed, and the count lifted up his hand in denial. "I knew +that the day of reckoning would come," St. Hilaire went on. "Every time +I went to Monsieur Rignot, my steward, every time he put on the screws +at my request, I knew it was bringing us nearer the final smash." + +"Us!" repeated d'Arlincourt, with a gesture of impatience. + +"Yes, us," said St. Hilaire; "we are all in the same boat, but we have +all done the same thing in a greater or less degree. We shall all have +to pay the penalty." + +"There is where I differ with you, my dear marquis," said the Count +d'Arlincourt; "I am willing to take what responsibility falls to me by +right, but I emphatically refuse to pay the penalty of your follies." + +"My follies are but those of my class. You may have been an exception +yourself, d'Arlincourt, but that will not save you." + +"What penalties must we pay? Save him from what?" demanded the pretty +countess, looking at St. Hilaire with her large blue eyes. + +"From the revolution," was the answer. There was a general exclamation +of surprise. D'Arlincourt took up the word. + +"Like all men given to excess,--pardon the remark, marquis, but you have +yourself admitted it,--you exaggerate the present unquiet state of +affairs. The people will not revolt. They have no real cause. If you had +made such a statement twenty years ago during the ascendancy of the +infamous du Barry I might not have contradicted you. But now the people +as a mass are loyal. They love their king." + +"I still affirm," said St. Hilaire, "that the time is ripe for a +revolution. Sooner or later it must come." + +The chevalier from the further end of the table said quietly; "It _has_ +come." + +"Surely you are not serious," said d'Arlincourt, turning to the +chevalier, "in calling the disturbance of the past few days a +revolution. Why, I have seen more serious revolts than this blow into +nothing. Our Paris mob is a fickle creature, demanding blood one moment +and the next moment throwing up its cap with delight if you show it a +colored picture." + +"The disturbance of to-day will become great enough to shake France to +its centre," said the chevalier. + +"One would think that you possessed the gift of second sight," laughed +de Lacheville. + +"I do," replied the old man impressively. + +"Give us an example of it, then," demanded d'Arlincourt. "What part am I +to take in the new revolution?" + +"I see behind you, my dear d'Arlincourt," replied the chevalier, leaning +back in his chair and looking in the count's direction through +half-closed eyelids, "the shadow of a scaffold." + +Unwittingly the count turned with a start, to see Blaise standing behind +him in the act of filling his glass with wine. There was a general +laugh. + +"Madame de Remur will bare her white shoulders to the rude grasp of the +executioner. De Lacheville will escape. No, he will not. He will die by +his own hand to cheat the scaffold." + +"And I," interrupted the Countess d'Arlincourt, "shall I share their +fate?" + +The chevalier looked at her with a peculiar expression in his eyes. "My +sight fails here," he said. "I cannot foretell your fate. Yet you may +live; your beauty should save you. People do not kill those who please +them; those who bore them are less fortunate." And he turned his +snapping brown eyes in the direction of the gentle poet and the +venerable philosopher. + +"St. Hilaire's sudden and great interest in the people's welfare may +prove of service to him," remarked d'Arlincourt significantly. + +"It will not save him," replied the chevalier. "He will finally come to +the same end. The shadow of the scaffold is behind him also." + +St. Hilaire laughed as he cracked an almond. "Though I may sympathize +somewhat with a people who have been oppressed and robbed, I should feel +unhappy indeed to be left out in the cold when so many of the +illustrious had gone before. But you have overlooked yourself. That is +like you, chevalier, unselfish to the last." + +"Oh, I am too old to be of importance; I shall die of gout," said the +old nobleman. + +"You have disposed of us effectually," said the poet, "and I shall be +greatly honored at being permitted to leave this world in such good +company. But may I ask, are we to be the sole victims of your +revolution?" + +"Far from it," answered the old chevalier, closing his eyes and speaking +in an abstracted manner, as if talking to himself, while his friends +listened in rapt attention, half inclined to smile at the affair as at a +joke, and yet so serious was he that they could not escape the influence +of his seriousness. + +"I can see," he continued, "a long line of the most illustrious in +France. They are passing onward to the block. They are princes of the +blood; aye, even the king's head shall fall." + +"Enough!" cried out the voice of d'Arlincourt, above the general +exclamations of horror that the chevalier's pretended vision called +forth. "You overstep the line, Chevalier de Creux. I do not object to a +pleasantry, but when you go so far as to predict the execution of the +king you carry a jest too far. It is time to call a halt." + +"But was it a jest?" asked the chevalier dryly. + +"A very poor one," said de Lacheville. + +"My dear friend," said the chevalier in his blandest tone, "I am not +predicting what I should like to have take place. Not what ought to be, +but what will be." + +The count scowled and de Lacheville turned away with a shrug and began a +conversation with Madame de Remur. + +"We all know that the chevalier is a merry gentleman, yet no jester," +said St. Hilaire. "What will be, will be. I, for one, am willing to +drink a toast to the chevalier's revolution. Blaise, bring out some of +that wine I received from the Count de Beaujeu. I lost fifty thousand +livres to him the night he made me a present of this wine; it will be +like drinking liquid gold." + +Blaise filled the glasses amid general silence. + +St. Hilaire rose to his feet, holding his wine-glass above his head. + +"What, my friends, you are not afraid?" he exclaimed in a tone of +surprise, looking about the table where only the chevalier and the +philosopher had followed his example. "Is it possible you have taken the +chevalier's visions so much to heart?" + +They all rose from their places, ashamed to have it thought that they +had taken in too serious a vein the little comedy played by the +chevalier. + +"Any excuse to drink such wine as this," said de Lacheville, with a +forced laugh. + +"We drink to the revolution!" cried St. Hilaire in his reckless +manner--and he touched glasses with Madame de Remur and then with the +Countess d'Arlincourt. As the glasses clinked about the table, a heavy +booming sound fell upon the ears of the revelers. + +"What noise is that?" cried the countess nervously. They stopped to +listen, holding their glasses aloft. The booming ceased, then followed a +roar like that of the angry surf beating upon a rockbound shore. + +"It is the chevalier's revolution," exclaimed Madame de Remur. + +"Are we to be frightened from drinking our toast by a little noise?" +cried St. Hilaire. "What if it be the revolution? Let us drink to it. +Come!" and they drained their glasses to the accompaniment of what +sounded like a volley of musketry. + +The ladies looked pale and were glad to quit the table for the salon, +where they were joined by the poet and the philosopher, leaving the +others still at their wine. + +The Marquis de Lacheville took another glass, and then a third. + +"You had best be careful how you heat your blood with this rich wine, de +Lacheville, while that wound in your side is scarcely healed," remarked +d'Arlincourt. + +"Confound the wound, and curse the young villain who gave it me," +growled de Lacheville. "I have been forced to lead the life of an +anchorite for the past fortnight; but such nectar as this cannot +inflame, it only soothes," and he reached out his hand toward the +decanter. As he did so, the sound of guns reverberated again through the +room, making the windows rattle and jarring the dishes on the table. The +ladies in the adjoining room cried out in alarm, and d'Arlincourt rose +and went to reassure them. + +"I will go with you," said the chevalier, and he joined the count. + +De Lacheville threw his napkin down upon the spot of wine that had +splashed from his upraised glass upon the damask cloth. + +"The devil take them!" he cried petulantly; then filling his glass again +with an air of bravado, "will they not permit a man to breakfast in +peace?" + +"Your nerves must be badly shaken, de Lacheville, if you permit such a +slight thing to disturb you," laughed St. Hilaire, filling a glass to +the brim. + +D'Arlincourt entered from the next room hurriedly. "I am going to see +what all this firing means," he said. "Will you accompany me, +gentlemen?" + +"I make it a point never to seek for news or excitement, but rather +allow them to come to me," said St. Hilaire leisurely. "You would better +sit down and let me send a servant to ascertain the cause of this +turmoil." + +"Why leave the house in search of truth when we have with us an oracle +in the shape of the chevalier?" interposed the Marquis de Lacheville. + +"I shall be able to bring a more accurate account," replied d'Arlincourt +with an impatient shrug. + +"As you will," said St. Hilaire. "Blaise, give the Count d'Arlincourt +his hat and sword. Are you quite sure you do not want some of my lackeys +to accompany you?" he asked. + +D'Arlincourt declined the offer and hastily left the room. + +The two marquises were left in possession of the dining-room and the +wine. They both continued to drink, each after his own fashion. With +each successive glass, de Lacheville became louder in voice and more +boastful, while as St. Hilaire sipped his wine, he became quieter and +more indifferent. + +Within ten minutes d'Arlincourt returned to them, his face betraying +great excitement. + +"A mob has attacked and captured the Bastille. The multitude is surging +through the streets. They will pass before this very door." + +"It is impossible that they could have taken the Bastille!" exclaimed de +Lacheville, rising to his feet and steadying himself by holding to the +back of his chair. + +"There are thirty thousand of them," replied d'Arlincourt, "and through +some treachery they have obtained arms. In order to save bloodshed +Governor Delaunay surrendered the fortress on receiving the promise of +the insurgents that the lives of all its defenders should be spared. +They are now dragging him through the streets, crying out for his blood. +The man was mad to trust the word of such a rabble." + +"Let us go into the salon," remarked St. Hilaire quietly. "There we can +reassure the ladies and also view this interesting spectacle." + +The three gentlemen entered the room which fronted upon the street, +d'Arlincourt with compressed lips and flashing eyes; de Lacheville, +unsteady of gait and with wine-flushed face, murmuring maledictions +against the beast multitude; and St. Hilaire, cool and calm as was his +wont. + +In the salon they found the chevalier entertaining Madame de Remur with +an anecdote which was the occasion of much laughter on her part. + +The poet was reciting some of his own verses to the countess, while the +philosopher was asleep in an arm-chair. + +"The crowd have torn down the Bastille," cried de Lacheville, speaking +in a thick voice, "and they are now coming down this street, seeking +whom they can devour." + +The ladies cried out in terror. + +"Marquis, you have interrupted one of my best stories," said the +chevalier petulantly. + +"But, chevalier, the mob have taken the Bastille." + +"Couldn't you have allowed them two minutes more to complete their work? +However, what you say is very interesting, though it does not surprise +me. I have been expecting it." + +"You forget that the chevalier is gifted with second sight," said the +count, with a slight sneer. + +"I have been expecting it for some time," continued the chevalier, +"though what they wanted to take it for, I cannot imagine. If they +should attack the Hotel de Ville or the Louvre, or march against +Versailles, I could understand it." + +Madame de Remur and the philosopher, who had awakened from his nap, had +approached to hear the news; and the Marquis de Lacheville repeated it +to them as if he had been an eye-witness of the whole affair. + +"For my part," he said in conclusion, "I think this disturbance amounts +to very little; the Baron de Besneval has but to give the order to his +troops, and the valiant mob will disperse like chaff. I have seen such +fellows run before this. It is amusing to see what a steel bayonet will +do toward accelerating the pace of the canaille." + +"They say that the French Guards are not loyal," remarked the chevalier. + +"The French Guards be hanged!" shouted the Marquis de Lacheville hotly. +"I would not trust them further than the canaille itself; they are a +white-livered lot in spite of their gaudy uniforms. Thank heaven, we +have other troops who are good and loyal, and who will put down these +disorders in a trice." + +"We shall look to you, then, marquis," said the cavalier, "to restore +peace and quiet for us at once." + +"I would not soil my hands with such dirt," replied de Lacheville +haughtily, and scowling at what he thought was a disposition on the part +of the chevalier to ridicule him. + +"Is there really danger?" inquired the Countess d'Arlincourt of her +husband. + +"The situation is grave, but I hardly think there is great cause for +alarm," he answered. "The king has too many loyal subjects to permit +anarchy and riot to exist for any length of time." + +"Let us go out upon the balcony," interrupted St. Hilaire; "the show is +about to pass under our windows." He threw open the windows and ushered +his friends out upon the balcony with a gesture as if he were bidding +them welcome to his box at the opera. + +Down the street, with a roar that drowned all other sounds, came the +surging mass like a torrent that had burst its bounds. In the front +ranks, carried on the shoulders of a dozen, were two men dressed in the +uniform of the French Guards. They were greeted on all sides with +acclamations. + +"See how the Guards fraternize with the mob," said de Lacheville. "Down +with the French Guards! Down with the rabble!" he cried in his +excitement, shaking his fist over the railing. + +St. Hilaire gripped his arm. "I don't care how much you expose your own +life, but as I do not wish to bring insult or danger upon the ladies +under my roof, perhaps you had better refrain from expressing your +opinions for the present." + +"Do you think they would dare attack this house?" demanded de +Lacheville, turning pale. + +"Men who have successfully stormed a prison are not likely to hesitate +before the walls of a house, even though it does belong to a marquis," +replied St. Hilaire. "Look at that!" he exclaimed suddenly, pointing up +the street. Then turning to d'Arlincourt, he said, "Get the ladies +inside as quickly as possible." The count had no sooner followed his +directions, than along the street, borne on long poles on a level with +the very eyes of those on the balcony, appeared two heads dripping with +blood. + +"Dear me, whose are those?" exclaimed the chevalier, adjusting his +eyeglasses. "By my soul, it's poor Delaunay's head. They have treated +him most shabbily. Can you make out the other, St. Hilaire?" + +"No," answered the marquis, "I was never good at recognizing faces," and +he stepped to the window to reassure the ladies in the salon. + +The chevalier leaned over the railing and called out to one of the men +in the crowd:-- + +"My good fellow, will you have the kindness to tell me whose head they +are carrying on the second pole?" + +The man, thus addressed, looked up. He was tall and broad-shouldered, +with face browned from exposure to the sun. With one arm he supported a +member of the French Guards who had been wounded. + +"Flesselle's," he answered. "He has betrayed the people again and again. +He has received a terrible punishment." + +The man who had given the chevalier this answer did not move on +immediately, but stood looking up at the balcony. The old nobleman, +following this look, saw that it rested on the Marquis de Lacheville. + +The latter, meeting the man's eye at the same moment, recognized Robert +Tournay. He started forward as if about to speak, then noticing the +weapon in Tournay's hand and remembering the recent warning of St. +Hilaire, he checked himself. Neither spoke, but the marquis could not +repress a look of hatred, which was answered by a look of defiance by +Tournay. Then the latter turned away with his companion leaning on his +shoulder. The crowd closed up and he was soon lost to sight. + +"They have killed Flesselle, the mayor of Paris," said the chevalier, as +St. Hilaire joined him a moment later. "Well," he continued, as if in +answer to St. Hilaire's shrug, "Flesselle was a fool, but I am sorry for +poor Delaunay. Come, St. Hilaire, let us go in, the crowd is thinning +out now; in a short time the streets will be passable and I must be +going. I have to thank you for a most enjoyable day, marquis." + +"The pleasure has been mine," replied the Marquis de St. Hilaire, +bowing. + +"Are you going to the duchess's to-night?" inquired the chevalier. + +"No, I think not," answered St. Hilaire, putting his hand upon the +window-bar. "After you, my dear chevalier," indicating the way into the +salon. As he was about to step into the room the chevalier turned and +took a final look at the street. The main body of the mob had passed and +their shouts were heard receding in the distance; although underneath +the window were still a number of persons, coming and going in restless +excitement. + +"I think, marquis," he said, with his curious smile, "that your friends +need soap and water badly." + +"They do, chevalier," said the other, returning the smile, "and the +smell is sickening. Come to my bedroom; I will give you a new perfume." + +That evening, after the departure of his guests, the Marquis de St. +Hilaire called in his man of affairs. + +"Rignot," he demanded carelessly, "have I a single estate that is +unencumbered?" + +"Unfortunately no, monsieur le marquis." + +"Think again, Rignot. Is there not some little estate still intact? Some +small farm heretofore overlooked by us?" + +"Not a cottage, monsieur le marquis." + +"What bills are unpaid?" + +"Some three hundred thousand livres are rather pressing." + +"Is that the sum total of all my liabilities? I want a full statement +to-night." + +"You owe about eight hundred thousand francs, monsieur le marquis." + +"Pay them at once." + +"But, monsieur le marquis, it will be impossible. Where shall I get the +funds?" + +"You may sell my furniture, personal property"-- + +"What, everything, monsieur le marquis?" + +"Yes, everything; and after paying all my debts, if there is anything +left, take out a commission for yourself and give me the balance;" and +then he turned to the window and looked out on the lights of the city of +Paris, indicating that the interview was at an end. Rignot withdrew. + +"Assuredly," said the Marquis de St. Hilaire with a yawn, "this +revolution arrives in good time. I should soon have become a beggar." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BAKER AND HIS FAMILY + + +The Count d'Arlincourt had just left the palace at Versailles. + +He had been present at the reception to the Royal Flanders regiment. He +had heard their vow of fidelity to the king. He had been among the +officers and the nobles of the court who had trampled under foot the +tricolor of Paris and decorated their coats with the white cockade, and +now he left the royal presence with his sovereign's thanks and +commendations ringing in his ears. + +As he proceeded through the courtyard three gentlemen entered at the +main gate. A shade of annoyance passed over the count's brow as he +recognized St. Hilaire and two other noblemen, all members of the States +General, and all reputed to lean somewhat too radically toward the +popular side in politics. He had hardly seen St. Hilaire since the +breakfast party at the house of the latter three months before. The +toast of the marquis and his expressed sympathy with revolutionary +orders had caused a decided estrangement. + +Indeed, St. Hilaire and the two noblemen who were with him had become +alienated from their order, and many of their former friends among the +nobility had refused to speak or hold any relations with them whatever. + +The count could not avoid meeting them, but he was undecided whether to +ignore them entirely or pass them with such a slight inclination of the +head as to be equally cutting. + +The cordial bow of the Marquis de St. Hilaire, however, for whom he had +always felt a peculiar and inexplicable regard, caused him to change his +mind. + +He saluted the three gentlemen politely, though with a certain reserve +of manner natural to him, and addressed St. Hilaire. + +"A word with you, marquis," he said, "if I may be pardoned for taking +you from these gentlemen for a few minutes?" + +St. Hilaire turned to his companions: "With your permission, messieurs, +I will join you in five minutes in the palace." + +The gentlemen bowed in assent and walked toward the palace, leaving the +count and the marquis alone in the centre of the court. + +"You were not present at the reception in the palace. We missed you +greatly, marquis," the former began, with an attempt at cordiality of +manner, having resolved to make one last appeal to his friend. + +"Thank you, my dear d'Arlincourt, for your kindness in saying so," +replied the marquis affably, "but I must tell you frankly that even if +affairs in the Assembly had not claimed my time, other circumstances +would have rendered my presence at this banquet impossible." + +"The king," continued d'Arlincourt quietly, "inquired for you several +times and seemed much disturbed at your absence." + +"I am now on my way to wait upon his majesty," replied St. Hilaire. + +The count's face lighted up. "A tardy apology is better than none at +all, for I presume you are going to explain your absence." + +"The two gentlemen who have left us, and myself, have been sent by the +convention as a committee to urge his majesty to sanction their latest +decrees,--the bill relating to popular rights," replied St. Hilaire +quietly. + +"For the love of Heaven, Raphael!" burst out the count, "can it be +possible that you intend to persist in championing the popular cause, +like the Duke d'Orleans, or the Marquis de Lafayette? Your present +position is that of a madman. Come back to our side now. To-morrow it +may be too late." + +"For the life of me, Andre," replied St. Hilaire lightly, "I cannot tell +you to-day what my line of action will be to-morrow, but in any case I +beg you will not compare me either with the duke or Lafayette. I am +neither as dull as the one nor as virtuous as the other. Why not permit +me still to resemble only the Marquis de St. Hilaire?" + +"Then," replied the count warmly, "I tell you that as the Marquis de St. +Hilaire, your duty to the king should have brought you to the reception +in honor of the Flanders regiment." + +The marquis dropped his air of levity suddenly. "Do you know, count," +he said slowly, "I have just come from the Assembly, where news reached +us a little while ago that a mob of forty thousand was marching from +Paris toward Versailles." + +The count started with surprise, but betrayed no other emotion. + +"Is it a fitting time to be feting a regiment composed of mercenaries? +Is it a fitting time to be clinking glasses and drinking toasts when +forty thousand men and women are approaching with their cry for bread?" + +The count drew himself up as he replied,--"What more fitting time could +there be for the loyal nobles to gather about their sovereign than in +the hour of danger? I, for one, would not let the fear of any Paris mob +keep me from the king's side at such a moment." + +St. Hilaire flushed deeply. "Count d'Arlincourt," he said quickly, "I +pass over that insinuation because it comes from an old friend. But know +this: that I am one of the members of the Assembly who have sworn to +support the constitution and enforce the rights of man. I should indeed +have been false to my trust had I participated in a fete to these +foreigners where oaths were openly made to defeat that constitution." + +"Our ideas of duty evidently differ," replied the count stiffly. "My +duty is to my king." + +"They do differ," said St. Hilaire. "My first allegiance is to the +nation. Count d'Arlincourt, I respect you and your opinions, but I also +have a regard for my oath. I have chosen my path and I shall follow +it." + +"Good-day, Marquis de St. Hilaire," said the count, in his usual cold +manner. + +"Farewell, Count d'Arlincourt," was the polite rejoinder, and raising +his hat St. Hilaire passed onward in the direction of the palace. + +Forty thousand men and women were marching from Paris to Versailles. +They had forced a king to recall a banished minister. They had sacked a +prison fortress,--razing to the ground walls that had frowned on them +for ages, wiping out in one day a landmark of tyranny that had been +standing there for centuries. Now they were coming to see their king at +his palace. They had heard of the banquet at Versailles, given in honor +of the royal Flanders regiment, where wine had flowed like water and +where food was in abundance. At such a banquet, they argued, there must +be bread enough for the whole world; and they were coming to get their +share of it. + +Although it was in the month of October, the sun was hot and the road +dusty. In the front rank, amid all the dust and sweat and noise, walked +Robert Tournay. He carried no weapon, nor did he seek to lead; but +animated by curiosity and by sympathy, he felt himself drawn into this +great heaving mass of people who had decided to correct these abuses +themselves, even if to do it they had to take the laws into their own +hands. + +Hearing a shout and rumble of wheels behind him, Tournay looked over his +shoulder to see a cannon coming through the crowd, which parted on each +side to let it pass, and then closed up behind it. This cannon was drawn +along the road by a score of men, whose bare feet, beating the dust, +sent up a pulverous cloud that blew back into the faces of those behind +like smoke. + +Seated upon the gun carriage, her hair streaming in the wind, was a +young woman wearing the red cap of liberty, and waving in her hand a +blood-red flag. The cannon stopped under the shade of some poplar trees, +and men stood around it wiping the perspiration from their foreheads. + +"A cheer for the Goddess of Liberty," cried a voice in the crowd. A +shout went up that made the poplars tremble. + +"Citizens," cried the girl, in response, standing erect and flinging her +flag to the breeze, "you want bread!" + +"Bread! Bread!" was the answering shout. + +"The women of Paris will lead you to it. Then you shall help +yourselves." + +"Show us where it is and we'll take it fast enough," was the answering +cry. + +"Where should it be but in the king's palace? There they are feasting +while the people in Paris are starving. They shall give the people of +their bread!" + +"What if they have eaten it all?" asked another voice. + +"Then shall the king bake more," answered the girl--"enough for every +one in his kingdom. He shall be the nation's baker, and his wife shall +help him knead the dough, and their little boy shall give out the +loaves." + +There was a laugh at this and cries of "Good! Good!" + +"My friends," she continued, taking off her cap and swinging it by the +tassel, "this marching is hot work, and talking is dry business. Has any +one a drink for La Demoiselle Liberte?" + +A number of bottles were instantly proffered her. + +"This _eau de vie_ puts new life into one," she exclaimed, throwing back +her head and putting a flask to her lips. With an easy gesture she took +a deep draught of the liquor, to the increasing admiration of the +bystanders. On removing the bottle from her lips, she said with a nod: +"How many of you men can beat that? Here goes one more." She was on the +point of repeating the act when she caught sight of Tournay, who had +drawn near and stood by the wheel of the truck looking at her intently. + +"Here, friend, you look at this liquor thirstily; take a good pull at +it. You're a likely youth, and a sup of brandy will foster your +strength! What! You will not drink? Bah, man! I would not have it said +that I was a little boy, afraid of good liquor. But why do you stare at +me like that, without speaking? Have you no tongue?" Tournay put aside +the proffered bottle and said:-- + +"I stared at you because I know you. You are Marianne Froment, the +miller's daughter, who left La Thierry a year ago. And you should +remember Robert Tournay." + +The young woman shook her head with a decided gesture. + +"You mistake, friend; my name is not Marianne Froment. I know no miller, +and have never heard of the place you speak of." + +Tournay remembered when he had seen her last in the alley of the park. +He felt no animosity toward her; instead he felt compassion for the +silly girl whose head had been turned by the flattery of a nobleman who +had already grown tired of her. + +"It is you who are mistaken, Marianne," he replied quietly, "although +when I knew you at La Thierry, drinking strong liquor was not one of +your practices." + +"I am La Demoiselle Liberte," replied the girl defiantly, throwing her +brown curls back from her forehead and replacing her cap. "I have drunk +such liquor as this from my cradle. So here's to you! May you some day +grow to be a man." + +Tournay stayed the bottle in its course to her lips, and took her hand +in his. + +"You are Marianne Froment," he persisted, "and it would be much better +for you to be in the quiet country of La Thierry. Why not go back?" + +"If Marianne did go back, who would speak to her? Who among all those +who live there would take her by the hand?" she asked. + +"Have I not taken you by the hand just now?" asked Tournay. + +"I believe you would be the only one," she replied, stifling a sigh. +"Not even my father would do that. But you are no longer at La Thierry. +What are you doing here, and what sent you away from home? Are you going +back?" + +Tournay shook his head. "There are reasons," he replied slowly, "why I +can never return." + +"Neither can Marianne Froment," rejoined the girl. "Therefore, +compatriot, drink with me to our future good comradeship. And pass the +bottle to your neighbor. Then let us go on together. _En avant_, my +friends," she cried out in a loud voice. "The sooner we start again the +earlier we shall reach our bakery. Follow the carriage of La Demoiselle +Liberte, and she will lead you to it." + +A score of brawny arms grasped the ropes attached to the truck, and with +a heavy rattle the cannon was drawn through the crowd, which cheered it +on its way. + +The forty thousand swept into Versailles in an overpowering tide, +finding nothing to stop their triumphant course. + +The crowd choked up the streets of the town, filling the public square +and invading the Assembly chamber. + +The Assembly, with all the gravity and dignity of its recent birth, rose +to its feet to greet as many of the Paris deputation as could crowd into +the room, steaming with the sweat and dust of the march. Outside the +door another crowd remained, clamoring noisily. + +The president of the Assembly addressed them in a few words full of +dignity. "I have just learned," he said in his quiet way, "that the +king has been pleased to accord his royal sanction to all the articles +of the Bill of Popular Rights which was passed by your Assembly on the +5th of August." + +"Will that give the people more bread?" asked La Demoiselle, looking up +at Tournay with an inquiring expression in her brown eyes. Despite her +red cap, her swagger, and her boisterous talk, she was very pretty and +child-like. As he looked down upon her standing by his side her brown +head did not reach his shoulder. + +"Whether it gives them bread or not, it is a glorious thing for the +people," exclaimed Tournay with enthusiasm. + +A few minutes later the demoiselle yawned. "The old fellow is too +tiresome," she said; "let us go to the palace and get our bread." + +Evidently the same thought moved the rest of the deputation. They began +to file out, while President Meunier was still addressing them, with a +restless scuffling of their feet, and a murmuring among themselves, "To +the palace! To the palace!" + +The last Tournay saw of Demoiselle Liberte she was pushing through the +crowd that made way for her right willingly, while she cried out: "I +will show you the bakery, my brave people; I am now on my way to +interview the chief baker." + + * * * * * + +The forty thousand got their bread. They got their bread and more. They +pressed in so close upon their monarch, they were so menacing, so +determined in their way, that he promised to dismiss his royal Flanders +regiment and go back to Paris with his beloved subjects. And so the +hungry, sullen, desperate mob became a shouting, happy, victorious one. +They cheered their monarch, who had sworn to be a father to his people; +they cheered the royal family, even the queen; but most of all they +cheered the loaves of bread which were distributed among the eager +multitude. Every shop in the town was soon depleted of its stock, and +all the bakers were working over-time to supply the food. + +"Did I not tell you I would lead you where bread was plenty?" demanded +the Demoiselle de la Liberte gayly of those gathered around. "The king +is a capital baker; we have only to keep him with us and we shall have +food at all times." And she dipped her crust in a cup of wine. + +"We will take our baker back with us to Paris," cried one. + +"Aye, and the baker's wife and his little boy," cried another. At this +there was a laugh. + +Tournay, who had aided in the distribution of the food, approached the +group, relieved by the thought that all were satisfied and contented, at +least for the moment. + +"Ah, there is my handsome compatriot," exclaimed the demoiselle as soon +as she set eyes upon him. "Wilt thou join us in our supper, compatriot?" +she called out. She was seated carelessly on the truck of the +gun-carriage, with a cup of wine in one hand and a half-loaf in the +other, her face flushed with excitement. Unlike most of the women who +stood about her, she was of graceful form, with hands and arms +unblackened by hard toil, and the skin of her throat soft and white. She +wore her red cap in a rakish manner on the side of her head, its tassel +falling down over her forehead between her eyes. Every little while she +would throw it back by a quick toss of the head. + +Tournay took the cup from her outstretched hand, and put it to his lips. +"Marianne," he said in a low tone, "it would be better if you were at +home among your own people." + +"Why do you still call me by that name?" she asked in a tone of +suppressed passion. "_My_ home is Paris. _These_ are my people. They +never question who I am nor whence I came. There is not one in La +Thierry who would deal thus with me, unless it be yourself. You took my +hand this morning. And for that I will take yours and call you my +compatriot." Then changing to her usual tone of gayety, she cried aloud, +"Come, compatriot! This has been a glorious day. The people of Paris +have captured their king and are about to take him to Paris. Give us a +toast!" + +Tournay felt that what she had said was true. Probably not one of those +who had known Marianne in La Thierry would speak to her should she +return there. He turned to those who stood around the gun. "Friends," he +cried, "I drink to freedom! May all among you who love it as I do live +for it and be ready to die for it." There was a shout as he turned away +and left them, and over his shoulder, looking back, he saw the +demoiselle dancing on the cannon, cup in hand. + +He left the crowded part of the city to find some quiet spot as a change +from the noise and tumult of the past two days. Turning a corner he came +face to face with a man whom he had seen among the crowd in the Assembly +hall,--a man of gigantic stature with deep-set eyes. His appearance was +so striking that he could have passed nowhere unnoticed, and even in the +crowded hall Tournay's gaze had returned to him constantly. As they met, +Tournay again looked at him earnestly. The man stopped with the abrupt +question:-- + +"Why did you come to Versailles?" + +"Because," answered Tournay, "when I saw great numbers of people in +Paris starving, and heard of the banqueting here, my blood boiled. This +Flanders regiment, which is feeding fat at the people's cost, must be +sent away. We cannot pause on our way to freedom with the destruction of +the Bastille. The king must come to Paris where the people need him, and +not spend his time here under the influence of a corrupt nobility." + +"The king," mused the other; "do you believe in kings?" + +"How do you mean?--'Do I believe in kings'?" + +"Seventeen years ago," said the giant, "when only a boy, I stood in the +cathedral at Rheims while the coronation of the king was taking place. +I had never seen a king before, and moved by a strong desire to see a +being so exalted, I had walked many leagues to gratify my curiosity. +When I saw a pale-faced stripling kneel before the archbishop to receive +the crown, I could hardly keep from bursting into loud laughter at the +thought that such a puny creature could hold the destiny of a great +nation in his hands. I have often thought of it since, and to this day +it is as absurd as it was then." + +"I think a nation should have a king," said Tournay, after a few +moments' thought. "But he should reign in the interests of his people. +And of all the people, not a small part." + +"And so you came down here to see that our little king did his duty," +suggested the large man, smiling. + +"I came here, as I have already said, because in my humble way I wanted +to do something for my country." + +"For your country?" repeated his companion interrogatively; "for the +people?" + +"Yes," answered Tournay, "the people,--the common people, to whom I +belong; those who have never had a voice lifted up to speak for them, +nor a hand to fight their battles." + +"There is a voice to speak for them at last," replied the giant, his +eyes shining with a fierce light. "France is full of them. From north to +south, from east to west, they have been called and are answering. In +the Assembly their voices are heard. In every street in Paris their +voices are heard. I can speak for them and I will; aye and fight for +them too," and he lifted his massive arm with a gesture which in its +force seemed to indicate that alone he could fight for and win the +people's cause. "Throughout France there are millions of arms which like +mine are ready to strike down tyranny. Have no fear, my friend. The +nation has found a champion in itself! The people have taken up their +own cause!" The power of the man, his earnestness and energy, stirred +Tournay to the depths of his soul. He looked with admiration at the +lion-like figure standing before him. Then grasping the man's hand he +said with earnestness:-- + +"I too am one of them,--I may not be of much use, still I am one. Will +you show me how I can be of more service?" + +"A stout arm and a brave heart are always worth much," replied the +giant. "I like you, friend; your voice has the true ring in it. And +where Jacques Danton likes he trusts. Come with me and I will tell you +more." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE "BON PATRIOT" + + +Colonel Robert Tournay of the Republican army sat over his coffee in the +cafe of the "Bon Patriot" one December morning in the year 1793 of the +Gregorian Calendar, and the year 2 of the French Republic. + +The four years that had passed since the July afternoon, when he first +entered Paris through the southern gate, had been full of stirring +events in which Tournay had taken such an active part as to make the +time equal to many years of an ordinary lifetime,--years which had drawn +lines upon his forehead that are not usual upon the brow of twenty-six. +His figure was considerably heavier, but even more elastic and muscular, +telling of a life of constant bodily exercise. + +Shortly after his return to Paris from Versailles on the eventful day +when the Demoiselle de la Liberte, accompanied by her forty thousand, +brought the baker and his family back to their people, Tournay had +enrolled himself in the National Guard to protect Paris and the country +against foreign invasion. + +From Paris to the army at the front was the next step, where he served +with such bravery as to gain promotion to his present rank. Promotions +were rapid in those days, and men rose from the lowest social ranks to +the highest military positions, if they proved their fitness by valor +and ability. + +By the winter of '93 Tournay had won the shoulder-straps of a colonel, +and had now been sent to Paris by General Hoche with dispatches to the +National Convention. His dispatches had been delivered and he was +waiting impatiently for the reply which he was to take back to the +front. More than eighteen months had passed since he had been in Paris, +and the scenes in the city streets had a new charm for him. It was with +a feeling of pride that he looked out from the windows of the "Bon +Patriot" and saw the active, bustling crowds on the boulevards and +realized that the Republic was an accomplished fact and that he had done +his part toward creating it. And yet there was some sadness mingled with +his pride. Although an ardent Republican he could not sympathize in all +the horrors of the Revolution,--indeed he had been greatly shocked by +them. Yet his long absence from Paris had prevented him from witnessing +the worst phases of the reign of terror, and thus he could not fully +realize them. He was, moreover, first of all, a man of the people. He +had resented from childhood the cruelty and oppressions under which they +had suffered, and his joy at the abolition of unjust laws, his pride in +the assertion of equality for all men, overweighed his regret for the +bloodshed that had accompanied the triumph of their cause and the +gaining of the Republic. + +Sitting over his coffee, he recalled his early life at La Thierry. Since +the day of his flight, he had never returned there, and with the +exception of an annual letter from his father, who although a Royalist +could not quite make up his mind to cast off his only son, he had no +communication with the inhabitants of the chateau. From these occasional +and brief epistles he had learned that the Baron de Rochefort had gone +to England almost at the outbreak of the Revolution. In a more +roundabout way he learned the cause of the baron's departure to be a +secret mission to the Court of St. James on behalf of the tottering +French monarchy. The mission had come to naught; the baron had fallen +ill in London and died there a few months after his arrival. + +Edme, his only child, was therefore left at La Thierry, where she lived +in great seclusion, with Matthieu Tournay still in faithful attendance. +The marriage with the Marquis de Lacheville had never taken place. As +the Revolution progressed and the de Rochefort fortune dwindled, the +marquis's ardor, never at glowing heat, cooled perceptibly, and during +the past two years nothing had been heard of him at the chateau. It was +thought that he had either gone abroad or was living in seclusion in +Paris. + +Tournay had sometimes felt a little anxious as to the safety of +Mademoiselle Edme and his father, but the letters he received from old +Matthieu were reassuring, and as the place was a secluded one and the +family not known to have shared actively in the royalist cause, his +anxieties had for some time been allayed and he thought of them now as +likely to escape suspicion and to remain there in quiet obscurity. + +Tournay was roused from his reverie by the conversation of two men at an +adjoining table, or, more strictly speaking, a man and a boy, for the +younger was not over seventeen years of age. His face was quite innocent +of any beard. On his yellow curls he wore the red nightcap of the +Jacobins and his belt was an arsenal of knives and pistols. Taking up a +glass of beer he blew off the froth with a quick puff of the lips. + +"Thus would I blow off the heads of all kings," he said in a voice that +courted attention; "I give you a toast, comrade: death to every tyrant +in Europe." + +"I'll drink that toast willingly," answered the other, a big fellow, who +despite his swagger and insolent manner, had a face bearing considerable +traces of good looks. "But I should prefer to drink confusion to each in +a separate glass, seeing that you are standing treat for the day," and +he laughed at his own wit. + +"The Revolution does not march quick enough to suit my fancy," he went +on, turning his glass upside down to indicate that it needed +replenishing, and then wiping the froth from the ends of his drooping +brown mustache. "The convention is too slow in its work of purging the +nation. Were it not for Robespierre we should make no progress. Why are +there still aristocrats walking in the broad light of day?" + +"Very few come out in the daylight, citizen," remarked the boy. "They +creep out at night generally." + +"Well, why are they allowed to live at all, young friend?" said the +elder man, striking the table with his fist. + +"Be patient, good Citizen Gonflou; the Committee of Public Safety has +sent out a good batch of arrests within the last twenty-four hours," +said the lad knowingly. "I have it from my brother, who has been charged +with the execution of one." + +"Your brother, Bernard Gardin?" inquired the other as he drained his +glass. "Who is it now?" + +"Bernard has gone down to our old home in the village of La Thierry to +arrest a young aristocrat by the name of Edme de Rochefort," replied the +boy. + +"Oh, oh, a woman!" laughed Gonflou. "Well, I'm glad I've not got your +brother's work. I'm too tender-hearted when it comes to be a question of +women." + +Tournay uttered an exclamation of surprise. The next instant he tipped +over his coffee-cup with a clatter to cover up the betrayal of interest +in the conversation, and in replacing it, managed to draw his chair +nearer to the two men. + +"When did he start?" was the inquiry of Gonflou. + +"This morning at six. He will return in four days." + +Recovered from the first shock, Tournay's resolution was immediate. Edme +de Rochefort must be saved from arrest--and from the death that was +almost certain to follow. + +He was a man of action, accustomed to think quickly, and he began at +once to devise means to save her. His first thought was of Danton. On +this man's friendship he felt sure he could rely. His ability and +willingness to assist him he resolved to test immediately. + +The conversation between the two men at the adjoining table took another +turn and he saw he was likely to hear no more on this subject, so he +rose from his seat and hurried from the cafe. Ten minutes later he +climbed the dark stairway that led to Danton's lodging. Here he found +the Republican giant in his shirtsleeves,--a short pipe between his +lips, bending over his writing table. He did not look up as Tournay took +a chair at his elbow, but a nod from the massive head showed that he was +aware of his presence. + +"Jacques," asked Tournay abruptly, "was an order for the arrest of a +certain Citizeness Edme de Rochefort signed by the committee last +night?" + +Danton looked at him for a moment while he stroked his chin +thoughtfully. + +"Hum--de Rochefort? A daughter of the Baron Honore who went to England +as emissary from the late monarchy? Yes, I believe the woman is to be +arrested," was the reply. + +"If I furnish you with abundant reason for it will you have the order +rescinded at once?" + +"I cannot," was the answer. + +"Is there any other charge against the Citizeness de Rochefort except +that she is the daughter of her father?" + +"None that I know of." + +"Why arrest a young woman merely because her father went to England as +an emissary of Louis Capet more than three years ago?" + +Danton shrugged his shoulders. Tournay continued. + +"In view of the length of time which has elapsed, in view of the +absolute lack of result from the baron's mission, in view of the youth +and innocence of this girl, will you not endeavor to have this order +rescinded?" + +"Why do you desire it so strongly?" demanded Danton, laying down his pen +for the first time. + +"Because I have known her from a child. I was born on the de Rochefort +estate," was the prompt reply. + +"Is that all?" asked Danton. + +"No, it is not the only reason. I abhor this dragging of the weak and +innocent into the political whirlpool. We do not need to make war upon +women. I have protested against this before now, and I tell you again +that we are disgracing the Republic by the crimes committed in its name. +You are all-powerful with the masses, Jacques, your voice is always +listened to,--why do you not put an end to the atrocities, which instead +of decreasing, are growing worse daily? Where is your eloquence? Where +is your power? How can you sit passively by and see these horrors? Are +they done with your sanction? Can it be that a man with your strength +can take a pleasure in crushing the weak and defenseless?" + +"Would to God that I had the power to stop it," cried Danton. "Do you +think that I take pleasure in the arrest of innocent young women? Do you +think that it is with delight that I see our prisons crowded with +thousands whose only crime is to have been born among the aristocrats?" +He rose and paced the floor savagely. "You talk of my power with the +people. You say they listen to my voice. To keep that power I must +remain in advance. If once I lag behind it is gone forever. We have +given life to this terrible creature the Revolution, and we must march +before it. If we falter it will crush us too." + +"Let it crush us then," cried Tournay, springing to his feet. "I will no +longer be driven by it." + +Danton looked at him a moment with kindly eyes, then shook his head and +said mournfully: "And France, what would she do without me? All I have +done has been done for her sake. And I do not regret what has been +done," he continued, resuming his former manner. "No, when I see what we +have done I regret nothing. That the innocent have perished, I know, and +I deplore it. That the innocent must still perish is inevitable. But +what is the blood of a few thousand to wash out the cruelty of ages? +What are the cries of a few compared with the groans of millions +throughout the centuries! Even now the allied armies of all Europe are +thundering at the doors of France. We cannot pause now. They have dared +us to the combat, and in return, as gage of battle, we have hurled them +down the bleeding head of a king. We must go on." + +Then sinking into his seat, he said quietly, "No, Robert, my friend, let +Robespierre and his followers have their way in these small matters for +a little while longer. What are the lives of a few peachy-cheeked girls +weighed against the destiny of a nation?" And he took up his pen. + +Tournay sat in silent thought for a few minutes. He saw that it would be +useless to say more. After Danton's pen had labored heavily over a few +pages, he exclaimed, "Jacques!" + +"Well?" + +"Will you procure me a passport from the Committee of Public Safety +which will take me to the German frontier?" + +"Are you going to run away?" asked Danton, still busy over his work. + +"Whatever happens, I shall never leave France," replied Tournay quietly. + +"Very well," said Danton, ringing a bell. "I never shall suspect your +patriotism, but there are those who might if you talked to them as you +have to me." + +As his secretary appeared in answer to the summons, he took up a sheet +of paper to write the order. + +"Make it for Colonel Robert Tournay and wife," said Tournay carelessly, +leaning over his shoulder. + +Danton looked up at him suddenly. "I did not know you were married," he +said. + +Tournay made no reply. + +Danton wrote a few lines rapidly. "Take this to the secretary of the +Committee of Public Safety," he said to his clerk, "and return with an +answer in half an hour." + +In less than that time the man returned with the information that the +secretary was away and would not return until two o'clock that +afternoon. + +"Will that do?" asked Danton, turning to Tournay. + +"And it is now ten," said Tournay rather impatiently. "It will have to +do, I am afraid." + +"I will send it to your lodgings the moment it comes in," said Danton, +resuming his work. + +"Very well, do so, and many thanks. If I am not there have it left with +the friend who shares my lodgings." Tournay quitted the office and +hastened home, stopping on the way at a stable where his horse was +quartered, to give instructions that the animal be saddled and brought +to his door without delay. + +Reaching his house, he ran up the four flights of stairs that led to the +little suite of rooms which he was sharing with his friend Gaillard. + +Gaillard was a versatile fellow; he had been a poet, an actor, and a +journalist. Sometimes the one and sometimes the other, as inclination +prompted or destiny decreed. + +Shortly after Tournay's first arrival at Paris, he had met Gaillard, who +was then a journalist, at a public meeting. The chance acquaintance led +to friendship. He had found the young writer in some financial straits +and had rendered him such assistance as his own slender purse could +afford. + +Gaillard, who never forgot the favor, was devoted to his friend. He +watched his career as a soldier with interest and pride, and now that +Tournay had come to Paris for a few days, Gaillard had insisted that his +small chambers should have the honor of sheltering the gallant officer +of the Republic. + +Gaillard was at present amusing crowds nightly at the Theatre of the +Republic, where he was playing a series of comedy roles. + +It was with satisfaction that Tournay, as he ascended the stairs, heard +Gaillard's voice in the room, repeating the lines of his part for that +evening's performance. + +"Well, my brave colonel, how goes the convention to-day?" said Gaillard, +as Tournay entered the room. "Has the Tribunal done me the honor to +request that I be shaved by the guillotine?" + +"I have not been to the convention to-day. Other business has +prevented," replied Tournay, going into his bedroom and taking a pair of +pistols from his wardrobe. + +"No? then I must wait until I get to the club before I learn the exact +number of the nobility who are to patronize the national razor to-day." + +"Are you in the piece for to-night, Gaillard?" asked Tournay, hardly +hearing what his friend was saying. + +"I am." + +"That's unfortunate, for I wanted to ask a great service of you," said +Tournay, as he proceeded to clean and load the weapon. + +"Tell me what it is; I may be able to help you." + +"I am going at once to La Thierry." + +"La Thierry?" inquired Gaillard. + +"Yes. It is my birthplace. I am going there on an important errand. I +must start instantly. I cannot even wait for a paper which is to be sent +to me here by Danton. I am perfectly willing to let you know that it is +a passport to the frontier, for myself and one other. The paper will not +arrive until two o'clock, several hours after I am on the way. I must +have a swift messenger follow with it and join me at the inn in the +village of La Thierry." + +"I will see that this is done," replied Gaillard. "Is that all?" + +"That is all," said Tournay, hurrying from the room. On the threshold he +turned. "Are you positive that you will be able to find a trustworthy +messenger? Failure would be fatal." + +"I swear to you to have it there," cried Gaillard, lifting up his arm +and striking a dramatic attitude. + +Tournay knew that, despite his apparent frivolity, Gaillard possessed +not only a loyal heart, but a clear head, and he felt that he could +trust him thoroughly. Much relieved in mind, he descended the stairway +and sprang upon his horse at the door. Since leaving Danton he had been +thinking out a plan which he hoped would successfully save Mademoiselle +Edme de Rochefort, but to carry it into effect he must reach La Thierry +before Gardin. So putting spurs to his horse, he dashed through the +streets at a pace which threatened the lives of a number of the good +citizens. In a short time he was out of the gates, galloping along the +road toward La Thierry at a tremendous pace. Then suddenly recollecting +that the road to be traveled was a long one, he drew a tighter rein on +his horse and slackened his speed. + +"Thou must restrain thy ardor," he said, leaning forward and stroking +the sleek neck of the animal affectionately; "thou hast a long journey +before thee and must not break down under it." + +At ten o'clock that night he drew up before the inn at Vallieres, just +half the distance to La Thierry. He reluctantly saw that his horse had +entirely given out. As for himself, he would have gone on if he could +have obtained a fresh beast. He looked critically at those in the stable +of the inn, and realized that with four hours' rest his own horse would +bring him to his journey's end more readily than any of the sorry +animals the landlord had to offer. Having come to this decision he threw +himself fully dressed on a bed for a short sleep. He slept until two in +the morning. Then, after a hasty cup of coffee, he was again in the +saddle and continuing his journey. + +He rode steadily on with the advancing day, passing some travelers, none +of whom he recognized. At noon he entered the village of Amand. Thence +there were two roads to La Thierry. One, the more direct, led to the +right over the hill; the other, to the left and along the river, was the +longer but the better road. If his horse had been fresh, Tournay would +have taken the short-cut, going over hill and dale at a gallop, but his +tired beast decided him to choose the river road. + +Toward the end of the afternoon he saw in the distance the spire of the +church of La Thierry. He felt positive by this time that Gardin must +have taken the upper road or he should have overtaken him before this, +so rapidly had he traveled. + +Every step of the way was familiar to him. Every bend in the river, +every stone by the wayside was associated with his boyhood. Just before +he came to the village of La Thierry, he left the main road and turning +to the right followed a lane that made a short cut to the chateau de +Rochefort. It was about two miles long and in summer was an archway of +shaded trees and full of refreshment. Now the branches were bare, and +the flying feet of his steed sank to the fetlocks in the carpet of damp, +dead leaves. + +As he approached the chateau on the right he heard a sound that caused +him to draw rein in consternation. Springing from his horse he fastened +him to a sapling by the wayside, seized his pistols from his holsters, +and hurried forward on foot. At every step he took the sounds grew +louder. There was no mistaking their meaning. + +The lane terminated about a hundred yards from the house. Tournay threw +himself flat upon the earth and working his way to a place where he was +sheltered by the overhanging branches of some hemlock trees, looked +cautiously out toward the chateau. + +An attack was being made on the chateau at the front. Half a score of +men armed with clubs and various other weapons were endeavoring to break +down the iron-studded oaken door. A gigantic figure with shirt open to +the waist, whom Tournay recognized as the blacksmith of La Thierry, was +dealing blow after blow in rapid succession with a huge sledge-hammer. +The door, which had been built to resist a siege during the religious +wars of the sixteenth century, groaned and trembled under the blows of +the mighty Vulcan, but still held fast to the hinges. A man, standing a +little apart from the others and directing their movements, Tournay knew +to be Gardin. Seeing that they were making little headway, the latter +ordered his men to desist, evidently to form a more definite plan of +attack. In the mean time Tournay was working along the line of the +hemlocks towards the rear of the house. Suddenly three or four men +detached themselves from the attacking party and approached him. Fearing +that he had been discovered, he lay perfectly quiet. He soon saw that +they were making for the trunk of a sturdy ash-tree which had been +recently felled by a stroke of lightning. This they soon stripped of its +branches, and hewing off about thirty feet of the trunk they bore it +back on their shoulders with shouts of triumph. Here was a battering-ram +which would clear a way for them. + +Seeing them again occupied with the assault, Tournay continued to crawl +cautiously along the edge of the grove until he was in a line with the +rear buildings. Here were the servants' rooms, the business offices of +the estate, and at one corner the office and the rooms occupied by +Matthieu Tournay, the steward. This, the oldest part of the building, +was covered thick with old ivy, by whose gnarled and twisted roots he +had climbed often, when a boy, to the little chamber in the roof which +had been his own. From this he knew well how to reach the apartments in +the main building. The repeated blows of the ash-tree against the doors +warned him that they could not resist the attack much longer. He climbed +quickly up until he reached the well-known little window under the +eaves. Dashing it open with his fist he swung himself into the +attic-room which he had known so well in his boyhood. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A BROKEN DOOR + + +"Open, in the name of the Republic." + +No answer. + +Crash! Crash! Blow followed blow upon the door of the old chateau. + +"Again, citizens, once again! Brasseur! bring fagots, we'll fire the old +trap. Forgons, take this sledge-hammer in your big hands. At it, +man!--we'll soon have the lair of the aristocrats down about their ears. +Defour, Haillons, and you others, take up that ash-tree and let it +strike in the same place as before." + +Amid a pandemonium of shouts and curses the blows continued to rain upon +the iron-studded outer door of the chateau de Rochefort, and the tree, +used as a battering-ram, poised upon the shoulders of a dozen men, was +dashed forward with a force that made the hinge-bolts start from their +sockets and the oaken panels fill the air with splinters. + +The besieged had taken refuge in one of the large salons on the second +floor. There were only four of them: an old man, a priest, and two +women. + +"They have nearly forced the outer door," cried old Matthieu Tournay, +wiping the perspiration from his brow with trembling hand. + +"But the inner one," exclaimed the priest, laying his hand on Matthieu's +arm. "How long will that keep them off?" + +"They'll break through that easily. Nothing can save us now; we are all +lost," replied the old man. + +"May the Blessed Virgin preserve us from the monsters," murmured the +priest, looking towards the woman. + +Edme de Rochefort stood near the window. The terrifying sounds which +echoed through the lower part of the building would have unnerved her, +had not anger supplied a sustaining force, and brought a deep flush to +supplant the pallor on her cheeks. The spirit of her race was roused +within her. Had she been a man she would have charged alone, sword in +hand, against the mob; but being only a woman she stood waiting the +issue. Trembling slightly, she stood with her small hands clenched and +white teeth firmly set. At her elbow was Agatha, her maid. She was paler +than her mistress, but it was not for herself she feared. Her devotion +made her fear more for Edme's safety than for her own. + +As the shouts redoubled Edme saw the two old men turn, pallid and +trembling, towards her. + +"They seek me only," she said resolutely. "Why should I endanger your +lives by remaining here? I will go to meet them!" + +"You shall not go!" cried Agatha, placing herself in front of her +mistress. + +"It can only be a question of a few minutes at the longest. Let me go, +Agatha." + +"Listen," cried the priest, "they are in the house! They are coming up +the stairway now!" + +"No," cried old Matthieu, "I can still hear them down there in the +courtyard." + +Nevertheless a quick footstep was heard approaching from the corridor. +The portieres at the further end of the room were thrown apart, and a +man, wearing the uniform of the Republican army, entered the salon. + +"Robert!" came in a glad cry from old Tournay's lips. + +Tournay did not wait to exchange words with his father, but approached +Edme. + +"I have ridden from Paris to prevent your arrest, mademoiselle; thank +God I have arrived in time. Only do as I direct and I shall be able to +save you." + +"How are we to know that we can trust you?" she said, looking at him +fixedly. + +He caught his breath as if unprepared for such a question. "You _must_ +trust me, mademoiselle." + +Edme laughed scornfully. + +The color which rose to his cheek showed that her laugh cut even deeper +than her words. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "if you"-- + +She interrupted him passionately. "Are not those men below who seek to +destroy my chateau your friends? They have been clamoring for admittance +in the name of the Republic." And she looked significantly at the +tricolored cockade in his hat. + +"And because I am a Republican and wear the uniform of the nation do +you really think that I could have anything in common with those +ruffians? You do me great injustice; I am here with one object, to +protect this household." + +Edme continued to look steadily at him. + +"You say nothing, mademoiselle. You condemn me by your silence. I will +prove to you how deeply you wrong me even if it take my life. I would +give that gladly only to prove it to you. But there is more than my life +at stake. There is your safety--and the safety of these, your servants. +My father--mademoiselle!" + +Edme's look softened a little as she answered:-- + +"Although since you left our house we have only thought of you as an +enemy, still I believe your father's son would be incapable of +treachery. As for saving us, listen to the mob below. One man is +helpless against so many." + +"I can save you--but it depends upon yourself. No matter what I may say +or do, you must trust me implicitly." + +"Oh! do as my son says, mademoiselle!" interposed old Matthieu, joining +his hands beseechingly. "For your sake, for all our sakes, listen to and +be guided by him." + +"If you can really protect us in this dreadful hour I should be guilty +if I risked the lives of those who have faithfully remained at my side, +by refusing your aid. I will follow your father's and your counsel," +said Edme quietly. + +"Is the door of the salon barred?" asked Tournay of his father. + +"With such slight fastenings as we have," answered the old man. + +"See that it is fast," said Tournay. "It will give us a few minutes. +Then listen to me." + +There was a crash--louder than any that had yet been heard, and the mob +poured into the lower part of the chateau. + +Here they paused for a moment to recover breath and wipe the +perspiration from their brows. Then some of the party began again their +work of destruction among the pieces of furniture, while others brought +up wine from the cellar to refresh themselves and their thirsty +companions. + +Gardin, anxious only to make the arrest, stormed at this slight delay. + +"Cannot you leave your wine until your work is done, citizens?" he +called out impatiently. "The aristocrat is above stairs--follow me!" + +Through the large hall of the chateau and up the broad staircase, on the +heels of their leader, swarmed the mob, yelling and cursing. + +Gardin and Forgons, like bloodhounds who scent their prey, made direct +for the door of the great salon, where the little party awaited them. +Gardin shook the door violently, then threw himself against it to force +an entrance. + +"Here, citizen, we have already proven that two pair of shoulders are +better than one at that game," laughed Forgons, adding his strength to +that of Gardin. Under their combined weight the door yielded with a +suddenness that precipitated both men into the room,--Gardin on his +hands and face while Forgons fell over him,--and the two rolled +together in the middle of the floor. Amid a shout of rough laughter from +the men in the rear the two leaders regained their feet. + +The scowl on Gardin's face vanished in a look of astonishment when he +found himself face to face with a man in the uniform of a colonel of the +French army. + +Matthieu and the old priest had retreated to the corner of the room at +their entrance. Beside the chimney-piece stood Edme de Rochefort. The +sight of the frenzied mob, the knowledge that it was her arrest alone +they sought; the shrinking dread which the thought of their rude touch +inspired, made her heart sink with sickening terror. Yet beyond +trembling slightly, she gave no sign of fear. + +Gardin had expected to find a frightened girl, surrounded possibly by a +few servants who remained faithful. The sight of Tournay's tall figure, +his resolute face, above all his uniform, standing between him and the +object of his search, made him hesitate. + +"There she is! That's the aristocrat!" exclaimed Forgons, as Gardin +hesitated. "Let me get my hands upon her." He rushed forward, but before +he could touch Edme, Tournay pushed him backward with a force that sent +him reeling into the group of men behind. + +"A thousand devils," cried Forgons, when he regained his equilibrium, +"what is the meaning of this, citizen colonel? Are you defending the +little aristocrat?" + +"Keep back, will you, Forgons," interposed Gardin, fearing that his +dignity as leader would be usurped. "Leave me to manage this affair. I +am here," he said, addressing Colonel Tournay, "to apprehend the person +of an aristocrat, and shall brook no interference on the part of any +one." + +"Let me look at your warrant," demanded Tournay, in a tone of authority. + +"I am not obliged to show that to you," replied Gardin doggedly. + +"Let me see it, I say!" was the determined rejoinder. + +Gardin slowly drew a document from the breast of his coat and handed it +over with a sullen "Well, there's no harm in your seeing it." + +Tournay read it carefully. Then folding it up with great deliberation he +returned it. + +"It seems quite regular." + +"Regular," repeated Gardin, with a laugh,--"well, I like that. Of course +it's quite regular,--signed and stamped by the Committee of Public +Safety." Then with a show of mock politeness: "Now if the citizen colonel +will condescend to step aside I will conduct this young citizeness from +the room." + +"That order of arrest calls for a certain citizeness de Rochefort, does +it not?" asked Tournay, without moving. + +"Certainly it does. The Citizeness Edme de Rochefort who stands there, +right behind you." + +"You will not find her here," replied Tournay. + +"None of your jests with me, citizen colonel; why, as I said before, +she's standing behind you. I should know her for an aristocrat by the +proud look on her face if I had not seen her a hundred times here in La +Thierry." + +"This is not Citizeness de Rochefort." + +"That's a lie," replied Gardin bluntly, "and in any case she is the +woman I am going to arrest." + +"That woman is Citizeness Tournay, my wife. You cannot arrest her on +that warrant, Citizen Gardin." + +As the colonel spoke these words, which he did slowly and deliberately, +Mademoiselle de Rochefort drew a quick, short breath. + +"It is a trick," cried Gardin savagely; "you are trying to save her by a +subterfuge." + +Tournay repeated coolly, "She is my wife, and I am Robert Tournay, +colonel in the Army of the Moselle. Again I advise you not to try to +arrest her without a warrant." + +"And I say again it is a lying trick," cried Gardin, beside himself with +rage. "You cannot save your aristocratic sweetheart this way, citizen +colonel. The Republic demands her arrest and I mean to take her." + +"Citizen Ambrose," said Tournay, turning to the priest, "is not this +woman my wife?" + +"Most certainly," said the old priest, coming forward with dignity; +"this lady is Madame Robert Tournay." + +"Madame!" cried Gardin, repeating the word in a rage. "There are no +ladies in France now, and all priests are liars. This is a trick, and +you, citizen colonel, shall answer for it. Out of my way!" He grasped +Tournay by the lapel of his coat, and twisting his fingers into the +cloth endeavored to force the colonel to one side. There was a sharp +struggle, then Tournay threw him off with such violence as to send him +staggering across the room. His head struck the sharp edge of a mahogany +cabinet as he reeled backward, and he rolled senseless to the floor. + +With a shout of rage at the assault upon their leader the mob rushed +forward to close about Tournay. But he was too quick for them; the +muzzles of a pair of pistols met them as they advanced, one covering +Forgons, who was in front, the other leveled at the men behind him. + +The mob cowered and fell back a little. Clubs, hammers, and knives were +their only weapons, which they still brandished threateningly. If +Tournay had shown the least sign of flinching he would have fallen the +next moment, beaten and crushed to death. He advanced a step forward. +Before the threatening muzzles of the steadily-aimed pistols, the men +recoiled still further, and were quiet for a moment. Tournay seized the +opportunity to speak. + +"This fellow," he cried in a loud voice, pointing to Gardin, "has dared +to lay hands upon an officer of the Republican army. In doing so he has +insulted the nation and deserves death. Is there any man here who would +repeat this insult?" + +The mob, taken by surprise, looked at their fallen leader and then at +the two shining pistol-barrels that confronted them, and remained +irresolute. Tournay thought he heard Edme catch her breath quickly when +the answer from the mob drowned everything. + +"No, no! There are none here who would insult the nation!" + +"Citizens, I am of the people, like yourselves. I am also a soldier of +France. I have fought its battles, I wear its colors. See!" he went on, +taking off his hat and pointing to the tricolor cockade--"here is the +tricolor. If you do not respect that, you insult the Republic. Is there +any one here who would dare to insult the Republic?" + +"No, no!" came in quick response. "Long live the Republic!" + +"But all who wear the tricolor are not our friends," muttered Forgons +uneasily. + +"Citizens," continued Tournay, affecting not to hear, "Gardin has no +warrant to arrest this woman, who is not an aristocrat, since she has +become my wife, the Citizeness Tournay. As for Gardin, he has insulted +the Republic. He has forfeited the right to lead you. In the name of the +Republic I appoint you, Forgons, the secretary of this section. To-night +I return to Paris and will see that the confirmation of your appointment +is sent you at once. Now, citizens, take up this fellow," he said, +pointing to Gardin. "He shows signs of returning consciousness. A little +cold water pumped over his head will bring him back to life. Come, +follow me, I will be your leader for the present." + +The mob took up the body and bore it off, cheering loudly for the +Republic. Forgons went with them slowly, shaking his head, with a +puzzled expression on his face. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A MAN AND A MARQUIS + + +Colonel Tournay accompanied the crowd of zealous Republicans who had +been the followers of Gardin, until he saw them dispersed to their +various homes or noisily installed in the wine-room of the village inn. +Then he rapidly retraced his steps to the chateau. + +He found Mademoiselle Rochefort seated in the salon, contemplating half +mournfully, half disdainfully, the evidences of the mob's incursion, +which surrounded her in the shape of costly pieces of furniture from the +drawing-room, now marred and broken; and bottles from the wine cellars, +shattered and strewn upon the floor. + +She did not make any movement as Tournay entered the room, but seemed +occupied with her own thoughts; and for a few moments he stood in +silence, hesitating to speak, as if the communication he had to make +required more tact and diplomacy than for the moment he felt himself +master of. + +Finally, approaching her, he said: "Mademoiselle, the immediate danger +is past. You have nothing to fear for the present. As soon as you have +recovered sufficiently I would like to speak with you." + +She let her hand drop from her forehead and looked up at him. Her face +was very pale, but she was quite composed and the voice was firm with +which she answered:-- + +"I am able to hear you now, Robert Tournay." + +He drew a sigh of relief. "She has the de Rochefort spirit," he thought. + +"All is quiet now," he said. "But when Gardin fully recovers +consciousness I fear he will excite his followers to further violence. +It will be unsafe for you to remain here." As she did not answer, he +continued,--"I have made arrangements, mademoiselle, to conduct you to +the German frontier. Can you prepare to accompany me at once?" + +"I am prepared to leave here at once--but--I cannot go with you. It is +better that I go alone," Mademoiselle de Rochefort replied. + +"Alone! It would be folly in you to attempt it. Do you suppose that I +could stand quietly by and see you incur such a danger?" + +Mademoiselle de Rochefort's eyes, at all other times so frank and +fearless, did not meet his earnest gaze; she answered him hastily, as +one who would have an unpleasant interview come to a speedy end:-- + +"You have saved me from a great danger. Believe me, I am not ungrateful. +You have already done too much. I cannot accept anything more from you. +Pray leave me now to go my own way." + +"That is impossible, mademoiselle; I shall only leave you when you are +across the frontier. Traveling as my wife, under the passports that I +have secured, the journey can be made in comparative safety, provided +always that we start in time." + +At the words "my wife" Mademoiselle de Rochefort started, but she only +repeated:-- + +"I cannot go with you." + +"But," ejaculated Tournay, "I don't understand; it was agreed"-- + +She looked up at him. "I agreed to permit you to tell those wretches +that I was your wife, Father Ambrose, your father, and you, all +protesting that it was the only way to prevent them from destroying the +chateau and those within it. But you also said that the marriage would +not be considered valid, and as soon as the danger was over you would go +away." + +"I said," answered Tournay quietly, "that I should in no way consider +the marriage valid; that when I had once taken you to a place of safety +I should leave you. But until then I shall remain by your side." + +"Some one said you would go away at once, either your father or the +priest, and so I yielded. Now you tell me I must go away with you, +and"--she hesitated at the words, "be known as your wife." + +"But no one will know who you are," said Tournay earnestly. "The +carriage will be a closed one--you shall have Agatha with you. No one +shall be allowed to intrude upon you. Three or four days will bring us +to the frontier. As soon as you are there, and in the care of some of +your friends who have already emigrated, I will leave you. Cannot you +trust me three days?" he asked sorrowfully. + +"I cannot go with you," she repeated. "You are of the Republic--I have +already accepted too much from your hands. Can I forget that those hands +which you now stretch out to aid me have helped to tear down a throne? +that like all the Republicans, you share the guilt of a king's murder?" + +"I am only guilty of loving France more than the king. I did help to +destroy a monarchy, but it was to build up a Republic." + +"Then, instead of aiding, you should denounce me. I am of the Monarchy +and I hate your Republic," she said defiantly. "I will accept protection +from one of my own order or trust to God and my own efforts to preserve +me." + +"Where are those of your own order?" demanded Tournay bitterly. "They +are scattered like leaves. Some have taken refuge in England or in +Prussia. Some are hiding here in France. Your own class fail you in the +time of need." + +"They do not fail," cried Edme. "If none are here it is because they are +risking their lives elsewhere for our unhappy and hopeless cause; or +languishing in your Republican prisons where so many of the chivalry of +France lie awaiting death." + +As if the thought goaded her to desperation she added fiercely, "Where I +will join them rather than purchase my freedom at the price you +propose." + +"Mademoiselle," said Tournay calmly but with great firmness, "listen to +reason. There is no time for lengthy explanation. I am actuated only by +a desire for your safety. You must accompany me hence. I shall take you +away with me." + +Edme arose and confronted him with a look of scorn. "I stood here a +short time ago," she said, "and before all that rabble heard myself +proclaimed your wife; I, Edme de Rochefort, called a wife of a +Republican--one of their number. Oh, the shame of it! What would my +father have said if he had heard that I owed my life to a man steeped in +the blood of the Revolution? That his daughter consented to be called +the wife of her steward's son! a man of ignoble birth, a servant"-- + +"Stop!" cried Tournay, the blood mounting to his forehead. "Stop! It is +true that those of my blood have served your family for generations. It +was one of my blood, I have heard it told, who in days gone by gave up +his life for one of your ancestors upon the field of battle. Was that +ignoble? My father served yours faithfully during a long life; was that +ignoble? So have I, in my turn, served you. I was born to the position, +but I served you proudly, not ignobly. In speaking thus, you wrong +yourself more than you do me, mademoiselle." + +[Illustration: "STOP!" CRIED TOURNAY] + +The suddenness of his outburst silenced her. He saw that her bosom +heaved convulsively. He could not guess the conflicting emotions in her +breast; her pride struggling with her gratitude; her horror and +detestation of the Republic contending with her admiration for his brave +bearing in the face of danger; but as he looked at her, slight and +girlish, standing there before him with flushed cheeks, as he saw the +fire flash in her eyes although her hands trembled, he realized keenly +how young, how defenseless she was, and his sudden burst of anger +subsided. Her very pride moved him to pity by its impotence, and his +heart yearned to be permitted to protect her from all the dangers which +threatened her. + +In a voice that trembled with emotion he went on:-- + +"Mademoiselle, I have known you since you were a child, and I have +served you faithfully. Your wishes, your caprices have been my law. It +was no galling servitude to me, mademoiselle, for mine was a service of +love." He uttered the last words almost in a whisper, then stopped +suddenly, as if the avowal had slipped from his lips unwittingly. + +Mademoiselle de Rochefort started; while he spoke she had turned away; +so he could not see her face, but he could imagine the look of disdain +and scorn with which she had listened. + +"Yes, I dared to love you," he continued. "I never meant to tell you, +but now that the avowal has slipped from my lips I would have you know +that I always loved you. That is why I am here now, pleading with you, +not for your love, for that I know never can be mine, but for your +safety, your life." She remained silent, and he continued, speaking +rapidly,--"You have said that a king's blood is upon my hands. His death +was necessary and I do not regret it." Edme shuddered and letting +herself sink back into a chair sat there with her head resting on her +hand, while she still kept her face turned from him. "I do not regret +it, because it has given us the Republic. I glory in the Republic which +has made me your equal." Bending over her, he said in a low voice, "I +love you and am worthy of your love. Mademoiselle, listen to me. Come +with me while there is yet time. Give me but the right to be your +protector. I will protect you as the man guards the object of his +purest, his deepest affection." In his fervor he bent over her until his +lips almost touched her hair. "I will win a name that even you will be +proud to own. Edme, come with me. It is the love of years that speaks to +you thus--Come!" and he took her hand in his. As his fingers closed upon +hers she sprang to her feet. + +"Do not touch me," she cried, with a tone almost of terror. "I will hear +no more. I cannot bear it. I cannot bear to see you. Go! for the love of +heaven, leave me." + +For a moment Tournay stood still. Her words wounded him to the quick, +yet as they stabbed deepest, he loved her the more. Without speaking +again he turned and left her. As he descended the stairs and passed out +through the broken doorway he vowed within himself that despite her +pride, despite what she might say or do, he would yet find means to +save her. + +An hour passed, and Edme remained in the salon where Tournay had left +her. The spirit she had shown a short time before seemed much subdued. +Darkness had settled down over the room, and she felt herself alone and +deserted. A current of air, coming through the broken doorway, swept up +the stairs into the apartment, chilling her with its cold breath. She +wondered what had become of Father Ambrose and old Matthieu, and whether +Agatha had deserted her. Yet she did not seek for them. Indeed, she did +not know where to find them, for the house had all the silence of +emptiness. + +She tried to plan what she should do in case she had been entirely +abandoned, but her brain, usually so active, seemed benumbed. She could +not think. Conscious that she must shake off this feeling of +helplessness, she was about to rise and go in search of a light, when +she heard a footstep outside in the corridor. "Agatha has come back," +she thought, and stepped forward to meet her maid. The sound of +footsteps approached until they reached the door of the salon; there +they seemed to hesitate. + +Edme was on the point of calling Agatha by name, when the door was +pushed open and a man entered and passed stealthily across the floor of +the salon into the ante-chamber without noticing her presence. Edme +thrust her hand over her mouth to stifle the cry that was upon her +lips. + +The man was evidently familiar with the surroundings, for almost +immediately the light of a candle shone out from the ante-room, throwing +a faint glow upon the polished floor of the salon. Edme had seen him +very imperfectly in the darkness. She was uncertain whether he was one +of the mob, returned alone for plunder, or one of the lackeys of her +household who had got the better of his terror and returned to the +chateau. + +Unable to bear the suspense, she advanced toward the door of the +ante-room. Her heart beat rapidly as she placed her hand upon the door, +which had been left ajar. She hesitated one moment, then summoning up +the courage that had sustained her during the whole of that terrible +afternoon, she boldly pushed the door open and looked into the room. To +her amazement she saw, bending over a cabinet, her cousin, the Marquis +de Lacheville. The marquis held a candle in one hand while he searched +hurriedly for something in the drawer of the cabinet. In his haste and +anxiety he threw out the contents of each drawer as he opened it till +the floor was littered with papers. So intent was he upon his search +that he did not hear Edme's approach. + +"Monsieur de Lacheville!" she said in a low tone. Upon hearing his name, +the marquis uttered a cry like that of a hunted animal, and turning, +confronted her. + +"Mademoiselle de Rochefort, you here! How you startled me!" he +exclaimed, endeavoring to control himself; but his knees shook, and his +lips twitched nervously. + +"Your coming gave me a start also, monsieur. You glided across the floor +of the salon so like a phantom, I did not know who it was, nor what to +think." + +"I have just arrived from Paris, where I have been in hiding for +months," he stammered. "Upon seeing the doors all battered down and the +frightful disorder in the lower halls, I thought the chateau must be +deserted and that you had sought some place of refuge. Knowing that in +times past the baron, your father, was in the habit of keeping money in +this old secretary, I have been ransacking it from top to bottom. I have +need of a considerable sum; but I find nothing here--not a sou." + +Edme noticed that his dress was in great disorder and that his face was +pale and haggard. Every few moments he put up his hand in an attempt to +stop the nervous twitching of the mouth which he seemed unable to +control. + +"My nerves have been much shaken lately," he said, as she looked at him +with wonder. And then he laughed discordantly. The sound of the +mirthless laughter, accompanied by no change in the expression of his +face, was painful to Edme's ears. + +"I have been pursued," he said, "hunted in Paris like a dog, but I have +given them the slip; they shall not overtake me now." The wild look in +his eyes became more intense. "I am going to leave France; I have a +friend whom I can trust waiting for me near at hand. Together in +disguise we are going to the frontier--either to Belgium or Germany. We +shall be safe there. But I must have some more money, money for our +journey." His fear had so bereft him of his reason that he apparently +forgot the presence of his cousin, the mistress of the house, and turned +once more to the old writing-desk to recommence his search with feverish +haste. + +"To Germany!" cried Edme joyfully. "You are going to Germany? then you +can take me with you. We can leave this unhappy blood-stained country +for a land of law and order." + +The marquis turned upon her sharply. + +"Why did not your father take you with him to England?" he demanded. + +"Why? You have no need to ask the question. He went upon some secret +business for King Louis. He went away unexpectedly. When he left he +imagined that I, a woman, living in quiet seclusion, would be perfectly +safe, notwithstanding the disordered state of the country even at that +time." + +"Can you not find a place of refuge with some friend here in France?" +asked de Lacheville. "The journey I am about to undertake will be full +of danger and fatigue." + +"I am not afraid of danger," replied Edme, "and as for fatigue, I am +strong and able to support it." + +"But," persisted de Lacheville, "if you could find some suitable refuge +here it would be so much better." + +"I cannot," retorted Edme, in a decided tone of voice, "and I prefer to +accompany you to Germany, although it seems to me that you offer your +escort somewhat reluctantly." + +"The fact is, Cousin Edme," replied the marquis, "I cannot take you with +me. Alone, my escape will be difficult; with you it will be impossible." + +Edme looked at him for a moment with open-eyed wonder, then she repeated +the word. "Impossible! Do you mean to tell me that you, a kinsman, are +going to leave me here to meet whatever fate may befall me, while you +save yourself by flight?" + +"No, no, you do not understand me," the marquis replied, his pale face +flushing. "It is for your own sake that I cannot take you. It will mean +almost certain capture. If, as I said before, you could remain in some +place of safety in France for a little while"-- + +"I am ready to run whatever risk you do," replied the girl coolly. "When +do you start?" + +"Mademoiselle, this is madness," exclaimed de Lacheville, pacing the +floor. "Can you not listen to reason?" + +The sound of shouting in the distance caused him to stop suddenly and +run to the window. The candle had burned down to the socket and went out +with a few last feeble flickers. The cries of Gardin's ruffians were +borne to him on the wind. + +The slight composure which he had managed to regain during his talk with +Edme left him again, and he turned toward her, the trembling, shaking +coward that he was when she had first discovered him. + +"Do you hear that?" he whispered, his hand shaking as he put it to his +lips. + +"I have heard it in this very room to-day," replied Edme, looking at him +with disdain. + +"They are coming here again," he whispered hoarsely. "But they shall not +find me," he exclaimed fiercely, clenching his fist and shaking it in a +weak menace toward the spot whence the sound came. "I have a swift horse +in the courtyard beneath. In an hour I shall be safe from them," and he +prepared to leave the room. + +The ordeal of the afternoon had told on Edme's nerves and the thought of +being left alone again made her desperate. + +"You shall not leave me here alone," she cried, seizing his arm. "You +were born a man--behave like one. Devise some means to take me from this +place at once. Do not leave me alone to face those wretches again, or I +shall believe you are a coward." + +De Lacheville roughly released himself from her grasp. + +"I care not what you think of me," he snarled. "It is each for himself. +I cannot imperil my safety for a woman. I must escape." And he rushed +from the room. + +She heard the crunching of his horses' feet upon the gravel, and going +to the window saw him ride rapidly away. The remembrance of the young +Republican leader offering to risk his life for her, and the cowering +figure of her cousin, indifferent to all but his own safety, flashed +before her in quick contrast. She turned away from the window to find +herself in the arms of Agatha, who had at that moment returned. + +"Agatha," she exclaimed, "do your hear those hoof-beats? Monsieur de +Lacheville is running away. He, a nobleman, is a coward and flies from +danger, while another man, a Republican--oh, Agatha, Agatha, what are we +to do? whom are we to believe; in whom should we trust?" + +"Calm yourself, mademoiselle," replied Agatha, "and think only of what I +have to tell you. Listen to me closely. We must leave at once. I have a +plan of flight. I have been making a few hurried preparations." + +"True, Agatha, in my bewilderment and anger, I forgot for the moment the +danger we incur by remaining here. Where are Father Ambrose and +Matthieu?" + +"Matthieu is here in the chateau; he says he will never desert you as +long as you can have need of his poor services. Father Ambrose has +disappeared, but I think he is in a place of safety. But now you are to +be thought of. Will you trust me?" + +"How can you ask that, Agatha? Have you not always proved faithful?" + +"I mean, can you trust me to lead, and will you follow and be guided by +my suggestions?" + +"I will do just as you may direct. I know you have a wise head, Agatha." + +"This is my plan, then," continued the maid; "listen carefully while I +tell it to you." + +An hour later the two women, dressed as peasants, with faces and hands +brown from apparent exposure to the sun in the hayfield, left the park +behind the chateau de Rochefort, and made their way along a hedge-bound +lane that wound through the fields. As they reached the crest of a hill +they stopped and looked back at the chateau. A red glow appeared in the +eastern sky. + +"Look, Agatha," said Edme, "morning is coming, the sun is about to +rise." + +Suddenly the glow leaped into a broad flame which lit up the whole sky. + +"'Tis the chateau on fire!" cried both women in one breath, and clinging +to each other they stood and watched it burn. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GAILLARD GOES ON A JOURNEY + + +The first object that Robert Tournay saw as he rode into the inn yard at +La Thierry was a horse reeking with sweat. The next moment he was +greeted by the smiling face of Gaillard, who came out of the inn. "Have +you brought the passport?" cried Tournay eagerly, as he grasped his +friend by the hand. + +For reply Gaillard took a paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and +disclosed the seal of the Committee of Public Safety. "Am I in time?" he +asked. "I have ridden post haste to get here with it. Can I serve you +further?" + +"Come into the inn, and I'll tell you," replied Tournay. "I am almost +exhausted and must have something to eat." + +Ordering some supper and a bottle of wine, which were brought at once, +Tournay helped Gaillard and himself bountifully. They ate and drank for +a few minutes in silence, Gaillard waiting for him to speak. + +Gaillard was rather short in stature, with a pair of broad, athletic +shoulders. His face was freckled, and animated by a pair of particularly +active blue eyes. A large mouth, instead of adding to his plainness, was +rather attractive than otherwise, for on all occasions it would widen +into the most encouraging, good-natured smile, showing two rows of +regular, white teeth, firmly set in a strong jaw. + +After he had partaken of a little food and drink, Tournay recounted to +Gaillard the substance of what had taken place at the chateau, leaving +out most of his final interview with Edme de Rochefort, but dwelling on +her flat refusal to accept his escort to the frontier. + +The actor listened to him intently and in silence; his face, usually +humorous, expressive of deep and earnest thought. + +"Now what do you advise?" asked Tournay, as he pushed back his plate and +emptied the last of the wine into Gaillard's glass. + +"What plan have you?" questioned Gaillard. + +"I mean to take her away from here at all hazards," answered Tournay. + +"Quite right," nodded Gaillard. + +"But I can't very well pick her up and carry her off bodily," continued +Tournay. "And if I did she would be quite capable of surrendering +herself into the hands of the first committee in the first town where +they stop us to examine our passport." + +"Then we must induce her to go of her own free will." + +"Which she will not do," replied Tournay gloomily. + +"It seems to me," said Gaillard, speaking slowly, while he held his +glass of wine to the light and inspected it minutely, "that if some one +should approach Mademoiselle de Rochefort, purporting to come from some +of her friends who have already gone abroad, and should say he was sent +secretly to conduct her to them, she would be willing to go with him." + +"Unless she suspected him to be an impostor, she might possibly go," +replied Tournay. + +"He will have to convince her that he is not an impostor, and after a +night spent in the chateau alone she is more likely to believe in him," +was Gaillard's reply. "How about Gardin," he asked suddenly. "Do you +anticipate any further trouble from that quarter?" + +"I hardly think so," replied Tournay. "I shall go back to the chateau at +once and remain in the vicinity all night unknown to Mademoiselle de +Rochefort. See if you cannot procure a carriage here suitable for a long +journey. Then come up the chateau road. I shall be in waiting for you at +the entrance to the park. We will confer together as to a plan of action +to be carried out at daylight." + +"Good," replied Gaillard; "I will set about my part of the work at +once." + +The two men rose from the table; Gaillard went to the inn stables and +Tournay mounted his horse and rode toward the chateau. + +He had not made half the distance between the village and the chateau +when he heard a footstep crunch on the gravel of the road, and reined +in his horse just as the figure of a man crept by him. + +"Who is there?" cried Tournay, clicking the hammer of his pistol. + +"A good citizen," was the reply in a timid voice. + +"Father, is it you?" exclaimed Tournay, springing from his horse and +approaching the figure. "Is all well at the chateau?" + +"It is my son, Robert," cried the old man. "I did not recognize your +voice until after I had spoken; but I am no good citizen of your present +disorderly Republic." + +"Is all well at the chateau?" repeated Robert Tournay. + +"Well? How can we all be well when the doors are broken in and the +furniture strewn about the place in pieces? Can I call all well when"-- + +"Mademoiselle Edme?" interrupted Robert, with impatience, "how about +her?" + +"She has gone," said Matthieu Tournay. + +"Gone!" cried Robert, clutching his father by the shoulder. "Gone--how +and where?" + +"You need not be alarmed for her safety," said the old man; "she is with +Agatha,--a brave, clever girl, capable of anything. They set out this +very night to seek a refuge with some relatives of Agatha who will keep +them in safety." + +"And you permitted them to go?" demanded the younger Tournay, almost +shaking his father in his excitement. + +"Permitted them? Yes, and encouraged them. I would myself have gone with +them if I had not feared that my feebleness would impede rather than +assist their flight. As it is, you need have no apprehension; when +Agatha undertakes a thing she carries it through, and mademoiselle also +is resolute and strong-willed. They will be safe enough, I warrant." + +"Where did they go?" asked Robert. + +"I've promised not to tell," said the old man doggedly. + +"Father," exclaimed young Tournay, "do you not see how important it is +that I should know where they have gone? If you have any affection for +mademoiselle you will tell me. Cannot you trust your own son?" + +"Will you promise not to prevent their going?" replied the old man. + +Tournay thought for a moment. "Yes." + +"To La Haye, in the province of Touraine, near the boundary of La +Vendee." + +"Will they reach there in safety?" inquired Tournay, half to himself. + +"You need have no alarm on that score. They have disguised themselves as +peasants; no one will be able to recognize them. Look!" he added +suddenly, pointing in the direction of the chateau. + +A tongue of flame shot into the night air, then another and another +followed in quick succession. + +"Is the chateau on fire?" cried Robert in consternation. + +As if in answer the flames burst fiercely forth, and the noble old pile +stood revealed to them by the light of the fire that consumed it. + +The surrounding landscape became brilliant as day, and the great oaks of +the park waved their bare branches frantically in the direction of the +edifice they had sheltered so many years; seeming to sigh pityingly as +one turret after another fell crashing to the ground. + +Young Tournay looked around to see if any of the attacking party were +still lurking in the vicinity; but with the exception of himself and his +father, no human eye was witness of the burning. + +"Gardin's men must have ignited that during their drunken invasion of +the wine-cellar," he exclaimed excitedly. Then in the next breath he +added, "Thank God! Mademoiselle has been spared this sight." + +Old Tournay stood looking at the conflagration in silence; then turning +away with a sigh, he said simply, "There goes the only home I have ever +known; where my father lived before me and where you were born, Robert. +I must now find a new place to pass what few days of life remain to me." + +Tournay laid his hand on his father's arm. "Will you come with me to +Paris?" he asked. + +"No, no," replied his father. "I am not in sympathy with Paris, Robert, +nor with your ways. I don't understand them, boy. It may be all right +for you. I know you are a good son, you have always been that, but I +shall find a shelter in La Thierry. None will molest an old man like +me." + +Leading his horse by the bridle, Tournay walked back to the village with +his father. On the way they were met by Gaillard, who had seen the +flames and had guessed their meaning. + +Robert Tournay explained the situation to him as they all went back to +the inn. Greatly in need of rest, Robert threw himself down to wait +until the morrow. + +They were up with the dawn, when Gaillard had a new suggestion to offer. + +"You must return at once to Paris, my friend, for you must arrive there +before Gardin. You will need all the influence of your own military +position and the aid of your most powerful friends to enable you to meet +the charges that man will bring against you for frustrating the arrest. +I will try to find mademoiselle at La Haye, and will meet you at our +lodgings as soon as possible." + +Robert grasped his companion's hand warmly. + +"I shall never forget your friendship, Gaillard." + +"You may remember it as long as you like if you will not refer to it. I +can never repay you for your many acts of friendship toward me." + +"But your profession," interrupted Tournay, "how can you leave the +theatre all this time? How will your place be filled?" + +"Oh, it will be filled very well. I arranged all that before leaving; +whether I shall find it vacant or not when I return is another matter. +But it does not trouble me; let it not trouble you, my friend." And with +a cheerful wave of the hand, Gaillard departed. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PERE LOUCHET'S GUESTS + + +In the southern part of the province of Touraine, in the village of La +Haye, lived Pierre Louchet, or as his neighbors called him, Pere +Louchet. + +Logically speaking, Louchet, being a bachelor, had no right to this +title, but as he took a paternal interest in all the young people of the +village, they had fitted him with this sobriquet, partly in a spirit of +gentle irony and partly in affectionate recognition of his fatherly +attitude toward them. + +Pere Louchet lived alone in a little cottage that was always as neat and +well-kept as if some feminine hand held sway there. Indeed, if he fell +sick, or was too busy with the crops on his small farm to pay proper +attention to his household duties, there were plenty of women from the +neighboring cottages who were glad to come in and make his gruel or +sweep up his hearth, so it was not on account of any unpopularity with +the gentler sex that he lived on in a state of celibacy. + +In a society where marriage was almost universal, such an eccentricity +as that exhibited by Pierre Louchet in remaining single did not escape +comment. Indeed at the age of fifty he was as often bantered on the +subject as he had been at thirty. But neither the raillery and +innuendoes of the neighbors nor the entreaties, threats, and cajoleries +of his sister, Jeanne Maillot, had ever moved him to take a wife. + +"It's a family disgrace," said Jeanne, putting her red hands on her +hips, and regarding her elder brother with a look of scorn. "Here am I +ten years younger than you, and with five children. And Marie who lives +at Fulgent has eight. And you, the only man in our family, sit there by +the chimney and smoke your pipe contentedly, and let the young girls of +La Haye grow up around you one after another, marry, settle down, and +have daughters who are old enough to be married by this time; and you do +nothing to keep up the name of Louchet." + +"'T is not much of a name," replied Pierre. + +"It is one your father had, and was quite good enough for me, until I +took Maillot." + +"If I should marry, there would be less for your own children when I am +gone." + +"I'm sure it was your happiness I was thinking of before all," replied +Jeanne, mollified at this presentation of the case. + +"If it's my happiness you are thinking about, let me stay as I am. I and +my pipe are quite company enough, and if I want more I only have to step +across a field and I can find you and your good husband Maillot." And +Pere Louchet's eyes would twinkle kindly while his pipe sent up a +thicker wreath of smoke. + +One young woman once declared maliciously that Pere Louchet squinted. +But those who heard the remark declared that it was because he was +always endeavoring to look in any direction except towards her who +sought to attract his attention, and after that the slander was never +repeated. + +One morning in December the neighborhood of La Haye was set all in a +flutter of curiosity by a sudden increase in the family in Pere +Louchet's cottage. + +As an explanation of it he remarked with his eyes twinkling more than +usual: "I am getting old and need help about the place, and that is why +a nephew and a niece of my brother-in-law Maillot have come to live with +me." + +Paul and Elise Durand were natives of "up north" and had never before +been as far south as La Haye. The woman was about twenty-five years old, +brown as a berry, with a sturdy figure and strong arms. Her brother was +tall and slender. He said he was nearly twenty, yet he was small for his +age and his entire innocence of any beard gave him a still more boyish +appearance. He spoke with a softer accent than most country lads in +those parts, but that was because he came from the neighborhood of +Paris; and then he and his sister had both been in the service of a +great "Seigneur" before the Revolution. + +In the neighboring province of La Vendee the peasants, led by the +priests and nobles, were threatening to take up arms in support of the +monarchy. But the inhabitants of La Haye took little interest in +political affairs, and although they shared somewhat the sentiment of +opposition in La Vendee to the new government in Paris, they busied +themselves generally with their vineyards and their crops and took no +active part in politics. Paul and Elise were content in the fact that +their new home was so quiet and so remote from the strife that was +raging so fiercely all about them. + +One morning, shortly after her arrival, Elise was resting by the stile +which divided the field of Pere Louchet from that of his brother-in-law. +She had placed on the stile the bucket containing six fresh cheeses +wrapped in cool green grape leaves, while she herself sat down upon the +bottom step beside it, to remove her wooden sabot and shake out a little +pebble that had been irritating her foot. The wooden shoe replaced, she +took up her pail and was about to spring blithely over the stile, when +she drew back with a little cry of surprise mingled with alarm. Standing +on the other side, his arm resting on the top step, leaned a young man +who had evidently been watching her closely. + +Drawing a short pipe from between a row of white teeth, his mouth +expanded in a wide grin. + +"Did I frighten you?" he said, in a slight foreign accent but with an +extremely pleasant tone of voice. + +"Not at all," answered Elise, looking at him frankly. "I'm not easily +frightened. If you will move a little to one side, I can cross the stile +and go about my affairs." + +"What have you in the pail?" asked the man, as he complied with her +request. + +"Cheeses," she answered, as he came lightly over the wall. "It's clear +you're not of this part of the country or you would never have asked +that question." + +"I am not from this part of the country," said the stranger. "You ought +to know that by my accent." + +"Where is your native place?" asked Elise, her curiosity aroused. + +"A long distance from here--Prussia. Have you ever heard of that +country?" + +"Yes." + +"We are most of us against the Republic--there," said he. "I am, for +one," and he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. She made no +reply. "Let me carry your cheeses," he said, laying his hand upon the +bucket. + +"They are not heavy," said Elise, "and I must hurry home." + +"All ways are the same to me and I will go along with you," he said, +taking the bucket from her. "It's heavy for you." + +"It's no burden for me, and as I don't know you I prefer to go home by +myself," she said frankly. + +"Oh, I'm a merry fellow--you need not fear me. I am your friend." + +"I have no way of being sure of that," was the reply, "though you don't +look as if you could be an enemy." + +"I should be glad for an opportunity to prove myself your friend. And I +could prove that I am no stranger by telling you a good deal about +yourself and your brother Paul." + +"Indeed," was all Elise vouchsafed in reply, but she looked a little +uncomfortable. + +"I might tell you of an order of arrest that was not carried out; of a +chateau burned; of the midnight flight of two women and the arrival at +La Haye of a woman and her younger brother; all this I might tell you, +with the assurance that these secrets are safe in the keeping of a +friend." + +"How will you prove that you are a friend?" Elise said in a low voice +with apparent unconcern, although she felt her heart beating with fear. + +"The fact that I have just told you what I know and shall tell no one +else, should be one proof," he said. Elise did not answer, but looked at +him with a keen expression as if she would read his thoughts. + +He had a frank, open face, the very plainness of which bespoke the +honesty of the man. + +"Suppose I should say that I came from Hagenhof in Prussia and that I +was sent here by friends of your brother who have gone there. Suppose I +should say that they wanted you to join them and that I could take you +there with little risk to yourselves, would you be inclined to trust me +then?" + +"What risk do we incur by remaining where we are?" inquired Elise, +without answering his question. + +"You will always run the risk of discovery while in France," he replied. +"But tell me, are you inclined to trust me?" + +"Yes," answered Elise, stopping and looking him full in the face. "I +am." + +"Good," he cried, setting down the pail and extending his hand. + +"I am disposed to trust you," she went on, "but in order to do so fully +I should wish to see a letter from the friend you speak of." + +"It is dangerous to carry such a writing," he replied significantly. + +"True, but you can mention names." + +"I can, and will,--names your brother will know well. The Baron von +Valdenmeer, for instance. Besides, if I were your enemy I need not come +thus secretly. Your enemies can use open means." + +"I said"--Elise hesitated--"I am disposed to believe you are what you +claim to be, but I can do nothing without the consent of my brother." + +"Good! will you obtain his consent?" + +"I will try." + +"Good again. You will succeed. Talk with him and get his consent to +leave here. And as soon as possible I will make all the arrangements for +the journey so that we may leave in a week or at the latest a fortnight. +Then if you have not persuaded your brother that it is for his interest +to go with me, I will try and add my arguments to yours." + +"I trust you will find us ready," said Elise; "but in the mean time +shall you remain here?" + +"No, I must go to Paris," was the Prussian's answer. "If you should have +occasion to communicate with me, a word sent to Hector Gaillard, 15 Rue +des Mathurins, will reach me. But do not send any word unless it is of +the greatest importance, and then employ a messenger whom you can +trust." + +"Is that your name?" asked the woman. + +"That is my name while in France. Can you remember that and the +address?" + +"I can." + +"Then good-by. And a word at parting," he said--turning after he had +leaped the fence. "It is perhaps needless to caution you, but my advice +would be that your brother should not go too often to the village. His +hands are too small. Good-by." And he walked off up the lane smoking his +short pipe, and whistling gayly. + +Two days later Gaillard joined his friend Tournay in Paris. He found +Tournay much more hopeful than when he had left him, and his spirits +rose still more as he heard Gaillard's news. + +"It is Wednesday," Tournay said. "On Saturday the convention has +promised to send me back with my dispatches. Can you be ready for La +Haye by Saturday morning?" + +"Yes," said Gaillard, "twelve hours earlier if necessary." + +"It is agreed then for Saturday, unless the convention delays." + +Three days after her meeting with Gaillard, Elise, on returning from a +neighboring town where she had gone to dispose of some butter, found the +kitchen deserted and the fire out. She had expected to find a bowl of +hot potato soup and a plate of sausage and garlic. Instead she found a +cold hearthstone and an empty casserole. + +As usual, the first thought of the devoted sister was of Paul, and she +called his name loudly. It did not take long to ascertain that the house +was empty, and with her heart beating wildly with anxiety she ran +outside the cottage crying, "Oh, Paul, my child,--my brother, Paul!" +There was no answer save from the cattle in the outhouse who shook their +stanchions, impatient for their evening meal. She looked about for Pere +Louchet. He also was absent. Evidently he had driven in the cows and had +been prevented from feeding them. Something serious had happened, and it +must have occurred within an hour, for at this time the cattle were +usually feeding. + +Elise sat down for a moment on an upturned basket to collect herself. +Her first thought was to go to Maillot's in search of them. They might +be there, yet it would take an hour to go to Maillot's and return. And +then what if Louchet and Paul were not there! What if the couple had +been murdered and the bodies were still on the farm? Elise shuddered at +the thought, and called loud again, "Paul, Paul, my brother, art thou +not here?" + +From the hay in the loft above came a smothered sound. With a glad cry +Elise sprang up the stairs, to see Pere Louchet's head and shoulders +emerging from under a pile of clover. + +"Where is Paul?" cried Elise, pouncing upon him before he had freed +himself from the hay, and almost dragging him to his feet. He blinked at +her for a moment while he picked the stray wisps of straw from his hair +and neck. + +"Gone," he said laconically. + +"Gone! Where?" cried Elise, frantically taking him by the shoulders and +shaking him so that the hayseed and straw flew from his coat. "Pere +Louchet, what is the matter? I never saw you like this before; have you +been drinking?" + +"No," he said slowly, and then as if the thought occurred to him for the +first time, he went toward a cask of cherry brandy which stood in a +corner of the granary and drew almost a tin-cupful. + +With blazing eyes Elise saw him measure out the liquor slowly, with a +hand that trembled slightly, and put the cup to his lips. She felt as if +she must spring upon him and dash the cup from his hands, but she +controlled herself with an effort. Louchet drained off the brandy to the +last drop, straightened up, and looked at Elise. He acted like a +different man. + +"Paul was taken from here about an hour ago by three men. They had +papers and red seals and tricolor cockades enough to take a dozen." + +"And you let them take him?" cried Elise. + +Pere Louchet looked at his niece quizzically with his twinkling eye. + +"There were three of them, Elise, my child, and they had big red seals +and swore a great deal." + +"Of course," admitted the woman hastily, "you could do nothing by +force." + +"I did try to prevent them from going upstairs where Paul was," the old +man replied, "but one of them knocked me on the head and into a corner +where I lay like a log." + +"Oh that I had been here," moaned Elise, as she and Louchet went toward +the house. "If I could only know where they have taken Paul!" + +"To Tours," replied Pere Louchet with decision. + +"How do you know?" asked Elise quickly. + +"I remember it plainly now. When I lay in the corner with a kind of +dazed feeling in my head, not wishing to get up and stir around, I saw +one of the men--not the one who hit me, but a smaller man with a larger +hat and more cockades and more seals, take a paper out of his pocket and +read it to Paul. I tried to make out what it said, for although I could +hear every word that was uttered, I could not get an idea in my head +that would hold together; but I was able to catch the word Tours; I am +sure they have gone to Tours." + +"How is your head now, Pere Louchet?" asked Elise with feverish +eagerness. + +"As clear as a bell," was the reply. "Let me have one little nip more of +that brandy and it will be clearer." + +"Can you ride?" + +"Like a boy." + +"Good! Make up a bundle of food and clothing for a two-days' journey and +I'll have a horse at the door by the time you are ready." + +Ten minutes later Pere Louchet, with a bundle of necessities strapped on +his back, was mounted on one of his best horses which Elise had saddled +for him. + +"Now, where am I to ride to?" he demanded, directing his twinkling eye +down upon his niece. + +"Ride to Paris. Seek out Gaillard, 15 Rue Mathurins; give him this +letter. That is all I ask of you." + +"And you--what are you going to do?" said Pere Louchet, putting the +letter in his inside breast pocket with a slap on the outside to +emphasize its safety. + +"I ride toward Tours," replied the intrepid woman. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +PRISON BOAT NUMBER FOUR + + +Paul Durand was confined in the prison at Tours. The prison was so +crowded that he had to be placed in a small room at the top of the +building adjoining the quarters occupied by the jailer and his family. + +Paul was paler than usual, the result of fatigue from the long, rapid +ride from La Haye, but he showed no signs of fear and held up his head +bravely as the jailer entered the room. The latter carried a bundle +under his arm. + +"You are to take these clothes," he said, "go into the adjoining room, +and put them on in place of the garments you have on." + +Paul took the bundle and went into the next room. For fifteen minutes +the jailer sat upon the one chair the room contained, humming and +jingling his bunch of keys. Then the door into the outer corridor was +thrown open and a large man entered. The jailer sprang to his feet with +alacrity. + +"Where's the prisoner, Potin?" demanded the newcomer in a harsh voice. + +"In the next room, Citizen Leboeuf," replied Potin. + +Leboeuf strode toward the door and laid his hand upon the latch. + +"I beg your pardon, Citizen Leboeuf, but the prisoner may not be ready +to receive you." + +"Well, there's no particular reason to be squeamish, is there?" asked +Leboeuf, screwing his fat face into a leer. + +"If you will wait another minute I think the prisoner will come out," +suggested Potin deferentially, jingling his keys. + +"Bah, you show your lodgers too much consideration, citizen jailer; you +spoil them." Nevertheless Leboeuf allowed his hand to drop from the +latch and took a few impatient strides across the floor. + +The door opened and, turning, Leboeuf saw Mademoiselle de Rochefort +standing on the threshold. She was thinner than when she left La +Thierry: but her eyes had lost none of their fire, and she looked +Citizen Leboeuf in the face without flinching. His dull eyes kindled +while he looked at her some moments without speaking. + +"Do you know who I am?" he inquired in his thick, husky voice. + +"Yes, I overheard the jailer call you Citizen Leboeuf." + +"Right. I am Citizen Leboeuf; and do you know why you have been +brought here?" + +"A paper was read to me last night which pretended to give some +explanation," was her quiet rejoinder. + +"In order to save time and expense your trial will take place at Tours, +rather than at Paris. I am one of the judges of this district." + +Mademoiselle Edme looked at him with an expression of indifference. + +"You do not appear to be afraid." + +"I am not afraid," was the quiet reply. + +Leboeuf eyed her with evident admiration. + +"Why did you put on boy's clothes?" he asked abruptly. + +"In order to avoid detection," she answered frankly, coming forward and +seating herself in the chair which Potin had vacated upon her entrance. +Leboeuf was standing before her, hat in hand, an act of politeness he +had not shown to any one for years. + +"And you did it well," he said. "You threw them off the track +completely. Had it not been for me, your hiding-place would never have +been discovered. It was a splendid trick you played upon those bunglers +from Paris." And he slapped his thigh in keen appreciation of it, and +laughed hoarsely. + +"I will take your boy's clothes with me," he continued as he prepared to +leave the room, "lest you should be tempted to put them on again from +force of habit. We don't want you turning into a boy any more. No, you +make too pretty a woman." Then going up to the jailer he said something +to him in a low voice which Edme could not hear. Potin seemed to be +remonstrating feebly. Leboeuf scowled, and from his manner appeared to +insist upon the point at issue. + +"Are you sure you are not afraid?" he said again abruptly to Edme as he +went to the door and stood with one hand on the latch looking back into +the room. + +"No!" + +He looked at her admiringly. + +"Remember you are a woman now and have a perfect right to be afraid; +also to kick and scream when anything is the matter." + +Edme made no reply. + +"In case you should ever feel afraid," he said significantly, "just send +for Leboeuf, that's all," and with this he left the room. + +Edme remained in Potin's charge for two days. The jailer treated her +with great consideration, and she congratulated herself upon having +fallen into such kindly hands. She momentarily expected to be summoned +before the Tribunal. She did not know what the result would be; but she +looked forward to her trial with impatience. In any event it would end +the suspense in which she was living. + +On the afternoon of the second day Potin entered her room, accompanied +by one of his deputies. + +"You must prepare to go with this man, citizeness," said the little +jailer. + +"Has the Tribunal sent for me? she inquired. + +"Not yet. But you are to be transferred to another prison." + +"I prefer to stay here," she said. "Cannot you ask them to allow me to +remain?" + +"You have no choice in the matter, nor have I; I have only my orders." + +"From whom did the order come? From that man Leboeuf who came here the +other day?" she demanded quickly. + +"I am not at liberty to say," replied Potin, shifting his feet uneasily. + +"Are you forbidden to tell me where I am to be taken?" was her next +question. + +"To prison boat Number Four. The city prisons are so full," he +continued, in answer to her look of surprised inquiry, "that great +numbers have to be lodged in the boats anchored in the river. Number +Four is one of the largest," he added as if by way of consolation. + +In company of the deputy Edme was conducted to the floating prison on +the Loire. As they stepped over the side they were met by a little +round-shouldered man with splay feet. His face was wrinkled and brown +almost to blackness; his dress showed that he had a fondness for bright +colors, as he wore a purple shirt with a crimson sash, a bright yellow +neckcloth, and a red cap. The deputy turned over his charge to him, +received his quittance, and went away. + +Edme was conducted to a room in the stern of the vessel. It was a small +room and to her surprise she found it furnished comfortably, almost +luxuriously. On a table in the centre stood a carafe of wine and a +basket of sweet biscuit. Two or three chairs and a couch completed the +equipment of the room. At the extreme end, the porthole had been +enlarged into a window which looked out over the river. This window was +closed by wooden bars. Otherwise the place looked more like the +comfortable quarters of some ship's officer than a jail. + +"Is this where I am to remain?" she asked of her new jailer. + +The man nodded and withdrew, locking the door after him. + +Edme threw herself into a chair. It was intended that she should at +least be comfortable while in prison, and this thought helped to keep up +her spirits. She rose, took a glass of wine and some of the biscuit, and +then after finishing this refreshment, feeling fatigued, she lay down +upon the couch and fell asleep. + +It was nearly dark when she awoke. Lying on the couch she could see the +dying light of the short December day shining feebly in at the window, +reflected by the metal of a swinging lamp over the table. As she lay +there she became aware of a noise that had evidently awakened her. It +was the sound of wailing and lamentation, accompanied by the creaking of +timber and the swash of water. + +Rising from the bed she went to the window and looked out over the +river. + +Going down the stream were two other prison boats. They were scarcely +fifty yards away and proceeded slowly with the current, the water +lapping against their black sides. They were old vessels, and creaked +and groaned as if they were about to fall apart from very rottenness. +From between their decks came the sound of human voices raised in cries +of fear, despair, and lamentation; all mingled in a strange, horrible +medley, which, borne over the water by the sighing night wind, struck a +chill into Edme's heart. + +The vessels, stealing down the river with their sailless masts against +the evening sky, looked like phantom ships conveying cargoes of +unrestful, tortured spirits into darkness. The sight so fascinated Edme +that she stood watching them until they drifted out of sight and the +cries of those on board grew fainter and fainter in the distance. So +absorbed had she been as not to hear the lock click in the door and a +man enter the room. She only became aware of his presence on hearing a +heavy sigh just behind her, and turning her head she saw Leboeuf's +heavy face at her shoulder. She gave a startled cry and stepped nearer +the window. + +"It is a sad sight, is it not," he remarked, with a look of sympathy +ill-suited to the leer in his eyes, "and one that might easily frighten +the strongest of us." + +"It is your sudden appearance, when I thought I was entirely alone, that +startled me," replied Edme, regaining her composure with an effort. "I +was so intent upon looking at those boats that I did not hear you come +in." + +"I see you didn't. I may be bulky, but I'm active and can move quietly," +and he gave a chuckle. + +Edme thought him even more repulsive than at the time of his visit to +the prison. His face seemed coarser and more inflamed, and his eyes, so +dull and heavy before, shone as if animated by drink. + +"Where are they taking those poor people?" she asked; "for I presume +those are prison boats." + +"They are," was the reply in a thick utterance. "Just like this. Are you +sure that you want to know where they are being taken?" + +"Would I have asked you otherwise?" + +"Are you sure you won't faint?" + +Edme gave a shrug of contempt. She saw that he was trying to work upon +her fears, and felt her spirit rise in antagonism. + +The look of admiration that he gave her was more offensive than his +pretended sympathy. Leaning forward he whispered, "They are going down +the river for about two miles. There they will get rid of their +troublesome freight and return empty." + +"What do you mean?" asked Edme. "Where do they land the prisoners?" + +"They don't land them, they water them," and he gave a low, inward +laugh. "They drown every prisoner on board. Tie them together in +couples, man and woman, and tumble them overboard by the score." + +Edme gave a cry of horror. "It is too horrible to be true. I don't +believe it!" + +"Why not?" asked Leboeuf; "drowning is an easy death, and every one of +them has been fairly and honestly condemned. This boat is to follow in +its turn. Every prisoner here has looked upon the sun for the last time, +though not one of them knows just when he is to die." + +The idea of such wholesale murder seemed so utterly impossible to her +that in her mind she set down Leboeuf's whole account as a fiction of +his drink-besotted brain, called up to frighten her. Yet at the moment +when she turned from him in disgust to look out of the window, she saw +that their own vessel had begun to move slowly through the water. + +"We have started," said Leboeuf, as if he were mentioning a matter of +the smallest consequence. + +"You say that every one upon this boat is a condemned person," said Edme +quietly, repressing her terror with an effort. + +Leboeuf nodded. + +"But I am not. I have not even had a hearing." + +"No?" exclaimed Leboeuf in a tone of surprise. "Then those jailers +have made another mistake." + +Edme advanced toward him one step, and in a tone which made the huge man +draw back, said:-- + +"I was brought here by your order!" + +"Oh, no, I knew nothing of the change. It was that villain Potin." + +"I was brought here by your order," she repeated. "I demand that I be +taken where I can have a trial." + +"Potin has made another mistake," was all Leboeuf would vouchsafe in +reply. + +"If there has been any mistake, it is yours. I demand that you set it +right." + +"It is too late!" + +"There must be some one aboard this vessel who has the power to do it, +if you have not. I will go and appeal for aid," and she took a step +toward the door. + +Leboeuf interposed his bulky body between her and the means of exit; +closed and locked the door on the inside. + +"I will cry aloud. Some one will hear me," she said in desperation. + +"Who will hear you above all that noise?" he inquired tersely. + +The prisoners on the boat, now fully aware that their time of execution +had come, were crying out against their fate,--some praying for mercy, +some calling down the maledictions of heaven upon their butchers, while +others wept silently. + +"Merciful Virgin, protect me. I have lost all hope," cried Edme, turning +from Leboeuf and sinking despairingly upon her knees. + +"Ah, now you are frightened!" exclaimed Leboeuf, "admit that you are +frightened!" + +"If it is any satisfaction to have succeeded in terrifying a woman +unable to defend herself, I will not rob you of the pleasure, but know +that it is not death, but the manner of it, that I fear." + +"But you are afraid; you have confessed to it at last, and now Leboeuf +will see that they do not harm you." He gave a grim chuckle as if he +enjoyed having won his point. Rapidly pushing the table to one side, +turning back the rug that covered the floor, he stooped; and to Edme's +astonished gaze lifted up a trap door in the floor of the cabin. Edme +drew back from the black hole at her feet. + +"It is large enough to afford you air for several hours," Leboeuf +said. "By that time I will get you out again. Quick, descend the steps." + +Edme, fearing further treachery, drew back in alarm. "I prefer to meet +my fate here." + +Leboeuf struck a light and by the rays of the lamp a ladder was +revealed. + +"I tell you it is certain death to remain here fifteen minutes longer. +Even I could not save you then. The more they throw into the water the +more frenzied they become for other victims. They will ransack the +entire boat; but they won't find you down there. Leboeuf alone knows +this place. Quick! If you would live to see the sun rise to-morrow, go +down the steps of that ladder." + +He took her by the shoulder to assist in the descent. His touch was so +distasteful to her that she threw off his hand and went down the ladder +unaided. "Make not the slightest sound, whatever you may hear going on +up here above you, and wait patiently until I come to release you." + +With these words the door was shut down and Leboeuf went out and up to +the deck alone. + +The vessel had reached a point in the river just outside the city. Here +the stream narrowed and ran swiftly between the banks. + +The sky was windy; and between the rifts of the high-banked clouds the +moon shone fitfully. To the east lay the city of Tours, its spires +standing out in sharp silhouette against the sky. On the river bank the +wind swept over the dead, dry grass with a mournful, swaying sound and +rattled the rotting halyards of the old hulk, which with one small sail +set in the bow to keep it steady, made slowly down the river with the +current, hugging the left bank as if fearful of trusting itself to the +swifter depths beyond. + +A rusty chain rasped through the hawse-hole, and the vessel swung at +anchor. + +In a small and close compartment in the ship's depths, totally without +light, and with her nerves wrought upon by Leboeuf's appalling story, +Edme could only guess at what was happening above her head. + +She knew that something terrible was taking place. She could hear a +confusion of cries and trampling of feet; of hoarse shouts and commands; +and she pictured in her imagination scenes quite as horrible as were +actually taking place above her. In every wave that splashed against the +vessel's side she could see the white face of a struggling, drowning +creature, and every sound upon the vessel was the despairing death-note +of a fresh victim. Through it all she could see the large face of +Leboeuf leering at her with his bleary eyes. To have exchanged one +fate for a worse one was to have gained nothing, and in her mental agony +she almost envied those who a short time ago had been struggling +helplessly in the hands of their executioners, and whose bodies now were +quietly sleeping in the waters of the flowing river. + +A quiet fell upon the vessel. The last cry had been uttered, the last +command given, and no sound reached Edme's ears but the soft plash of +the water as it struck under the stern of the boat. + +Then the remembrance of Leboeuf's face and look became still more +vivid. She feared him in spite of all her courage; in spite of her pride +that was greater than her courage, she feared him. The knowledge that he +was aware of his power and took delight in it made the thought that she +would soon have to face him there alone more terrible than her dread of +the worst of deaths. + +A footfall sounded on the floor above her head. That it was not +Leboeuf's heavy tread, Edme was certain. Rather than fall into his +hands again she would trust herself to the mercies of the worst ruffian +among the executioners, and she struck with her clenched hand a +succession of quick knocks upon the trap. + +The footsteps ceased, and in the stillness that followed Edme called out +to the man above her and told him where to find the opening. In another +instant the door was lifted up and she came up into the cabin. + +"Kill me," she cried out; "throw me into the river if it be your +pleasure, but I implore you, do not let"-- + +The man's hand closed over her mouth, and lifting her in his arms he +carried her across the cabin. The room was dark; either Leboeuf had +put out the light when he left, or the newcomer had extinguished it, but +Edme saw that he bore her toward the window from which the lattice had +been removed. She closed her eyes to meet the end. She felt herself +swiftly lifted through the window, and then instead of water her feet +struck a firm substance. + +"Steady for one moment," said a voice in her ear as she opened her eyes +in bewilderment to find herself standing on the seat of a small skiff, a +man supporting her by the arm. Her face was on a level with the window, +and looking back into the cabin she saw a light at the further end, as +the bulky form of Leboeuf appeared at the door, lantern in hand, his +heavy countenance made more ugly by an expression of surprise and rage. + +Voices were heard in hot dispute, then came two pistol shots so close +together as to seem almost one. A figure leaped through the smoke that +poured from the window, and Edme from her seat in the skiff's bow where +she had been swung with little ceremony, saw a man cut the line, while +the other bent over his oars and made the small craft fly away from the +vessel, straight for the opposite shore. The man who had leaped from the +window took his place silently in the stern. Placing one hand on the +tiller, he turned and looked intently over his shoulder at the dark +outline of the prison ship, which was rapidly receding into the gloom. + +His hat had fallen off, and in the uncertain light Edme saw for the +first time that it was Robert Tournay. + +Before a word could be uttered by any of them, a tongue of flame shot +out from the vessel behind them, followed by a loud and sharp report. +The dash of spray that swept over the boat told that the shot had struck +the water close by them. + +The man at the oars shook the water from his eyes and redoubled his +efforts. "Head her down the river a little," he said. + +"But the carriage is at least two miles above here," replied Tournay. + +"No matter," answered Gaillard. "The shore here is too steep. We must +land a little further down." + +Tournay altered their course and steered the boat slantingly across the +current. + +They were now nearing the right-hand shore, which rose abruptly from the +river to a height of some twenty feet. The current here was swifter, and +the greatest caution had to be exercised. A second flash flamed out from +the prison ship, a sound of crashing wood, and the little skiff seemed +to leap into the air and then slide from under their feet, while the icy +water of the Loire rushed in Edme's ears,--strangling her and dragging +her down, until it seemed as if the water's weight would crush her. Then +she began to come upward with increasing velocity until at last, when +she thought never to reach the surface, she felt her head rise above the +water and saw the cloudy, threatening sky, which seemed to reel above +her as she gasped for breath. + +Another head shot to the surface by her side, and she felt herself +sustained, to sink no more. The words: "Place your right hand upon my +shoulder and keep your face turned down the stream away from the +current," came to her ears as if in a dream. Instinctively she obeyed. +With a few rapid strokes Tournay reached the shore. The bank overhung +the river and under it the water ran rapidly. + +With only one arm free he could not draw himself and Edme up the steep +incline. Twice he succeeded in catching a tuft of grass or projecting +root, and each time the force of the current broke his hold upon it, and +twirling them round like straws carried them on down the stream. + +Gaillard, who had been struck by a splinter on the forehead, was at +first stunned by the blow, and without struggling was swept fifty yards +down the river. The cold water brought him back to consciousness, and he +struck out for the shore. He noticed, some hundred yards below, a place +where the river swept to the south and where the bank was considerably +lower. Allowing himself to be borne along by the current, he took an +occasional stroke to carry him in toward the shore, and made the point +easily. + +Drawing himself from the water by some overhanging bushes, he shook +himself like a wet dog, and sitting on the river's edge proceeded to +bind up his injured eye, while with the other he looked anxiously along +the river-side. Suddenly he bent down and caught at an object in the +water. + +"Let me take the girl," he said quickly. "Now your hand on this +bush--there!" And with a swift motion he drew Edme up, and Tournay, +relieved of her weight, swung himself to their side. + +For a short time they lay panting on the bank. Gaillard was the first to +get upon his feet. + +"We shall perish of cold here," he exclaimed, springing up and down to +warm his benumbed blood, while the wet ends of his yellow neckerchief +flapped about his forehead. + +"Can you walk, Mademoiselle de Rochefort?" + +Edme placed her hand upon her side to still the sharp shooting pain, and +answered "Yes." + +"Good; the road is only a few rods from here, but we must follow it at +least two miles to the west." + +"I shall be able to do it!" + +As she uttered these words the pain in her side increased. She felt her +strength leave her, and but for the support of Tournay's arm she would +have fallen to the ground. + +"She has fainted," cried Tournay in consternation. + +"No," she remonstrated feebly, struggling with the numbness that was +overpowering her. "It is the cold. Let me rest for a moment; I shall be +better soon." + +"Mademoiselle, you must walk, else you will die of cold," exclaimed +Tournay. "Take her by the arm, Gaillard." + +Instead of complying with the request, Gaillard stood with head bent +forward peering up the road into the night gloom. + +"Gaillard! man, do you not hear me?" + +"The carriage! I hear the rattle of its wheels," cried Gaillard +joyfully. "Agatha can always be depended upon to do the right thing at +the right moment!" + +"Hurry to meet her," cried Tournay; "tell her we are here!" + +Gaillard sprang rapidly forward, shouting as he ran. + +"Courage but a little moment longer," whispered Tournay, and taking Edme +in his arms he followed Gaillard as fast as his burden permitted. + +She had not entirely lost consciousness, but cold and fatigue had +combined to enervate and render her powerless of motion. + +In a half swoon she felt herself carried she knew not whither. She felt +Tournay's strong arms about her, and a sense of security came over her +as she faintly realized that each step took her further away from the +dreaded Leboeuf. + +Tournay hastened toward the carriage. The wind swept freshly over the +marshes, and he held Edme close as if to shield her from the cold. Her +hair blew back into his face, covering his eyes and touching his lips. +As he felt her soft tresses against his cheek his heart throbbed so that +he forgot cold, fatigue, and danger.... Where they blinded him he gently +put the locks aside with one hand in a caressing manner and looked +tenderly down into the white face pressed against his wet coat. + +The sound of wheels upon the frozen road came nearer. Lights flashed +around a turn in the road, and Tournay staggered to the carriage door as +the vehicle drew up suddenly. + +"Hurrah!" cried Gaillard from the box, where he had taken the reins from +the driver. "We have won!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +OVER THE FRONTIER + + +In the carriage Agatha related to her mistress what had occurred after +her disappearance from La Haye. How she had sent Pere Louchet with the +message to Gaillard at Paris, and then had followed on to Tours and +discovered where her mistress was imprisoned. Tournay and Gaillard, +coming post haste to Tours, had reached there on the same day that saw +the transfer of Mademoiselle de Rochefort to the prison-ship upon the +Loire. Together with Agatha, they had formulated a plan of rescue and +put it into immediate execution. + +The two men had approached the vessel in a small skiff on the river, +while Agatha had awaited them in a carriage on the other side. The +moving of the prison ship down the river might have disconcerted their +plans had not the watchful Agatha seen the movement, and following along +the shore reached them when they had almost succumbed from the exposure +and cold. + +The carriage was a commodious one and well equipped for the long +journey, and in a few minutes Agatha had her mistress in a change of +warm clothing. As soon as Edme was able, she bade Agatha call Tournay to +the carriage door. + +"Thanks are a small return for what you have done," she said as he rode +by her side, "yet they are all I have to give." Then she stretched her +hand out to him with an impulsive gesture,--"Robert Tournay, I misjudged +you when you were last at La Thierry. Will you forgive it?" + +It was the first time she had spoken to him as one addresses an equal, +and it moved him greatly. He leaned forward and took the hand she gave +him, looking down at her with a smile that lit up his face, as he +said:-- + +"Mademoiselle, I forgave the words you spoke as soon as they were +uttered. It is happiness enough to know that I have saved you." Before +he released it, he thought he felt the hand in his tremble a little. + +The remembrance flashed through her mind, how, years before, she had +once noticed Tournay's manly bearing as he rode into the chateau-court +upon a spirited horse. She had at that time thought him handsome, with +an air about him superior to his station, and then had dismissed him +from her thoughts. As he rode before her now, the water still dripping +from his clothing, hatless, with damp locks clinging to his forehead, +she thought she had never looked upon a nobler figure among all the +gentlemen who in the old days frequented the chateau of the baron, her +father. + +"Where are we going?" she asked, with more emotion than such a simple +question warranted. + +"To the German frontier," was the reply. "We must travel rapidly night +and day. I shall hardly dare to stop for rest until you are safely over +the border." + +"I leave myself in your charge," she said, leaning back in the carriage. + +He gave a word of command and the coach rushed forward through the +night. + +Tournay's words had recalled vividly to Edme her unhappy situation. +Although innocent of all crime, she was proscribed and forced to fly +from her own country to take refuge among those who were invading it. +And the man who rode by the side of her carriage, and had undertaken to +convey her in safety across the border, was a soldier, fighting for the +government that persecuted her. Laying her head upon Agatha's shoulder +she felt her heart swell with bitterness. For hours, during which Agatha +imagined that she slept, she watched in silence through the window the +dark outlines of the swiftly moving landscape. Finally long after +Agatha's regular breathing announced her slumber, Edme, worn out by the +excitement and fatigue, leaned back in the opposite corner and slept +like a tired child. + +For five days the coach rolled toward the frontier, Tournay and Gaillard +riding on horseback. + +Through Blois, Orleans, Arcis sur-Aube to Bar-le-Duc and on toward Metz +they went, stopping only to exchange their worn-out horses for fresh +ones, and for such few hours of rest as were absolutely indispensable. + +During all the journey, Tournay saw little of Mademoiselle de Rochefort, +although her comfort and her safety were his constant care. The +passport with which he was provided prevented all delay; and it was +thought best that mademoiselle should remain as secluded in the carriage +as possible. When she did step out for a breath of air or a few hours' +rest at some inn she always wore a veil to hide her features. Whenever +he approached her to inform her as to the route they traveled he always +did so with the greatest deference, showing marked solicitude for her +health and comfort; expressing deep regret that the nature of their +journey rendered the great speed imperative. + +One afternoon as they crossed the little stream of the Sarre, Tournay, +who had been riding some fifty yards in advance, drew rein and waited +for the carriage to come up to him. + +"In an hour, mademoiselle," he said, as in obedience to his signal the +vehicle drew up by the roadside, "we shall be across the frontier, and +in Germany. At Hagenhof resides the Baron von Waldenmeer, who I think is +known to you as your father's friend." + +"He was one of my father's friends," Mademoiselle Edme acquiesced. + +"I remember having often heard his name mentioned at La Thierry," said +Tournay. "So I took this direction rather than further south, which +would have been somewhat shorter. A few hours will bring us to Hagenhof, +where you will be able to put yourself under the baron's protection." + +"And you?" inquired Edme, "what are you going to do?" + +"I shall return to France." + + * * * * * + +The armies of Prussia and Austria, three hundred thousand strong, were +drawing in on France, to help to crush out the Republic and restore the +old regime. + +The Baron von Waldenmeer's division was already on the frontier, +quartered at Falzenberg--waiting for other troops to come up before +joining the Austrian army at Wissembourg, near which the French had +concentrated a large force. + +On a cold December afternoon two batteries of Prussian heavy artillery +were proceeding through the wood on the road going east from Inweiler, +whence they had been sent to join the main body of troops at Falzenberg. +It was snowing and at five o'clock darkness was already settling down on +the woodland road. Over the snow-carpeted leaves the wheels of the gun +carriages rolled almost noiselessly. + +"Paff," growled Lieutenant Saueraugen, wiping the flakes from his +eyelashes for the twentieth time, as he thought of the hot sausages at +that moment being devoured in the mess-room at Falzenberg, and ten miles +between it and him. "A pest on such weather and such slow progress! at +this rate we shall not be at Falzenberg before midnight." + +"_Donnerwetter!_ what is this?" he cried with his next breath, as along +the road that crossed from the north came a two-horse carriage at a +rapid gait. The driver of the vehicle saw the battery on the other road, +and tried to check the speed of his horses. The rider on the nigh leader +of the caisson whirled his horse to the left, but it received the +carriage pole on the right foreleg and went to the ground, dragging its +mate with it. Then followed a snorting of frightened animals and a +rattling of harness, flavored with the shouts and oaths of the +lieutenant and his men as they tried to bring order out of the +entanglement. + +Two men on horseback rode up from behind the carriage, and with their +assistance the fallen horses were brought to their feet and the broken +harness repaired. + +"Who the devil are you that tear through these woods like this?" +demanded the German, examining the abrasure on the leader's leg. "Come, +give account of yourselves." The two riders had remounted and seemed +anxious to be off. + +"We are bound for Hagenhof," replied one of them. "We are in a great +hurry, and regret this accident, for which we are entirely to blame. +Name the amount which you think a proper compensation for your injured +horse and broken harness and we will gladly pay it." + +He had spoken in German and in the easy, careless manner of one who +deemed the matter too trivial to be the cause of any controversy. + +"You are French!" exclaimed the lieutenant, looking at the party +closely. + +"We are," replied the man who had spoken before. + +"You must accompany me to Falzenberg," said the German officer, "and +interview the general there." + +"What does he say?" inquired the second Frenchman of his companion. + +"Come, you had best not chatter your French before me," put in the surly +lieutenant, as one of the Frenchmen proceeded to interpret to the other. +"You may be spies for all I know, but that we shall find out when we get +to Falzenberg." + +The dark eyes of the second Frenchman looked inquiringly at his comrade. +The other again translated the officer's words. + +"We are most unfortunate, Gaillard, to have fallen in with this +imbecile," was the reply. + +"My friend commends your prudence and judgment," repeated the +interpreter, his mouth widening and showing his white teeth, "and +desires me to tell you that we have important business at Hagenhof. If +you will send us there under an escort, we shall be able to prove that +we are not spying upon the movement of your troops." + +The lieutenant scowled. "Can so few words of your language stand for all +that in German?" he demanded. + +The Frenchman laughed lightly as he replied, "Our language is very +flexible." + +"So perhaps may be your necks," said the officer brutally, a suspicion +entering his mind that he was being laughed at. "But you must come with +me to Falzenberg, and there's an end of it." + +"Why not to Hagenhof?" persisted Gaillard with perfect good-humor. + +"To Falzenberg!" roared the Prussian officer, swearing roundly, "and +before we start, let me see what sort of freight you are carrying along +the road." He approached the carriage with the intention of opening the +door. + +Tournay wheeled his horse between him and the coach with a suddenness +that made the German jump aside to avoid being trodden upon by the +animal. + +"We are going to General von Waldenmeer at Hagenhof," he said, speaking +his own language, "and if you prevent or delay our journey you may rue +it." + +The lieutenant, infuriated at this interference, caught Tournay's horse +by the bridle with one hand, while the other flew to his belt; but the +mention of General von Waldenmeer's name and the ring of decision in the +speaker's voice caused him to pause. + +"General von Waldenmeer at Hagenhof," repeated Tournay slowly and +distinctly, as if he were speaking to a person of defective hearing. + +"Who is making so free with the name of Waldenmeer?" cried a voice in +the French tongue but with a strong German accent; and half a dozen +Prussian officers came riding out of the wood, the fresh-fallen snow +flying from the evergreen branches like white down as their horses drove +through them. + +They circled round the group by the carriage, drawing their animals up +with a suddenness that threw them on their haunches. + +"Who is it that claims the friendship of von Waldenmeer?" repeated one +of the number, this time speaking in German. He was a young man about +twenty-two, with short, dark red hair, and a small mustache. He rode a +black horse that pranced and curvetted nervously. + +"These people, my colonel," said the lieutenant, growing suddenly +polite. "I was about to tell them"-- + +"Never mind what you were about to tell them, Lieutenant Saueraugen," +replied the colonel haughtily, "but inform me as briefly as possible +what has occurred." + +Confused by the thought that possibly he had been rude to friends of +General von Waldenmeer, the lieutenant stammered through a recital which +was far from clear. + +While the lieutenant was speaking, the young Prussian colonel was +slapping his boot sharply with his riding-whip, or checking the +impatient pawing of his horse. + +"_Potstausend!_" he exclaimed, interrupting the unhappy lieutenant in +the middle of his story. "I cannot make head or tail of your account, +Saueraugen. Broken harness, and French spies, closed carriage, and +injured horses." Then, turning to Tournay, he addressed him in French:-- + +"I understand you are on your way to find General von Waldenmeer,--he is +in the field, quartered at present at Falzenberg. You can accompany me +there." + +"We are bound for General von Waldenmeer's castle at Hagenhof," replied +Tournay politely, "and with your permission we will proceed there." + +"Do you know the general?" inquired the Prussian colonel. + +"I have not that honor." + +"I am his son, Karl von Waldenmeer, and I think it would be best for you +to accompany me to Falzenberg, where I am going to join my father." + +"Perhaps if the baroness is still at Hagenhof it would better suit the +inclination of the lady whom I escort, Mademoiselle de Rochefort, to go +forward rather than be compelled to go to Falzenberg." + +Colonel von Waldenmeer sat in thought during the long space, for him, of +five seconds. "I think you would better come with me as far as +Falzenberg," he said. + +"As you command," answered Tournay. + +"Did I understand you to say that the occupant of that carriage was a +Mademoiselle de Rochefort?" asked the young von Waldenmeer, as Tournay +spoke aside to Gaillard. + +"Yes." + +"What is the nature of your business with the baron my father?" was the +next question, abruptly put. + +"Will you permit me to discuss that with the baron himself?" + +"As you will," answered the Prussian colonel with hauteur. Then turning +to the group of officers who had sat motionless upon their horses, he +said:-- + +"Gentlemen, you will please accompany this carriage to Falzenberg. +Lieutenant Saueraugen, bring up your batteries with all possible speed +and report to me. Franz von Shiffen, you will please come with me." He +gave his black charger a slight touch with the spur, the spirited animal +sprang forward, and he was seen galloping down the road, with Franz von +Shiffen riding hotly after him. + +Baron von Waldenmeer, general of the division of the Rhine, was seated +with a beer mug before him and his pipe freshly lit, enjoying his +evening smoke, when word was brought to him that the party of Frenchmen, +encountered by his son and some other members of his staff on the road +from Inweiler, had arrived at Falzenberg, and was now awaiting his +pleasure in the room below. His son, who had come in some time before, +had told him of the incident of the meeting. + +The baron blew a cloud of smoke out of his capacious mouth. + +"Show the entire party up here at once. We can then hear their story and +decide as to the probability of it. You, Karl, send word to General von +Scrappenhauer that I shall have to defer our party of Skat for an hour. +Ludwig, have your father's beer mug replenished. Would you have his +throat become like the bed of a dried-up stream? And now send up your +Frenchmen; I am waiting for them." + +Ludwig von Waldenmeer, who was the picture of his younger brother Karl, +except that he was heavier in build and larger of girth, passed the +beer flagon from his end of the table to his father. + +Karl gave a few commands to an orderly, then took a seat by the +general's side. The latter was a man of about sixty. Around his shining +bald pate was a fringe of grizzled hair that had once been red. His +mustache was a bristling, scrubby brush of the same color. Although not +of great height he was broad of chest and still broader about the +waistband; and even in his lightest boots he rode in the saddle at two +hundred pounds. + +An orderly opened the door and ushered in the four French travelers. +Mademoiselle de Rochefort entered first. She paused for a moment at the +sight of a room full of officers. Then she took a few steps into the +room and stood awaiting the baron's command. The baron took one look at +the figure before him, then rose suddenly to his feet and came toward +her; the other officers took the signal and rose from their places at +the table and stood beside their chairs. + +"You are the daughter of Honore de Rochefort. One has no need to ask the +question, it is answered by your face." And General von Waldenmeer took +Edme by the hand and led her to a seat by his side. Agatha kept at her +mistress's elbow like a faithful guardian. + +Tournay and Gaillard, travel-stained and splashed with mud from head to +foot, remained standing by the door. + +"If you have come, as I surmise, to find in Prussia a home denied you by +your native land, let me say that nowhere will you find a warmer +welcome than under the roof of von Waldenmeer," and the general put her +hand to his lips. + +"I have come," she replied, "to find a refuge from the persecution which +follows me in my own unhappy country. Thanks to the devotion of these +friends," and she turned toward Tournay with a look of gratitude, "I +have been able to reach here in safety, to throw myself upon your +protection, and to ask your advice as to my future movements." + +"If you will pardon this reception in a rough soldier's camp, +mademoiselle, and can put up with such poor accommodation as this house +affords, to-morrow you shall be escorted on to Hagenhof, where my wife +will receive you as one of her own daughters." And he bent over her hand +for the second time. + +This unusual show of gallantry on the part of their general caused Franz +von Shippen to place his hand before his mouth to hide a smile, while +Ludwig von Waldenmeer looked up at the ceiling. + +"Franz," called out the general, "interview the good lady whose house we +occupy and see that the best room she has is prepared for Mademoiselle +de Rochefort. Ludwig, to-morrow you shall have the honor of escorting +this lady to Hagenhof. There you shall be welcome, mademoiselle, as long +as you choose to honor us with your company. But rest assured it will +not be long before your own country will be rescued from the miscreants +who are devouring it. All Europe is in arms to avenge outraged royalty; +the Prussian army of two hundred thousand men is now prepared to march +on Paris. With us are thousands of your own nobility. We make common +cause against anarchy and murder. We shall not rest until we have +restored the monarchy and chastised these insolent Republicans." + +Edme looked quickly in the direction of Tournay, fearful lest the +baron's words should stir him to make a reply, but he and Gaillard stood +listening imperturbably. From their quiet and unobtrusive demeanor the +general had taken them for servants of Mademoiselle de Rochefort and had +not given them a second look. + +"But you are fatigued, mademoiselle," said von Waldenmeer. "To-morrow +morning will be a more fitting time to discuss your affairs. The good +hausfrau by this time is preparing your quarters. I will conduct you to +them. Your followers will be comfortably cared for outside." + +Edme, glad of an opportunity to escape further conversation, was about +to thank the general for his permission to retire to her room, when the +outer door opened and a number of French noblemen, officers of the +general's staff, entered the room. + +Among them was the Marquis de Lacheville. His quick roving eye caught +sight of Edme instantly. He stopped in the middle of a conversation with +a companion and looked over his shoulder hastily as if he would retrace +his steps without attracting attention; but it was too late. The deep +voice of General von Waldenmeer sounded in his ears. + +"Ah, here are some of your brave countrymen, mademoiselle, who deem it +no disgrace to serve under the flag of Prussia in order to reconquer the +throne for their rightful sovereign." + +The door behind de Lacheville was closed by the Count de Beaujeu, who +was the last to enter, and the marquis, drawing a deep breath between +his set teeth, stepped forward as one who suddenly resolves to take a +desperate chance. + +"Cousin Edme!" he exclaimed, coming up to where she was seated and +endeavoring to take her hand. "Thank Heaven you have escaped!" + +"Yes, I am in a place of safety, thanks to a brave gentleman," she +replied, drawing back her hand. "But do not call me cousin. I ceased to +be your kinswoman when you deserted me at Rochefort. There are no +cowards of our blood." And she turned from him with a look of +unutterable contempt as if he were too mean an object to deserve her +passing notice. She had spoken in a low voice, yet so distinctly that +all in the room heard what she had said. A murmur of surprise ran round +the entire group of officers. The marquis drew back under the rebuff, +his face deadly pale, while he darted at Edme a look of hatred as if he +could have killed her. + +"What's that?" roared the general as soon as he could master his +astonishment. "One of my aides a coward?" + +De Lacheville gave a quick glance around the room, as a hunted man, +brought suddenly to bay, might seek some weapon to defend himself. As he +caught sight of Tournay, his eyes gleamed wickedly. + +"This mad girl," he exclaimed, pointing to Mademoiselle de Rochefort as +soon as he could control his voice, "was once my affianced bride, but +she has found a mate better suited to her liking. She has been traveling +with him throughout France, and now she seeks to extenuate her own +conduct by slandering me, whom she has wronged." + +"If you are not the coward mademoiselle has called you, you will answer +to me for that lie," said Tournay, throwing Gaillard's restraining hand +off from his arm and advancing toward the marquis threateningly. + +De Lacheville drew back. He remembered the duel in the woods at La +Thierry. He looked again into the dark eyes of the stern man who +confronted him, and his mouth twitched nervously. Then with an effort he +turned to the French gentlemen at his side and said, speaking rapidly, +"This fellow is a Republican, one of those who clamored for King Louis's +death. Shall we forget our oath to kill these regicides wherever we may +find them?" + +Before he had finished speaking, three swords were out of their +scabbards and three infuriated French noblemen sprang at Tournay. + +"Gott in Himmel!" shouted General von Waldenmeer, as his Prussian +officers beat down the points of the excited Frenchmen, "will you spill +blood here under my very nose? Colonel Karl von Waldenmeer, place those +French gentlemen under restraint, and let there be quiet here while I +examine into these charges." + +The Marquis de Lacheville had taken up a position near the door. + +"He is Robert Tournay, an officer of the Republican army!" he cried out +as he sheathed his sword. "While he is here in the disguise of a lackey +in waiting to Mademoiselle de Rochefort, his intention is to play the +spy and return with his information to France. For your own sake, +General von Waldenmeer, you should place him where he can do you no such +injury." + +"What answer have you to make to this?" said the old general, addressing +Tournay. "Are you a servant of Mademoiselle de Rochefort, or are you a +spy of those Republican brigands? Speak! I condemn no man unheard." + +Tournay looked round the room before replying. + +"I am a colonel in the Republican army," he said quietly. "But I came +here solely to bring mademoiselle to a place of safety; not to spy upon +your army, which as a matter of fact I thought twenty miles further +east." + +General von Waldenmeer broke the silence that followed this avowal. + +"You admit that you are an officer in the Republican army. You are +within our lines under very peculiar circumstances. You may have taken +advantage of Mademoiselle de Rochefort's confidence in you to play the +spy. Until it is proven to the contrary, I must take the ground that +both you and your companion are spies, and treat you accordingly. +Colonel von Waldenmeer, you will send for a file of soldiers and place +these two men under arrest." + +"General von Waldenmeer!" said Edme de Rochefort, turning toward the old +baron with an appealing gesture, "you are about to commit an act of +grave injustice. Colonel Tournay is guiltless of the charge of being a +spy. The charge was brought against him out of malice and revenge by the +man who has just slandered me so basely." + +She did not look at the Marquis de Lacheville, but under the general +gaze which was directed toward him as she spoke, he quailed and shrunk +from the room, shivering as with ague. + +"This gentleman," she went on, looking at Tournay gratefully, "has +incurred great danger and endured much privation in order to bring me +here in safety. He has been brave and devoted when others cravenly +deserted me; and if he should be treated by you as a spy it would be as +if I had decoyed him here only to destroy him." + +"No, mademoiselle, no," said Robert Tournay in a low tone. + +By a quick gesture she bade him be silent. + +"General von Waldenmeer, you are a brave soldier. You have professed the +greatest friendship for your old friend's daughter. She now asks you to +release these gentlemen. As a soldier and a gentleman you are bound to +grant her prayer." + +She spoke the words simply and in the tone which was natural to her, as +if the request admitted of no denial; and laying her hand upon the +general's arm looked into his rough face. + +For a moment he sat in silence. His heavy brows came down until they +shaded his eyes completely. Then taking the hand that rested on his +sleeve, he said:-- + +"At the risk of neglecting my duty as a soldier, I will grant your +request. These men shall go free, but," he added hastily, as though his +consent to their liberation had been given too quickly, "they must be +kept under surveillance here until to-morrow, and then they shall be +escorted back over the frontier. Colonel von Waldenmeer," he continued, +addressing his son, "I leave you to conduct these French gentlemen to +their quarters. I make you responsible for their keeping." + +Edme held out her hand to Tournay. "Good-night, Colonel Tournay," she +said. "It is a great joy and relief to know that you are to come to no +harm through having brought me here. And you, who have done so much for +me, will surely overlook this last and slight indignity which you are +called upon to endure for my sake." + +"Mademoiselle," he replied, bending over her hand and speaking in a tone +so low that none other in the room could hear, "there is nothing in the +world I would not endure for your sake. To have you speak to me like +this repays me a thousand-fold. Adieu, mademoiselle. Now, Colonel von +Waldenmeer, I am ready;" and with Gaillard at his side he followed young +von Waldenmeer from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +UNDER WHICH FLAG? + + +As the three men came out into the corridor, the large outer door opened +and a sergeant of artillery stepped over the threshold, saluted the +colonel, and stood awaiting orders. The fine snow drifted past him into +the hall, stinging the faces of von Waldenmeer and his two prisoners. + +The colonel turned toward the Frenchmen, and addressing them in his +quick way, said:-- + +"It is a vile night. Give me your word not to leave the quarters to +which I assign you until sent for, and I will permit you to pass the +night more in comfort under this roof." + +Tournay gladly assented, the young von Waldenmeer spoke a few words of +command to the sergeant, who turned on his heel and repeated the order +in guttural tones to some snow-covered figures behind him. The door +closed with a loud bang and the escort was heard marching away. + +Colonel Karl then led the way up a broad oaken staircase to a room at +the end of a long corridor on the upper floor. + +"My own room is just opposite," said he with a gesture of the head, as +he threw open the door. "You will be more comfortable here than in the +guard-house." + +The house which General von Waldenmeer had chosen for his headquarters +at Falzenberg was a commodious one, built around an open court, where in +summer a fountain played in the centre of a green grass plot. Tournay +stepped to one of the windows and looked out upon the scene. The bronze +figure in the fountain was draped with ice, and a great mound of snow +filled the centre of the square, where the soldiers had cleared a +passage for themselves. On the opposite side were the stables, and from +the neighing and stamping of hoofs, Tournay judged more than a dozen +horses were kept there. Lights flashed here and there as a subaltern or +private moved about in the performance of the night's duties. + +The first thing which had struck Gaillard's eye on entering was a large +canopied bed. This reminded him too forcibly of his fatigue to be +resisted. He threw himself down upon it, boots and all, and was asleep +as soon as his head touched the pillow. + +Von Waldenmeer stood in the centre of the room, slapping his hessians +with a little flexible riding-whip. Tournay began to thank him for the +courtesy he had shown them, when the latter stopped him in his abrupt +way, saying:-- + +"I was watching the Marquis de Lacheville's face while he was denouncing +Mademoiselle de Rochefort, and if ever I saw liar written upon a man's +countenance it was on his then. I wish that he had lied when he accused +you of being a colonel in the Republican army." And Colonel Karl strode +toward the door impatiently. + +"Why should you have wished that?" demanded Tournay. "I am proud of my +position." + +"Bah!" exclaimed the German, with his hand on the latch, "you should be +in the Prussian army. It is an honor to serve in the army that was built +up by the great Frederick. A man of your courage should not be content +to serve among those Republican brigands. Good-night,"--and he +disappeared rapidly through the door, slamming it behind him. + +Tournay roused Gaillard from his slumber. Both men were numb with +fatigue. They had not taken off their clothes and slept in a bed since +leaving Paris, and five minutes later they had thrown off their garments +and sunk into a deep sleep in the large, white bed. + +For ten hours Tournay slept without moving. Then he yawned, threw out +both arms, opened his eyes a little, and was preparing to sleep again +when he became conscious that a man was standing beside the bed. Opening +his heavy eyes a little further, he recognized Gaillard and said to him +drowsily:-- + +"Well! What is it, Gaillard? Can't I get a few minutes' sleep +undisturbed?" + +"The forenoon is half gone," replied Gaillard; "you've slept enough for +one man." + +"You don't mean to say that it's morning already!" exclaimed Tournay, +leaning on one elbow and blinking at the light. + +"Morning! The finest kind of a morning," replied Gaillard gayly. "I've +been up these two hours. I gained permission to go to our carriage, and +I have taken out a change of linen from our equipment in the boot." + +Tournay sprang from the bed and looked out of the window. The sun was +high in the heaven, and the day was bright and cold. + +"That Lieutenant Sauerkraut, or whatever his name may be," said +Gaillard, "has just come up to say that the general would like to see +you at your convenience. The lieutenant was particularly civil, for him, +so I surmise nothing will interfere with our early departure. It's +astonishing how quickly an underling takes his tone from his superior +officer. I suppose it will be better for you to wait upon the general at +once, while the old gentleman is in a good humor," continued Gaillard, +"and as I have been given the liberty of the courtyard, I will employ +the time in looking after our horses." + +"Very well," said Tournay. "I will go to General von Waldenmeer. I hope +nothing will interfere with our immediate departure." + +General von Waldenmeer was seated at his table with a pile of maps and +papers before him. At Tournay's entrance the two officers who were +standing at the general's side withdrew to the further end of the room. +It was the same room in which the scene of the previous evening had +taken place. On the table at the general's elbow stood his beer-mug, +filled with his morning draught. The old soldier was evidently very much +absorbed in the work before him, for his heavy brows were drawn over +his eyes and his lips were moving as he studied the papers. From time to +time he reached out his left hand mechanically and took up the beer-mug, +refreshing himself with a long pull. With the exception of the two +officers, there were no other occupants of the room. + +The picture of Mademoiselle Edme, as she had appeared when pleading to +the general in his behalf, was so vivid in Tournay's mind that he stood +silently before the table, oblivious to his surroundings. He remained in +this position for some minutes when the general, upon one of his +searches for inspiration at the bottom of the beer-mug, glanced over the +rim and saw the Frenchman standing like a statue before him. + +"_Potstausend!_" he exclaimed, as soon as he had set down the mug and +wiped the white froth from his mustache. "You were so quiet that I +forgot your existence and have been studying out a plan of campaign +against General Hoche under your very nose. He's a clever little man, is +Hoche," continued the old German musingly. "There is some sport in +beating him." + +Tournay smiled quietly at hearing his idol patronizingly spoken of by an +officer who had not won half his fame. + +"I wish you better success than your predecessor in the attempt, General +von Waldenmeer," he said. + +The general smiled grimly at this hit and then changed the subject by +saying:-- + +"Last evening I told you that I would send you back to France with an +escort to the frontier." + +Tournay bowed affirmatively. + +"Since then, Mademoiselle de Rochefort has told me in full the story of +her escape from Tours, recounting your part in it, and dwelling most +flatteringly upon your bravery and discretion." + +Tournay bowed again in acknowledgment. + +"The service you have rendered the daughter of my old friend, by +effecting her rescue and bringing her here in spite of such great +obstacles, makes my obligation to you deep, very deep. My honor and my +inclinations are one, when they move me to accord you, not only your +freedom, but to offer you a commission in my son's regiment, the Tenth +Prussian heavy artillery." + +If the general had ordered him out to instant execution or conferred +upon him in marriage the hand of his daughter Gretchen, Tournay could +not have felt more surprise. For a few moments he could find no words in +which to answer, and the general turned to the papers he had just laid +down. + +"Is my entry into your service made a condition of my freedom?" he +finally found breath to inquire. + +The Prussian general looked up from the map he had been studying, +pressing his fat finger upon it to mark the place. + +"Certainly not," he replied, "I make no conditions in paying a debt." + +"Then I will take my liberty, which you have promised to restore to me," +answered Tournay, "and return to France." + +It was now the general's turn to be surprised. + +"You mean to say that you will go back to Paris?" + +"I shall return to the French army at--It is needless to tell you where, +as you have been studying the map so attentively." + +"But," interrupted General von Waldenmeer, "within six months our allied +armies will be in Paris. There will be no more Republic, and every one +who has been instrumental in the death of King Louis XVI. and the +destruction of the monarchy will have to pay the penalty. You are a +young man. You have been led into this republicanism by older heads. I +offer you an opportunity--not only of escaping the consequences of your +folly but the chance of redeeming yourself by fighting on the right +side--and you refuse?" and the general reached out for the beer-mug to +sustain himself in his disappointment. He was so sincere in his offer +and in his amazement at its refusal that the angry color on Tournay's +cheek faded away and a smile crept to his lips. + +"Come," said the old general, putting down his mug after an unusually +long pull at the contents, "you are thinking better of it. I can +understand a soldier's disinclination to desert his colors, but this is +not as if I were asking you to be a traitor to your country. A von +Waldenmeer would cut out his own tongue rather than propose that to any +other soldier. I am putting it in your way to leave the service of a +faction who by anarchy and rebellion have gained control of France. +Under the banner of the allies are the true patriots of your country. +You have only to throw off that red, white, and blue uniform and put on +the colors of Prussia and you are one of them." + +Again the flush of resentment rose to Tournay's cheek, but as he looked +down upon the German general who in perfect good faith and seriousness +made him such a proposal, and as he realized the utter impossibility of +either of them ever seeing the subject in the same light, his look of +anger changed to one of amusement, and a grim smile twitched at the +corners of his mustache. + +"I appreciate the honor you would do me, General von Waldenmeer, but I +prefer to pay the penalty of my folly and remain loyal to the French +Republic." + +The general took up his papers again. "Very well," he said gruffly. "I +will provide you with an escort over the frontier. It will be ready to +start within the hour." His eyebrows came down and he became deeply +immersed in the study of the map. + +Tournay stood for a few moments looking at the fat forefinger of the old +soldier as it traced its way over the surface of the map. His thoughts +were of Mademoiselle de Rochefort. He wondered whether she had set out +on her way to Hagenhof. He almost hoped that she had left and that he +would be spared the pain of parting from her. Yet if she were still at +Falzenberg he knew he never could force himself to leave and not make an +attempt to bid her good-by. + +It was with these conflicting emotions, mingled with a reluctance to +mention her name to the gruff old general, that he said in a low +voice:-- + +"Has Mademoiselle de Rochefort started on her journey to Hagenhof?" + +He received no answer. + +There had been a slight tremor in his voice as he spoke Edme's name. +Hesitating for a moment, he stepped to the table and placing one hand on +it he asked again in a steady tone, "When does Mademoiselle de Rochefort +go to Hagenhof?" + +The one word "To-morrow" came abruptly out of the large head buried in +the papers before him. + +Tournay drew a sigh of relief. If she had gone away, leaving him no +word, he would have been the most miserable of men. Without further +words with the general he turned and left the room. + +As he went along the hallway be heard the rustle of a woman's gown +behind him, and turning, saw to his great satisfaction the figure of +Agatha hurrying toward him. + +"Agatha," he exclaimed, as she came up to him, "where is mademoiselle? +Can I see her?" + +"Mademoiselle is in Frau Krieger's apartment at the further end of the +east wing. If you will come with me I will show you where it is. It is +fortunate that I have met you as I do, else it would have been difficult +to find you in this large place." + +"Then you were sent to fetch me?" inquired Tournay eagerly. + +"I did not say that," replied Agatha with a quiet smile. + +"But you evidently were in search of me," persisted Tournay. + +"I have no time to answer questions now," she replied, with a laugh. +"Here is the room," and she ushered him into a long old-fashioned salon, +whose uncomfortable pieces of furniture looked as if they had stood for +generations staring at their own ugly reflections in the polished +surface of the floor. + +At one end of the room stood a porcelain stove in which a fire was +burning; but the large white sepulchral object seemed to chill the +atmosphere more than the fire could warm it. Two high windows hung with +heavy curtains faced the square in front of the house, while in the rear +two other windows looked out upon the courtyard. + +Frau Krieger, the widow of a Prussian officer of high rank, had reserved +the salon and one or two adjoining rooms for her own use, and saw with +pride the remainder of her domicile turned into barracks by General von +Waldenmeer and his staff. + +"Wait here a moment and I will tell mademoiselle," said Agatha, +traversing the salon and disappearing through a door in the further +side. Tournay walked to the front window and glanced out on the street. + +The sentinel at the porte-cochere was on the point of presenting arms to +Ludwig von Waldenmeer, who rode out; and two of the general's staff +officers stood smoking and chatting in front of the building. Tournay's +alert ear caught the sound of light footsteps, and he turned just as +Edme crossed the threshold from the inner room. + +He had told himself many times within the last few minutes that the +interview must be a brief one if he were to retain complete mastery over +his feelings. As he approached her, his face, in spite of his efforts to +control it, expressed some of the emotions which the sight of her +awakened. + +She extended her hand to him in her graceful, natural way, and he bent +over it, mechanically uttering the words he had been repeating over and +over to himself. + +"I have come, mademoiselle, to say adieu." + +At this, the color which had mantled her cheek as he touched her fingers +disappeared. + +"You have not seen General von Waldenmeer, then?" she asked quickly. + +"Yes, mademoiselle, and because I have seen him I intend to start at +once." + +"General von Waldenmeer says that in less than three months' time the +Prussian army will be in Paris," said Edme. + +A slight smile of incredulity was Tournay's only reply. + +"The monarchy will be restored," she continued; "little mercy will be +shown the Republicans. They will have justice meted out to them by their +conquerors." + +"The allied armies will never reach Paris, mademoiselle, and before they +restore the monarchy they must kill every Republican who stands between +them and the throne." + +"I do not want them to kill you," she said simply. + +His heart beat wildly. For an instant he did not speak. When he could +trust his voice to answer he said:-- + +"I thank you deeply for your solicitude, mademoiselle, but whatever +happens I must go back to my duty." + +Edme hesitated a moment, then spoke, at first with evident effort; then +warming into a tone of almost passionate entreaty. + +"You have done much for an unhappy woman, Robert Tournay. The +remembrance of the loyalty and devotion with which you watched over and +protected me shall never pass out of my memory. The de Rocheforts do not +easily forget such a debt as I owe you. In an attempt to repay it in +some measure, I persuaded General von Waldenmeer to offer you an +honorable position in his service. I am a proud woman, Monsieur Tournay, +and it cost me something to make such an appeal to the Prussian officer, +and now you reject his offer and present yourself before me so coolly +and say carelessly, 'I have come, mademoiselle, to bid you adieu.'" + +"You think it easy for me to say those words?" replied Tournay +vehemently. + +She did not wait for him to finish, but went on:-- + +"I place it in your power to serve the rightful cause, honorably and +loyally,--the cause of the king; _my_ cause, Robert Tournay, and you +refuse to do so." + +"Do you not see that what you propose would be my dishonor?" he asked +gently. + +"No," answered Edme firmly. "You are a brave but obstinate man, who +madly pursues a wicked course; because, having once espoused it, you +think to desert it would be disloyal. You are mad, Robert Tournay, but I +will rescue you from your folly. I will save you in spite of yourself. I +command you to stay here!" and with the same imperious gesture which he +knew so well of old, she stood before him, her dark blue eyes, as was +their wont under stress of excitement, flashing almost black. The tone +was one of command, but there was in it a note of entreaty that went to +his heart. He caught the hand which she held out to him, and exclaimed +fervently:-- + +"I would give ten years of life to be able to obey you, but it cannot +be. You do not know what you are asking of me or you would not put my +honor thus upon the rack. It is cruel of you, mademoiselle, but I +forgive you. You cannot understand. How should you--you are of the +Monarchy, and I am of the Republic. The Republic calls me and I must +go." + +"The Republic!" repeated Edme, "Oh! execrable Republic! It has robbed me +of everything in the world--family, estate, friends, and now"--She +paused, the sentence incomplete upon her lips, and looked at him with an +expression of pain upon her face as if some violent struggle were +taking place within her. "And now you are going back to it. You may +become its victim; you, who are so brave and strong and noble. Yes," she +continued, "I will give the word its full meaning, Robert Tournay, you +are noble--too noble to become a martyr in such a cause. I entreat you +not to go. I fear for your safety." + +Tournay's head swam. For a moment he felt that he must fold her in his +arms and tell her that for her sake he would give up everything in the +world for which he had striven,--country, liberty, and honor; the +Republic itself. + +With a mighty effort he threw off the feeling of weakness, passionately +crying, "For God's sake, mademoiselle, do not speak to me like that. You +will make me forget my manhood. You will make me act so that your +respect, which I have been so fortunate as to win, will turn to +contempt. You could almost make me turn traitor to the Republic." + +"What is this Republic? this creature of the imagination which you place +above all else in the world?" she asked impetuously. "What has it done +for France? What has it done for you?" + +Before Tournay could answer, the sound of martial music was heard +outside, and the measured tread of passing troops shook the room. He +stepped to the window and drawing aside the curtains motioned Edme to +come to his side. + +Wonderingly she approached and saw a brigade of infantry passing in +review of the general of division. They marched with absolute +precision, the sun reflecting on the polished barrels of their guns as +on a solid wall. + +"There go the best troops in the world," said Tournay. Edme looked up in +his face with surprise at his sudden change of manner. + +"The soldiers of Prussia: at the command of their officers they will +march like that to the batteries' mouth, closing up the gap of the +fallen men with clock-work movements. There are two hundred thousand of +them, and they are preparing to attack France. Joined with them are the +tried veterans of Austria. On the sea," he continued, "the fleets of +England are bearing down upon the ports of France. In the south, Spain +is pouring her soldiers over the Pyrenees. These allied armies have +banded together to destroy France. Yet we shall throw them back again, +as we did at Wattignes and at Jemappes. There the flower of the European +armies was scattered by our raw French troops. Although outnumbered and +outmanoeuvred, the _men_ of France hurled back their foes in broken +and disordered array. And why? Because in the heart of every Frenchman +burns the new-born fire of liberty. He is fighting for the freedom he +has bought so dearly. He is fighting for that Republic which has made +him what he is--a _man_! It is France against the world! and by the +Republic alone will she triumph over her enemies. That is my answer, +mademoiselle. The Republic has made a new France, and _I_ am part of it. +At her call I must leave everything and go to her defense." + +While he spoke thus, Edme saw his face animated with a light she had +learned to know so well,--the same light that had shone from his eyes +when he confronted the mob in her chateau; the same fire that flashed as +he defended himself before General von Waldenmeer. + +"You say I place my duty to the Republic above any earthly +consideration," he said. "Let me tell you that I hold your respect still +dearer. If I should desert my cause, the cause for which I have lived, +should I not lose that respect? Ask your own heart, mademoiselle, would +it not be so?" + +She stood in silence. Then her eyes met his. He read her answer there +before she spoke, and in the look she gave him he thought he read still +more--something he dared not believe, scarcely dared hope. + +"You are right," she replied, speaking slowly and distinctly. "Go back +to France! It is I who bid you go." + +"I knew you would tell me to go," he replied. + +The sound of voices in the corridor outside fell upon their ears. + +"There are Gaillard and the escort," said Tournay, sadly. "Mademoiselle, +good-by! I may never see you again. But I thank God that you are here in +safety, and I shall find some happiness in the thought that I have been +an instrument in your deliverance." + +She did not answer, but stretched out her hand to him. He took it, and +dropping on one knee, put it to his lips. "It is for the last time," he +said, looking up at her. His face was deadly pale, and there was a look +of pleading in his brown eyes. + +She placed her other hand upon his head. It was but the slightest touch, +as if she yielded to a sudden impulse, and then with the same swift +movement she drew away from him. + +"As it _must_ be, I pray you to go quickly," she said, and without +waiting for a reply she turned and left him. + +Tournay rose to his feet,--"I swear to you now, mademoiselle, that some +day I shall see you again," and he rushed from the room to the courtyard +below. + +"Are the horses ready?" he whispered hoarsely, grasping Gaillard by the +arm. + +"At the door with an escort of Prussian officers," was the reply. + +"What time is it?" + +"Three hours before dark." + +"We must be over the frontier and well into France by to-night," was +Tournay's rejoinder. "Come!" + +Standing by the window, Edme saw him leap into the saddle. He gave one +look in her direction, but could not see her, concealed as she was by +the heavy curtains. + +She heard the officers laughing and talking among themselves. She saw +one of the men jump from his horse, tighten a saddle girth, and remount +with an agile spring. Then Colonel von Waldenmeer approached and +addressed some remark to Robert Tournay. The latter, who had been +sitting erect and motionless upon his horse, turned slightly in the +saddle to answer the Prussian officer. + +Edme could see that his features were set and their expression stern. + +Colonel von Waldenmeer mounted his own horse, gave a word of command, +and the party started forward. + +Edme watched them as they went up the road. Ten horses riding two +abreast, the snow flying out from under the heels of the galloping +hoofs. She watched them until the square shoulders of Colonel Tournay +were hardly distinguishable from those of Colonel Karl who rode beside +him. The cavalcade disappeared around a bend in the road, and Edme +turned from the wintry aspect without to the dreary salon with a heavy +heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FOUR COMMISSIONERS + + +Under the escort of Karl von Waldenmeer and half a dozen of his French +officers, Tournay and Gaillard rode rapidly toward the French boundary. + +It had stopped snowing during the night, and the weather was clear and +cold. + +They rode in silence, no sound being heard but the regular dull beating +of their horses' hoofs on the snow-covered ground. + +They drew out of the wood and saw the frozen surface of the Rhine before +them, the sun dazzling their eyes with its reflected light upon the ice. + +With one accord the party reined in their horses and sat motionless, +looking at the glorious sight of the ice-bound river. + +Karl von Waldenmeer was the first to break the silence. Pointing with +his gloved hand toward the opposite shore he said:-- + +"There, gentlemen, is France, and my road ends here." + +Tournay merely made an inclination of the head in assent. He was +thinking sadly of Edme standing by the window in the cheerless old salon +at Falzenberg; but as he looked out over the river towards his own land +he remembered the army on the other side of the Vosges; the prospect of +the impending campaign caused his spirits to revive, and he replied:-- + +"We owe you thanks, Colonel von Waldenmeer, for the kindness you have +been pleased to show us. When we meet again it will doubtless be upon +the field of battle, but I shall not even then forget your courtesy of +to-day." + +"It will always give me pleasure to meet you again, under any +circumstances, Colonel Tournay," said the Prussian, "and if it be on the +field, to cross swords with you. A brave foe makes a good friend, and I +shall be glad to count you as both of these. And now, gentlemen, we will +relieve you of our escort; there lies your way over that bridge, just +below here. We return to Falzenberg." + +"Let us cross upon the ice," said Gaillard to Tournay; "it will bear our +weight easily." + +They rode down the bank. At the brink their horses drew back, but being +urged by their riders, went forward, feeling the ice daintily with their +forefeet with cat-like caution. Seeing that the ice was quite safe, the +Frenchmen put spurs into their horses and the animals swung into a +gallop, their iron-shod feet cutting into the ice with a pleasant, +crunching sound. + +Reaching the further side, they rode up the steep bank, then reined in +their horses and looked back. The declining rays of the sun tipped the +snow-clad hemlock trees on the other side of the river with crimson, +and against the dark outline of the forest behind, the figures of +Colonel von Waldenmeer and his officers sat motionless as statues. Each +party gave the military salute, and the Prussians rode back into the +wood, while Tournay and Gaillard sat looking after them until they were +no longer in sight. + +"We are on French soil once more," exclaimed Tournay, "and now to join +General Hoche and fight for it." + +"I had best return to Paris," said Gaillard. + +"I fear to have you return there now, after having put your head in +danger by assisting me," said Tournay anxiously. + +"I shall be as safe in Paris as anywhere in the world," replied his +friend. "Nobody will suspect the actor Gaillard of having any connection +with the flight of Mademoiselle de Rochefort. I cannot do better than to +return to Paris and resume my usual mode of life there. While, if you +are suspected, as is more likely, of instigating or effecting +Mademoiselle de Rochefort's escape from Tours, you must look to your +military reputation and your influence in the convention to protect you +from an inquiry on the part of the rabid revolutionists." + +"What you say, Gaillard, is sound reasoning. I will follow your advice. +Embrace me, my friend, and let us part here." + +"Good-by until we meet again, my colonel!" was Gaillard's only audible +reply, and then he rode off toward the west, while Tournay turned his +horse in the direction of the north, where the French troops lay +encamped. + +It was about noon of the next day when he reached the French army, and +stopping only at his own tent to put on his uniform he hurried to the +headquarters of General Hoche and reported for duty. He had traveled so +rapidly from Tours that he reached the army almost as soon as General +Hoche expected him, and the general attributed the delay of a day or so +to the bad condition of the roads. + +Tournay hesitated to set him right in the matter, as he deemed it more +prudent to refrain from mentioning to anyone his part in Mademoiselle de +Rochefort's escape. + +"What news do you bring from the convention?" was the question of the +general as they were seated alone. + +"Bad!" replied Tournay, "as you can tell by the tone of these +dispatches. The convention has many able men in it, but they are +dominated too entirely by the Revolutionary Tribunal, and that body is +dominated too much by one man. His power is ruining the Republic. Unless +we get rid of Robespierre, we might as well go back to the monarchy." + +After a few moments spent in reading the papers Tournay had put in his +hand, General Hoche looked up with an expression of annoyance on his +brow. + +"Yes; the insulting tone of this dispatch is almost beyond endurance. I +am glad after all that my business is out here fighting the external +enemies of France. Were I at Paris, I should be embroiling myself daily +with some of those who are in power. If we meet with the slightest +reverses here at the front there is a howl from St. Just and that crowd +that we are betraying the Republic. Meanwhile they furnish us with a +beggarly equipment. It is they who are betraying the Republic. Were it +not for Danton we should get nothing. He alone makes success against our +enemies possible. And we must be successful, Colonel Tournay; look here +at the plan of campaign." + +And the young general, in his military ardor, forgetting entirely the +insulting dispatch, turned with enthusiasm to the maps which lay spread +out on the table. + +"Here are the bulk of the Austrian forces at Wissembourg. That old +German beer-barrel von Waldenmeer is at Falzenberg. He intends to +concentrate his troops there and then bring them up to join the Austrian +general, Wurmser." + +Tournay started at his own general's accurate information in regard to +the enemy's position and plans. + +"We must attack Wurmser at once before he can receive reinforcements, +and then proceed to Landau. They have beaten us once at Wissembourg and +will not be looking for us to take the offensive again so soon. I have +already given the order to mobilize the troops. I and my staff will ride +forward this evening. By to-morrow night we shall have retaken +Wissembourg." + +"One moment, general," interrupted Tournay, as Hoche took up another +map. "I wish to tell you that I have just seen General von Waldenmeer at +Falzenberg." + +Hoche looked at his officer with surprise. + +"I went to the Prussian frontier on an errand, the nature of which I +should prefer to keep secret for the present. I was suspected of being a +spy, taken prisoner, and brought before General von Waldenmeer. He +listened to my explanations and released me under circumstances no less +peculiar than those which brought me within his lines." Here Tournay +stopped, the blood coming to the surface under the bronze of his cheek +at the steady gaze of General Hoche. + +"Is that all?" inquired the latter. + +"That is all," answered his colonel, "except that had I not made this +detour I should have been here twenty-four hours earlier, and that as I +got within the Prussian lines by mistake and did not go as a spy, I can +give you no information which you have not already obtained." + +"If you had arrived twenty-four hours later you would have missed the +grandest opportunity of your life; I intend to give you, Colonel +Tournay, the command of a brigade in the approaching battle." + +"A brigade?" echoed Tournay in surprise. + +"You shall atone for your breach of discipline by bearing great +responsibility in the attack. I intend your brigade to be where the +fight is hottest, and if there is anything left of it after the +engagement, and of you, colonel, you shall continue to command it and I +will recommend you for promotion." + +Tournay grasped his chief by the hand. + +"You may be sure, General Hoche, that I shall do my utmost to deserve +the honor you have done me." + +"I was persuaded of that before I determined to give you the command," +replied Hoche; "now go forward and join your regiment. By midnight I +shall be at Wissembourg and shall have one last word with all of my +generals. I do not believe in protracted councils of war." + +That evening Colonel Tournay was encamped before the field of +Wissembourg. He sat in his tent waiting for the summons that should +bring him to General Hoche's council board. + +An orderly entered with the word that a commission of four men from the +Committee of Public Safety at Paris wished to speak to him. + +Tournay started from the reverie into which he had fallen. His thoughts +had been dwelling upon the events of the past week, and the announcement +struck a discordant note in his meditation. "Show them in," he replied +briefly. + +In another moment the four commissioners stood before him. Three of the +men were unknown to him, but the fourth was Gardin. The latter, as +spokesman, stood a little in advance of the others. On his face there +was a look of mingled insolence and triumph. + +Tournay's gorge rose at sight of the man, but remembering that he was +the recognized emissary from the committee he controlled his impulse to +kick him from the tent. + +"Will you be seated, citizens?" he said, rising and addressing his +remark more to the three commissioners who were not known to him than to +Gardin. "Orderly, bring seats." + +"Our business with you will be of such short duration that we shall have +no need to sit down," answered Gardin curtly. + +"Orderly, do not bring the seats," was Tournay's quick order, as he +resumed his former place on a camp-chair and sat carelessly looking at +the four men standing before him. This placed Gardin in just the +opposite role from that he had intended to assume. He saw his mistake at +once, and hastened to recover his lost ground. + +"Citizen colonel," he said, drawing a paper from his pocket and putting +it in Tournay's hands, "here is a document from the committee which even +you cannot question. It is addressed to Robert Tournay." + +Tournay broke the large red seal of the letter and read:-- + + CITIZEN COLONEL ROBERT TOURNAY; with the Army of the Moselle, + Citizen General Lazare Hoche commanding:-- + + The Citizen Colonel Tournay is hereby summoned to appear before + the Committee of Public Safety to answer charges affecting his + patriotism and loyalty to the Republic. He will resign his + command at once, and return to Paris in the company of the four + commissioners who bring him this document. + + Signed: For the Committee of Public Safety, + + COUTHON, + ST. JUST. + + This 5th Pluviose, the year II. of the French Republic one and + indivisible. + +When he had finished reading the document Tournay folded it carefully +and placed it in his pocket. + +"Well?" demanded Gardin impatiently. + +"I cannot at present leave the army," was the reply. + +The four commissioners exchanged looks. + +"We are on the eve of a decisive engagement with the enemy. When that is +over--in a few days, if I am alive, I will answer the committee's +summons." + +"We were instructed to bring you back with us at once," said one of the +commissioners. + +"And we'll do it, too," muttered another under his breath. + +The fourth pulled Gardin by the sleeve and whispered something in his +ear. + +"I regret, citizen commissioners," repeated Tournay, "that I cannot at +present leave the army." + +Then rising suddenly and confronting Gardin he said passionately:-- + +"Tell your masters that it is not necessary to drag Robert Tournay to +Paris like a felon, that he will appear before the committee of his own +free will; that he regards the welfare of France as paramount to +everything else, and that his duty to her will take him to the field +to-morrow." + +"Your answer is not satisfactory to us," persisted Gardin, "nor will it +be to the committee. Once more, and for the last time, citizen colonel, +will you obey this summons as it is written?" + +"No!" thundered Tournay. + +"Then in the name of the Republic I suspend you from your command, and +arrest you as a traitor. Lay hands upon him!" + +Gardin himself, remembering his previous encounter with Tournay in which +he had come off so poorly, merely gave the command, leaving the others +to execute it. Two of them stepped forward with alacrity, one upon each +side of Tournay, and grasped him by the arms. + +He offered no resistance, but raising his voice a little called out:-- + +"Officers of the guard!" + +Half a dozen of his Hussars who were in the adjoining tent hastened in +at his call. + +"Arrest these four men!" commanded Tournay quietly. + +"Stop!" cried Gardin; "arrest us at your peril. We are the authorized +emissaries of the Committee of Public Safety," and he flourished his +commission in the soldiers' faces. "We are but carrying out our strict +orders. To lay hands upon us will be to bring down upon your heads the +vengeance of Robespierre." + +The Hussars stood still. The name of the man who governed France under +the cloak of the Republic made them hesitate. + +"Conduct the prisoner away with as much dispatch as possible," said +Gardin in a quick, low tone to his companions. + +"Lieutenant Dessarts, arrest these four men instantly," repeated +Tournay. There was a ring in his voice which his subordinates well +understood, and without further hesitation they laid hands upon the +Paris commissioners and proceeded to drag them from the tent by force. + +"He has been relieved of his command and therefore has no right to give +you orders. Are you slaves that you obey him thus?" yelled Gardin, +struggling with the big corporal who held him. + +"See that no harm is done them, Lieutenant Dessarts," Tournay called out +as the men were led away. "Conduct them outside our lines and give +orders that they shall not be permitted to return." + +Following them to the door of his tent, Tournay coolly watched the +unhappy commissioners as they were led away, protesting vehemently +against the indignity of their arrest and vowing vengeance for it. + +It was a cold winter night, and the wind blew down through the mountain +passes of the Vosges with biting keenness. Throwing his cloak over his +shoulder he strolled out through the camp. In spite of the chilling wind +the soldiers showed the greatest enthusiasm. As he went down the long +line of camp-fires, he was recognized and cheered roundly. Cries of +"We'll beat them at Wissembourg to-morrow, colonel!" "Landau or death!" +greeted him on all sides. + +The next day showed that they had not uttered vain boasts. + +Tournay's command, sweeping through a narrow defile in the face of a +destructive fire, tore through the enemy's centre, and combining with +Dessaix on the left, and Pichegru on the right, sent Wurmser's troops +backward before his Prussian allies could come to his assistance. + +With the cry of "Landau or death!" the victorious French dashed on +toward the beleaguered city and raised the siege just as the brave +garrison was in the last extremity for want of food and ammunition. + +The day after the relief of Landau, Colonel Tournay entered the tent of +the commander-in-chief. Hoche rose to meet him, and taking him by the +hand said warmly:-- + +"Colonel Tournay, in the name of France I thank you for the efficiency +and bravery displayed yesterday. The victory of Wissembourg will live in +the annals of history, and a full share of the glory belongs to you. In +my dispatches to the convention I have not omitted to mention your noble +conduct." + +The generous Hoche pressed the hand of his colonel in fraternal feeling. +He was two years younger than Tournay, although care and fatigue gave +him the looks of an older man. At twenty-four this remarkable man had +risen to be preeminently the greatest general in France, and but for his +premature death might in later years have contested with Napoleon for +his laurels. + +"I have come, general, to ask your permission to return to Paris," said +Tournay, much gratified by the words of praise from the lips of one whom +he regarded as the greatest military hero of the age. + +"Again?" said Hoche, in a tone of surprise. + +"The Committee of Public Safety have seen fit to summon me to appear +before them," Tournay continued. "Some one has been found to impeach my +loyalty, and I must answer the charge." + +A shade passed over the face of Hoche. + +"But I can ill spare you, Colonel Tournay. What does this committee mean +by suspecting the integrity of an officer in whom I have implicit faith? +By Heaven, I will not permit it! If they arrest you, I'll throw my +commission back in their faces before I will allow you to answer their +charges." + +"That, my general, would but work injury to France, who depends upon +such a man as you to save her. You surely will not desert her because a +few overheated brains at Paris have seen fit to listen to some of my +traducers. I will go back to Paris and confront my enemies. My conduct +at Wissembourg will be an answer to their charge of treason." And the +colonel drew himself up with a flash of pardonable pride in his dark +eyes. + +"You may be right," replied Hoche, "but I would not trust them. The +reputation which your conduct at Wissembourg will create for you will +make them jealous, and they will whisper it about that your popularity +renders you dangerous. I know them. They become jealous of any man's +reputation. They will have me before the bar of their tribunal as soon +as they feel that they can spare me." + +And Hoche laughed scornfully as he uttered the prophecy which was so +soon to be fulfilled. + +"I have no fear but that I shall be able to satisfy them as to loyalty," +replied Tournay, smiling at the absurdity of the great and popular Hoche +pleading before the tribunal. + +"Well, go if you will, but understand, Tournay, that if you refuse to +obey this summons, I will protect you. They shall bring no fictitious +charges against a trusted officer in my army without entering into a +contest with me." + +"I thank you again, my general, but I will not permit you to embroil +yourself with the committee on my account. You are too indispensable to +France. Now I will take the leave of absence you accord me. In ten days +you may look for my return." + +General Hoche shook his head as Tournay left his presence:-- + +"I fear it will be longer than that, my friend," he sighed to himself. + +Colonel Tournay, accompanied by but one orderly, rode toward Paris. The +feelings of pride and pleasure which his general's praise had raised in +his heart were subdued by the humiliation at being summoned before the +Committee of Public Safety. But there was a fire in his eye, and a +hardening of the lines near the mouth which boded that he would not +submit tamely to insult nor an unjust sentence. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SWORD OF ROCROY + + +Citizen St. Hilaire had just come in from making a few purchases at the +baker's shop in the Rue des Mathurins. Shortly after dusk that evening +he had recalled to mind that he was without the gill of cream for his +next morning's coffee, and also that the small white loaf which formed a +part of his breakfast was at that moment reposing crisp and warm on the +counter of the baker's shop a few doors distant. + +As Citizen St. Hilaire was very particular about his coffee and always +liked to have a certain choice loaf that Jules, the baker in the Rue des +Mathurins, made to perfection late every afternoon, he had braved the +wind and rain of a stormy January evening, and gone out to procure his +next morning's repast. + +Returning to his small apartment at the top of the house, he threw off +his wet cloak and was on the point of extracting from his pocket a +little can of cream, when a knock sounded at the door of the chamber +which served him for sitting-room, dining-room, and library. Putting the +can upon the table, he took up a lamp and went to the door. + +A young woman stood upon the threshold. She had evidently come in a +carriage, for the costly clothes she wore were quite unspotted by the +rain. + +"This is Citizen St. Hilaire," she said in a tone of conviction as she +stepped into the room. + +St. Hilaire bowed and stepped back to place the lamp upon a small table +near at hand, and stood waiting the further pleasure of his visitor. + +As he stood within the circle of light, the young woman looked from him +to his modest surroundings with marked curiosity, her eyes dwelling upon +each object in the room in turn. It did not take long to note every +piece of furniture; the table, arm-chair, a few books, the violin case +in the corner, with a picture or two and a pair of rapiers upon the +wall. When she had completed her survey of the room her gaze returned to +him once more. + +He was plainly dressed in a suit of dark brown color. His linen was +exquisitely neat, and his figure was so elegant that although his coat +was far from new, and of no exceptional quality, it became him as well +as if it were of the most costly material. + +"Will you be seated?" said St. Hilaire, drawing forward the arm-chair +from its corner. + +The young woman took the seat he offered her. + +"And so you are Citizen St. Hilaire," she repeated as if the name +interested. "I--I am Citizeness La Liberte. I remember you well," she +continued; "I saw you a number of times, years ago, at the home of the +Marquis de----But why mention his name? There are no more marquises in +France, and he was a worthless creature," and she tossed back her head +with a gesture of careless freedom. + +"No," he repeated, "there are no more marquises," and with a laugh he +seated himself opposite her. The sharp end of the crisp loaf in his +pocket made him aware of its presence. He took it out and put it in its +place upon the table beside the cream. + +"The Republic has caused many strange changes, but I should never have +dreamed of finding you here like this, Citizen St. Hilaire," and again +she eyed him wonderingly. + +"The Republic has done a great deal for you?" said St. Hilaire, raising +his eyebrows inquiringly. + +"Everything," replied La Liberte with emphasis, while her eyes and the +jewels on her bosom flashed upon him dazzlingly. Her look indicated that +she thought the Revolution had not dealt so generously by him. + +"It has done much for me too," said St. Hilaire. + +"What good has it done you?" inquired La Liberte incredulously. + +"It has taught me wisdom," he replied. + +"Oh," she answered contemptuously, "it has brought me pleasure. +Therefore I love it. But you, Citizen St. Hilaire,--will you answer me a +question?" + +St. Hilaire bowed in acquiescence. + +"Are you satisfied with this Republic? I know it is dangerous to speak +slightingly of it in these days, but between us, with only the walls to +hear, do you like it?" + +"I am never satisfied with anything," replied St. Hilaire with just a +touch of weariness in his voice. + +"I should think that you would hate it. I should were I you," and La +Liberte shook her brown curls with a laugh. + +"Notwithstanding," said St. Hilaire, "I would not go back to the old +regime." + +"I do not understand you at all," exclaimed La Liberte in despair, with +a puzzled look on her brow. + +"Why try?" he asked dryly. "I have given it up myself. Tell me in what +way I can serve you?" + +"I have come here to do you a service," she answered. The room was warm, +and as she spoke she threw her ermine-lined cloak over the back of the +chair. + +A slight trace of surprise showed itself upon Citizen St. Hilaire's face +as he looked at her inquiringly. + +She had evidently found the chair too large to sit in comfortably, for +she perched herself upon its arm with one foot on the floor while she +swung the other easily. + +"That is extraordinary!'" he exclaimed. "It is a long time since any one +has gone out of his way to do me a service. May I ask why you have done +so?" + +"Oh, I can hardly tell you why," she replied, tapping her boot heel +against the side of the chair. It was a very dainty foot and clad in +the finest chaussure to be found in Paris. "You were once kind to a +friend of mine," she went on to say, slowly--"and I rather liked +you--and so I have come to show you this." She put a slip of paper into +his hand. + +It was headed, "List for the fifteenth Pluviose." Then followed a score +of names. St. Hilaire saw his own among them near the end. + +The young woman watched him earnestly while he read it. The careless +look had quite disappeared from her face, and given place to one of +seriousness. + +"It is a list of names," said St. Hilaire, turning the paper over and +looking at the reverse side to see if it contained anything else. "And +my name is honored by being among them. Where did it come from? What +does it mean?" + +"I picked it up," replied La Liberte. "I saw it lying on a table. I did +not know the other names upon it and should never have touched it had I +not seen your name. And I resolved that you should see it also, and be +warned in time. But you have little time to spare. To-morrow is the +fifteenth." + +"Warned?" repeated St. Hilaire, "of what?" + +"Every man whose name is upon that list will be arrested to-morrow. It +may be in the morning, it may be during the day, it may be late at +night. But it will surely be to-morrow. Oh! I have seen so many of those +lists, and of late they are longer and more frequent." + +"Whose handwriting is this?" inquired St. Hilaire, looking at +critically. + +"I dare not tell," said La Liberte in a low tone. + +"As long as you have revealed so much, why not go a step further and +make the information of greater value?" he insisted quietly. + +"One of the committee, I dare not mention his name even here," and she +looked around the room furtively. "One of the most powerful," she went +on, in a very low tone, as if frightened at her own temerity. "Cannot +you guess?" + +"Yes, I think I can," rejoined St. Hilaire musingly. + +"Now that you have had this warning I hope you will be able to elude +them. Give me the paper again, Citizen St. Hilaire, that I may replace +it before it is missed. He is at the club now, but I must hurry back. +Never mind the light; I can find my way well enough. My eyes are used to +the dark." + +St. Hilaire took up the lamp, and in spite of her remonstrances +accompanied her down the four flights of stairs. At the door stood a +handsome equipage. + +"That is mine," she said, as St. Hilaire escorted her to the carriage; +there was the same slight touch of pride in her tone that had crept out +once before. "This once belonged to the Duchess de Montmorenci," she +said. "It is rather heavy and old-fashioned, but will do very well until +I can get a new one." + +"I see that you have had the coat of arms erased," St. Hilaire +remarked. "I suppose your new carriage will have a red nightcap on the +panel." + +"Now you are laughing at me," she said, tossing back her brown curls +with a pout. "Good-night, marquis," she added in a low voice in his ear +as he was closing the door of the carriage. + +"Citizen St. Hilaire," he corrected gravely, as she drove away. "You +forget there are no more marquises in France." + +After La Liberte's departure the Citizen St. Hilaire retraced his steps +up the stairs, humming quietly to himself. On reaching the top landing +he entered his room and sitting down by the window he looked out over +the lights of Paris. For two hours he sat thus buried deep in thought +and scarcely moving. When he finally arose from his chair the city clock +had long struck the hour of midnight. + +First drawing the bolt to the door as if to prevent intrusion even at +that late hour, he opened an old armoire in the corner of the room and +took from it an object carefully wrapped in a velvet cover. He took from +the covering a sword, with golden hilt studded with jewels. The +scabbard, too, was of pure gold, set profusely with diamonds, emeralds, +and rubies. Unsheathing the weapon he held it to the light. He held it +carefully, almost reverently, as one holds some sacred relic. His eye +was animated and had he uttered his thoughts he would have spoken +thus:-- + +"This is the sword that a marshal of France wielded upon the field of +battle. He was my ancestor, and from father to son it has come down to +me, the last of my race. It is as bright to-day as when it flashed from +its sheath at Rocroy. I have kept it untarnished. It is the sole +remaining relic of the greatness of our name." + +Replacing the sword carefully in its scabbard, he buckled it around his +waist. Then taking a cloak from the armoire he enveloped himself in it, +so as to completely hide the jeweled scabbard. This done, he went into +his bedroom and drew from under his couch a small chest from which he +took a purse containing some money. All these preparations he made +quietly and with great deliberation. Returning to the sitting-room he +unbolted and opened the door. All was quiet. A cat, that frequented the +upper part of the building, and made friends with those who fed it, +walked silently in through the open door and arching her back rubbed +purringly against his leg. He went to the cupboard, and getting out a +saucer filled it with the cream that was to have flavored his next +morning's cup of coffee, and placed it on the floor. The animal ran to +it greedily, and for a few moments St. Hilaire stood watching the little +red tongue curl rapidly out and in of the creature's mouth as she lapped +up the unexpected feast. Then giving a glance about the room, but +touching nothing else in it, he extinguished the light and went out into +the corridor, leaving the door ajar. + +When he passed out into the street he noticed that the rain had ceased. +The wind blew freshly from the west and the night was cool. Drawing his +cloak closer about him and allowing one hand to rest upon his +sword-hilt, he walked rapidly away, humming softly to himself. In the +room he had just left, the cat licked up the last few drops of cream in +the saucer; signified her contentment by stretching herself, while she +dug her forepaws into the carpet several times in succession; then +jumped into his vacant arm-chair and curled up for a nap. + +The Citizen St. Hilaire had always foreseen the possibility of just such +an emergency as now confronted him. He was quite prepared to meet it. + +On the other side of the river in the small and quiet Rue d'Arcis dwelt +an old man. The house in which he lived, number seven, was also very +old. It was large and rambling. St. Hilaire knew it well. As a child he +had played in it. It had once belonged to him, and he had deeded it to +an old servant of his father at a time when he regarded old houses as +encumbrances upon his estates, and when aged servants had found no place +in his retinue. If for no other reason, his family pride had caused him +to make generous provision for a faithful retainer, and now that his own +worldly fortunes were reduced, he knew where to find a home until he +could carry out his plans for leaving the country. For some time past he +had been forming such plans, but with his customary indifference to +danger he had delayed their execution from day to day. + +Crossing the Seine by the bridge St. Michel and following the Quai, St. +Hilaire remembered an unfrequented way to the house in the Rue d'Arcis. +From the Quai on the left was a blind alley that ended at a row of +houses. Through one of these houses had been cut an arched passage to +the street beyond. The passageway came out on the other side almost +directly opposite number seven, and offered a tempting short-cut. + +St. Hilaire walked quietly up the alley and had almost reached the +farther end, when a door on the opposite side opened and a woman came +out. The lateness of the hour and the signs of timidity which the woman +showed, caused St. Hilaire to stop in the entrance to the passageway and +look back to observe her actions. + +She peered first down the street cautiously, as if to see that there +were no passers on the Quai, then up at the windows of the houses +opposite to assure herself that she was unobserved from that quarter. +Satisfied as to both of these points, she closed the door noiselessly, +and hurriedly passed down the street. She was, however, not destined to +reach the Quai unnoticed by any other eyes than St. Hilaire's, for she +had not gone fifty paces when a party of four men, talking in loud +voices, crossed the street on the Quai. At sight of them the woman +stopped short and hesitated. The four also stopped and looked at her. +One of them called out to her. Evidently frightened she turned, and +crossing the street hurried back. To St. Hilaire's surprise, she passed +by the house from which she had recently come, and made straight for +the passageway where he stood. The four men gave chase, one of them +overtaking her before she had reached the entrance. He placed his hand +upon her arm, while she cried and struggled to free herself. The hood +fell over her shoulders, and in the light from a lantern, hung upon a +projecting crane from one of the houses, St. Hilaire recognized Madame +d'Arlincourt. + +The exertion to free herself from the man's grasp had caused her hair to +fall down upon her shoulders. Her blue eyes had a wild look like those +of a person whose mind is strained almost to madness. She fought +fiercely for her freedom. + +A dove striking its pinions against a lion's paw could have been able to +effect its release as quickly as the poor little countess from the huge +hand that held her. + +St. Hilaire was as gallant a gentleman as ever drew a sword, or raised a +lady's fingers to his lips. On the instant, he forgot his own danger and +the cause of his flight, and stepped forward into the circle of light. + +"How now, citizen? What have you to do with this young citizeness?" he +cried out in distinct tones. + +In his surprise at St. Hilaire's sudden appearance, the man loosened his +grasp upon Madame d'Arlincourt's shoulder. With a cry she flew instantly +to St. Hilaire's side for protection. + +"Defend me, sir, oh, save me from them!" she cried, catching hold of his +arm. + +"I will not let them harm a hair of your head," he whispered in reply; +"calm yourself, my dear madame." + +The quiet way in which he spoke seemed to bring back some part of her +self-control. She ceased crying and stood by his side like a statue, +although he could feel by the pressure on his arm that she still +trembled. + +"Well, citizen, what would you with this citizeness?" repeated St. +Hilaire in a loud voice, as the other men came up behind their comrade. + +"Her actions are suspicious; she may be an aristocrat. We want to bring +her to the Section for examination," answered one of them. + +"Let her come to the Section," echoed another. + +The fellow who had first laid hands upon the countess now recovered +speech. "If she's an aristocrat here's at her; I've killed many an +aristocrat in my day." As he spoke he drew himself together and raising +his musket leveled it at the woman's head. + +The countess tightened her grasp on St. Hilaire's arm with both her +hands, rendering him powerless for the moment. + +St. Hilaire pushed her gently behind him, and looking straight into his +opponent's face, said firmly:-- + +"She shall certainly go to the Section, citizen, but first put down your +weapon and let me speak. I am Citizen St. Hilaire--were we in the +Faubourg St. Michel almost anybody would be able to tell you who I am." + +"I know you, citizen!" exclaimed one of the men in the rear, "and you +should know me also. My name is Gonflou!" and the fellow grinned +good-naturedly over the shoulder of his companion, as if he recognized +an old friend. + +"Ah yes, good citizen Gonflou!" repeated St. Hilaire. "Restrain the +ardor of this patriot who handles his musket so carelessly, while I +question the little citizeness." + +"Lower that musket, Haillon, or I'll beat your head with this," said +Gonflou, rattling his heavy sabre threateningly. + +Haillon muttered an oath and lowered the muzzle of his weapon. + +"We can't be all night at this," he growled. "Better let me take a shot +at the woman; she's an aristocrat, that's flat." + +St. Hilaire bent over the countess. + +"Release my arm!" She obeyed like a child. Stepping back with her a +couple of paces, he continued:-- + +"Who is in the house you have just come out of? Answer me truthfully and +fearlessly." + +She looked up into his face, and he saw that she now recognized him as +she answered in a whisper, "My husband. He is ill. I could only venture +out after midnight to summon a physician who is known to us." + +"Well," exclaimed Haillon, impatiently grinding the butt of his gun on +the pavement, "how long does it take to find out about an aristocrat?" + +"She was going to summon a doctor to attend a sick father," said St. +Hilaire without looking at Haillon. + +"Bah," growled the latter. + +"Right behind us," continued St. Hilaire, in a very low voice, and +looking into the countess' face earnestly to enforce his words, "is a +passageway that leads to the Rue d'Arcis." + +Madame d'Arlincourt nodded. She understood. + +"When I next begin to talk to these men, you must go through that +passage to the house opposite. It is number seven. You will not be able +to see the number, but it is directly opposite; you cannot mistake it. +Knock seven times in quick succession. Some one will inquire from +within, 'Who knocks?' You must reply 'From Raphael.' Do you understand?" + +"Yes," said the countess. + +"You are taking up too much of our time, citizen," interrupted Haillon, +"let me take a hand at questioning." + +"Be silent, Haillon;" said St. Hilaire in a tone of quick authority. + +"The door will be opened without further question. Once inside you must +tell them that you were sent by Raphael, and that they are to keep you +until it is safe for you to return to your own domicile. Now +remember!--as soon as I enter into conversation with these men." + +"I can remember," replied the countess, "but what are you going to do +after that? Will they not harm you?" + +St. Hilaire laughed lightly. "Oh, I will take care of that. I expect to +follow you in a few minutes." Then he turned and advanced a few steps in +order to cover her retreat more fully. + +"The citizeness has convinced me that she is nothing but a poor +sewing-girl in great distress at the illness of her father. I have told +her that she might continue on her errand for a doctor unmolested. You +are over-zealous, good Haillon, to see an aristocrat in every shadow." + +"She has disappeared," cried Gonflou. + +Haillon raised his musket with finger on the trigger. St. Hilaire's hand +struck upward just as the detonation echoed through the quiet street. +Then the smoke, clearing away, revealed Haillon upon the pavement, while +the sword in St. Hilaire's hand was red with blood. + +"He has killed a citizen," bellowed Gonflou. "Comrades, cut him down. +Avenge the death of a patriot." + +Three sabres were uplifted against the citizen St. Hilaire. He drew back +a pace or two and with a smile upon his lips warded off the blows aimed +at his head and breast. Then he poised himself and set his face firmly. +The sword which had first won renown on the field of Rocroy now flashed +in the light of the flickering lamp of the passage d'Arcis, and another +of his assailants fell to the ground. + +The wrist that wielded it was just as supple and the white fingers that +held the jeweled hilt just as strong as when, in the days gone by, the +Marquis de St. Hilaire was known as the best swordsman in his regiment. + +His two remaining adversaries hesitated in their attack for a moment. +Then Gonflou, bleeding from two deep wounds and bellowing like an angry +bull, sprang at him again with his heavy sabre lifted in both hands. + +One of the two fallen men had half raised himself and dragged over to +where Haillon lay. He drew a pistol from the dead man's belt and, +leaning forward, fired under Gonflou's arm. The blow from Gonflou's +sabre was parried, then Jean Raphael de St. Hilaire fell forward on his +face and lay without moving upon the pavement, while the sword of Rocroy +fell ringing to the ground. + +One of the attacking party was still unhurt. He raised his weapon over +the prostrate body at his feet. Gonflou pushed him aside roughly. +"That's enough, citizen. We'll take him to the Section without cutting +him up." The man who had fired the shot had since busied himself with +tying up his own wounded arm. He now bent over St. Hilaire. "He still +breathes," he said. "Had we not better finish him?" + +"No, my little Jacques Gardin," was Gonflou's answer, who, the moment +the fight was over, became as good-natured as before; "let us take him +to the Section." + +"But he has killed Haillon," persisted young Jacques, who had reloaded +the pistol and was handling it lovingly. + +"Pah," replied Gonflou, with a laugh, "Haillon should have been careful +when playing with edged tools. Come, citizens, take hold and we'll carry +them both to the Section. You may take your choice, Citizen Ferrand, the +corpse or the dying man. I'll carry either of them, and little Jacques +shall run ahead. Forward, march, comrades." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +SOMETHING HIDDEN + + +"Colonel Robert Tournay, you are summoned before the Committee of Public +Safety!" Silence followed this call. The clerk repeated his summons. +Again silence. + +"I move," said one of the members, "that the examination proceed. The +citizen colonel was summoned and has not appeared. If he is not here to +defend himself, that is his affair, not ours." + +"Citizen Bernard Gardin," said the president, "repeat to the committee +the result of your interview with the Citizen Tournay." + +Gardin rose. "The said citizen, Colonel Tournay, refused to recognize +the mandate of the Committee of Public Safety. The commissioners sent to +apprehend his person were treated with marked disrespect and expelled +from the camp with insult." Gardin spoke the words with bitter emphasis. + +Without even looking at him, Danton interrupted the witness. "The +citizen colonel pleaded that an impending battle made it necessary for +him to remain in the field, did he not?" + +"He did make some such excuse," sneered Gardin. + +"Instead of refusing to obey the summons, the citizen colonel stated +that, the battle once decided, he would hasten to Paris, did he not?" +continued Danton, lifting his voice and turning his eyes full upon +Gardin. + +"He did say he would come at some future time," admitted Gardin, "but he +refused to obey the summons which called upon him to return with the +commissioners." + +"And thereby insulted the committee," said Couthon. + +"If the committee recalls our officers from the field upon the eve of +battle they must expect our armies to be defeated," Danton remarked +dryly. "Colonel Tournay refused to obey the letter of the summons and +remained at his post of duty. The French armies have just won a glorious +victory at Wissembourg in which the accused distinguished himself by +great bravery and devotion to the Republic. I move that when he does +appear he receive the thanks of this committee in the name of France." + +"Do you advocate rewarding him for his disobedience and his indifference +to our authority?" inquired President Robespierre. + +"I believe that victories are more important to France at this juncture, +citizen president, than any slight disregard of the letter of the +committee's authority." + +Robespierre shut his thin lips together and turned to St. Just. + +"Let us proceed with the inquiry," he said after a moment's +consultation. "Clerk, call the other witnesses." + +"Are you not going to give Colonel Tournay twelve hours longer in which +to appear in person?" persisted Danton. + +"Of what use would that be?" asked Couthon. "He will not come within +twelve months." + +"Let the inquiry proceed," commanded the president impatiently. + +As if to show his indifference to the proceedings, Danton rose from his +seat, yawned, and then strolled to the window. As he did so, a sudden +shout rose from a crowd gathered below. Danton bent forward and looked +out into the street to ascertain the cause. + +The door swung open and Colonel Tournay entered the room. He was +followed by many of the crowd. The news of the great victory of the +French armies on the frontier had just reached Paris and stirred it with +enthusiasm. The people in the streets had caught sight of his uniform +and surmising that he had just come from the scene of war pressed about +him closely, crying for details of the battle. Some had recognized him +personally and called out his name. The great crowd had taken it up, and +cheered wildly for one of the heroes of Wissembourg and Landau. + +There was a flush of excitement on his cheek and a sparkle in his eye as +he stepped forward. + +"I understand that I am called before this committee to answer certain +charges," he said in a clear ringing voice. "What is the accusation? I +am here to answer it." + +The crowd outside the door took up the shout. + +"Yes, of what is the citizen colonel accused? Who accuses the hero of +Landau?" + +Robespierre changed color and hesitated. Danton eyed the president with +a sneer upon his lips, which he made no attempt to conceal. The breach +between the two men had widened to such an extent that it had become a +matter of common gossip. + +"You are accused of winning a battle," said Danton with a laugh,--"a +rare event in these days." + +Robespierre turned and whispered to St. Just. The latter answered +Tournay. + +"There are three charges against you," he said. "First, you are accused +of having been concerned in the rescue of a certain Citizeness de +Rochefort from prison boat number four on the River Loire. Secondly, of +escorting the said Citizeness de Rochefort across France under a false +name. Thirdly, of having insulted the authority of four commissioners +sent by the Committee of Public Safety to arrest you. These accusations +have been preferred against you before this committee, which feels +called upon to investigate them carefully. If they decide that there is +sufficient evidence to warrant it, they will bring the case before the +Revolutionary Tribunal. Now that you have heard the charges, I ask you: +Do you wish to employ counsel?" + +"With the permission of the committee I leave my case in the hands of a +member of the convention, Citizen Danton," said Tournay. + +"Call the first witness," said St. Just. + +"Citizen Leboeuf to the stand," cried the clerk. + +The bulky form of Leboeuf lumbered forward. His face was red and his +eyes heavy. His testimony was given hesitatingly, as if he were +endeavoring to conceal some of the facts. He deposed that the accused, +Tournay, had assisted in rescuing the Citizeness de Rochefort from the +prison boat number four on the River Loire on the fifth Nivose. +Cross-examined by Danton, he admitted reluctantly that he could not +swear to the identity of the accused, but felt certain it was he. It was +a man of just his height and general appearance; he had good reason to +know that the citizen colonel was much interested in the fate of the +Citizeness de Rochefort. + +Danton dismissed him with a contemptuous wave of the hand, and Leboeuf +retired, outwardly discomfited and purple of face, yet with a certain +inward sense of relief that the examination was over. + +"The citizen colonel admits that he escorted a woman to the frontier," +Danton went on, "but it was under a passport issued by the Committee of +Public Safety. It has not been proven that this woman was the escaped +prisoner, Citizeness de Rochefort. He also admits having refused to +accompany the commissioners to Paris, and having expelled them from his +camp. For this act of discourtesy to the committee he offers an apology, +and pleads in extenuation that it was on the eve of a battle in which +his presence was necessary to our armies." + +Robespierre turned to St. Just and Couthon. They held an animated +discussion, during which both the latter were seen to remonstrate. +Finally at a signal from the president, the entire committee withdrew +for consultation. + +Tournay glanced about the room. He knew that he had the interest and +sympathy of most who were present, and from the manner in which the +inquiry had been conducted, he felt little anxiety as to the result. + +He had not long to wait before the members of the committee entered the +room and took their places. + +The president touched the bell. St. Just rose, and speaking with +apparent reluctance said:-- + +"The committee do not find sufficient evidence to warrant the trial of +Colonel Robert Tournay upon the charge of treason to the Republic." + +A cheer rang through the room, which was re-echoed in the corridor and +out into the street beyond. + +The president touched his bell sharply. St. Just continued:-- + +"The committee relieves Colonel Tournay from his command for the +present. He will await here in Paris the orders of the committee in +regard to returning to the army. The inquiry is now ended, and the +meeting adjourns." + +Tournay walked out of the court accompanied by Danton and through the +street to his friend's lodgings, followed by an admiring crowd cheering +the hero of Landau. + +Two incidents took place in quick succession during the short walk to +Danton's house. + +These incidents had no relation to each other, yet they both gave +Tournay the uncomfortable sensation that besets a man when he is +contending with unknown or secret forces. + +In passing by the Jacobin Club he saw a man enter at the door. He could +not see the face, but the figure and movements were so much like those +of de Lacheville that had he not felt sure that it would be equivalent +to the marquis's death-sentence for him to be found in Paris, he would +have been certain it was his enemy. The idea was so unlikely, however, +that he dismissed it from his mind. + +As they passed down the Rue des Cordelieres and reached the door of +Danton's house, a man, issuing from the crowd, brushed closely against +Tournay's shoulder. In doing so the colonel felt a letter slipped into +his hand. "From a friend," sounded in his ear. "Examine it when alone." +Tournay mechanically put the paper in his pocket, and followed Danton +into the house, upon the giant uttering the laconic invitation:-- + +"Come in." + +"You have not said a word about the prompt dismissal of the charges +against me," said Tournay, as they entered the dingy room which served +Danton for office as well as salon. + +The giant threw off his coat and filled his pipe. Taking a seat he began +to smoke rapidly. + +"There is more behind it," he said. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Did you not notice that no attempt was made to convict you?" + +"I did, but I attributed it to lack of evidence on their part." + +"Lack of evidence!" repeated Danton. "They are capable of manufacturing +that when needed." + +"I confess I thought it possible that the popularity of the army with +the people had something to do with it." + +Danton smiled pityingly. + +"I tell you that there is something behind it all. I cannot account for +Robespierre's sudden change. It was he who directed your acquittal. +There is something behind all this. He works in the dark, and secretly. +Tournay, I mistrust that man as much as I hate him," and he began to +smoke violently. + +"Why do you not crush him, Jacques?" asked Tournay coolly. + +"Ay, that's the question I often ask myself," said Danton, lifting up +his mighty arm and looking at it, smiling grimly the while as if he were +thinking of Robespierre's sallow face and puny body. + +"If you don't crush him, he will sting you to death," added Tournay +impressively, as he rose to go. + +Danton doubled up his arm once more till the muscles swelled into great +knots upon it. "Ha, ha," he laughed, "I don't fear that, Tournay; he's +too much of a coward to lay hands upon me." + +"Do you never fear for your own safety when you see so many falling +beneath the hand of this man who rules France?" asked Tournay. + +Danton started at the words "rules France." + +"Yes, he does rule France. He rules the tribunal. He rules me, curse +him! But as for fearing him, Jacques Danton fears nothing in this world +or the next." + +"Good-night," said Tournay shortly. "But remember, Jacques, you, of all +men, can crush the tyrant if you will." + +"Good-night," said Danton, placing his huge hand on Tournay's shoulder. +"Be assured that Robespierre is holding something back. There is +something behind the mask. Be prepared." + +Tournay laughed. "I cannot, perhaps, say unreservedly that I fear +nothing in this world or the next, Jacques, but be assured, I do not +fear him." And he walked away with head erect and military swing, toward +the Rue des Mathurins. Danton resumed his pipe, muttering to himself +like some volcano rumbling inwardly,-- + +"Jacques, you can crush him if you will!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE PRESIDENT'S NOTE + + +As Tournay entered the doorway of 15 Rue des Mathurins an excited little +man brushed quickly past him, muttered an apology, and ran hurriedly up +the street. Under his arm he carried a handsome coat. + +"I'll wager that's some thief who has been plying his trade upstairs," +thought Tournay. "It was clumsy on my part to let him get by me. But I'm +too tired to run after him. He can wear his stolen finery for all me." +And he climbed up the stairs to the fourth landing. + +"Welcome, my general!" cried Gaillard, rising up and throwing to one +side the theatrical costume into which he was neatly fitting a patch. + +"Not general yet, my little Gaillard," was the reply, as the two friends +embraced warmly. + +"How? Not a general yet?" exclaimed the actor. "Why, all the city is +ringing with news of the victory of Wissembourg and the hero of Landau!" + +"That may be, my friend, but I have not received my promotion, and, what +is more, I am not expecting it. I shall be quite satisfied to have the +convention send me to the front again, where there is work to be done." + +"Bah! Is the convention mad that it overlooks our bravest and best +officer?" exclaimed Gaillard in a tone of disgust. + +"Wait until you have heard what I have to tell you, and then say whether +I shall not be fortunate if permitted to return to my command, even if +it be but one regiment." + +"Danton is right," said Gaillard, when the colonel had finished his +account of the day's proceedings. "Undoubtedly there is something behind +all this; what it is, the future will show." + +"In the mean time let us have something to eat," said Tournay; "I am as +hungry as a wolf. Is there any food in the house?" + +"An unusual supply," was Gaillard's answer. "We will dine in your honor, +colonel, and though the convention has not seen fit to adorn your brow +with laurels, I will make some amends by pledging your health in a glass +of wine as good as any that can be found in Paris to-day." + +"I shall be pleased to eat a dinner in any one's honor, for I have eaten +nothing since daylight, and it is now four o'clock." + +"Sit down for one moment then, while I take a few last stitches in my +work here. I had expected to wear a new costume in the piece to-night, +'Le Mariage de Figaro,' but the tailor brought a garment that fitted +abominably, and to the insult of a grotesque fit he added the injury of +an exorbitant bill, so I refused the coat and dismissed him with an +admonition." + +"I must have encountered your tailor as I came up," said Tournay. "He +was very pressed for time, and seemed to have taken your admonition much +to heart." + +"Not exactly to heart," replied Gaillard, his mouth widening with a +grin, "for I emphasized my remarks rather forcibly with my shoe. I +kicked him down one flight of stairs, and he ran down the others." + +"I am afraid your dramatic nature causes you to be rather precipitate at +times, Gaillard," remarked Colonel Tournay, smiling. + +"On this occasion all the precipitation was on the part of the tailor," +replied Gaillard. "Well, this old costume is mended; it will have to +serve me for a few nights. Now for dinner. Take your place at the table. +I shall sit at the head, and you, as the guest, shall occupy the place +at my right hand. You will excuse me for one moment, will you not, while +I serve the repast?" and before Tournay could answer Gaillard had left +the room. + +Tournay seated himself at the table, and took from his pocket the letter +which had been placed in his hands on the street. It was addressed in a +large hand to "Citizen Colonel Robert Tournay." The writing was that of +a person who evidently wielded the pen but occasionally, and he could +not be sure whether it came from a man or woman. He broke the seal and +read:-- + + CITIZEN COLONEL,--Your attitude toward some of the members of + the Convention has made you a number of enemies. Do not take + the dismissal of the charges brought against you before the + committee as an evidence that these enemies are defeated; they + have merely resolved to change their tactics during your + present popularity. Had you been defeated at Wissembourg and + Landau, you would not now be at liberty. You may be sure these + men have your ultimate downfall in view. Distrust them all. + +Tournay ran his eyes hastily over a list of a dozen names, among which +were Couthon, St. Just, and Collot-d'Herbois. + +"Here it is, hot and succulent from the kitchen of Citizeness Ribot," +called out Gaillard, appearing from an inner room with a steaming dish, +which he placed before him. "What have you got there?" he asked, blowing +on his fingers to cool them. + +Tournay handed him the paper. "All of them either friends or tools of +Robespierre," was Gaillard's comment. "How did this come into your +hands?" + +Tournay told him. His friend stepped to the fireplace. + +"What are you going to do?" inquired Tournay. + +"I make it a point never to keep anything with writing on it. It may be +a tradition of my profession, for on the stage trouble always lurks in +written documents. We must burn this." + +"Do not be so hasty, Gaillard; you may burn it after I have committed +those names to memory." + +"Then I will put it here on the chimney-piece for the present. Don't +carry it about you. It is a dangerous paper in times like these." + +"Very well, I will be guided by your counsels. And just at this moment +you advise dining, do you not?" and Tournay turned to the dish on the +table. "It has a very agreeable odor. What is it?" + +"The menu, to-day, consists of three courses; bread, salt, and,"--here +the actor removed the cover of the dish with a flourish--"rabbit +ragout." + +"Will you assure me that the rabbit did not mew at the prospect of being +turned into a ragout?" inquired Tournay, holding out his plate while +Gaillard heaped it with the stew. + +"You will have to ask the cook, my little war-god. When I delivered to +her the material in its natural state it consisted of two little gray +tailless animals with long ears; but to exonerate her, I call your +attention to the house-cat at this moment poking her nose in at the +door. And let me say further, that whether it be cat or rabbit you seem +to be able to dispose of a goodly quantity of it." + +"My dear Gaillard, I am a soldier and can eat anything," was Tournay's +rejoinder. + +"But cast not your eyes longingly upon the poor animal who has come in +attracted by the smell of dinner; she is my especial pet. Let me divert +your attention from her by pouring you a glass of wine." + +"Gaillard, your dinner is most excellent; your pet shall be safe." + +Gaillard filled two glasses with wine. + +"Your very good health, Colonel Tournay, of the Army of the Moselle." + +"Yours, my dear friend Gaillard." + +The two friends rose and touched glasses over the little table. + +"That wine is wonderful," said Tournay as he put down the glass. "What +do you mean by drinking such nectar? Do you live so near the top of the +house in order that you may spend your savings on your wine cellar?" + +"That bottle is one of six presented to me by our neighbor, Citizen St. +Hilaire. He has been living modestly in the attic overhead, but he +evidently had a knowledge of good wine." + +"Ah, Citizen St. Hilaire," repeated Tournay. "He is a man who should +well know good wine; but you said he has been living overhead. Is he not +there now?" + +"Three days ago he disappeared. He left a note for the Citizeness Ribot +with the money due for rent, and stated that he should not return. His +action was explained next morning when a gendarme from the section made +his appearance and inquired for Citizen St. Hilaire. Since then his +chamber is watched night and day. I doubt if he returns." + +"He is quite capable of keeping out of danger or getting into it, as the +fancy suits him, if he is the man I once knew," remarked Tournay. + +Gaillard filled the glasses again. "Let us not talk about him in too +loud a tone," he said, "but quietly pledge him in his own Burgundy." + +Tournay took the proffered glass. The gentle gurgle down two throats +told that St. Hilaire's health was drunk fervently if silently. + +"With your permission I will propose a toast," said Tournay, as Gaillard +emptied the last of the bottle into their glasses. The actor nodded. + +"To the French Republic," exclaimed Tournay. "May victory still perch +upon her banners." + +"To the Republic," echoed Gaillard. + +Again the glasses clinked over the small wooden table. + +"As long as we have victory," continued Tournay, "what care we whether +we be colonels, generals, or soldiers of the line? Our victories are the +nation's. All are sharers in its glory." + +"Long live the Republic!" they cried in concert, and set down their +empty wineglasses. + +"Now I must fly to the theatre," exclaimed Gaillard; "you have made me +late with your republics"-- + +"And I must to bed," said Tournay. "This morning's dawn found me in the +saddle in order to reach the convention at an early hour." + +"You have made a mistake, citizen sergeant," exclaimed Gaillard +suddenly, as an officer of gendarmerie appeared at the open door. "The +floor above is where you want to go." + +"I want to see the Citizen Colonel Tournay," was the reply. + +"I am he," said Tournay. + +The sergeant awkwardly gave the military salute. "Here is a letter for +you, citizen colonel." + +Tournay took the paper, and the sergeant turned toward the door. + +"Is there any answer required?" asked Tournay, as he broke the seal. + +"None through me. Good-night, citizen colonel." And the heavy jack-boots +were heard descending the stairs. + +Gaillard began hurriedly to make a bundle of his theatrical costume, +while Tournay broke the seal and glanced over the contents of the +letter. + +"Read this," he said, passing the paper to Gaillard, who stood by his +side, bundle under arm. + +Gaillard read:-- + + To CITIZEN COLONEL ROBERT TOURNAY, Rue des Mathurins 15. + + Will the patriotic citizen colonel call upon the humble and + none the less patriotic citizen, Maximilian Robespierre, this + evening at seven, to discuss affairs pertaining to the good of + the nation? If the Citizen Tournay can come, no answer need be + sent. + + (Signed) MAXIMILIAN ROBESPIERRE. + + 17th Pluviose, Year II. of the French Republic, one and + indivisible. + +"He evidently takes it for granted that I will come, for his messenger +waited for no answer," added Tournay. + +"It's the sequel of this afternoon's inquiry," said Gaillard, as he +returned it, "and too exquisitely polite for a plain citizen. What are +you going to do?" + +"I am going to see him, of course," replied Tournay. "It is the only way +to find out what he wants." + +Gaillard nodded. "That's true; I almost feel like going with you and +remaining outside the door," and Gaillard placed his package on the +table. + +"That is unnecessary, my friend; I never felt more secure in my life. Go +to your performance of Figaro and on your return you will find me here +in this easy-chair, smoking one of your pipes." + +Gaillard took up his bundle again. "Very well, but mind, if I do not +find you seated in that arm-chair smoking a pipe I shall know you are in +trouble." + +Tournay laughed. "You will find me there, never fear. And now let us go +out together." + +"I am abominably late!" exclaimed Gaillard, as they parted at the +corner. "The director will have the pleasure of collecting a fine from +my weekly salary. Good-night--embrace me, my little war god! Au revoir," +and the actor hurried down the street, whistling cheerfully. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BENEATH THE MASK + + +An atmosphere of secrecy seemed to pervade Robespierre's house, and +Tournay, following the servant along the dimly lighted corridor, passed +his hand over his eyes, as one brushes away the fine cobwebs that come +across the face in going through the woods. + +The rustle of a gown fell upon his ear as he entered the salon, and at +the further end of the apartment he saw a woman who had evidently risen +at his entrance, and now stood irresolute, with one hand on the latch of +a door leading into an adjoining room, as if she had intended making her +exit unobserved by him. + +She stood in such a manner that the shadow of the half-open door fell +across her face, but he could see that she was a young woman of small +stature and well proportioned figure. At the sound of his voice she +allowed her hand to fall from the latch, then lifting her head erect, +walked toward him. + +"La Liberte!" ejaculated Tournay. He had not seen her since the day he +had left her dancing on the cannon-truck, winecup in hand; but she still +kept her girlish look, and except in her dress she had not greatly +changed. + +She still showed a partiality for bright colors, by her gown of deep +crimson. But the material was of velvet instead of the simple woolen +stuff she used to wear. Her hair, which had once curled about her +forehead and been tossed about by the wind, was now coiled upon her +head, from which a few locks, as if rebellious at confinement, had +fallen on her neck and shoulders. She wore nothing on her head but a +tricolored knot of ribbon, the color of the Republic. + +"How does it happen that we meet here?" asked Tournay after a moment, +during which he had gazed at her in surprise. + +"Never mind about me for the present," she said, looking up in his face, +half defiantly, half admiringly; for as he stood before her, framed in +the open door, he was a striking picture, with his handsome, bronzed +face and brilliant uniform. + +"Let us speak of your affairs," she continued. "I am told the committee +has ordered you to await its permission before returning to the army." + +"How did you know that?" he demanded in surprise. + +"Oh, I know many things that are going on in this strange world," and +she gave the old toss of her head. "Now do not talk, but listen. You +must return to the army. A soldier like you is at a disadvantage among +these intriguers. They will suspect you for the simple reason that they +suspect every one. You, who are accustomed to fight openly, will fall a +victim to their wiles." + +"My enemies may find that I can strike back," said Tournay quietly. + +La Liberte shrugged her shoulders. + +"Did you receive a letter this afternoon?" she asked quickly. + +"Did you write that letter?" + +"I never write letters," she answered significantly; "but if you +received one and read it, you know the names of some of your enemies. +What can you do with such an array against you? I repeat, you are no +match for them. You must go back to your command." + +"That is what I desire above all else," answered Tournay. + +"You can go to-morrow, if you wish," said the demoiselle. + +"How?" + +"By listening to what the president of the committee has to say to you, +and agreeing to it. Yield to his demands, whatever they may be, and you +will be permitted to set out to-morrow." + +"I shall be glad to meet the committee more than halfway. I will agree +to everything they wish, if I can do so consistently." + +"Consistently!" she repeated. "I see you will be obstinate." Then she +stopped and looked full in his face. "I might know that you would after +all only act according to your convictions, and that any advice would be +thrown away on you. Well, I must say I like you better that way, and +were I a man I should do the same." + +She placed one hand upon her hip where hung a small poniard suspended +by a silver chain about her waist, and went on earnestly: "But listen to +this word of advice. You, who have been so long absent from Paris, do +not realize Robespierre's power. It is sometimes the part of a brave man +to yield. Give way to him as much as your _consistency_ will permit. Now +adieu." She turned away; then facing him suddenly with an impulsive +gesture she came toward him. + +"Compatriot!" she said with an unwonted tremble in her voice, "will you +take my hand?" He took the hand extended to him. + +"I do not forget, Marianne, that you and I both came from La Thierry. If +ever you are in need of a friend, you can rely upon me." + +For one moment the brown head was bent over his hand, and La Liberte +showed an emotion which none of those who thought they knew her would +have believed possible. Then throwing back her head she disappeared +through the door beyond, as Robespierre entered from the corridor. + +Much absorbed in his meditations, Robespierre did not appear to notice +that any one had just quitted the room. He walked very slowly as if to +impress Tournay with his greatness, and did not speak for some moments. +He no longer affected the great simplicity of dress which had +characterized him at the beginning of the Revolution, and the coat of +blue velvet, waistcoat of white silk, and buff breeches which he wore +were quite in keeping with his fine linen shirt and the laces of his +ruffles. + +It was Tournay who first broke the silence. + +"Citizen president, you see I have been prompt to comply with your +request; I am here in answer to your summons." + +Robespierre raised his head, and started from his soliloquy. + +"Ah yes, you are the citizen colonel who appeared to-day before the +committee to answer certain charges." + +"I am," replied Tournay. + +"Citizen colonel," said Robespierre, "I will be perfectly frank with +you. The Committee of Public Safety, whose dearest wish, whose only +thought, is the welfare of the Republic," here the president's small +eyes blinked in rapid succession, "is not quite satisfied with the +condition of affairs in the army." + +"I am sorry to hear that, citizen president, and in behalf of the army, +I would call the committee's attention to the recent battles in which +the soldiers of France have certainly borne themselves with great +bravery. I speak now as one of their officers who is justly proud of +them." + +"It is not the conduct of the soldiers of which the committee finds +cause of complaint," replied Robespierre, "but of their generals." + +"It is not for me to criticise my superior officers," said Tournay. "I +leave that to the nation." + +"The committee has good reason to criticise the attitude of certain of +its generals, who seem to have forgotten that they are merely citizens. +They have been chosen to serve the Republic only for a time in a more +exalted position than their fellow citizens, yet they have become +swollen with pride, and take to themselves the credit of the victories +won by their armies. Their dispatches to the convention are couched in +arrogant and sometimes insolent language." + +Tournay bowed. "Again I must refrain from expressing my opinion on such +a matter," he said. + +"Ever since the treason of General Dumouriez," Robespierre went on, "the +committee has had its suspicions as to the conduct of several of its +generals. Hoche is one." + +Tournay started. + +"What you are pleased to impart to me, citizen president, sounds +strange. Permit me to state that I feel sure the committee's suspicions +are unfounded." + +Robespierre looked at him closely. "Does General Hoche take you into his +entire confidence?" he inquired quickly; his weak eyes blinking more +rapidly than ever. + +"No, I am merely a colonel in his army. Though I have good reason to +believe he places confidence in me, he naturally does not inform me of +his plans before they are matured." + +"Citizen colonel, the committee also places great confidence in you, and +for that reason it wishes you to return at once to the army." + +"I obey its orders with the greatest pleasure in the world," said +Tournay. + +"The committee also desires," Robespierre continued, "that you send to +its secretary each week a minute report of everything that passes under +your notice, particularly as regards the actions of Citizen General +Hoche. Do not regard anything as too trifling to be included in your +report; the committee will pass upon its importance." + +Tournay had listened in silence. His teeth ground together in the rage +he struggled to suppress. He felt that if he made a movement it would be +to strike the president to the floor. + +"I must decline the commission with which the committee honors me. I am +not fitted for it," he replied. + +"The committee has chosen you as eminently fitted for the work. The +confidence that General Hoche places in you makes you the best agent the +committee could employ." + +"Then tell your committee, citizen president, that it must find some +less fitting agent to do its dirty work. My business is to fight the +enemies of France, not to spy upon its patriots." + +Robespierre's sallow face became a shade more yellow. "Have a care how +you speak of the committee. In the service of the Republic all +employment is sacred and honorable." + +"I prefer my own interpretation of the words," answered Tournay, with a +look of scorn. + +"And yet you yourself have somewhat strange ideas of what is honorable," +remarked Robespierre sneeringly. + +"I do not understand what you mean," replied Tournay. + +Robespierre stepped to the wall and pulled the bell-rope. "Perhaps when +it is made clear to you, your mind may change." + +The colonel made no reply, but the next moment uttered an exclamation of +surprise as the Marquis de Lacheville entered the room. Robespierre +turned toward Tournay with the shadow of a smile hovering on his thin +lips. + +"You know this citizen?" he asked in his harsh voice. + +Tournay looked at the marquis curiously, wondering why he had +jeopardized his own safety by returning to Paris. The look of hatred +which the nobleman shot at him served as an explanation. + +"I know him as a former nobleman, an emigre, who is proscribed by the +Republic; I wonder that he puts his life in danger by returning to the +land he fled from." + +The marquis made an uneasy gesture, and was about to speak when +Robespierre said:-- + +"He has taken the oath of allegiance to the Republic." + +Tournay laughed outright at this. "And do you trust his oath?" he asked. + +"And for the service he now renders the nation, his emigration and the +fact of his having been an aristocrat are to be condoned." As he spoke, +a grim smile hovered about Robespierre's lips. It faded away instantly, +leaving his face as mirthless and forbidding as before. + +"Shall we ask the Citizen Lacheville to tell us when he last saw you?" +he went on sternly. + +"It is unnecessary. We met last at Falzenberg," said Tournay, eyeing him +with disdain. + +"Where you were on terms of intimacy with Prussian officers," said de +Lacheville. "I will not dwell upon the fact of your having assisted an +aristocrat to escape from prison; but I will testify to your having come +in disguise to the enemies of France and entered into a secret +understanding with them. I was serving those same enemies at the time, I +will admit," and the marquis shrugged his shoulders, "but as the Citizen +Robespierre has said, I have repented of it, and have come here to make +atonement by faithful devotion to the nation. One of the greatest of my +pleasures is to help unmask a hypocrite." + +Tournay addressed Robespierre. + +"Do you believe this man's story?" + +"You have already admitted having gone over the frontier," was the suave +rejoinder. + +"I did go, yes." + +"Will you deny having been closeted alone with General von Waldenmeer?" + +"No, but"-- + +"Do you suppose any tribunal in the land would hold you guiltless upon +such testimony and such admissions?" + +"Permit me to ask you two questions," said Tournay. + +Robespierre acquiesced. + +"Admitting that this--_citizen's_ accusation is true, why did I return +to Wissembourg and do my best to defeat the enemy with whom I am accused +by him of being on friendly terms?" + +"There are hundreds of similar precedents--Dumouriez's, for example." + +"Admitting, then, that I have already been false to one trust, how is it +that you are prepared to trust me now to play the spy for your +committee?" continued Tournay, with contempt ringing in his voice. + +Again the peculiar smile flitted across Robespierre's pale features. + +"All men are to be trusted as far as their self-interest leads them," he +answered. "None are to be trusted implicitly. You will be watched +closely and will doubtless prove faithful. It will be to your decided +advantage to attend to the committee's business efficiently. Your little +interview with the Prussian general, from which nothing has resulted, +may be forgotten for the time." + +Tournay's anger during the interview had several times risen to white +heat. Not even his sense of danger enabled him longer to repress it. + +"I have already told you that I would have nothing to do with the +commission of your committee!" he cried hotly. "And as for this man's +accusations, let him make them in court and I will answer him. Let him +repeat them in the streets and I will thrust the lies back into his +throat and choke him with them." As he spoke he advanced toward de +Lacheville who paled and retreated a step or two. "If any man accuses me +of disloyalty to the Republic," continued Tournay, turning and +addressing Robespierre, "unless he takes revenge behind the bar of a +tribunal he shall answer to me personally. I will defend my honor with +my own hand." + +Robespierre turned pale and took a step or two in the direction of the +bell-rope. + +"You may have an opportunity to answer the charges before the tribunal," +he said coldly. + +"Why did you not bring them in to-day's inquiry?" demanded Tournay. + +"I do not announce my reasons nor divulge my plans," was the reply. "It +is enough to know that I had need of you. Neither am I in the habit of +having my will opposed. You would do best to yield before it is too +late." + +"Robespierre," cried Tournay, the blood mounting to his forehead, "you +have played the tyrant too long! You are not 'in the habit of having +your will opposed?' I have not learned to bend and truckle to your will, +doing your bidding like a dog; and, by Heaven! I will not now. Bring +your charges against me before your tribunal, packed as it is with your +creatures, and I will answer them, but my answer shall be addressed to +the Nation. My appeal will be to the People. I will denounce you for +what you are, a tyrant. And a coward--too"--he continued, as +Robespierre, with ashen lips, rang the bell violently. "You shall be +known for what you are, and when you are once known the people will +cease to fear you." + +He strode toward the committee's president, who, with trembling knees, +stood tugging at the bell-rope. De Lacheville had long since fled from +the room; and Robespierre, pulling his courage together with an effort, +lifted his hand and pointed a trembling finger at Tournay. + +"Stop where you are!" he shrieked. "Come a step nearer me at your +peril!" + +"I am not going to do you any injury," was Tournay's reply in a tone of +contempt; "I despise you too much to do you personal violence; I leave +you to your fears, citizen president." + +There was a sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor, and Tournay moved +toward the door to be confronted by a file of soldiers. + +"Henriot, you drunken snail," cried Robespierre, "why did you not answer +my summons? Arrest this man." + +Tournay turned a look upon Robespierre which made the latter quail +notwithstanding the guard that surrounded him. + +"You had this all arranged," said the colonel quietly. + +"I was prepared," replied Robespierre grimly. + +Tournay turned away with contempt. "Dictator, your time will be short," +he murmured. + +"Come, citizen colonel," said the Commandant Henriot, "I must trouble +you for your sword." + +"Where are you going to take me?" asked Tournay as he delivered up his +weapon. + +Henriot glanced at his chief as if for instructions. + +"To the Luxembourg," was the order. Then, without looking at Tournay, +Robespierre left the room. + +"May I send word to a friend at my lodgings?" Tournay asked of Henriot. + +"No," was the short rejoinder, "you must come with me on the instant." + +In the corridor stood de Lacheville. He smiled triumphantly as he saw +Tournay pass out between the file of soldiers. + +"De Lacheville," said Tournay scornfully, "you have played the part of a +fool as well as a coward. A few days and you also will be in prison." + +His guards hurried him on, and he could not hear de Lacheville's answer. + +At the doorway that led into the street stood La Liberte. + +"Out of the way, citizeness!" growled Henriot. + +"Out of the way yourself, Citizen Henriot," was the woman's reply, and +she pushed through the soldiers until she stood at Tournay's elbow. + +"Come, citizeness, none of that; you cannot speak to the prisoner," +growled Henriot a second time. + +"I was afraid of this," she whispered in Tournay's ear. + +"Will you take a message for me?" he asked in a quick whisper. + +"Yes." + +"Go to Gaillard, 15 Rue des Mathurins, wait until he comes. Tell him I +am arrested. That is all." + +With a nod of intelligence, La Liberte left his side and disappeared in +the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +PIERRE AND JEAN + + +As Gaillard stepped out from the theatre into a dark side street a hand +fell upon his right shoulder. He looked around and saw a tall gendarme +standing by his side. The prospect did not please him, so he turned to +the left and saw another gendarme standing there. This one was short, +and stout with a smile on his red face. Then Gaillard stopped. + +"Well, citizens of the police," he exclaimed, "I don't need any escort. +I can find my way home alone." + +"Is your name Gaillard?" asked one. + +"I have every reason to believe so," was the reply. + +"Actor?" demanded the other. + +"Ah, there I am not so certain," he answered. + +"How? You do not know your own vocation?" + +"My friends say I am an actor, and my enemies dispute it. What is your +opinion?" + +"I can say you are an actor, for I have seen you act," said the stout +gendarme. "And a very good actor you were. You made me laugh heartily." + +"Then I shall count you among my friends!" exclaimed Gaillard. "And +between friends now, what is it that you want of me?" + +"We are going to take you to the Luxembourg." + +"What for?" + +"I will read you the warrant," said the tall gendarme. "Come under the +light of the lantern yonder." + +Gaillard accompanied the two police officers to the other side of the +street. + +One of them took a large paper from his breast-pocket:-- + +"Warrant of arrest for the Citizen Gaillard, actor of the theatre of the +Republic. Cause: Friend of the Suspect Tournay, and, therefore, to be +apprehended." + +Gaillard repressed the start that the sight of his friend's name gave +him. "'The Suspect Tournay.' My colonel has been arrested," he said to +himself. Then heaving a deep sigh he exclaimed aloud in a pathetic tone +of voice:-- + +"It is very sad to think I should be arrested just as I was going to +have such a good part in the new piece at the theatre." + +"Was it a funny one?" inquired the short gendarme. + +"Funny! why if you should hear it, you'd laugh those big brass buttons +off your coat." + +"It's a shame you can't play it," was the sympathetic rejoinder. + +"I'll tell you what you can do," said Gaillard. "Go with me to my house, +15 Rue des Mathurins, and let me fetch the part so that I can study it +while in prison; then, if I should be released soon I shall be prepared +to play the part." + +"It's against our orders," said the tall gendarme. "We must take you at +once to the Luxembourg." + +"It's very near here," persisted Gaillard, "and I will read one or two +of the funniest speeches while we are there." + +"It will not take us more than fifteen minutes," interposed the stout +gendarme, looking at his mate. + +"And when I am released," said Gaillard persuasively, "and play the +part, I'll send you each an admission." + +"Well," said the tall gendarme, "we'll go." + +"You see," explained Gaillard as they walked off in the direction of the +Rue des Mathurins, "my arrest is a mistake, that's clear. Whoever heard +of an actor being mixed up in politics!" + +"That's so," remarked the short gendarme. + +"Yes," admitted the long one, "I have arrested many a suspect, and +you're the first actor. But I have my duty to perform, and if the +warrant calls for an actor, an actor has to come." + +"Of course," agreed Gaillard, "you are a man of high principle, as any +one can see." + +Gaillard knew that as soon as he was arrested his rooms would be +searched for any evidence of a suspicious nature. In all the house there +was only one document which could possibly compromise either himself or +Tournay, and that was the letter his friend had received that same +afternoon, and which was now lying upon the chimney-piece. + +"Here we are at No. 15; I live on the fourth floor," he said, as they +came to the door. + +"Whew!" exclaimed the stout gendarme. "You'll have to give us half a +dozen of the best jokes if we go way up there." + +"You shall have as many as you can stand," answered Gaillard. "Now, +citizen officers, mind the angle in the wall, that's it. It's not a hard +climb when you're used to it." + +"Whew!" exclaimed the stout man as they entered Gaillard's apartment, "I +could not climb that every day." He sank down in a chair and mopped the +perspiration from his brow. + +"I wish I was sure of climbing it every day of my life," said Gaillard. +"It's thirsty work, however, so let us have something to refresh +ourselves with;" and he took out from the closet a bottle of the choice +Burgundy and three glasses. + +"Here's to the gendarmerie," he said as he filled the glasses. + +A moment later two pairs of lips smacked approvingly in concert. + +"That's a vintage for you," said the short gendarme approvingly. + +"I never drank but one glass of better wine than this in my life," said +the tall gendarme meditatively. + +"When was that?" asked Gaillard as he filled the glasses again. + +"That was when the Count de Beaujeu's house was sacked, and the citizens +threw all the contents of his wine cellar into the street." + +"You did not drink a glass that time," remarked the stout gendarme, "you +had a hogshead." + +The tall man scowled. + +"Well, there's plenty of this," said Gaillard; "have another glass?" + +"We will," said both of the gendarmes. "Let us have a few of the funny +lines of your new part, citizen actor," said the stout gendarme +swallowing his third glass of Burgundy. + +"Willingly!" exclaimed Gaillard. He turned toward the chimney-piece and +took from it the manuscript of his part. Close beside it lay the letter. +His fingers itched to take it, but the eyes of the police officers were +upon him so closely that he dared not touch it. + +"Let us fill our glasses again before I begin," said the actor, +producing another bottle from the closet. + +"How many bottles of that wine have you?" inquired the tall gendarme. + +"Two more besides this," answered Gaillard, drawing the cork. + +"We might as well drink them all, now that we are here," said the +officer solemnly. + +"It would be a pity to leave any of it," Gaillard acquiesced. + +The short gendarme nodded his approval. + +"I wish I had a hogshead of it," thought Gaillard. "I'd put you both in +bed and leave you." + +After filling the glasses once again, Gaillard took up the lines and +began to act out his part. If he had been playing before a large and +enthusiastic audience, he could not have done it more effectively. + +The stout gendarme was soon in such a state of laughter that the tears +ran down his red cheeks. His merriment continued to increase to such an +extent as to alarm his companion. + +"He'll die of apoplexy some day, if he is so immoderate in his +raptures," said the tall man, shaking his head sadly. + +The fat gendarme was now coughing violently. Gaillard stopped to slap +him on the back. When the paroxysm was over, the actor brought out the +two remaining bottles of Burgundy. + +"A little of this wine may relieve your throat," he said, and filled the +glasses all round. + +"Continue, my friend," called out the jolly-faced officer; "don't stop +on my account." + +Gaillard went on with his rehearsal. The tall gendarme drank twice as +much wine as his stout companion, who was now rolling on the floor with +shouts of laughter. + +Finally, when the merry fellow could laugh no more, and the last drop of +wine had disappeared, the tall gendarme stooped, and lifting his fallen +companion to his feet leaned him up against the wall. "Jean," he said, +"thou art drunk. Shame upon thee." Then he turned toward Gaillard. +"Come, citizen actor, we must take you to the Luxembourg." + +"Let us at least smoke a pipe of tobacco before we go," said Gaillard, +bringing out smoking materials from the closet. + +"No time, citizen; as it is we may get in trouble through Jean's +indulgence in the bottle." The short gendarme certainly showed the +effect of the wine he had taken, though he straightened up and denied +it. + +"Pierre, thou liest, thou hast taken twice the quantity I have," he +rejoined, waving his hand toward the empty bottles. + +This also was true; and Gaillard looked with wonder at the solemn +countenance of the tall gendarme. + +"In any case, let us light our pipes and smoke them as we go along the +street," said the actor as he filled the pipes and handed one to each of +the police officers. + +"I'm quite agreeable to that," said Gendarme Pierre. + +Gendarme Jean made no reply, but endeavored to light his pipe over the +flame of the candle. + +Through a defect in vision occasioned by his potations, he held the bowl +several inches away from the flame and puffed vigorously. + +At this the tall gendarme laughed audibly for the first time during the +evening. Gaillard felt relieved. "He can laugh," he murmured. + +"Wait one moment and I will give you a light," he said, and taking a +piece of paper from the chimney-piece he carelessly twisted it in his +fingers, ignited it in the candle's flames, and held it over Jean's +pipe. Then he repeated the service to Gendarme Pierre, and ended by +lighting his own pipe, holding the offending list until the flame +touched his fingers and it was entirely consumed. + +"Forward, my children!" cried the stout gendarme gayly. "We must be off. +Shall we place seals upon the doors, comrade?" he said addressing his +friend Pierre. + +"No, my little idiot Jean, you will remember we are not supposed to have +come here at all. The seals will be placed here by men from the section. +Hurry forward now." + +They descended the stairs in single file. The tall gendarme leading, and +stout Jean bringing up the rear. He would stumble from time to time and +strike his head into Gaillard's shoulders. "Very awkward stairs," he +would murmur in apology, "very awkward." + +Once in the street he got along better, although his knees were a little +weak, and he showed an inclination to sing. + +"Be quiet, Jean," expostulated his companion in arms; "you will get both +of us in trouble." + +"As mute as a mouse, my clothespin," was the obedient reply. + +"You would better take his arm, citizen actor. We shall get along +faster." Gaillard complied, and arm in arm they walked off in the +direction of the Luxembourg. + +"What's this?" demanded the warden in the prison lodge, rubbing his +sleepy eyes as three men appeared before him in the gray light of early +morning. + +"Hector Gaillard, actor; domicile Rue des Mathurins 15; suspect. Warrant +executed by Officers Pierre Echelle and Jean Rondeau," said the tall +gendarme. + +The sleepy guardian turned over the pages of his book. + +"Ah yes, here it is. Bring your prisoner this way, citizen gendarme." + +Whereupon the stout gendarme, who had been quiet for some time, burst +into tears. + +"In God's name, what's the matter with him?" asked the astonished +warden. + +"He always does that way," said the gendarme Pierre. "'Tis his +sympathetic nature. He gets very much attached to his prisoners. Cease +thy tears, Jean, thou imbecile," and he cursed his brother gendarme +under his breath. + +Jean drew a long sob. "Adieu, my friend," he said, throwing his arms +about Gaillard's neck. + +"Why weepest thou?" inquired the actor pretending to be much affected. + +"I am afraid they will guillotine thee, my beautiful actor, before I +have laughed all the brass buttons off my coat at the play." + +"Courage, my friend," replied Gaillard; "I trust for thy sake that I may +live to act in many plays. Adieu, my gendarme," and he was led away to a +cell. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE LUXEMBOURG + + +Robert Tournay breathed easier after having sent the message to Gaillard +by La Liberte. Gaillard at least was not likely to become implicated; +and the anonymous communication once destroyed, nothing of an +incriminating nature would be found, should their lodging be visited. +Nevertheless, he could not repress a feeling of disquiet as the iron +door of the Luxembourg clanked behind him and he found himself a +prisoner. + +The cell into which he was conducted was absolutely dark. + +"It will not be so bad during the day," volunteered the jailer. "There +is a small window that looks out on the courtyard." Tournay drew a sigh +of thankfulness on hearing this. + +"Your bed is near the door. Can you see it?" asked the jailer. + +"I can feel for it," replied Tournay. "Yes, here it is." + +"Very well, I will now lock you up safely. Pleasant dreams in your new +quarters, citizen colonel." And with this parting salute the cheerful +jailer went jingling down the corridor, leaving Tournay in the darkness, +seated on the edge of his narrow bed, with elbows on knees and his chin +resting in the palms of his hands. + +Suddenly he sat up straight and listened attentively. The sound of +regular breathing told him that he was not the sole occupant of the +cell. "Whoever he may be, he sleeps contentedly," thought Tournay; "I +may as well follow his good example." In a very few minutes a quiet +concert of long-drawn breaths told of two men sleeping peacefully in the +cell on the upper tier of the Luxembourg prison. + +The little daylight that could struggle through the bars of the tiny +window near the ceiling had long since made its appearance, when Robert +Tournay opened his eyes next morning. + +His fellow prisoner was already astir; and without moving, Tournay lay +and watched him at his toilet. He was most particular in this regard. +Despite the diminutive ewer and hand basin, his ablutions were the +occasion of a great amount of energetic scrubbing and rubbing, +accompanied by a gentle puffing as if he were enjoying the luxury of a +refreshing bath. After washing, he wiped his face and hands carefully on +a napkin correspondingly small. He proceeded with the rest of his toilet +in the same thorough manner, as leisurely as if he had been in the most +luxurious dressing-room. A wound in his neck, that was not entirely +healed, gave him some trouble; but he dressed it carefully, and finally +hid it entirely from sight by a clean white neckerchief which he took +from a little packet in a corner of the room near the head of his bed. +Having adjusted the neckcloth to his satisfaction, he put on a +well-brushed coat, and, sitting carelessly upon the edge of the +table,--the room contained no chair,--he began to polish his nails with +a little set of manicure articles which were also drawn forth from his +small treasury of personal effects. + +[Illustration: ADJUSTED THE NECKCLOTH TO HIS SATISFACTION] + +The light from the slit of a window above his head fell on his face. It +was thin and haggard, like that of a man who had undergone a severe +illness, but, despite this fact, it was an attractive face, and the +longer Tournay looked at it, the more it seemed to be familiar to him, +recalling to his mind some one he had once known. + +Suddenly the colonel sprung to his feet. "St. Hilaire!" he exclaimed +aloud, answering his own mental inquiry. + +St. Hilaire rose from his seat on the table and saluted Tournay +graciously. + +"I am what is left of St. Hilaire," he replied lightly. "And you +are--For the life of me I cannot recall your name at the moment. Though +I am fully aware that I have seen you more than once before this." + +"My name is Robert Tournay." + +"Of course. I should have remembered it. You must pardon my poor +memory." Then, looking at him closely, he continued: "You wear the +uniform of a colonel. You have won distinction, and yet I see you here +in prison." + +"It matters not how loyal a soldier or citizen one may be if one incurs +the enmity or suspicion of Robespierre," was the answer. + +"What you say is true, Colonel Tournay," said St. Hilaire. + +"Do you also owe your arrest to him?" asked the colonel. + +"No," replied St. Hilaire, resuming his former seat. "I became involved +in a slight dispute with some of the gendarmerie about a certain +question of--of etiquette. The altercation became somewhat spirited. +They lost their tempers. I nearly lost my life. When I regained +consciousness I discovered what remained of myself here, and I am +recovering as fast as could be expected, in view of the rather limited +amount of fresh air and sunlight in my chamber." + +Tournay thought of the brilliant and dashing Marquis Raphael de St. +Hilaire as he had seen him in his boyhood, and looked with deep interest +at the figure sitting easily on the edge of the table in apparent +contentment, cheerfully accepting misfortune with a smile, and parrying +the arrows of adversity with the best of his wit, like the brave and +sprightly gentleman he was. + +"The resources here are somewhat limited," St. Hilaire continued. "But +by placing the table against the wall and mounting upon it one can +squeeze his nose between the bars of the window and get a glimpse of the +courtyard beneath. Occasionally the jailer has taken me for a promenade +there. It seems that we prisoners on the second tier are considered of +more importance, or else it is feared that we are more likely to attempt +to escape, for we are kept in closer confinement than those who are on +the main floor. Although this may be construed as a compliment, it is +nevertheless very tedious. But I am keeping you from your toilet by my +gossip. I have left you half of the water in the pitcher. Pardon the +small quantity. We will try to prevail upon our jailer to bring us a +double supply in future. He is an obliging fellow, particularly if you +grease his palm with a little silver." + +Tournay accepted his share of the water with alacrity grateful for the +courtesy that divides with another even a few litres of indifferently +clean water in a prison cell. + +After this toilet, and a breakfast of rolls and coffee, partaken +together from the rough deal table, the two prisoners felt as if they +had known each other for years. + +The lines of their lives had frequently run near together during the +years of the Revolution, yet in all that whirl of events had never +crossed till now, since the summer day in the woods of La Thierry, when +the Marquis de St. Hilaire had placed his hand upon the boy's shoulder +and bade him save his life by flight. + +By some common understanding, subtler than words, no reference to past +events was made by either of them. They began their acquaintance then +and there; the officer in the republican army, and the Citizen St. +Hilaire; fellow prisoners, who in spite of any misfortune that might +overtake them would never falter in their devotion and loyalty to their +beloved country, France, and who recognized each in the other a man of +courage and a gentleman. + +So the day passed in discussing the victories of the armies, the +oppression and tyranny practiced by the committee, and the prospects of +the future. + +A few days after Tournay's incarceration the turnkey came toward +nightfall to give them a short time for recreation in the courtyard. +This, though far from satisfying, was hailed with pleasure by the +prisoners, and especially by Tournay, who, accustomed to the violent +exertion of the camp and field, chafed for want of exercise. + +They were escorted along the upper corridor, whence they could look down +into the main hall on the first floor of the Luxembourg. Here, those +prisoners who were happy enough not to be confined under special orders, +had the privilege of congregating during the hours of the day and early +evening. Looking down upon this scene shortly after the supper hour, +Tournay drew a breath of surprise. He felt for a moment as if he were +transported back to the days before the Revolution and was looking upon +a reception in the crowded salons of the chateau de Rochefort where the +baron entertained as became a grand seigneur. The republican colonel +turned a look of inquiry toward St. Hilaire. The latter gave a slight +shrug as he answered:-- + +"The ladies dress three times a day and appear in the evening in full +toilet. As for the men, they also wear the best they have. You will see +that many wear suits which in better days would have been thrown to +their lackeys. Now they are mended and remended during the day, that +they may make their appearance at night, and defy the shadows of the +gray stone walls and the imperfect candlelight quite bravely." And St. +Hilaire himself pulled a spotless ruffle below the sleeves of his +well-worn coat. + +"And so," mused Tournay, "they can find the heart to wear a gay exterior +in such a place as this?" + +"No revolution is great enough to change the feelings and passions of +human nature," replied St. Hilaire. "They only adapt themselves to new +conditions. Here, within these walls, under the shadow of the +guillotine, Generosity, Envy, Love, and Vanity play the same parts they +do in the outer world. Affairs of the heart refuse to be locked out by a +jailer's key, and these darkened recesses nightly resound with tender +accents and the sighs of lovers. Bright eyes kindle sparks that only +death can quench. Jealousy, also, is sometimes aroused, and I am told +that even affairs of honor have taken place here." + +"I should never have dreamed it possible," said the soldier, looking +with renewed interest upon the moving picture at his feet; from which a +sound of vivacious conversation arose like the multiplied hum of many +swarms of bees. + +St. Hilaire leaned idly with one arm on the gallery rail, while he +flecked from his coat a few grains of dust with a cambric handkerchief. +Suddenly he straightened himself and grasped the railing tightly with +both hands. + +"Good God! can it be possible?" he exclaimed to himself. + +Tournay looked at him, surprised by his sudden change of manner. St. +Hilaire did not notice him, but looked intently at some one in the hall +below. + +Tournay followed the direction of his companion's eyes and saw a young +woman, with childish countenance, standing by the elbow of a woman who +was seated in a chair occupied with some needlework. + +"Countess d'Arlincourt," St. Hilaire continued sadly, speaking to +himself. "I hoped that I had saved her." + +The woman glanced upward, and her large blue eyes met St. Hilaire's +gaze. After the first start of surprise her look expressed the deepest +gratitude, while his denoted interest and pity. + +Then he turned away. "Come citizen jailer," he said, addressing the +attendant, "lead us back to our cell." + +As Tournay was about to follow St. Hilaire, he saw, to his amazement, +the figure of de Lacheville standing apart from the rest, in the shadow +of the wall, as if he preferred the gloomy companionship of his own +thoughts to the society of his fellow beings in adversity. + +"Do you see that man skulking in the shadow by the wall?" asked Tournay, +pointing de Lacheville out to the jailer. "When did he come here?" + +"A few days ago. Either the same evening you were brought in, or the +day following," was the reply. + +"The same evening!" exclaimed Tournay to himself as he followed St. +Hilaire to their cell. "Robespierre has indeed been consistent in that +poor devil's case." + +The Countess d'Arlincourt drew up a little stool and placed herself at +the feet of her friend, Madame de Remur. The latter was still a woman in +the full flush of beauty. She was dressed in black velvet which seemed +but little worn, and which set off a complexion so brilliant that it +needed no rouge even to counteract the pallor of a prison. + +The countess leaned her head against the knees of her friend, allowing +the velvet of the dress to touch her own soft cheek caressingly. + +"Do not grieve, my child," said Madame de Remur, laying down her +embroidery and placing one hand upon the blonde head in her lap. "Grieve +not too much for your husband; there is not one person in this room who +has not to mourn the loss of some near friend or relative, and yet for +the sake of those who are living they continue to wear cheerful faces. I +only regret that you, who were at that time safe, should have +surrendered yourself after the count was taken. It has availed nothing, +and has sacrificed two lives instead of one." + +"Hush, Diane; a wife should not measure her duty by the result. He was a +prisoner. He was ill. It was my duty to come to his side." + +"Your pardon, dear child. You, with your baby face and gentle manner, +have more real courage than I. I hardly think I could do that for any +man in the world." + +"You always underrate yourself, dear Diane, you who are the noblest and +most generous of women!" exclaimed the countess, rising. "Now I am going +to speak to that poor little Mademoiselle de Choiseul. It was only +yesterday that they took her father." And Madame d'Arlincourt moved +quietly across the room. + +"I cannot understand the courage and devotion of that child," said +Madame de Remur, addressing the old Chevalier de Creux who stood behind +her chair. "I might possibly be willing to share any fate, even the +guillotine, with a man if I loved him madly; but"--and Madame de Remur +finished the sentence with a shrug of her shoulders. + +"Perhaps the countess loved her husband," suggested the young +Mademoiselle de Belloeil who sat near the table, bending over some +crochet work, but at the same time lending an ear to the conversation. + +"How could she?" said Diane, "he was so cold, so austere, and so +dreadfully uninteresting, and then I happen to know she did not, +because"-- + +"Because she loved another gentleman," said the chevalier, completing +the sentence with a laugh. "Under the circumstances I do not know +whether I admire the countess's loyalty in following her husband to +prison, or condemn her cruelty in leaving a lover to pine outside its +walls." + +"She was always a faithful wife, I would have you understand, you wicked +old Chevalier de Creux!" exclaimed Madame de Remur, looking up at him as +he leaned over the back of her chair. + +"Perhaps the lover may be confined in the prison also," suggested the +philosopher, who had also been a silent listener to the dialogue. + +"More than likely," assented the chevalier dryly. + +"Whether he were here or not," said madame decidedly, "she would have +done the same." + +"Here is the Count de Blois," said the chevalier; "let us put the case +before him." + +"Oh, you men," laughed Madame de Remur. "I will not accept the verdict +of the best of you. But the count is accompanied by the poet; let us get +him to recite us some verses." And she tossed her fancywork upon the +table at her side. + +Monsieur de Blois, with his arm through the poet's, bowed low before +them. The count had been in the prison for over a year, and the poor +gentleman's wardrobe had begun to show the effect of long service. + +"They have evidently forgotten my existence entirely," he had said +pathetically one morning to a friend who found him washing his only fine +shirt in the prison-yard fountain. "When this shirt is worn out, I shall +make a demand to be sent to the guillotine from very modesty." + +A few days later he had received a couple of shirts and a note by the +hand of the jailer. + + "Dear de Blois," the letter had read. "I am called, and shall + not need these. If they prevent you from carrying out your + threat of the other morning, I shall go with a lighter heart. + + "Yours, V. de K." + +"De Blois!" said the chevalier, drawing the count away from the table of +Mademoiselle de Belloeil, "you are called to decide a point of the +greatest delicacy." + +The count put his glass to his eye as if to look at the chevalier and +the philosopher, but in reality he only saw Mademoiselle de Belloeil +bending over her embroidery. + +"If a lady," continued the chevalier, his bright eyes twinkling, +"voluntarily puts herself into a prison where are confined both her +husband and her lover, what credit does she deserve for her action? Can +it be called self-sacrifice?" + +Before replying, the count looked attentively at the group before him: +at the philosopher's impenetrable countenance; at the chevalier's +quizzical and wrinkled brown physiognomy; then at Madame de Remur's +handsome face, and lastly and most tenderly at the drooping eyelids of +the delicate Mademoiselle de Belloeil. + +"She would be twice revered," replied de Blois. + +Mademoiselle de Belloeil's needle stopped in its click-click. + +"Why so, monsieur le comte?" inquired the philosopher. "If she has a +double motive for the sacrifice, should not the honor of it be only half +as great?" + +"She should receive credit for her loyalty to the husband whom she had +sworn to obey, and homage for her devotion to the lover on whom by +nature she has placed her affections," replied the count, bowing to +Madame de Remur, while he noted with a certain satisfaction the smile of +approval on the lips of Mademoiselle de Belloeil. + +"And no one has said that she has a lover," declared Madame de Remur +warmly. + +"Did you not imply as much, dear madame?" asked the old chevalier slyly. + +"I intimated that she might have had one--if--let us change the subject. +I move that the poet read us his latest verses. I am dying for some +amusement." + +"Ladies and gentlemen," cried the old chevalier, clapping his hands +together to attract the attention of all those in the room, "this +brilliant young author and poet, who needs no introduction to you, has +consented to read his latest production. Will you kindly take places?" + +There was some polite applause. "The poem! let us hear the poem," buzzed +upon all sides, and the throng began to settle down around the poet, the +ladies occupying the chairs, and the gentlemen either leaning against +the walls or seated upon stools by the side of those ladies in whose +eyes they found particular favor. + +In a few moments a hush of expectancy fell upon an audience delighted at +the prospect of being entertained. + +"This is a play in verse," began the poet, taking a roll of manuscript +from his pocket. + +"A play! how charming," said Mademoiselle de Belloeil. + +"It is in three acts," continued the author. "Act first, in the prison +of the Luxembourg, where the young people first meet and fall deeply in +love." + +A rustle of approval ran through his audience. + +"Act second is in the prison yard where they are separated, she being +set at liberty and he conducted to the guillotine." + +"Oh, how terrible!" murmured the young damsel. + +"One moment, monsieur le poete," said Madame de Remur. "How does it end? +I warn you that I shall not like your play if it ends unhappily." + +"You shall judge of that in a moment, madame," replied the poet, bowing +to her graciously. + +"In the third act," he continued, "the lovers are brought together under +the shadow of the guillotine, whither she has followed him. The knife +falls upon both of them in quick succession, and their souls are united +in the next world, never to be separated more." + +"What a beautiful ending," cried Mademoiselle de Belloeil, and the +exclamation on the part of the audience showed that her sentiment was +echoed generally. + +"Continue," said Madame de Remur. "I was afraid it was going to end +unhappily." + +The chevalier took a pinch of snuff and settled himself back in the +arm-chair which was accorded to him as a tribute to his advanced age; +and the poet unfolded his manuscript and began to read. + +It was an intensely appreciative audience that listened to the dramatic +work of the poet. They followed with breathless interest the meeting of +the young lovers in the hall of the Luxembourg; assisted smilingly at +their rendezvous in the corridors and shadowy corners of the old prison; +and sighed gently during the most tender passages. At the scene of +separation, tears of regret flowed freely, and in the meeting in the +last act, tears of joy and sorrow mingled together in sympathetic +unison. + +As the young poet ended he folded up his manuscript and bowed his +blushing acknowledgments to the storm of applause that greeted him. + +The wave of approbation had not ceased to resound through the room when +the outer door opened, and the jailer and some half a dozen gendarmes +entered abruptly. + +Instantly the hum of conversation stopped, and an icy chill fell upon +the assemblage. Faces that the moment before were wreathed in smiles now +became pale and marked with fear. + +"The call of to-morrow's list to the guillotine," rang out through the +room in harsh notes. + +Amid the silence of death, a captain of gendarmerie took a slip of paper +from his pocket, while a comrade held a lantern under his nose. Some of +those who listened wiped the clammy perspiration from their foreheads, +others trembled and sat down. Some affected an air of indifference, and +began a forced conversation with their neighbors; but all ears were +strained. Each dreaded lest his own name or that of some loved one +should be called out by that monotonous, relentless voice. + +"Bertrand de Chalons." + +An old man stepped forward. + +"Annette Duclos." + +There was a pause after each name, during which the suspense was +intensified. + +"Diane de Remur." + +Madame de Remur laid aside her work and rose. + +"Diane! Diane! I cannot bear it!" cried the Countess d'Arlincourt, +throwing her arms about her friend's neck. "Oh, sirs, have pity!" + +"Hush, my dear," replied Madame de Remur soothingly. "Chevalier, look to +the poor child; she is hysterical." The chevalier gently drew the +countess aside, then took Madame de Remur's hand and silently bending +over it, put it to his lips. + +"Take your place in the line, citizeness," called out a gendarme, and +Madame de Remur stood with the others. + +"Andre de Blois!" + +As de Blois' name was called, a shrill cry echoed through the room, and +Mademoiselle de Belloeil fell back into the chair from which she had +just risen. She did not swoon, but sat like one in a dream, staring with +wide-open eyes. + +The count stepped to her side. + +"Adele," he said, bending down and speaking in a low voice, "give me one +of those roses you are wearing on your breast." Mechanically she took +the flower from her bosom and put it in his hand. He placed it over his +heart. "It shall be here to the last," he said softly; "now farewell;" +and he pressed a kiss upon her cold lips. + +"Maurice de Lacheville." + +A man crouched down behind a group of prisoners, and all heads were +turned in his direction. + +"Maurice de Lacheville, you are called," said a gendarme, going up to +him and seizing him by the arm with no gentle grasp. + +"There is some mistake," cried de Lacheville pitiably. + +"There is no mistake, your name is here." + +"I say, there must be some mistake. My arrest was a mistake. I was +promised"-- + +"Into the line with you," was the gruff interruption. "Many would claim +there was a mistake if it would avail them to say so." + +"But in my case it is true," pleaded de Lacheville. "Send word to +Robespierre; he promised"-- + +"Into the line, I tell you!" cried the exasperated gendarme. "There is +no mistake; your name is written here. You go with the rest." + +"One moment, one little moment," implored the wretched marquis in an +agony of fear. "Oh, messieurs the gendarmes, if you will but hear me, I +have an important communication to make." All this time he was fighting +desperately as the two officers of the law dragged him toward the door. + +"Silence, idiot!" yelled the angry captain, "or I will have you bound +and gagged. Take example from these women who put you to shame." + +"Idiot that I was," cried de Lacheville, "why did I ever return from a +place of safety? None but a fool would have trusted the word of +Robespierre." + +"Bind him," ordered the captain. + +With a strength no one would have believed that he possessed, de +Lacheville threw off those who held him. + +"Stand back!" he shouted wildly, as the officers endeavored to seize +him. He drew an object quickly from his pocket. + +"Take care, Jean. He has a weapon," cried one. + +There was a report of a pistol, and the marquis fell forward to the +floor. + +A murmur of horror filled the prison hall. Women fainted, and men turned +away their heads. The gendarmes hastened to bend over him. + +"I believe he is dead, captain," said one after a brief examination. + +"Carry him out with the others just the same," ordered the captain. +"Pierre, continue with the list." + +"Bertrand de Tourin." + +"Here." + +"Adele de Belloeil." + +There was a cry of joy in the answer:-- + +"I am here. The Blessed Virgin has heard my prayer;" and Mademoiselle de +Belloeil stepped forward. "Andre, I come with you; we shall go +together where they can never separate us." And she threw herself into +the arms of her lover. + +"About face--fall in--forward! march." The heavy door closed, and those +who had been called were led away, while those remaining in the prison +went quietly to their cells, to recommence the same life on the morrow +until the next roll-call. + +"The nobility of France," said the chevalier to the philosopher, "may +not have known how to live, but it knows how to die." + +"Except the Marquis de Lacheville," was the reply. + +"Bah. He was always one of the canaille at heart; he only proves my +assertion," and the chevalier took an extra large pinch of snuff and +limped off to his mattress of straw. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TAPPEUR AND PETITSOU + + +"What are you bringing us now?" growled a voice from a corner of the +cell. Gaillard heard the rustling of straw, but his eyes were not enough +accustomed to the gloom to enable him to see what sort of being it was +who gave utterance to this harsh welcome. + +"Are not two enough in a trap like this?" the speaker went on, rising +and coming forward. "There's hardly enough air for us as it is, without +your putting in another one." + +"So it's you, Tappeur, complaining again," remarked the jailer. "You had +better be thankful you're not four in a cell as they are in most of +them. The prison is full to overflowing. No matter how many they take +out, there's always more to fill their places. You'll have to make the +best of it." And he closed the door with an unfeeling slam. + +Tappeur brushed some of the straw from his hair and beard. "A plague +upon these suspects that fill up our prisons!" he exclaimed with an +oath; "we honest criminals have to put up with the vilest accommodations +because you crowd us to the wall by force of numbers. You _are_ a +suspect, aren't you?" he demanded, coming nearer and putting a dirty +face close to Gaillard's. + +The cell which they occupied was below the level of the ground. Overhead +at the juncture of the ceiling and wall was a grating through which came +all the light and air they received. + +"You are a suspect, is it not so?" repeated Tappeur as Gaillard made no +answer. + +"I have not the honor of being an 'honest criminal,'" replied the actor, +drawing away with a movement of disgust from the seamed and distorted +visage thrust close to his. + +"Bah, I thought not," said Tappeur with another oath. "Well, suspect, +come over here under the grating and let me take a good look at your +face," and he seized Gaillard roughly by the arm. + +Tappeur received a violent blow on the chest which sent him reeling into +a dark corner of the cell, clutching at the empty air as if to sustain +himself by catching hold of the shadows. His fall to the ground was +followed by an explosion of oaths in a new voice, in which explosion +Tappeur himself joined vigorously. + +"I've stirred up a nest of them," said Gaillard to himself, and then +stood awaiting developments. + +The torrent of profanity having exhausted itself, Tappeur emerged from +the shadowy recess of the wall followed by a smaller man. + +"How do you like my looks?" inquired Gaillard cheerfully. + +"I'm satisfied for the present," replied Tappeur. + +"Your fist is hard enough; what may your trade be?" + +"I have no regular profession, I'm a little of everything. What's +yours?" + +"I belong to the 'Brotherhood of the Ready Hand.' Our motto is 'Steal +and Kill;' our watchward 'Blood and Death;' and our coat of arms 'A Cord +and Gallows.'" And Tappeur chuckled gleefully. + +"You are evidently a rare accumulation of talent and virtue. I should +enjoy knowing more of you. Is this a member of your band?" and Gaillard +pointed to the man who had just been awakened, and who was yawning and +stretching his arms. + +"Our band, oh no, this is the great Petitsou." + +"And who is Petitsou?" + +"What! you don't know Petitsou?" demanded Tappeur pityingly. + +"Never heard of him." + +"He never even heard of you, Petitsou!" exclaimed Tappeur, turning to +his companion with a gesture of disgust. + +Petitsou shrugged his shoulders in reply, as if to say, "He has been the +only loser." + +"Pray let me be compensated for my ill fortune, by learning all about +you now, Citizen Petitsou." + +"I have made more counterfeit money than any man in France now living, I +might say more than any man who ever has lived, but I believe some one +or two of the old kings have surpassed me," said Petitsou. + +"He is an artist," whispered Tappeur; "he does not make you a clumsy, +bungling coin only to be palmed off upon women and blind men. He creates +an article finer to look at than the government mint can produce. +_Pardieu_, I'd rather have a pocket full of his silver than that bearing +either the face of Louis Capet or of this new Republic." And Tappeur +looked at his friend the artist admiringly. + +"It was when the government issued these assignats that my great fortune +was made," continued Petitsou. "In fact, it was too much success that +brought me here. I found them so easy to make that I manufactured them +by the wholesale. I stored my cellar with them. I even had the audacity +to make the government a small loan in assignats on which I did the +entire work myself, reproducing the very signatures of the officials who +received the funds. Oh, it was a rare sport." + +"But your forgeries were finally detected?" said Gaillard inquiringly. + +"The workmanship and the signatures never. I could have gone on making +enough to buy up the whole government, but for a mishap. I made a +glaring error in the date of a certain issue of assignats. I never liked +the new calendar, and always had to take particular care to get it +right, but one day my memory slipped up, and I dated a batch of one +hundred thousand francs, November 14, 1793, instead of 25th Brumaire, +year II. Oh, that was an unpardonable slip, and I deserved to pay the +penalty." + +"It seems cruel," remarked Gaillard, "to keep a useful member of +society, like you, in this filthy dungeon." + +"The greatest cruelty is in keeping the materials of my trade away from +me. They know my love for my art, and take delight in torturing me. +Although I promise not to try any dodge, they won't trust me. If they +would only let me have a little pen, ink, and paper, I should be happy." + +"Pen, ink, and paper?" repeated Gaillard. "That's a modest desire." + +"They won't let him have them," put in Tappeur. "He'd play them all +sorts of tricks. He'd forge all sorts of documents, and worry the life +out of the jailers." + +The door opened a few inches, and a jug of water and a large square loaf +made their appearance, pushed in by an invisible hand. + +"Let's divide our rations for the day," suggested Petitsou. "Have they +given us a larger loaf, Tappeur, on account of our increased number?" + +"But very little larger," replied Tappeur, picking up the loaf of black +bread and surveying it hungrily. + +"Is that all we receive in the way of food?" asked Gaillard ruefully. He +had missed his usual supper after the theatre the night before, and was +quite ready for breakfast. + +"That's all, unless you've got money. You can buy what you like with +that." And Tappeur eyed him slyly out of his deep-set eyes. + +"What do you say to some wine in place of this cold water, and some +white bread, with perhaps a little sausage added by the way of relish?" +suggested Gaillard mildly. + +"Hey, you jailer!" called out Tappeur, frantically rushing toward the +door, fearful lest the man might be out of hearing. The jailer retraced +his steps reluctantly. + +"A commission from the new lodger. A bottle of wine. A white loaf in +place of this vile, sour stuff, and some sweet little sausage. A little +tobacco also. Am I not right, my comrade?" asked Tappeur, looking at +Gaillard inquiringly. + +"Some tobacco, of course," nodded Gaillard, producing a coin. + +"Have it strong; I have tasted none for so long that it must bite my +tongue to make up for lost time. Hurry with thy commissions my good +little citizen jailer; the new lodger is hungry, and we, too, have no +small appetites." + +"Tobacco," said Petitsou, "next to ink and paper, I have longed for +that. And I have money, too!" and he produced a five-franc piece. "As +good a piece of silver as ever rang from the government mint, and yet +that cursed jailer refuses to take it, or bring me the smallest portion +of tobacco for it. The donkey fears I have manufactured it here on the +premises, or that I extracted it from thin air like a magician." + +The breakfast being brought, Tappeur rolled a couple of large stones +toward the lightest portion of the cell, and placed a board across them +for a table. They had nothing to sit upon but their heels. The two +criminals had accustomed themselves to this method of sitting at meals, +but Gaillard found it more comfortable to partake of his food standing +with his shoulders to the wall. + +"Fall to, comrades!" cried Tappeur, breaking off an end of the loaf and +taking a sausage in his other hand. "There's no cup, so we must drink +from the bottle." And he handed the wine to Gaillard first, by way of +attention. + +Gaillard put the bottle to his lips and took a long draught of the +contents while Tappeur watched him anxiously. He then passed it over to +Petitsou, who treated it in a like manner. Tappeur received it in his +turn in thankful silence, and after having punished it severely, put it +down by his side. Gaillard helped himself to a piece of bread and a +sausage, and ate with good appetite, leaving his new companions to +finish the wine, to the evident satisfaction of those two worthies. + +"You have a hard fist, my brave comrade!" exclaimed Tappeur, filling a +pipe as short and grimy as the thumb that pushed the tobacco down into +the bowl. "A hard fist and a free purse and Tappeur is your friend for +life." To give emphasis to his words he puffed a cloud of blue smoke up +into Gaillard's face, and drained the last few drops of wine in the +flagon. + +"That's very good stuff," he continued, balancing the empty bottle upon +its nose, "but brandy would be more satisfying." + +Gaillard refused to take the hint, and turned away to spread his cloak +in a corner of the cell, where he lay down upon it and was soon in a +deep sleep. + +Week followed week, and Gaillard continued to live below the ground far +from the sunlight which he loved so dearly, while Tournay, confined in +the cell upon the second floor, wondered why he received no word from +the friend in the outside world. + +Thus they lived within one hundred yards of each other, thinking of each +other daily, and with no means of communication. One thing Gaillard had +to be thankful for, and that was the sum of money the theatre manager +had paid him on the very night of his arrest. With it he had purchased +many comforts to make his life more bearable. He had procured a fresh +supply of straw and a warm blanket for his bed; some candles and a rough +chair upon which he took turns in sitting with the two jail-birds, his +companions, although at meals he always occupied it by tacit consent. + +Under the influence of the additional food which Gaillard's purse +supplied, Tappeur grew fat and better natured, though he swore none the +less, and drank and smoked all that Gaillard would provide for him. +Indeed, he thought the actor a little niggardly in furnishing the +brandy, and one day, after a good meal, was inclined to be swaggering, +intimating that, with respect to drink, the rations should be increased. +Whereupon Gaillard cut off his potations entirely for twenty-four hours, +and he became as meek as a lamb and remained so ever after. + +Both the bully and Petitsou would frequently regale Gaillard with long +accounts of their past crimes. During the recitals, Tappeur, although +always boastful on his own account, showed a certain deference to the +forger. + +"I can cut a throat or rob a purse with the best blackguard in France," +he would say to the actor, "but that little Petitsou is the true +artist." + +Notwithstanding these diversions, the time dragged wearily, and +Gaillard's face began to lose its roundness, while the smile did not +broaden his wide mouth so frequently as of old. His money began to get +low, and he looked forward with dread to the time when it would be +entirely gone and he would have to divide the musty black loaf and the +pitcher of fetid water with the two criminals, without the wherewithal +to buy even such good nature and entertainment as they could furnish. He +longed for the time of his trial to come. He knew from what he had heard +of the experiences of others, that he might be called for trial any day, +or that he might languish in jail for months, forgotten and neglected. +Every day when he asked the jailer who brought their food, "Have I not +been called for trial?" and received the response, "Not to-day," his +heart sank lower. + +One day when he had only five francs left in his purse, and had +refrained from ordering any wine, much to Tappeur's disgust, the jailer +came to inform him that he was to come forth for trial. + +"Good luck attend you, citizen actor," said Petitsou, with some show of +friendship, as Gaillard prepared to leave them, smiling. + +"As we must lose you in one way or another," called out Tappeur after +him as he disappeared down the corridor, "let us hope that the national +razor will not bungle when it shaves you, my brave." + +Gaillard's spirits rose as he came up to the light of day. In a few +hours he would know what his destiny would be, and the fresh air gave +him renewed courage to meet it. His wish to learn just what fate had +overtaken Tournay gave him an additional interest in life. + +Passing through the main corridor he heard his name called, and looking +toward the corridor of the upper tier he saw the face of his friend. + +It was only an instant, and then Gaillard passed out with others to the +street. At first Tournay's heart throbbed with apprehension at the sight +of his friend. He had feared all along that had Gaillard been at liberty +he would have received some message from him, or other evidence of his +existence, and now his fears were confirmed. Yet somehow the very sight +of Gaillard's cheerful face, smiling up at him, reassured him. + +"Am called for trial," the actor's lips framed. "And you?" Tournay made +a negative gesture. + +"Paper destroyed," Gaillard next signaled with his lips, but he dared +not make the words too plain for fear of detection, and the message was +lost on Tournay. Then they saw each other no longer. + +It was into a small court room that Gaillard saw himself conducted. He +looked round with surprise. The trials were usually attended by large +and interested crowds of people. + +"I am evidently considered of small importance, and so am disposed of by +an inferior court," thought he. "So much the better." + +The case being tried at the moment was one of petty larceny. "The other +courts must be doing an enormous business, to oblige them to turn some +of us over to these little criminal courts," continued Gaillard musingly +as the affair in question was disposed of and he was called. + +"Read the act of accusation," said the judge, "and hurry the affair. I +wish to go to dinner." + +"Don't let me detain you," thought Gaillard. Then he put his hands to +his head to ascertain if his ears were in their proper place, for he +could not understand a word of the accusation as read by the clerk. He +heard a jumble about "coat," "personal assault," "refused payment," then +looked in bewilderment at the judge and prosecuting attorney, till from +them his eyes wandered about the dingy court room. All at once the sight +of a face in the witness box caused a light to flash through his brain, +and elucidate the whole matter. He recognized his tailor, who sat with +vindictive eyes, holding over his arm the identical coat that had been +the cause of the dispute on the very day of his arrest. + +Gaillard could barely repress his merriment. The rancor of the little +tailor had followed him to prison, and dragged him out to answer a +complaint of assault and intent to defraud. + +"I wonder," thought Gaillard, "if I am convicted and sentenced for this +crime, and subsequently condemned to the guillotine, which penalty I +shall have to pay first?" + +"Have you any counsel, prisoner?" demanded the judge. + +"I will plead my own case," replied Gaillard cheerfully. + +"Call the complainant and witness." + +After a long recital on the part of the tailor of the history of the +coat, and the treatment he had received at the hands of the brutal +prisoner, during which the judge yawned, indicating his desire to get +out to dinner, Gaillard took the stand. + +"My sole defense," said he smilingly, "is that the tailor wittingly, +maliciously, and falsely, endeavored to palm off upon me, a poor actor, +a garment never made for me." + +"How will you prove it?" demanded the judge. + +"By simply trying on the coat," answered Gaillard. "If you decide it was +made for me, I will abandon my defense." + +"Let the prisoner have the garment," ordered the judge. + +Gaillard slowly proceeded to divest himself of his own coat and don the +offending garment which the tailor now presented to him reluctantly. + +It had fitted him badly on the first occasion he had tried it on, and +now, by a slight contortion of his supple body, the actor made the +misfit ridiculously apparent. + +The court officers grinned, even the judge could not repress a smile, +and the tailor looked foolish. + +"That is quite sufficient," said the justice. "How much did the tailor +want you to pay for this grotesque garment?" + +"Two hundred francs the bill calls for." + +"Two hundred francs?" ejaculated the judge. + +"In gold coin," emphasized Gaillard. + +"It is very expensive material," explained the tailor ruefully. + +"Down how many flights of stairs does the complaint state the prisoner +kicked the tailor?" asked the judge. + +"Only one short one," volunteered Gaillard, grinning at the discomfited +tailor. + +"Only one short one?" repeated the judge. "You were very moderate; such +an absurd garment would have justified three flights." + +There was a laugh in the court room. The judge tapped for order. + +"The prisoner is discharged," he said. + +Gaillard rose and looked for the guards who had escorted him from the +Luxembourg, thankful for the brief respite he had had from the tedium of +confinement. + +"You are a free man, Citizen Gaillard," said the judge, waving his hand +toward the open door. + +"Do you mean I can leave the court room by that door?" asked Gaillard, +his heart rising up in his throat. + +"Certainly; I dismiss the complaint." + +"Thank you, your honor," said Gaillard, stepping quickly through the +doorway into the street. + +"Your honor!" gasped a court attendant hurriedly appearing at the +judge's desk. + +"I have no time to listen to anything further now. I am off to dinner," +said the judge snappishly. + +"But does your honor know? Is your honor aware that the prisoner was a +suspect from the Luxembourg, brought here by me for trial on this charge +of assault, to be returned after"-- + +"Bring him back at once!" yelled the judge. "You idiot, why didn't you +say so before?" + +"But, your honor, I"-- + +"After him, constables; be quick, he cannot have gone fifty yards." + +Half a dozen men rushed into the street and looked in all directions. +But Gaillard was not to be seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +UNCLE MICHELET + + +One April day a wave of excitement swept through the entire prison. It +was repeated in every cell and whispered in every ear. + +"The lion has been taken in the mesh! The great Danton is a prisoner in +the Luxembourg!" + +At first Tournay could not believe the report. It seemed as if those +giant arms need but to be extended to break the bonds that held them, +and allow their owner to walk out into the air a free man. + +Yet it was indeed true, and one day, for a few moments only, Tournay had +an opportunity to see and converse with the fallen chieftain as he stood +in the door of his cell, talking in a loud voice to all who were near +enough to hear him. + +As Danton saw Colonel Tournay he ceased speaking and held out his hand. +In his eyes there was a peculiar look which the latter understood. + +"You see, it has come at last even to me," said Danton quietly. + +"Ah, why did you not crush the snake before it entwined you with its +coils?" asked Tournay sadly. + +"I did not think he would dare do it," replied Danton. "Robespierre is +rushing to his ruin. What will they do without me? They are all mad." + +"You should have distrusted their madness, even if you did not fear it," +was the rejoinder. + +"The end is near," answered Danton. "It is fate. Yet if I could leave my +brains to Robespierre and my legs to Couthon, the Revolution might still +limp along for a short time," and he laughed roughly. "Good-by, +Tournay," he said in a tone of kindliness. "You are a brave man and a +true Republican; such men as you might have saved the Republic, but it +was not to be." He entered his cell, and Tournay never saw him again. + +The next day Danton was taken to the conciergerie and to his trial, and +the day following to the guillotine. The lion head was parted from the +giant trunk, and the Revolution swept on. + +The weeks dragged on monotonously to Colonel Tournay and St. Hilaire in +the Luxembourg. The trees in the gardens beyond their prison walls had +put forth their leaves, and the song of birds was borne sometimes even +into the recesses of their cell. + +"Why are we left to rot here in this stifling place?" exclaimed Colonel +Tournay for the thousandth time. "Why are we not even called for trial? +Has Robespierre forgotten our existence?" + +"Let us hope that he has," rejoined St. Hilaire. "As long as we are +overlooked we shall get into no worse trouble. We are not so very +uncomfortable here," and St. Hilaire sprang upon the table to put his +nose out between the window bars, like a fox in a cage, to get what air +there was stirring and to look at the little patch of blue sky. + +Tournay smiled sadly. He envied St. Hilaire his cheerfulness and +adaptability, while he felt his own spirit breaking under the long +confinement. + +He sat down upon the edge of the bed and wondered what had happened in +the world since he had been cut off from it. His thoughts were +frequently of Gaillard, and he wished he could learn something about his +friend. As he was sitting thus, oppressed by the warmth of a June +afternoon, the turnkey entered the cell. + +"There is an old man come to see you," he said, addressing Tournay. +"Your uncle from the provinces, I believe. You may see him outside here +in the corridor." + +"I wonder who this visitor may be," thought Tournay as he followed the +turnkey. "Had I not received word of my poor father's death two months +ago I should expect to find him." + +An old man stood leaning on his cane at the end of the corridor. He +seemed quite feeble, and the jailer, moved to compassion by his +infirmity, placed a stool for him to sit upon. + +"My nephew!" exclaimed the old man in tremulous accents as Tournay made +his appearance. + +Apparently the old man had made some mistake. To Colonel Tournay's eyes +he was an entire stranger; but being aware that the slightest suspicion +aroused in the mind of the prison authorities sometimes led to very +serious consequences, he determined to wait until the turnkey was out of +hearing before undeceiving the mild-eyed old gentleman. + +"My uncle," he answered, taking the venerable citizen by the +outstretched hand, "how did your old legs manage to"-- + +The septuagenarian squeezed the colonel's hand until the fingers +cracked. + +"My old legs would have brought me here long before," said the voice of +Gaillard in guarded tones, "but it took me two weeks to get this +disguise!" + +"Gaillard! In heaven's name can it be you?" + +"'Tis I! I may have aged since we last met, my colonel, but my heart is +as young as ever." + +"My dear Gaillard, how did you manage to leave this prison? What are you +doing? Is this not dangerous?" asked Tournay, putting the questions in +rapid succession. + +"Gaillard's liberty would not be worth a brass button if he should come +here," replied the actor, "but old Michelet has nothing to fear. I have +been playing hide and seek with the police for the past fortnight. I am +now living at 15 Rue des Mathurins." + +Even Tournay, who knew his friend so well, started. + +"It is a very long story, and I can only give you an outline of it," +said Gaillard, seating himself on the stool and leaning heavily on his +cane, while he turned his face so that he could see from one corner of +his eye every motion the turnkey might make. + +"I escaped from my dungeon below the ground; I will tell you how when we +have more leisure. The first thing I thought of, when I was once out in +the free air, was a bath. I wanted to drown out the recollection of +assassins and dirty straw, vile air and counterfeiters with whom I had +been on such intimate terms for so many weeks. + +"I was afraid to go to any bath houses lest I should be seen and +recognized; besides, I had no money, so I finally concluded to try the +river. I therefore skulked in unfrequented byways until nightfall, when +I went swimming in the Seine by starlight, and I can assure you I never +before appreciated the kindly properties of water to such an extent. My +next desire, after I had slept in the arches of the bridge St. Michel +and broken my fast with a crisp roll, was to see you." + +"My dear old uncle!" exclaimed Tournay aloud, placing his hand +affectionately on Gaillard's shoulder. + +"I knew that I should be safe if I could procure a good disguise, but +that it would be folly to attempt it without one," continued Gaillard. +"The want of money was still an obstacle. 'Among the costumes in my +chest at home,' thought I, 'is material to disguise a whole race of +Gaillards.' Ah, but how to reach them? That was the matter that required +careful study. Those annoying little red seals that the government +places on the doors of all arrested persons are terribly dangerous to +meddle with. Yet within were clothing and disguises, and a very little +sum of money stowed away for an emergency. Meanwhile, in the evening, I +promenaded down the Rue des Mathurins to look the ground over. There, +planted in front of the house, staring up at the windows of our +apartment, was a great hulking gendarme. + +"That night I slept again under the St. Michel bridge,--commodious and +airy enough, but a little damp in the morning hours. Before daylight I +was up and off to the Rue des Mathurins, drawn like a criminal to the +scene of his misdeeds, to inspect the enemy unseen by him. + +"There is a certain mouselike gratification in watching from afar the +cat, which, with claws extended, is lying in wait, ready to pounce upon +you as soon as you show your nose." And Gaillard stopped to take a pinch +of snuff and blink at the light with a pair of mild blue eyes. Then, +after applying a colored handkerchief to his nose, he resumed his +narrative. + +"At all hours of the day, late at night, or early in the morning, there +was always some officer of police staring persistently at my windows as +if he expected me, furnished with a pair of wings, to come flying in or +out of a fourth story. 'Not yet, my fine fellow,' said I, and vanished +around the corner. + +"One night it rained dismally; a cold mist was rising from the river. +The St. Michel bridge had little attraction as a bedroom for me at that +moment, I can assure you. Muffling myself in my cloak, I directed my +steps toward my old abode, hoping that owing to the inclemency of the +weather the officers of the law might be less vigilant. For I had +resolved, the opportunity offering, to make an attempt to enter my own +domicile that very night. Imagine my disgust when, upon arriving, I saw +two gendarmes sheltered in the entrance of the house opposite. Both of +them were obtrusively wide-awake and alert. + +"I do not know whether one of them noticed me, lurking by the corner, +but he immediately started to walk in my direction, and not wishing to +run any chances I darted into an alley blacker than a whole calendar of +nights, scaled a wall, and found myself in the narrow court which flanks +our own building. Here I resolved to wait until I could safely venture +out upon the street once more. + +"The rain had almost ceased, but I could still hear the gurgle of the +water coming down the spout from the roof. You know that water spout, my +little colonel? It is made to carry off the water from three houses, is +unusually large, and is held firmly in place a few inches from the house +wall by iron braces at intervals of five to six feet. I placed my hand +on one of these braces, and instantly the thought flashed through my +brain, 'It can be done.'" + +"You are not going to tell me that you attempted to climb up by the +water pipe?" demanded Tournay incredulously. + +"I divested myself of my cloak, coat, and waistcoat, removed my heavy, +rain-soaked shoes, and began the ascent as bravely as any seaman +ordered to the foretop," replied Gaillard. + +"I could reach the brace above while standing on the one beneath, and +partly using my knees and partly drawing myself up by the arms, I made +quicker progress than I had deemed possible. In fact, I went up so +vigorously that on reaching the third story I struck my knee against a +piece of loose stucco which was clinging to the wall, waiting for the +first strong wind to blow it to the ground. + +"Crash! the plaster fell to the courtyard pavement, where it was +shivered into a thousand fragments. + +"The blow on my kneecap made me shiver with pain, and I rested on the +brace just outside the window of the little soubrette, clinging tightly +with both hands to the spout. + +"'Thank heaven that it was the stucco that fell, not I,' I whispered +devoutly, just as a window opened on the floor above, and our old +neighbor Avarie appeared. He is always on the lookout for robbers, and +keeps at his bedside a big blunderbuss, with a muzzle like a +speaking-trumpet. + +"'Thieves,' I heard him mutter. I kept perfectly quiet, not giving vent +even to a breath. + +"'Who's there?' + +"I clung close to the shelter of my friendly water pipe. + +"'Speak, or I'll fire!' + +"I knew he could not see me, and if he did fire his old cannon, I felt +sure that it would explode and blow him into atoms; but the noise would +alarm the neighborhood, and I had a vision of a score of lights +flashing; night-capped heads appearing in all the surrounding windows; +gendarmes running up with their lanterns, and poor Gaillard, clinging +like a frightened cat to the water spout. + +"That gave me an idea. + +"'Miauw!' answered I plaintively. + +"'It's a cat!' exclaimed old Avarie in disgust. + +"'Mew--mew--mew,' cried I. + +"'What is it?' said a woman's voice, evidently his wife's. + +"'Nothing but a cat,' growled Avarie. 'But I think I will let drive at +her just because she disturbed my sleep.' + +"I stopped my mewing on the instant. + +"'Don't,' pleaded the woman, 'the gun may kick.' + +"'Bah, do you think I can't handle a gun?' And I heard a click. + +"'Good-by to thee, old Avarie,' I said under my breath. + +"'Don't be a fool, husband, and awake the whole neighborhood just for a +cat!' exclaimed his wife. + +"Almost at my window another window was thrown open and the little +soubrette's head appeared. She is very fond of cats. + +"'Here puss, puss, puss,' she cried. + +"'Is that your cat, citizeness?' asked old Avarie. + +"'It must be; he has stayed out all night, the naughty fellow. Kitty, +kitty, poor kitty, come in out of the wet.' + +"My teeth were chattering with cold and fatigue and that was just what I +most desired, but I did not dare to risk it. + +"'You ought to keep the animal at home, and not let him out to disturb +everybody's sleep,' called out the testy old man as he closed his window +with a bang. + +"Luckily for me the little soubrette's attention was all directed toward +the roof of the lower extension on the left where her pet evidently had +a habit of straying. She did not see me, crouched behind the pipe so +near as to almost be able to touch her by putting out one hand. By the +way, she looked very pretty in her little white nightcap edged with +lace. I was not very sorry, however, to see her close the window and to +be left alone with my water spout. A few minutes later I had pushed open +the window of my kitchen and wriggled into the room. + +"I dared not strike a light for fear of its reflection on the wall +opposite, and groped my way about the room in the dark. My heart leaped +with joy when I had assured myself that no seal had been placed on the +windows nor upon any of the inside doors; the one seal on the outer door +evidently having been deemed sufficient. The dust was an inch thick over +everything, and I moved about in ghostly stillness, struggling to +repress a sneeze. Nothing appeared to have been touched since the night +of my enforced departure. + +"I hugged myself with a childish glee at being alone in my little home +in the dead of night. The thought of the gendarmes outside in the rain +made my sides ache with suppressed laughter. + +"First, I unearthed my little economies of last winter. Thirteen francs, +five sous. 'Gaillard you're a prodigal fellow,' I said to myself as I +dropped them into my pouch, 'but it is better than nothing.' Then I +collected a few necessities. My beautiful wig of silver hair, and a +suitable dress to go with it. I handled lovingly a few other costumes, +but had the strength of mind to return them to the chest. I should like +to have appeared before you as the 'Spanish outlaw' but it would have +been too dangerous. The character of the English 'milord' would have +been congenial but equally hazardous. So I sensibly adhered to my sober +selection, and tied up all my effects in a neat bundle. + +"When all was completed I took one last, longing survey of my rooms, +went to the casement, and, dropping the bundle, held my breath. Thud! it +reached the bottom and lay there innocently in the court. Not a sound +was heard. Old Citizen Avarie, in the adjoining apartment, was snoring +in a way that would put his blunderbuss to shame, and the little +citizeness below had evidently retired into the recess of her +lace-trimmed nightcap to dream of her missing pet. + +"Sliding silently from the window I found the iron brace with my toes, +and grasped the clammy water pipe with both hands. I could not close +the casement. 'Never mind, they will think it was the wind that opened +it,' I said, and I descended to the ground with an agility born of +practice. + +"In the early morning hours I retired to my bridge, put on my silver wig +and old man's dress, sunk my other clothes to the river bottom, and +appeared in the light of day as an old man. + +"I now walk the streets in safety under the very noses of my old +enemies, the police; I come to you and I ask, 'How do you like your old +uncle?'" + +"You deceived me completely, my Gaillard," Tournay confessed; "but tell +me this. You said you were still residing at 15 Rue des Mathurins. May I +ask in what capacity? As cat?" + +"Having little money, I must earn some more in order to live. I went to +my dear friend, the theatre director, just as I am, and asked him to +employ me about the theatre in any capacity. He did not recognize me, +and putting his hand in his pocket, brought out a piece of forty sous." + +"'Sorry, my poor fellow, but I have no place for you. Take this.'" + +"I would trust my manager with my life, so I leaned forward to his ear. +'I am Gaillard, hunted, proscribed, but always your old friend Gaillard. +Call me Citizen Michelet.' He gave me a look for which I could have +taken him to my heart, there in his bureau, and hugged him. + +"'Citizen Michelet,' he said, 'there is a place of a doorkeeper which +you can have. The pay is small, fifteen francs the week, but it may +suffice your needs.' I knew it was five francs more than old Gaspard +received,--the doorkeeper who drank himself to death,--and I took the +place gladly. When one is old, my nephew, one does not despise even +fifteen francs," and Gaillard looked pathetically into Tournay's face. +"Now I sit every evening at the stage door of the theatre and see the +familiar faces pass in and out. They do not recognize me; but they are +beginning to address kindly nods and occasional words to old Michelet. + +"I found a vacant room to let on the ground floor of No. 15 Rue des +Mathurins, so I took the lodging and live there quietly. I am on the +best of terms with the gendarmes, and I talk with them out of my window, +where we exchange pinches of snuff and other like civilities." + +"My dear friend"--began Tournay. + +"You might as well call me uncle," interrupted Gaillard, "to accustom +yourself to it, for under this guise I shall visit you again." + +"My dear _uncle_, it is like a draught of wine to a thirsty man to hear +you talk. It is like a ray of sunshine to see your wrinkled old face." + +"I hope to be the ray of sunshine to light you out of this prison," said +Gaillard. + +"I'm afraid that will be a difficult matter," replied Tournay. "I am not +so clever as you in wearing disguises." + +"You will wear no disguise," answered Gaillard. "Are you in a cell by +yourself?" he asked in the next breath. + +"No, strange to say I have a companion, Citizen St. Hilaire." + +"That is not so bad; only we shall have to include him in our plans," +replied Gaillard. "You can trust him?" + +"Implicitly." + +"When I lean forward over my stick," said Gaillard, "run your hand +stealthily up the back of my head under my long hair. Now." + +Tournay did as he was bid. + +"Do you feel it?" + +"I feel something hard, like a little file." + +"Good! You could not expect a chest of tools; the jailer searched me +thoroughly. Untie that little file from the hair. Can you do it?" + +"I think so." + +"I tied it quite firmly for fear it would fall out. Do not be afraid of +pulling my hair, but do not pull the wig off. You may take both +hands,--the turnkey is not paying any attention,--as if you were +arranging your old uncle's coat collar." + +"I'll have it in a moment. There!" + +"Slip this up your sleeve, my colonel. Now a few questions and remarks. +How many bars has your window?" + +"Four." + +"How long will it take you to file them all?" + +Tournay considered. "We could only work in any safety in the middle of +the night, perhaps four hours in the twenty-four." + +"How long do you think it will take you to cut through the four bars?" + +Tournay thought for a moment. "We can work only at intervals in the +dead of night," he replied, "so it may take several days." + +"Good! In four days I will bring you a rope." + +"In God's name, Gaillard, how can you manage to bring a rope into this +place?" + +"I am not certain of that point yet, but I shall manage it," was the +cool rejoinder. + +"My dear Gaillard, I believe you. If you were to promise me to bring a +spire of Notre Dame wrapped up in gold paper I should expect to see it +at the appointed hour. With a rope in our possession and the bars cut, +we can get down the forty feet to the yard beneath. But there is the +sentry, and the difficulty of escape from the yard!" + +"I will take care of the sentry and the escape," replied Gaillard, "and +in four days I shall be here again. Meanwhile cut through the bars so +that you can push them out of place at any moment. Attention; here comes +the turnkey. + +"Good-by, my nephew. Be of good cheer. A good patriot need have no +fear," said Gaillard in a quavering voice. + +"Good-by, my uncle," rejoined Tournay as he went back to his cell. "I +shall see you then next week at the same hour," he called out through +the bars of the door. + +"Yes." + +"Well, then, good-by again. Mind the step. Be careful lest my uncle +trip, citizen turnkey; he is old and rather venturesome for one of his +years." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +CITIZENESS PRIVAT + + +"Agatha," said Mademoiselle de Rochefort, "I am going back to Paris." + +Agatha turned and looked at her mistress in the greatest surprise. + +"Do I understand you, mademoiselle, or am I dreaming? It is impossible +that you could have said"-- + +"I am going back to Paris." + +Edme repeated the words quietly, but there was a decision in her manner +which Agatha understood full well. She gave a gasp of consternation and +sank into a chair, fixing her wide-open eyes upon Edme's face, while she +waited to hear more. + +Edme was seated in her bedroom in the Castle of Hagenhof. It was +evening, and two candles, one upon the dressing-table, the other upon a +stand at Agatha's side, gave to the room a mild half-light. The curtains +were not yet drawn, and through the large casement the stars gleamed +softly. + +"During the five months we have lived in absolute quiet and security +here at Hagenhof," Edme continued, looking out of the window at the +forest of pine trees that stretched away from the castle like a sea of +ink, "we have been completely shut off from the world outside, hearing +almost nothing of the events taking place there." + +"That was your wish, was it not?" asked Agatha as Edme paused. + +Mademoiselle de Rochefort did not make any direct reply, but continued +speaking as if she was answering her own thoughts, rather than +conversing with her maid. + +"There was a great battle fought. It was a full month afterward that I +heard of it and of the glory won by Colonel Tournay. The Republicans +were victorious. Had they been defeated, the restoration of the Monarchy +would have been one step nearer. But the allies were defeated, their +finest troops were sent flying back before the raw recruits. And I! Did +I mourn the defeat of our allies as much as I rejoiced in Colonel +Tournay's triumph? _The hero of Landau!_ That is what he was called." + +Then, turning toward Agatha, she exclaimed: "How do you think they have +rewarded him in France? They have thrown this hero into prison. They +have kept him there for months. And I heard of it only to-night from the +officers who returned with Colonel von Waldenmeer yesterday. They spoke +of affairs in France. They said that the Republic is approaching its +final doom. The leaders are now at discord. The terrible Danton has been +sent to the guillotine. They said that the officers of the army are +being suspected; mentioned Colonel Tournay's arrest, and then casually +passed on to other topics. I heard no more. I could not listen after +that, and came up here as soon as I could withdraw from the table. +Agatha, I am going back to France." + +"Why are you going?" asked Agatha gently, fearing to antagonize her +mistress in her present mood. + +Again Edme looked out of the window at the swaying tops of the mournful +pines. "I cannot stay here," she answered fiercely. "The melancholy of +the place is killing me." + +"Do not be a child, mademoiselle," said Agatha in the tone of authority +she sometimes employed in reasoning with her beloved mistress. "If you +are not happy here, we will leave. Perhaps we can go to Berlin, or to +London. But never to France!" + +"Twice has he risked his life for me," said Edme, again speaking to +herself. "I owe so much to him, and have repaid him nothing." + +"All that is true," persisted the cool-headed Agatha. "He aided you +because he had the power; if you could serve him, it would be different. +But you can do nothing. If you go to Paris, you will be arrested and +guillotined. That is all. No, my dear mistress, you must not go." + +"I shall go," answered Edme firmly. "If I am apprehended, so much the +worse." + +"You will only place yourself in peril," cried Agatha. "You must not +go!" + +"When Colonel Tournay parted from me," said Edme impressively, "he swore +that we should some day meet again. He would keep his word if it were +possible. Fate has decreed that he shall not come to me; she decrees, +instead, that I shall go to him." + +"Mademoiselle," cried Agatha in a horrified tone, "what are you saying? +Think of your rank, think of your family, your pride of birth!" + +"My rank!" laughed Edme scornfully. "Did that avail me when I crossed +the river Loire? My pride of birth! Did that protect and bring me safely +out of France? A brave and loyal man was my sole protection. He is now +in the greatest danger. I am going to him." + +There was a ring in her voice as she spoke that seemed to bid defiance +to the long line of ancestry behind her. + +"Now that you know that I am not to be swayed from my determination, +will you go with me or remain here?" + +"I shall go with you, mademoiselle." + +"We must leave here clandestinely, Agatha. I little thought, when the +kindly Grafin von Waldenmeer took me under her roof, I should leave it +like this." + +"We shall have to travel through France in the disguise of peasants, +mademoiselle," said Agatha. + +"We have had some experience in that disguise, Agatha. You know how well +I shall be able to play my part." + +From Hagenhof, starting at dead of night, the two women traveled to +Paris. It took them three weeks to make the journey that they had once +made in five days. But they were obliged to travel slowly, as became +two women of their class. + +On the morning of the twentieth day they found themselves in the Rue +Vaugirard in Paris, almost under the very shadow of the Luxembourg. +Agatha stopped before the doorway of a small house in the window of +which a placard announced that lodgings were to let within. + +"This is what we want, mademoiselle," said the girl. "I will knock +here." + +A woman answered the summons. She was about forty years old, with +stooping shoulders, and hands gnarled and twisted by hard work. Her skin +was dark, but an unhealthy pallor was upon her face, which, thin and +worn, was lightened by a pair of brilliant eyes. + +"Can we obtain lodging here, good citizeness?" inquired Agatha. The +woman did not reply at once, being busy looking at them closely with her +bright eyes. + +"Have you any lodgings to let?" said Agatha once more. + +"Perhaps," was the reply. + +"Perhaps," repeated Edme somewhat impatiently. "Do you not know?" + +"I am Citizeness Privat," the woman answered. "There are lodgings to let +in this house, most assuredly, and I have charge of the renting of them; +but I act for another, and he," with emphasis on the pronoun, "insists +that I shall only take those who can furnish references. Can you do so?" + +"Let us come inside and we will see what can be done," said Agatha, +pushing forward. The woman stepped back, and Edme followed Agatha into +the house. Agatha closed the door before speaking. + +"Citizeness Privat," she said, "we are two women from the country, who +have come to Paris for the first time. We know no one here, and can give +you no references except money. Will that not satisfy you?" And Agatha +drew a purse from her pocket. + +"It will satisfy me, but not him who employs me. If I disobey him I may +lose this place which is my only shelter." Edme caught a glimpse of a +neat sitting-room through a half-open door. The cool and quiet of the +house were doubly attractive after the noise and heat of the city +streets. + +"We must stay here," she whispered to Agatha. The latter opened her +purse. + +"We will pay you well," she said persuasively. The citizeness shook her +head mournfully, and put one hand upon the handle of the door. + +"Stay one moment, I implore you!" exclaimed Edme impulsively. "Listen to +what I have to say." + +The citizeness turned her strange eyes upon Edme. The latter started as +she beheld the expression on the pale face. + +"Agatha! look!" Edme cried out in alarm, and the next instant the +Citizeness Privat had fallen to the floor. Quickly Edme bent over her. +"She has fainted. How cold her hands are! Look at her face. It is +ghastly. It cannot be that she is dead, Agatha?" Edme continued in a +tone of awe. + +Agatha took one hand and began to chafe it to restore the circulation +while Edme rubbed the other. "She is breathing," said Agatha. "Perhaps +with your assistance, mademoiselle, we can lift and carry her into one +of the rooms." + +Between them the Citizeness Privat was carried gently into her room and +placed upon a bed. To their intense relief, the woman gave a sigh, and +opened her eyes as she sank back on the pillows. + +"Are you in great suffering, poor creature?" asked Edme, compassionately +surveying the pale features. Citizeness Privat signed that she was not +in any pain, and after a few moments, during which her breath came +regularly, she said faintly:-- + +"I shall be better soon; I am used to these attacks of sudden giddiness. +My greatest fear is that they may seize me some day while I am in the +streets. For that reason I dread to go out alone." + +"Let us remove her clothing and put her in the bed where she will be +more comfortable," suggested Mademoiselle de Rochefort, and in spite of +the feeble remonstrances of the sick woman they soon had her comfortably +installed between the sheets. + +"You are very good," she murmured. + +As Agatha removed the gown a card fell from the pocket to the floor. + +"I shall be unable to attend to my task this evening," sighed the woman +Privat, as if the fluttering pasteboard recalled to mind some urgent +duty. "I can ill afford to let the work go either. It helps so much +towards my support, but to-day it will be impossible." + +Edme picked up the card, and in doing so glanced at it casually, then +read it with a start:-- + + FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL. + + Permit the Citizeness Jeanne Privat to enter the various rooms + of the tribunal when engaged upon her routine duties. + +The Citizeness Privat smiled faintly. "I see you wonder what I have to +do with the tribunal," she said; "I merely go there in the afternoon at +dark and clean up the rooms. There are many of them, and as I am the +only person employed to look after them, they get into a dreadful state +of disorder and dirt." Here the citizeness was taken with a fit of +coughing. + +Edme thrust the card mechanically into her pocket, and ran to fetch a +glass of water. + +"You are very good to me," said she faintly as soon as she could speak. +"I turned you away," a slight flush coming to her cheek. "Believe me, it +was not my heart that spoke when I told you that I could not let you +have the lodging; I was merely obeying the commands of the owner, who +allows me my bare rent for my services. He is very strict, but at the +risk of incurring his displeasure, I shall refuse to let you go after +this kindness." + +"Do not fear; do not trouble about that," replied Mademoiselle de +Rochefort quietly, "but tell me more about your work in the tribunal. Is +it that which has worn you so?" + +"No, it is not so wearing, only I am far from strong, and sometimes I +get so fatigued. My brother, who is a turnkey in the conciergerie, +obtained this employment for me, as it was thought I could do it; but I +fear I shall have to give it up." + +Edme smoothed the counterpane. "Do not worry," she said gently, "but go +to sleep now. We will remain here until you are better." + +The citizeness smiled faintly, her lips moved as if in apology; then she +fell into a quiet sleep. + +Agatha turned to her mistress. + +"Go into the next room, mademoiselle, and rest there. I will watch over +this sick woman." + +"I cannot rest, dear Agatha; I have something else to do, but you must +stay here until I return." + +"Where are you going?" + +"To the Luxembourg." + +"Not now, mademoiselle; wait--I will accompany you." + +"No, Agatha, I prefer to go alone; you must remain here until I come +back," commanded Edme. + +Agatha knew it would be useless for her to remonstrate further, so she +resumed her place by the bedside, and with the greatest anxiety saw her +mistress leave the house, and, passing by the window, disappear up the +street. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +CITIZENESS PRIVAT'S CARD + + +"How does one obtain admission to visit a prisoner, citizen doorkeeper?" + +"How does one obtain permission?" repeated the keeper without looking up +from the work with which he was occupied. "One waits in that room," and +he gave a wave of the pen, "until the proper hour, then if one passes +satisfactorily under the inspection of the chief prison-keeper and +everything appears to be quite regular, one is allowed to see and +converse with the prisoner for a short time." + +"I wish to see some one here. Pray tell me where I shall find the chief +keeper?" + +"I am he," replied the keeper, pausing as he dipped his pen in the ink, +and looking over the top of his desk saw a woman neatly but simply +dressed, as became a citizeness of the Republic. The outlines of her +features were partly hidden by the hood of a gray cloak drawn up about +her head, but the shadows cast by this garment were not deep enough to +hide altogether the beauty of the oval face beneath it. + +"Whom do you wish to see?" he asked, evidently satisfied with his +inspection, for he dipped his pen in the ink-bottle and resumed his +work of ruling perpendicular lines in a ledger. + +"I wish to see the prisoner, Robert Tournay." + +The jailer put down his ruler. "That is impossible; the prisoner Tournay +is not here." + +"Not here! Then he has been set at liberty!" The cry of joy that sprang +to her lips checked itself, frozen by the quick negative gesture on the +keeper's part. She placed one hand upon the iron rail before her and +closed her fingers tightly around it. "He is not--Do not tell me he is +dead!" she whispered, looking up at the inexpressive face with a +pleading expression in her eyes, as if the jailer were the arbiter of +Tournay's fate. + +"Transferred to the conciergerie. You may see for yourself, citizeness," +and he held up the book and pointed with his forefinger to the notation +upon the neatly ruled page, "'Trans. to C.' That means that Robert +Tournay, former colonel in the army of the Republic, was yesterday +transferred to the prison of the conciergerie." + +Edme's heart grew cold. She had no means of knowing the full purport of +the change, but she felt that it boded nothing but ill to Robert +Tournay. + +"Can you tell me why this removal was made?" she asked, although fearing +to hear the answer. + +"To facilitate his trial. As every one knows the Revolutionary Tribunal +is in the same building with the conciergerie. A prisoner may be brought +from his cell in the prison into the tribunal chamber, be tried, +sentenced, and returned to his dungeon without once being obliged to go +outside. He only passes out into the streets on his way to the +guillotine." + +"Has the trial already taken place? Can I see him if I go there at +once?" she demanded hurriedly. + +As the jailer saw the young woman's evident distress his voice softened +a little as he made reply: "That you may be prepared for another +disappointment, I tell you now, that in order to visit him in the +conciergerie, you will have to be furnished with a written permit from +some member of the committee. Robert Tournay is confined 'in secret.'" + +"Thank you, citizen jailer," was the faint reply. As Edme turned and +left the prison lodge, the custodian of the Luxembourg bent over his +work again. The book was already filled with lists of names, written +evenly in long columns. This book was the record of all the prisoners of +the Luxembourg. When one left the prison his departure was duly noted in +the space opposite his name. His transfer to another jail was indicated +by the abbreviation "trans." If he was summoned before the tribunal and +acquitted, this fact was chronicled by the letters "acq." If he was +sentenced to death by the guillotine, the jailer marked him with a +little black cross "X." He had once been a schoolmaster, and it was his +pride to keep his prison records with neatness and accuracy. + +"Nevertheless, I am going to the conciergerie," said Edme to herself as +she passed along the Rue Vaugirard; "to the conciergerie," she +repeated. She stopped abruptly in the street as the remembrance of the +Citizeness Privat came to her mind. Putting her hand into her pocket, +she drew out the card. "'Permit the Citizeness Privat to enter the rooms +of the tribunal.' I will be Madame Privat to-night" was Edme's +resolution. "Once in the tribunal chamber, I shall at least be very near +the prison." + +It was late in the afternoon when she reached the Quai de l'Horloge that +skirted the frowning walls of the formidable prison. She passed the iron +grating of the yard, and looking in, wondered why some sparrows which +were twittering and fighting on the pavement beneath an unhealthy +looking tree should remain for a moment in a prison yard when they had +the whole outside world to fly in. Her pace, which had been a rapid one +all the way from the Luxembourg, slackened as she approached the main +entrance, and her fingers closed tightly on the card in her pocket, +while the heart beneath the gray cloak beat rapidly. + +She did not know where to find the tribunal chamber. She had never been +in that part of Paris before. She only knew that somewhere in that pile +of gray stone were the old Parliament rooms, at present converted into +the tribunal chambers of the Republic. Once in those rooms she would be +under the same roof with Robert Tournay. Passing along the prison wall, +she turned up the Rue Barillerie, and there saw the words "Revolutionary +Tribunal," in large letters over a doorway. Here was the place to begin +the role of the Citizeness Privat. + +The June evening was warm, and the air in the street fetid, as if it +were poisoned by the prison atmosphere; yet with a quick movement of the +hand she pulled the hood closer about her face, and rapidly ascended the +stone staircase. + +A porter sitting by the doorway looked at her with indifferent gaze, but +said nothing as she showed him the permit. She passed into the large +hall with a strange feeling, as if she were no longer Edme de Rochefort. + +From the information she had received Edme knew that there was some +means of communication between this hall and the prison. This +communication she must discover, but she resolved to set about the task +coolly and carefully in order that she might not arouse suspicion in the +minds of any chance observer. + +She imagined that she heard footsteps in a corridor on the other side of +the chamber, and this reminded her forcibly that she must play the part +of the Citizeness Privat. She gave a glance around the room, wondering +how the worthy citizeness did her work. The room certainly was dirty and +needed a good deal of cleaning. Bits of paper littered the floor and +were scattered about upon the desks. Upon a set of shelves, some books +and pamphlets were buried so deeply in dust that Edme began to think the +Citizeness Privat had been somewhat lax in the performance of her duty. +After a short investigation she discovered a broom in an ante-room; and +armed with this she returned to the hall and began to sweep into a heap +the scraps of paper that littered the floor. This work soon began to +fatigue her, and it also rolled up billows of dust which settled down +over chairs and tables. She placed the broom in a corner, and looked +about for some easier work which would serve her turn as well. + +She espied a green cloth protruding from the edge of a table drawer. +Opening the drawer she put in her hand and was surprised to find that +the innocent cloth encased a large pistol. She removed the weapon and +returned it to the drawer, while with the green case as a dust-cloth she +made an attack upon the shelves of books with such violence and success +as to cause her to draw back quickly with a sneeze. She stopped, and, +with the green dust-cloth poised in air, listened attentively. No sound +was heard. Cautiously approaching the door she looked up and down the +passageway. + +At the further end of this corridor she could see a small iron-barred +door. This, she rightly conjectured, led to the conciergerie, and +through it passed the prisoners when they were brought in for trial. She +determined to pass into the prison through this door, and went toward it +with a firm step. Taking hold of the bars with both hands, she pressed +her face against the ironwork. + +"What do you want here?" demanded a voice, and Edme saw in the sombre +half light the figure of a sentry. He stood so near the door upon the +other side that by stretching her hand through the bars she could have +touched him. + +"I wish to enter here," Edme replied. + +"One does not enter here, citizeness. Go around to the main entrance on +the Quai." + +"It is so far," she demurred pleadingly. "I have been doing my work here +in the tribunal chambers, and now wish to have a few words of +conversation with the turnkey Privat." + +"Who are you?" + +"I--I am Jeanne Privat, his sister." + +"Well--such being the case, I will let you come through, but you must be +sure to come out this way, citizeness. If you were seen going out of the +lower entrance, not having entered there, it might get both of us in +trouble. And you might lose your place as well as I." + +As he spoke he opened the lower half of an iron wicket. "Duck your head +a little, citizeness, and enter quickly." + +Edme did not need a second bidding; the gate closed with a snap, and she +was inside the conciergerie. + +"Privat is in the second corridor. Go to the right and then turn to the +left," said the warder. "There he is now, just at the corner," he added +hastily. "Hey, Privat," and he gave a prolonged, low whistle, "here is +your sister, come to see you." + +Francois Privat was slow of speech as well as of brain, so he merely +stood gaping with amazement at sight of the young woman who claimed him +as a brother, and who bore not the slightest resemblance to his sister +Jeanne. Edme stepped quickly forward toward the turnkey, saying in a low +voice as she approached him:-- + +"I bring _a message_ from your sister; the good sentry should have told +you." Then in the same breath, she went on hurriedly to say: "The poor +woman was taken quite ill this afternoon, so ill that she had to be put +to bed. I came to do her work in the tribunal chambers, but thought you +should be told of your sister's illness, so asked the sentry to let me +speak to you." + +In her trepidation, she hardly knew what words came to her lips. + +There was silence; then after Privat had gotten the information into his +head, and had digested it, he said slowly:-- + +"Tell Jeanne Privat that I shall come to see her--let me see--day after +to-morrow--no--the day after that, Thursday, my first free time." + +Edme looked up into his face. He was very tall and of a ruddy +complexion, fully fifteen years younger than his sister. + +"Is that all your message?" she inquired, in order to gain time for +thought. + +"At four o'clock in the afternoon, if you like, but she knows the time +well enough--from four to six." + +Then without showing any further interest in the subject, the +imperturbable Privat took up his bunch of keys and began to polish one +of them upon his coatsleeve. + +There was a pause. + +Edme summoned all her courage and spoke with as much composure as she +could assume, although she felt that her voice trembled:-- + +"Citizen Privat, I have an urgent request to make you." + +Privat blinked at her out of his stupid eyes. + +"But I am prepared to pay for it." + +A sign of animation seemed to come into the turnkey's face, but he did +not move nor seek to question her. + +"What I am about to ask may be very difficult for you to do, and that is +why I am prepared to pay you _well_." She dwelt upon the last words, +seeming to guess that she had struck the right note. + +"How much are you prepared to pay?" he asked in his slow way. + +Edme drew a purse from the folds of her gown, and opening it disclosed a +number of shining gold pieces. Privat's eyes were animated now. + +"All that!" he exclaimed. "What do you want me to do for it? It must be +something dangerous. I--I am not a brave man." + +"It is merely," continued Edme, holding the open purse in her hand, "to +procure me speech with a prisoner." + +"What prisoner?" + +"Colonel Robert Tournay." + +"But it is impossible; he is in secret confinement." + +"I know he is, but what I ask is not impossible. There are five hundred +francs here; five hundred francs, all for you, if you will but bring me +to the cell of Robert Tournay." + +"I cannot do that; I have not the key." + +"You know who has the key. Surely some of this gold will enable you to +get it. I leave the means with you." + +Privat's mind seemed to be going through the process which served him +for thought. + +"At the further end of the south corridor," he finally said, motioning +with a key, "in half an hour, the prisoner Tournay will be allowed to +walk for exercise. The south corridor is separated from this one by a +grated door. I will see that you get through that door. That is all I +can do." + +Edme pressed the purse into his huge palm, which closed upon it +greedily. + +"Shall I come with you now?" she asked, her pulse beating high between +expectation, hope, and fear. + +"No, wait here in the shadow until I come to fetch you to him. I shall +also come to tell you when you must leave the south corridor. You will +have to do so quickly and go back the same way you came. If you are +discovered here, I shall get into trouble. You understand?" + +"I understand," she answered. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +TOURNAY'S VISITOR + + +For three days Tournay and St. Hilaire worked away persistently at the +bars of their window. They only dared work between the hours of one and +four in the morning. Not only secrecy but great ingenuity was called +for, as it was necessary that the bars should preserve in the daytime +their usual appearance of solidity. + +To do this, all the filings were kept, and at the termination of each +night's work, this dust, moistened by saliva into a paste, was smeared +into the fissure they had made. Their intention was to cut each bar +nearly through, leaving it standing, but so weakened that it could be +torn out by a sudden wrench. + +On the morning which terminated their third night's labor, just as the +first gray streak in the east announced the early coming of the long, +hot summer day, the third bar had been cut halfway through. The two +prisoners looked into each other's eyes. Both realized that they must +work rapidly in order to complete their task in time. + +"At all hazards we must begin earlier to-night," whispered St. Hilaire +significantly. Tournay nodded. "There is still a good deal of work to +be done, although a thin man might squeeze through," he said. + +"Not a man of your breadth, colonel," replied St. Hilaire, carefully +rubbing the dampened filings into the crevice. "We shall have to cut +through all of them, and even then it will be a narrow passageway for +your shoulders." + +"Now for a little rest," he continued, descending from the table as +quietly as a cat, and putting it in another part of the cell. + +Tired out by their work and the attendant excitement, the two men threw +themselves, fully dressed, upon their beds and slept until late in the +morning. Their slumber might have continued until past noon had they not +been rather unceremoniously awakened by the appearance of the turnkey +and a couple of gendarmes by their bedside. + +"What is wanted?" exclaimed Tournay sleepily. + +"You are to be transferred to the conciergerie, citizen colonel, that is +all," was the reply, although the tone implied a deeper meaning. + +Tournay sprang from the bed, wide enough awake now, and with a sickening +feeling at his heart. He looked at St. Hilaire, who was lying upon his +own pallet outwardly indifferent to the announcement, but whose fingers +silently stole under the mattress and closed upon the file that had been +placed there the night before. St. Hilaire continued to lie there +motionless, feigning sleep; but his alert brain was busy with the +problem as to where it would be possible for him to deftly and +successfully hide the useful little tool in case the guards had also +come to search their cell. + +"Are you ready, citizen colonel?" + +Tournay gave a quick glance at their window. St. Hilaire rose to a +sitting posture. + +"Citizen colonel," he said, "will you take my hand at parting?" + +Tournay stepped to his bedside. Outwardly calm, the two prisoners +clasped hands. Tournay felt the hard substance of steel against his +palm. + +Giving no sign of his surprise, he shook his head sadly. "It is +useless," he said. + +"Good-by, citizen colonel," said St. Hilaire carelessly, as one might +bid adieu to a chance acquaintance. "I am thinner than you, and I may +grow still more so if they keep me here many days longer." He gave an +imperceptible glance of the eye in the direction of the window. + +The colonel turned away while the file slid up his coat sleeve. + +"I am ready, citizen officers," he said. + +The two gendarmes preceded him into the corridor. As he stepped over the +threshold, Gendarme Pierre caught him quickly by the wrist and the next +instant had the file in his own possession. + +It was done so adroitly and quickly that Tournay could have offered no +resistance even had he been so inclined. The other gendarme was not even +aware of what took place. + +"I like a clever trick," said Pierre with a chuckle. + +"You are quite a magician," was Tournay's rejoinder. + +The tall gendarme gave his grim chuckle. "I am called Pierre the +prestidigitateur," he said, "though you are yourself fairly adept at +palming. What have you been doing with this little plaything?" he +continued, as they walked down the corridor. + +"You mean 'What did I intend to do with it?' do you not?" + +The gendarme examined the file carefully. + +"No, I mean what have you been using it on," he said. + +Tournay was silent. + +"Oh, you need not hesitate to speak; it will be found out." + +Tournay shrugged his shoulders, and made no reply. + +"Well, you are right," said the gendarme. "It is for us to find out." +And he relapsed into a silence that was not broken until they reached +the conciergerie. + +"You will hardly escape from this place though you had a whole workshop +of tools," he said grimly at parting. + +Tournay realized the truth of this statement, for he was now in the most +dreaded of all the prisons of Paris, and he knew well what his transfer +foreshadowed. + +Tournay had no certain means of knowing whether their attempt to cut +their way out of the Luxembourg had been discovered; and he still +cherished the slight hope that St. Hilaire might be able to escape from +the Luxembourg with the assistance of Gaillard. + +Had they both escaped, St. Hilaire and he had formed a daring plan to +rescue the Republic from the hands of those who were destroying it. And +now, even though it was frustrated, he could not help going over all the +details in his mind, although the thought of their complete failure +added to his misery. + +The news of the arrest of General Hoche had reached Tournay's ears some +time before, and although it had caused him great pain to learn of the +misfortune that had befallen his chief, he felt that the event would +embitter the army, and that they would the more readily give their +support to any plan that would of necessity liberate Hoche. + +This plan had been made for Tournay to reach the army and enlist the +officers in his support; then return to Paris with a sufficient force at +his back to destroy the tyrants and overawe that part of the Commune +that still idolized them. That would give an opportunity for the cooler +and more moderate heads in the convention to come to the front, restore +order, and form a stable government based upon the constitution. + +St. Hilaire, meanwhile, was to remain in hiding; but the first approach +of the national troops and the first blast of the counter-revolution was +to be the signal for him to appear in the faubourgs, supported by all +the followers he could muster, armed with all the eloquence he could +command, to move the people to action, and fan to white heat the flame +of opposition to the Terrorists which was already smouldering on every +side. + +But now all the fabric of the carefully spun scheme had been blown +roughly aside by one puff of adverse wind. + +Once in the conciergerie, a prisoner was not kept in uncertainty for any +length of time. The next day after his transfer Tournay was summoned for +trial. At first he attempted to defend himself with all the eloquence +which the justice of his case called forth. All the fire of his nature +was aroused, and as he spoke the attention of the crowded court room was +held as if by a spell. Murmurs of applause rose from the multitude, even +among those who had come in the hope of seeing him judged guilty. + +But upon his judges he made no visible effect. They refused to call his +witnesses. They suppressed the applause, and cutting short his defense +hastened to conclude his trial. Tournay saw the futility of his defense. +He read the verdict in the eyes of the judges, and sat down. + +After the verdict had been given he was taken back to the conciergerie, +"sentenced to die within eight and forty hours." + +"Oh, for a month of freedom!" he cried inwardly, as he reentered the +prison. "For one short month of liberty! After that time had passed I +would submit to any death uncomplainingly." + +Withdrawing to the further end of the corridor where he was permitted +to walk for a short time, he sat down by a rough table where some of the +lighter-hearted prisoners had, in earlier days, beguiled the time at +cards. Here he rested his head upon his arm and sat motionless. + +Then his thoughts returned to Edme, or rather continued to dwell upon +her, for no matter what he did or spoke or thought, no matter how +absorbing the occupation of the hour, she was always in his mind, the +consciousness of her presence was ever in his heart. + +"Oh, for one little month of liberty," he cried aloud, "to make one +attempt to rescue France, and to see you, Edme, once again!" He rose +from his seat with a gesture of despair, and turning, saw her standing +there before him. He stood in silence, looking at her as if she were the +creation of his fancy, stepped for a moment from the shadow of the gray +walls to melt into nothingness, should he, by speaking, break the spell. + +She came toward him, putting her finger to her lips as a sign of +caution. "Speak low," she whispered, "lest they hear you!" + +"Mademoiselle de Rochefort," he replied in a low voice, "is this really +you? In God's name tell me how you come to be here?" + +"I have come to you," she answered simply, putting her hands in his. +"When I heard that you had been arrested and put in prison, I knew that +I should come and find you. You see all France was not wide enough to +keep me from you." + +"Then you are not a prisoner?" he exclaimed joyfully. + +"No, I came in of my own free will. No one suspects who I am." + +"Merciful God, do you know the risk you run? Why have you done this?" + +"Have you not risked your life more than once for my sake? Did you think +that Edme de Rochefort would do less for you?" + +"Edme!" + +For a moment the prison walls vanished. His shattered plans were +forgotten. The redemption of the Republic became as nothing; he only +knew that Edme de Rochefort had proved beyond all human doubt her love +for him, and that it was her loyal, loving heart he could feel +throbbing, as he pressed her to his breast. + +Only for a moment, then the full realization of the terrible risk she +ran smote him with redoubled force. He turned pale. She had never seen +him so deadly white before, and it frightened her. + +"Hush," he whispered before she could speak, and stepping cautiously to +the grated door he peered out between the bars. As far as the elbow of +the corridor, he could see no one. With a sigh of relief he came back to +her. His fears for her safety restored the activity of his mind. + +"It is dangerous for you to go about the city. The merest accident, the +slightest inquiry in regard to you might lead to your detection." + +"I will be very careful," she replied submissively. + +"Ah, Edme," he said, "who am I to deserve such a love as yours? The +thought of the risk you incur almost drives me mad. The knowledge of +your love will make my last hours the happiest of my life." + +"Do not speak of dying, Robert," she said. "There must still be hope. +They dare not condemn you." + +The words, "You do not know," sprang to his lips, but the look upon her +face told him that she was as yet in ignorance of his sentence. He +lacked the courage to tell her. + +"It must come, Edme; we should not be blind to that. I would gladly +live, if only long enough to see France freed from the talons that rend +it, and the true Republic rise from under the tyranny that is crushing +it to death. I would gladly live for your love, a love I never dared to +hope for either on earth or in heaven. Surely I ought to be the happiest +of men to have tasted such bliss even for a moment; and to die with the +firm belief that we shall meet beyond the grave." + +She did not answer. The quick heaving of her bosom and the quiet sobbing +she struggled to suppress went to his heart. + +"Do not grieve for me so much," he whispered, drawing her to him; "after +all, it will only be for a little while." + +"For you who go the time may seem short," she answered mournfully; "but +each year that I live without you will seem an eternity. I cannot bear +it." + +"Courage, dear one, I beseech you; do not grieve for me. Why, I might +have met death any day within the past years. I have come to regard it +with indifference. Not that I despise life," he added quickly. "Life +with you would be more than heaven, but the very nature of a soldier's +life makes him look upon his own sudden death as almost a probability. +It is but a pang, and all is over." + +"I will not grieve for you, Robert," she replied with firmness, "not +while there is something to be done. Something that I can do. They shall +not murder you." + +"What are you going to do?" he asked quickly, fearing that some rash +undertaking had suggested itself to her mind. + +"This Robespierre rules through the fear he has inspired, but he is +hated," replied Edme. "The people accept his decrees like sheep, but +they obey sullenly. They do not criticise him, but that bodes him the +greater ill. It needs but one blast to make the whole nation turn +against him. There must be men in the convention who are ready to rebel +against him," she continued, talking rapidly. "I shall go to them." + +"No, Edme, you shall not. It would be"-- + +"Listen to what I have to say," she said, interrupting him with an +imperative gesture. "I shall find them out; I shall go to their houses. +It needs but a little fire; I will kindle it. I will plead with them. If +they have any regard for their Republic they will listen to me. Your +name, Robert, shall not be mentioned, but it will be my love for you +that shall speak to them. In the name of the Republic I shall plead with +them, but it will be only to save you. If they have any courage or +manhood left, they will accept now." + +Robert Tournay looked at her with wonder and admiration as, with a flush +of excitement on her cheek, she outlined clearly and rapidly a plan +strikingly similar to that evolved by St. Hilaire and himself,--similar, +but more daring, more impossible; one that could not fail to be +disastrous to her, whatever the ultimate result. + +For a moment he feared to speak, knowing the inflexibility of her will. +"I pray you, Edme, abandon your design. It will only drag you into the +net and will not avail me." + +"Robert, my mind is fixed; my action may result in saving you, but if +not, your fate shall be mine also." + +"Edme! Do not speak thus. The thought of you standing on that scaffold, +the terrible knife menacing your beautiful neck, will drive me mad. Oh, +the horror of it!" and he put his hand before his eyes and trembled. + +"Promise me that you will not do this," he continued pleadingly. +"Robespierre's power will come to an end, but the time is not yet ripe. +Do not try to save my life. Do not even try to see me again." He took +her head between his hands. "Let this be our last adieu," he pleaded. +"Listen! the turnkey is advancing down the passageway. I touch your +lips; the memory of it shall dwell in my soul forever." + +She threw her arms about his neck for a moment, then before the heavy +turnkey entered the inclosure she had passed quickly along the dark +corridor through the wicket gate into the Tribunal Hall. + +The chamber was dimly lighted by two smoky oil lamps, one on each side +of the room; but they gave out enough light to enable her to see the way +between the desks and chairs toward the door through which she had first +entered from the street. + +Edme turned the handle of the door but could not open it. It had been +locked on the outside. She ran to one of the front windows. By the faint +light in the Rue Barillerie, she could discern an occasional passer-by. +With an effort she raised the heavy sash and leaned out. It was between +eight and nine o'clock, and the small street was very quiet. The few +pedestrians were already out of hearing, and had they been nearer she +would have feared to call out to them. She looked down at the pavement. +The height was twenty feet; she closed the window with a shudder. +Looking about the room she saw, what had before escaped her notice, a +ray of light coming through the crack of a door into an adjoining room. + +A number of voices in conversation was audible. She resolved to play +again the part of Citizeness Privat. Whoever might be there, when he +learned that she had been accidentally locked in while at work, would +show her the way out. + +The door opened wider, and a man came forth. Edme, who had hastily taken +up the same broom she had before used, pretended to be at work, while +she summoned her self-possession. The man gave her no more than a casual +glance as he went to a table, took out from a drawer a bundle of papers, +and proceeded to look them over. + +Edme looked at him closely, sweeping all the while. Her first +apprehension was quieted when she saw he was a very young man with rosy +cheeks and a pen behind his ear. He was evidently one of the government +clerks, staying late at the office to finish some piece of work. + +She breathed more freely every moment notwithstanding the amount of dust +she raised. The clerk put the bundle of papers under his arm with a +gesture of annoyance, and went back to the other room. + +Edme waited a few minutes, put the broom under her arm, and approached +the door which the clerk had left ajar. She could not help starting as +she read the large letters on the panel of the door. The room which +contained the apple-faced and harmless looking little scribe was +designated "Chamber of Death Warrants." + +"Here's a pretty state of affairs, Clement," she heard a voice exclaim +in a tone of annoyance. "The list of warrants for 'La Force' to-morrow +consists of thirty-seven names while I have only thirty-six documents." + +"Count them again, Hanneton; you know at school you were always slow at +figures." + +"I have compared the warrants with the list of names twice most +carefully. I assure you one warrant is missing. See for yourself, +'_Bonnefoi, Charles de, ex-noble_' is on the list, but there is not a +single Bonnefoi among to-morrow's pile of warrants." + +"Have you looked through those of day after to-morrow?" + +"I have, both of the day after to-morrow and the day following that. In +fact, I have gone over all the warrants for all the prisoners, but still +no _Bonnefoi, Charles de, ex-noble_." + +"Lucky for Bonnefoi!" + +"But unlucky for me. I shall be discharged if I let these go out this +way." + +"I tell you what to do," said Clement, "take one from the day after +to-morrow. They are in too great a hurry in the office these days to +compare the lists; they just see if the number tallies, and send off the +warrants to the keepers of the various prisons." + +"But if I do that I shall still be one short, day after to-morrow." + +"No you will not," replied the facile Clement; "you just take one from +the day following that, and so on and so forth. You merely keep the +thing going. Your lists and warrants will agree as to number every day. +No question arises, and the only result is that some fellow gets shoved +along under the national razor just twenty-four hours earlier than he +would have, had not some one,--I won't say named Hanneton,--but some one +who shall be nameless, made a little blunder." + +"I rather dislike to do such a thing, Clement." + +"Oh, Hanneton, my boy, I always said you were slow. What's twenty-four +hours to a man who has got to die anyway? and then think of Bonnefoi; +he'll be overlooked for a long time. Some of those fellows among the +aristocracy have been in prison two or three years already. They get to +like it and lead quite a jolly life there. I am told they have fine +times in some of the prisons. Bonnefoi will be wondering why they don't +come to shave him, but he won't say anything. Bonnefoi won't peep. You +can count on his silence." + +"But my friend Clement, it will be discovered some day." + +"Well, I can't look ahead so far as that. If you are found out you can +say you made a mistake. They can't any more than discharge a man for +making a mistake." + +"I'll do it, Clement. Here goes--good luck to Bonnefoi." + +"And good luck to the fellow you shove ahead in his place; we'll drink +an extra glass to him when we finish work to-night. Let's see what may +his name be." + +"'_Tournay, Robert, former Colonel!_' Hello, what's that?" cried +Clement, interrupting him. + +"I did not hear anything," replied Hanneton. + +"The sound seemed to come from the next room." + +"Oh, it's only that woman who is cleaning the place. She has knocked +over a table or a chair. Come. Let's go out and get something to eat. +I'm famished. We can return later, and finish our work." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +TWO WOMEN + + +The revelation that Tournay was condemned, the awful knowledge that he +would be executed on the morrow, conveyed to her thus suddenly, made the +room reel before Edme's eyes. In her dizziness she fell against one of +the tables and held to it for support. + +In the quiet that followed the departure of the clerks she pressed her +head and tried to think. At first her benumbed brain refused to work; +then as the full significance of the clerk's action came back to her, +when she realized just what he had done and what she in her turn might +do, she stood erect, alert, and courageous. + +The warrant for Robert's death; could she get possession of it? With a +beating heart she glided into the chamber of death warrants. + +A lamp was burning in the room, and there in plain view upon the table +were three packets of black-covered papers. She bent over them hastily +and at once took up the file marked: "Warrants of the eighth Thermidor." +With nervous fingers she ran them through, looking at each name until +she came to that of "Tournay, Robert, ex-colonel." At sight of the name +she gave a half-suppressed cry, and took it quietly from the others. +"They shall not send you to the guillotine to-morrow, Robert," she +breathed. Her first thought was how to make way with the fatal paper. +She looked round the room; it had one window and two doors. The window +looked out upon the street. One doorway led back into the tribunal +chamber. Through the other, a small one, the two clerks must have passed +out. She hastened towards it, praying fervently that they had omitted to +fasten it. Vain prayer, the clerks had not been remiss in their duty +here. It was locked. Yet it was not a strong barrier. A few blows struck +with some heavy object might break it through; or better still there was +a pistol in the drawer of one of the desks; with that she could blow the +lock to atoms. Either method would make a noise, but she must take the +risk. + +Just as these thoughts flashed through her mind, she saw to her +consternation the door-handle turn, and heard the grating of a key on +the outside. + +"The employees returning," she thought, and had just presence of mind +enough to pass her left hand, which still clutched the death warrant, +behind her back, when the door opened, and she was face to face with a +woman. + +"Hello!" said the latter, "I expected to find Clement and Hanneton here. +Who are you?" + +"I--I am,--I came in the place of Madame--of Citizeness Privat." + +"You seem a little put out, citizeness, at the sight of La Liberte. You +have never seen me before? That's why, eh? Tell me, now, what are you +doing here?" + +"I am doing the work of Citizeness Privat, who is ill," replied Edme, +recovering her self-possession. + +"Hum," said La Liberte with a slight sniff, as she closed the door and +passed toward the centre of the room. Edme slowly revolved on her heel, +keeping her face toward La Liberte, and her left hand behind her back. + +"What are you trying to hide there?" demanded La Liberte quickly, whose +bright brown eyes took in every motion of Edme. + +"I have nothing to hide." + +La Liberte's glance went from Edme to the warrants on the table, and +then back to Edme's face again. + +"You are hiding something behind your back," persisted La Liberte, +trying to obtain a peep at it by making a circle around Edme. Edme +continued to turn, always keeping her face toward La Liberte. + +The latter stopped. "I will see what you have there," she declared with +a toss of her head, her curiosity aroused to the burning point. + +"You shall not. It does not concern you," was the firm reply. + +For an instant each looked into the other's eyes in silence. Both +breathed defiance; both were equally determined. + +Then with a tigerlike spring La Liberte dashed forward, seized Edme +about the waist with one arm, while she endeavored to secure the +parchment with her other hand. Edme quickly passed the document into her +right hand, bringing it forward high above her head. With the same +cat-like agility, La Liberte sprang for it on the other side and managed +to get hold of it by one corner. There was a short struggle; a tearing +of paper, and each held a piece of the document in her hand. + +"A warrant!" exclaimed La Liberte, darting back a few paces and shaking +out the piece of paper in her hand. "You have been tampering with +these," she added quickly, putting one hand upon the pile of documents +on the table. + +Edme made no reply. + +"Why did you take it?" inquired La Liberte, taking her portion of paper +near the light to examine it, while she kept one eye fixed upon her late +antagonist, in fear of a sudden attack. + +The warrant had been divided nearly down the centre; but the last name +of the condemned man was upon the piece held by La Liberte. + +"Tournay!" she cried out in surprise. "Robert Tournay! What object have +you in destroying this warrant?" + +"I have not destroyed it," replied Edme, making the greatest effort to +maintain an outward calm. "It was you who tore it." + +"Don't try any of those tricks with me," snapped La Liberte. "Come, what +was your object in taking this warrant? It is a dangerous thing to +tamper with those documents." + +"I shall not answer any of your questions," was Edme's rejoinder. + +For a space of ten seconds the two women stood again confronting each +other, as if each waited for the other to move. La Liberte's eyes looked +fixedly at Edme, as if they would read her through and through. + +"You are not what you pretend to be," she said finally; "you are no +woman of the people." Then, suddenly flinging aside the torn paper, she +rushed forward and seized Edme's arm. + +"I know who you are now!" she exclaimed excitedly. "You are an +aristocrat! Don't deny it!" she continued passionately. "I came from La +Thierry. I was a young girl when I left there, but my memory serves me +well. Your name is Edme de Rochefort. You are an aristocrat, and you +love the republican colonel! You destroyed this warrant. You risked your +life in the attempt to prolong his." + +"Whoever I may be, whatever I attempted to do, you tore that paper. It +was you who destroyed it," said Edme as she wrenched herself free from +the woman's grasp. + +The only answer of La Liberte was a loud and scornful laugh. She +approached Edme again with a malignant glitter in her eyes; but Edme +held her ground and confronted her bravely. + +"So you are Edme de Rochefort," repeated La Liberte slowly. "I remember +having seen you years ago when I was a girl of fifteen, at my father's +mill near the village of La Thierry. You were a pale-faced girl then. +You didn't wear coarse clothes then! You drove in your carriage, and +didn't look at such as me; but I saw you, and hated you for being so +proud. Then there was a certain marquis." A bright spot appeared on +Edme's cheek, but she did not speak. + +"He came to pay his court to you, but he made love to me. He never even +made a pretense of loving you. But he cared for me in his cold, selfish +way. He took me to Paris, gave me everything money could buy, for a +while. Then he left me, and went back to you. I hated you for that. You +did not care for him. You did not marry him. That made no difference to +me. Then there was another man. He was not for you. He was of my class, +not yours. You had no right to his love. He never loved me, I know. I am +too proud to say he loved me when it was not so. But he was kind to me. +He was noble and generous, and I loved him. You had no right to him. I +hate you for that more than all." Her passion wrought upon her so that +her once pretty face was something fearful to behold. Edme expected at +each breath she would spring forward and tear her like a tiger cat. + +"I care not for your hatred," Edme retorted calmly. "I never willfully +wronged you. Your hatred cannot harm me." + +"No?" demanded the frenzied La Liberte. "It can restore this paper. I +can denounce you. I can send you with your lover to the guillotine." + +"That does not terrify me," replied Edme. "You can send the woman you +hate and the man you profess to love into another world together. That +is all you can do. I am above your hatred." + +La Liberte started to speak, then checked herself. + +"You say you love him. Love," repeated Edme in a tone of deep disdain. +"You dare to call that love which would destroy its object? Such as you +are not capable of love." + +"If it were not that _you_ loved him, I would let them cut me into +pieces for his sake," retorted La Liberte fiercely. + +"You say that you love him, and you are willing to send him to the +guillotine," repeated Edme. + +"If it were not that it would be giving him to you, I would give my life +a thousand times to save him," was the answer. + +Edme caught La Liberte by the arm. + +"You have it in your power to cause my arrest. If you will not use that +power, if you will give me only twenty-four hours, I may be able to save +Robert Tournay's life. At the expiration of that time, whether I succeed +or fail, I will surrender myself. I will denounce myself before the +Committee of Public Safety." + +La Liberte looked into Edme's face searchingly but made no reply. + +"You understand what I propose," Edme continued in a cool, firm voice. +"If you agree to it you can accomplish what you desire; the rescue of +Robert Tournay and my death." + +"Bah," said La Liberte with a shrug; "you are very heroic, but, Robert +Tournay once out of danger, you would not give yourself up to the +committee. In your place, I should not do it, and I will not trust you." + +"I give you my promise to appear before Robespierre himself." + +"Your promise," repeated La Liberte, "you ask me to accept your simple +word?" + +"The word of a de Rochefort," said Edme with quiet dignity. + +"The word of an aristocrat," continued La Liberte slowly. "You +aristocrats vaunt your devotion to honor." + +"And will you not trust it when Colonel Tournay's life is at stake?" +asked Edme. + +"Yes, I will," La Liberte burst forth in fierce energy. "I _will_ trust +your word, and test your honor." + +"Then for twenty-four hours you will let me go free? You will not have +me watched nor interfered with in any way?" + +"I give you _my_ word," said La Liberte, drawing herself up, "and my +word is as good as that of the proudest aristocrat." + +Then changing her manner she asked quickly: "How do you propose to save +Robert Tournay? What can you do?" + +Edme had no intention of imparting her plan to La Liberte, yet she did +not wish to antagonize her by refusing to confide in her. + +"There is not time to go into the details of it now. First help me to +get away from here. Those clerks may return." + +"I will prevent that," said La Liberte quickly. "I know where they sup. +I will go there and delay their return. They are convivial youngsters +and never refuse a glass or two. In the meantime you must see to it that +those three files of warrants do not retain the slightest appearance of +having been handled. Be sure that every object in the room is just as +you found it." + +By this time La Liberte was outside the door. Looking back into the +room, she said: "When you have done that, go down this staircase, cross +the street, and wait for me in the shadow of the building opposite. I +will then conduct you to my house," and La Liberte's feet sprang nimbly +down the stairs. + +Quickly Edme picked up the pieces of torn warrant, intending to take +them away and burn them. Then she turned her attention to the documents +on the table, and in a few minutes had them arranged just as she found +them. She placed the chairs in a natural position before the table, and +stepped back for a final survey to assure herself that she had not left +a trace which might arouse the suspicion of the clerks. + +No, there was nothing that Hanneton or even Clement would be likely to +notice. She had been none too rapid in the arrangement of these details. +The door of the adjoining chamber was unlocked and some one entered. + +Edme could tell by the footfalls that the person was traversing the room +with measured tread. Then came the sound of a chair being drawn up to a +desk. Then a dry cough echoed through the deserted hall as a man cleared +his throat. + +Edme gave a glance toward the door that led down the staircase taken by +La Liberte. It stood invitingly open, but to gain it she would have to +pass the door that communicated with the tribunal. This also was open. +She started on tiptoe across the floor. + +The words "Bring me a light here, will you?" fell upon her ears in a +harsh tone of authority. She started at this sudden command. She had +made no noise, yet the mysterious personage seemed to be aware of her +presence. + +"In the next room there, whoever you are, bring in more light; this lamp +burns villainously!" + +Edme hesitated no longer but caught up the lamp from the table and +entered the tribunal chamber. As she obediently placed the light upon +the desk the man who was writing there looked up with impatient gesture. +Although she had never seen him before, she had heard him described many +times, and she knew that he was Robespierre. + +"Well!" he exclaimed, "who are you?" + +"I--I am here in place of the Citizeness Privat." + +"The Citizeness Privat?" + +"Yes, she cleans up the rooms, and being ill"-- + +"Cleans!" repeated Robespierre with a laugh, blowing the dust from the +top of the table, "Is that what you call it? This Privat is like all the +rest, willing to take the nation's pay and give nothing in return. And +you are also like the rest, eh?" + +"I do not know what you mean. I am doing her work as well as I can. With +your permission I will hasten to complete my task," replied Edme. + +In spite of her abhorrence of him she could not help looking at him +intently, her eyes expressing the horror which she felt. To her, he was +the embodiment of all that was evil, the very spirit of the Revolution. +As her glance rested upon the white waistcoat, fitting close to his +meagre figure, and as she thought of the cruel heart that beat beneath +it, the vision of Charlotte Corday and the vile Marat flashed before her +eyes with startling vividness. + +What if heaven had decreed that she should be the means of ridding the +world of this monster? What if the opportunity was about to present +itself? She pushed the thought away from her, with the inward +supplication, "God keep me from doing it." + +Robespierre noticed the look of horror on her face, and attributed it to +the fear his presence inspired. His small eyes blinked complacently. + +"Stay," he said; "you have nothing to fear if you are a good patriotic +citizeness. And you may be pardoned if you neglect your work for a few +minutes to converse with Robespierre." + +There was an insinuating softness in his tone as he spoke that made her +nerves creep and increased her loathing for him. He sat leaning back +negligently in his chair, and she stood looking down upon him like some +superb creature from another world. + +"By the power of beauty," he exclaimed suddenly, "you are a glorious +woman! I have always said that only among women of the people is true +beauty to be found." + +She neither moved nor spoke, but stood still as a statue. + +He leaned forward in his chair. "You shall lay aside your broom and +dust-rags. I would see more of you. I have it. You shall be the Goddess +of Beauty at our next great fete. In that role Robespierre himself will +render you homage." Rising, he took one of her hands in his. + +She shuddered. It was as if a snake had coiled itself about her fingers. +The contact with her soft hand sent just a drop of blood to his sallow +cheek. + +"What sayst thou, O glorious creature? Wilt thou be a goddess of beauty +and sit enthroned upon the Champ de Mars, dressed in radiant clothing, +instead of these poor garments?" He spoke in low tones meant to be +tender. + +Again the vision of Charlotte Corday flashed before her. + +"No, no!" she cried out, more in answer to the thought that terrified +her than to his question. + +"Fear nothing, fair one," he said soothingly. "Robespierre is only +terrible to the guilty; to the good he is always magnanimous and kind. +Some say that I abuse my power, but that is false. True, I condemn many, +but 'tis done with justice; and I also pardon many. Should I receive no +credit for my clemency?" he continued, as if he were arguing with some +unseen personage. + +He released her hand and leaned his elbow on the desk. Her hand fell +cold and numb to her side, but the spell in which he had held her was +broken. A sudden daring resolve entered her head. + +"I have been told that you were a cruel monster, who condemned for the +pleasure of condemning; who did not know the meaning of clemency," she +said, "and therefore I am afraid of you." + +"They have maligned me," he answered. + +"Will you prove it by granting me a pardon, one that I can use as I may +wish?" + +Robespierre became alert on the instant. + +"You would set some man at liberty?" + +"Yes." + +"Your lover, is it not?" + +"I pray you, do not ask me." + +"Do not ask you!" repeated Robespierre. "And yet you ask me to pardon +him. Why should I do it?" + +"To prove that you know what clemency is." + +"I would rather show it in some other way. I should be a fool to set +your lover at liberty, so that you both might laugh at me." + +"I have not said that it was my lover." + +"No, but I say so." + +"You said a moment ago that you knew what mercy was, yet you cannot +understand my feeling at the thought that he must die." + +Robespierre took up a pen from the table and poised it over a sheet of +paper. The pleading look in the beautiful eyes gave him great enjoyment, +and he took a keen relish in prolonging it. + +"A few words from my pen," he said tantalizingly, "would set the man at +liberty. How would you reward me if I wrote them for you?" + +"Oh, I pray you to do so," she cried out, throwing herself at his feet. +"I pray you to write them. If you have the power, use it for mercy." + +Robespierre gazed deep into the eyes which looked up at him imploringly. + +"Who are you?" he demanded with the energy of sudden passion. "You are +no woman of the common people. Who are you?" + +"One who would have you do a noble action," she answered. "One who is +pleading with you for your own soul's sake." + +"Whoever you may be, you have bewitched me. Promise you will come hence +with me, and I will write the release." + +"Write it," she whispered faintly. + +Robespierre dashed off a few hurried lines. + +"What is the fellow's name?" he asked. + +"Sign the paper," she murmured, dropping her eyes. "I implore you, do +not ask me his name. Let me fill that in." + +"I will free no man from prison unless I know his name," replied +Robespierre. + +"I will never tell you that," she replied, rising to her feet and going +to the other side of the desk, "never." + +"What foolish nonsense," he complained, signing his name. "Now," he +continued, shaking the sand box over the wet ink, "tell me his name, and +I will send this pardon to the conciergerie at once. See, I have written +'immediate release' upon it. You have only to tell me his name. Do you +still hesitate?" + +There was a sudden rattle in the drawer on Edme's side of the desk. +Leaning forward, she brought one hand down upon the paper, while with +the other she pointed a pistol at Robespierre's head. + +He turned deadly white and drew back in his chair. + +"Would you murder me?" he gasped out. + +[Illustration: "WOULD YOU MURDER ME?"] + +"If you make one movement," she replied, "Marat's fate will be yours." +He cringed further away from the muzzle of the weapon that stared him in +the face. With one hand she folded up the document and put it in the +bosom of her dress, all the while keeping the pistol aimed steadily at +him. + +"Now," she continued coolly, "you have the key of the door. Make no +movement," she added quickly, bringing the pistol still nearer him, "but +tell me where to find it." + +"It is in the door now," he snarled. + +She came cautiously around the corner of the desk, still keeping the +weapon leveled at his head. + +He rose to his feet and sprang toward her. The pistol snapped. He caught +her by the wrist. Then pinning both her arms to her side with his arms +about her waist he breathed in her ear:-- + +"You cannot fire a pistol that is not loaded, though you _did_ startle +me. Now give me that paper." + +Edme did not speak, but struggled desperately to break from his grasp. +She determined that he might kill her before she would give back the +paper. So fiercely did she struggle that he had to exert all his +strength to hold her. + +"I'll have that paper again if I have to strangle you to get it!" he +muttered through his teeth. He succeeded in holding down both arms with +one of his, leaving his left arm free. + +Before he could make use of it, he felt himself seized from behind. His +nerves, strained by his previous fright, gave way completely at this +unexpected attack. Uttering a cry, he released his hold completely. + +"Save yourself; I will not hold you to your promise!" cried a voice. +Edme waited to hear nothing more, but darted swiftly from the room, +leaving the baffled Robespierre confronted by La Liberte. + +For a moment he stood still, his surprise rendering him incapable of +speech or action. La Liberte walked jauntily to the door through which +Edme had just vanished, locked it, and stuck the key in her belt beside +the knife she always wore there. + +"Do you know what you are doing, you mad creature?" cried Robespierre, +running to the door and putting his hand upon the latch. "Unlock this +door at once." + +"Wait a moment; I have something to say to you," was La Liberte's +rejoinder. + +"Give me that key instantly, do you hear?" he yelled, stamping his foot +upon the floor. "You do not know what you are doing." + +"I know," said La Liberte, nodding her head. "I have seen and heard +everything; I have been watching you from the door of the back +staircase." + +"The back staircase!" exclaimed Robespierre, starting toward it. + +"You need not trouble to go to it. I locked that door when I came in." + +Robespierre came toward her, furious with passion. "I will have none of +your escapades," he said fiercely; "give me that key or I will"-- + +"Keep off! keep off!" cried out La Liberte, bounding lightly out of his +reach with a little mocking laugh. "Don't catch me about the waist; I +carry my sting there." + +"You wasp! I will crush you!" he cried out, foaming with rage. + +"Better take care how you handle wasps," was her rejoinder as she +perched herself upon the edge of a desk and shook her brown curls +defiantly at him. + +"Come, Liberte," he said, trying a coaxing tone, although his anger +almost choked him; "I know you will open the door at once when I tell +you that woman has obtained from me by a skillful ruse a pardon in +blank. I don't know whose name will be filled in. Perhaps some great +enemy of the Republic will be set at liberty, unless I can send word at +once to the conciergerie and forestall it." + +"I know who will be liberated," sang La Liberte, swinging her feet. + +"You do!" vociferated Robespierre in genuine astonishment. "Is this a +plot? Are you concerned in it?" And he came toward her, his small eyes +winking rapidly. + +"You don't get it yet," laughed La Liberte, sliding over to the other +side of the desk. "I am concerned in enough of a plot to keep you from +sending to the scaffold a man to whom I've taken a fancy. I do not very +often take a particular interest in any one person, but when I do, it is +lasting." And she regarded him airily from her point of vantage. + +"I'll send you to the guillotine," hissed Robespierre between his teeth, +striking his clenched fist upon the desk in front of him. "I'll have you +arrested to-night. I'll bear with you no longer. I have permitted you to +swagger around in public, to come into the Jacobin Club and flourish +your pistols, because it amused the populace, and I laughed with them at +your antics; but now you have overstepped the line. This meddling with +national affairs will cost you your life." + +For a moment La Liberte confronted him from behind her barricade, her +eyes darting fire. + +"How dare you threaten me!" she cried shrilly. + +"You have conspired against the Republic; you shall pay for it," he +repeated, his fingers working convulsively as if he would like to lay +hands upon her. + +"My name is La Liberte," she said proudly, drawing herself up. "I am a +child of the Revolution. I have drunk of her blood. Do you think, +Robespierre, to terrify me with your shining toy, the guillotine? Bah! I +snap my fingers at it;" and speaking thus, she advanced toward him, one +hand resting on the dagger at her hip. He fell back before her, step by +step, until they reached the door. Voices were heard outside and some +one tried to enter. + +"Break the door down, whoever you are!" cried Robespierre. "Kick the +panel in; throw your whole weight against it." + +"We are Hanneton and Clement, clerks; we found the rear doorway +locked"-- + +"Break in, I say!" called out Robespierre impatiently. + +The hall reverberated with the noise of an attack made by Hanneton's +heavy shoes and Clement's shoulder. + +La Liberte inserted the key in the lock. "I might as well open it now," +she said, throwing back the door. + +The two clerks stood on the threshold in open-mouthed surprise. + +La Liberte passed them like a fawn and sped swiftly down the staircase. + +"We were merely returning to finish up a little work," stammered +Clement, who was the first to recover the use of his tongue; "but if we +intrude"-- + +"Come in," interrupted Robespierre quickly. "I have an errand of +importance for you." Seating himself at a table, he dashed off two short +notes. The clerks exchanged glances from time to time. + +"Here!" said Robespierre looking at Clement, and sealing the letters as +he spoke. "You look the less stupid. Take this at once to the keeper of +the conciergerie, then report to me in person at my house. You other +fellow, take this to Commandant Henriot. You will find him either at the +Hotel de Ville or at the Jacobin Club. Tell him to report to me in +person. Now go, both of you." + +The two clerks did not wait to be twice bidden, and Robespierre followed +them from the room. + +An hour later the commandant stood before the president of the committee +in his own house. + +"Well," asked Robespierre, "have you executed the warrant?" + +"The Citizeness Liberte has been incarcerated in the Luxembourg prison," +was the reply. + +Robespierre's eyes blinked rapidly. "She is a child of the Revolution," +he repeated softly, "and does not fear my toy." + +Upon Henriot's heels entered Clement. Robespierre turned to him eagerly. + +"Fifteen minutes before I reached the conciergerie, a prisoner, named +Robert Tournay, was liberated on a release signed by you, citizen +president. It was delivered by a woman," was the brief report. + +An oath sprang to Robespierre's lips. "Tournay!" he cried out. "So it +was Tournay whom that woman has freed. The man is dangerous," he +continued, speaking to himself. "He should have perished long ago had I +not wished to get at Hoche through him. But he shall not escape me; nor +shall the woman." + +"Henriot," he exclaimed in his next breath, "order every route leading +out of the city guarded. Lodge information at every section for the +arrest of Robert Tournay, and of one other, a woman." + +"Yes, citizen president, and who"-- + +"Wait, I will write her description for you," cried Robespierre. "There +it is. Now be prompt, my patriot. We can still recapture our prisoner, +and then"--He did not complete the sentence, but his teeth came together +with a snap, and he drew his thin lips over them tightly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NO. 7 RUE D'ARCIS + + +The order signed by Robespierre for the immediate release of a prisoner +had not been questioned by the keeper of the conciergerie, and within a +few minutes from the time when Edme presented the document with a heart +fluctuating between the wildest hope and the greatest fear, Colonel +Tournay walked out of the prison a free man. + +The sudden manner of his release, the fact that it had been effected by +Edme's own daring and sagacity, and that he owed his life to her whom he +loved, made his brain reel. Then the recognition of the danger that +still menaced him, and above all the woman who was by his side, brought +him back to himself, and he was again cool, alert, and determined as she +had always known him. Drawing her arm through his and walking rapidly in +the shadows of Rue Barillerie, he said quickly:-- + +"The pursuit will be instant. Robespierre will ransack all Paris to find +us. But I know a hiding-place. Come quickly." + +She looked up at him. "I feel perfectly safe now," she said, and +together they hurried onward. + +Suddenly she stopped. "But how about Agatha!" she exclaimed, as the +thought of her faithful companion came to her mind for the time. + +"Agatha! Where is she?" asked Tournay almost impatiently, chafing at a +moment's delay. + +"At the Citizeness Privat's in the Rue Vaugirard. They will surely find +and arrest her. Robert, we must not let them." + +"The delay may mean the difference between life and death," replied +Tournay, turning in the direction of the Rue Vaugirard; "but we must not +let Agatha fall into Robespierre's clutches." + +In a few minutes they passed up the Rue Vaugirard. "Which is the house?" +asked Tournay anxiously. + +"There; the small one with the blinds drawn down. Agatha will be +anxiously waiting for me, I know. There she is now in the doorway. She +sees us! Agatha, quick! Never mind your hat or cloak. Ask no questions. +Now Robert, take us where you will." + +Passing Edme's arm through his own, and with Agatha on the other side, +Tournay conducted the two women rapidly down the street. + +At the same moment gendarmes were running in all directions carrying +Robespierre's orders. + +Two of them hastened to the house of Citizeness Privat. They found her +in bed. Awakened from her sleep, she could only give meagre information +about her lodgers. There were two of them; one, she thought, was still +in the room across the hall. A tall gendarme opened the door and walked +in without ceremony. He found the room empty, although a few articles +of feminine apparel indicated that it had been occupied recently. + +"Hem!" sniffed the tall gendarme, "women!" Then he called in his +companions, and they proceeded to examine everything in the hope of +finding a clue. + +At that moment Robert Tournay, Edme, and Agatha were approaching the Rue +d'Arcis. + +"It is only a step from here," said Tournay encouragingly as they +crossed the bridge St. Michel. "Once there we cannot be safer anywhere +in Paris. I know of the place from a fellow prisoner in the Luxembourg." + +They passed through a narrow passageway and underneath some houses, and +emerged into the Rue d'Arcis. Crossing the street, and looking carefully +in both directions to see if they were unobserved, Tournay struck seven +quick low notes with the knocker on the door. They waited in silence for +some time; then Tournay repeated the knocking a little louder than +before. They waited again and listened intently. Edme's teeth began to +chatter with nervous excitement, and Tournay looked once more +apprehensively up and down the street. + +"Who knocks?" was the question breathed gently through a small aperture +in the door. + +"From Raphael," whispered Tournay, "open quickly." + +"Enter." + +The door swung inward on its hinges, and the three fugitives hastened to +accept the hospitality offered them. + +It was an old man who answered their summons and who closed the door +carefully after them. He now stood before them shading with his palm a +candle, which the draft, blowing through the large empty corridors, +threatened to extinguish altogether. The dancing flame threw grotesque +shadows on the wall. As the light played upon the features of the old +man, first touching his white beard and then shining upon his serene +brow, Edme thought she looked upon a face familiar to her in the past, +but, no sign of recognition appearing in the eyes that met her gaze, she +attributed it to fancy. + +"Your name is Beaurepaire?" inquired Tournay. + +"That is my name," was the old man's answer. + +In a few words Colonel Tournay told of his acquaintance with St. +Hilaire, and explained how, had their plan of escape succeeded, they +would have come there together. Unfortunately he alone had escaped,--and +now came to ask that he and his two companions might remain there in +hiding for a few days. + +"You came from Raphael," replied Beaurepaire with the dignity of an +earlier time. "The length of your stay is to be determined by your own +desire." + +He led the way along the corridor, down a short flight of steps, through +a covered passageway, into what appeared to be an adjoining house; +Tournay asked no questions, but, with Edme and Agatha, followed +blindly. + +Their aged conductor ushered them into a large room, which had formerly +been a handsome salon; but the few articles of furniture still remaining +in it were decrepit and dusty. The once polished floor was sadly marred, +and appeared to have remained unswept for years. The room was wainscoted +in dark wood to the height of six feet, and upon the wall above it hung +portraits of ladies and gentlemen of the house of St. Hilaire. Here they +had hung for years before the Revolution, dusty and forgotten. + +At the end and along one side of the room ran a gallery which was +reached by a short straight flight of stairs, and around this gallery +from floor to ceiling were shelves of books. + +Beaurepaire mounted the stairs, and looking among the books as if +searching for a certain volume, pushed back part of a bookcase and +revealed a door. He motioned them to ascend. + +"In here," he said, pointing to a small room with low-studded ceiling, +"the two ladies can retire. It is the only room in the house suitable +for their comfort. You, sir," he continued, looking at Colonel Tournay, +"will have to lie here upon the gallery floor. There is only a rug to +soften the oak boards, but you are, I see, a soldier. To-morrow I will +see what can be done to make the place more habitable." + +Edme and Agatha passed through the aperture in the wall, the venerable +Beaurepaire bowing low before them. + +"At daylight I will bring you some food; until then I wish you good +repose." He withdrew, and Colonel Tournay was left to stretch himself +out upon the gallery floor to get what sleep he could. + +It was daylight when he opened his eyes, and looking through the +balustrade to the room below, saw a loaf of bread, some grapes, and a +steaming pitcher of hot milk set on a large mahogany table which stood +against the wall. He had evidently been awakened by the entrance of his +host, for the figure of Beaurepaire was standing with his back to him, +looking out of the window into the courtyard. The colonel kicked aside +the rugs which had served him for a bed, and rising to his feet, started +to descend. + +The figure at the window turned at the sound of the tread upon the +stairs, and Tournay stopped short with one hand on the rail. "He has +shaved off his flowing beard overnight," was his astonished thought. +Then the next instant he recognized that it was not Beaurepaire, but +Father Ambrose, the old priest of La Thierry, who stood before him. + +The latter approached with his usual dignity. + +"Father Ambrose," exclaimed Tournay in surprise, "how can this be? Who, +then, is this Beaurepaire?" + +"He is my brother. I have lived here for more than six months. I saw you +when you came last night, but waited until now before making myself +known. Inform me, my good sir, how fares it with Mademoiselle de +Rochefort?" + +"You shall see her presently. She and Agatha are in the chamber behind +the secret panel. They are doubtless much fatigued from the excitement +of yesterday, and we would better let them sleep as long as they can. In +the meantime I will eat some of this food, for I am desperately hungry." + +"Do so, my son," replied the priest. "I would eat with you, but for the +fact that I never break my fast before noon." + +Tournay helped himself to a generous slice of bread and a bunch of +grapes. + +"Tell me," he asked, as he began on the luscious fruit, "how do you +obtain the necessities of life? Do you dare venture out to buy them?" + +"I have not set my foot outside the door since I first entered. All the +communication with the outside world has been held by my brother, who +has managed to keep free from suspicion, and who goes and comes in his +quiet way as the occasion arises." + +A knock upon the door brought Tournay to his feet. He stopped with the +pitcher of milk in one hand and looked at Father Ambrose. + +"There is no cause for alarm," said the priest; "it is my brother's +knock;" and going to the door he drew back the bolt. + +Tournay set down the milk jug untasted, with an exclamation of surprise, +as he saw Gaillard burst into the room, followed by the old man +Beaurepaire. The actor, no longer dressed in the disguise of an old man, +was greatly excited. + +"Great news, my colonel!" he exclaimed without stopping to explain how +he had found his way there. "Robespierre has been arrested by the +convention." + +Tournay sprang forward and grasped his friend by both shoulders. "At +last they have done it!" he cried excitedly. "Gaillard, tell me about +it. How was it brought about?" + +"Embrace me again, my colonel," exclaimed Gaillard, throwing his arms +about Tournay and talking all the time. "It was this way: I heard the +cry in the streets that the convention had risen almost to a man and +arrested Robespierre and a few of his nearest satellites. At once I ran +to the conciergerie to try and see you. Everything was in confusion. The +news of Robespierre's arrest had just reached there. 'Can I see Colonel +Tournay?' I demanded of the jailer. + +"'He is not here,' he answered, turning from me to a dozen other excited +questioners. + +"'He has not been sent to the guillotine?' I cried, with my heart in my +mouth. + +"'No; liberated by Robespierre's order last night.' + +"'What!' I shouted, thinking the man mad. + +"'The order was countermanded fifteen minutes after the citizen colonel +had left the prison,' cried the warden in reply. 'Don't ask me any more +questions. My head is in a whirl; I cannot think.' + +"I, myself, was so excited I could not think; but when I collected my +few senses I recollected that St. Hilaire had told you of a place of +refuge in case of emergency. 'My little colonel is there,' I said to +myself, and flew here on the wind. Everywhere along the way people were +congratulating one another. The greatest excitement prevailed. No notice +was taken of an old man of eighty running like a lad of sixteen. When I +reached your door I took off my wig and beard and put them in my pocket. +Ah, my colonel, we shall wear our own faces; we shall speak our own +minds, now that the tyrant himself is in the toils." + +"Will they be able to keep him there?" asked Father Ambrose; "he will +not yield without a struggle. The Jacobins may try to arouse the masses +to rescue him." + +"The populace is seething with excitement," said Gaillard. "Some +quarters of the town are for the fallen tyrant; others are against him. +In the Faubourg St. Antoine, the stronghold of the Jacobins, Robespierre +is openly denounced by some, yet his adherents are still strong there +and are arming themselves. The convention stands firm as a rock. 'Down +with the tyrant!' is the cry." + +"There is work for us," exclaimed Tournay. "Father Ambrose," he +continued, turning to the priest, "I must go out at once. I leave you to +tell the news to Mademoiselle de Rochefort. Tell her to remain here in +the strictest seclusion until I return and assure her that we can leave +here in safety. I leave her in your keeping, Father Ambrose. Now, +Gaillard, let us go." + +In the streets, Tournay found that his friend had not exaggerated the +popular excitement. As they walked along both he and Gaillard kept +their ears alert to hear everything that was said. + +Suddenly a noise caused them to stop and look into each other's faces +with consternation. + +"The tumbrils!" exclaimed Gaillard, in answer to Tournay's look. + +"That looks bad for our party," said Tournay. "One would expect the +executions to cease, or at least be suspended, on the day of +Robespierre's arrest." + +"There is no one to give a coherent order," replied Gaillard. "Some of +the prison governors do not know which way to turn, or whom to obey. The +same with the police. They need a leader." + +As he spoke they turned into the Rue Vaugirard and saw coming toward +them down the street two death carts, escorted by a dozen gendarmes. The +street was choked with a howling mass of people, and from their shouts +it was manifest that some were demanding that the carts be sent back, +while others were equally vociferous in urging them on. Meanwhile, the +gendarmes stolidly made their way through the crowd as best they could. + +Many of the occupants of the tumbrils leaned supplicatingly over the +sides of the carts and implored the people to save them. + +The crowd finally became so large as to impede the further progress of +the carts. + +"My God!" cried Tournay, grasping Gaillard by the arm. "There is St. +Hilaire." + +In the second cart stood the Citizen St. Hilaire. He held himself erect +and stood motionless, his arms, like those of the rest of the +prisoners, tightly pinioned behind him. But it could be seen that he was +addressing the populace and exciting their sympathy. By his side was +Madame d'Arlincourt, her large blue eyes fixed intently upon St. +Hilaire; she seemed unmindful of the scene around her, and to be already +in another world. + +In the rear of the cart, dressed in white, was La Liberte. Her face was +flushed and animated, and she was talking loudly and rapidly to the +crowd which followed the tumbril. + +Tournay sprang to the head of the procession. He still wore his uniform, +and the crowd made way for him. + +"Why did you take these tumbrils out to-day?" he demanded of the +gendarmes. "Do you not know that Robespierre is in prison and the +executions are to be stopped?" + +"I have my orders from the keeper of the Luxembourg. I am to take these +tumbrils to the Place de la Revolution," replied the officer; then +addressing the crowd, he cried, "Make way there, citizens, make way +there and let us proceed!" + +"No, no!" cried a great number of voices, while others cried out, "Yes, +make way!" But all still blocked the passage of the carts. + +"The keeper of the Luxembourg had no authority to order the execution of +these prisoners to-day. Take them at once back to the prison," ordered +Tournay. + +"Where is your authority? Show it to me and I will obey you," replied +the police officer. + +"This is not a day on which we present written authority," answered +Tournay. "I tell you I have the right to order you back to the prison. +It is the will of the convention." + +"I take my orders from the Commune," replied the gendarme stubbornly. "I +must go forward." + +Gaillard had meantime worked his way to Tournay's shoulder, and the +latter said a few words in his ear. Gaillard plunged into the crowd and +was off like a shot in the direction of the convention. + +"Citizens, let us pass!" cried the gendarmes impatiently. + +"Citizens," Tournay cried out in a loud voice, "it is the will of the +convention that no executions take place to-day. These carts must not +go. I call upon you to help me." As he spoke he ran to the horses' +heads. The crowd swept the gendarmes to one side, and in a moment's time +the tumbrils were turned about. + +Then a clatter of hoofs was heard, accompanied by angry shouts, and the +crowd broke and scattered in all directions, as Commandant Henriot, +followed by a troop of mounted police, rode through them. + +"What is the meaning of this?" he roared out. + +"Where shall we go, back to the Luxembourg or forward to the Place de la +Revolution?" cried out the bewildered gendarmes who guarded the +tumbrils. + +"To the guillotine, of course, always the guillotine," answered Henriot. +"About, face! Citizens, disperse!" + +The crowd had closed up and were muttering their disapproval, many even +going so far as to flourish weapons. + +"Citizens," cried Tournay fearlessly, "this man Henriot has been +indicted by the convention. He should now be a prisoner with +Robespierre." + +"Charge the crowd!" yelled Henriot to his lieutenant. "I will deal with +this fellow; I know him. His name is Tournay." And he rode his horse at +the colonel. + +The latter sprang to one side, and seizing a sword from a gendarme, +parried the trust of Henriot's weapon. Catching the horse by the bridle, +he struck an upward blow at the commandant. The animal plunged forward +and Tournay was thrown to the pavement, while the crowd fled before the +charge of the mounted troops. + +Before Henriot could wheel his charger, Tournay was on his feet, and +realizing the impossibility of rallying any forces to contend with +Henriot's, he took the first corner and made the best of his way up a +narrow and deserted street. + +He was somewhat shaken and bruised from his encounter, and stopping to +recover breath for the first time, he noticed that the blood was flowing +freely from a cut over the forehead which he had received during the +short melee. + +As he stanched the wound with his handkerchief, he heard footsteps +behind him, and turning, saw a man dressed in the uniform of his own +regiment running toward him. Wiping the blood from his eyes, he +recognized Captain Dessarts who had served with him for the past year. + +"You are wounded, colonel!" exclaimed Dessarts, taking the hand which +Tournay stretched out to him. "Can I assist you?" + +"It is only a scalp wound, but it bleeds villainously. You can tie this +handkerchief about my head if you will." + +"I tried to help you rally the crowd, my colonel, but it was hopeless. +Yet with a few good soldiers behind his back, one could easily have +cleared the streets of those hulking gendarmes. Do I hurt you?" he +continued as he tied the knot. + +"No," answered Tournay. "Tie it quickly and then come with me." + +"I must go to the barracks, Colonel Tournay," replied Dessarts. "Your +old regiment has been disbanded. I am here with my company, ordered to +join another regiment and proceed to the Vendee." + +"Where are your men quartered?" asked Tournay excitedly. + +"Two streets above here." + +"Will they obey you absolutely?" + +"To the last man, my colonel." + +"Will you follow me without a question?" + +"To the death, my colonel." + +"Come then, and bring me to your men at once. Every instant is worth a +life. Let us run." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE END OF THE TERROR + + +Surrounded by Henriot's mounted guards, the tumbrils lumbered slowly to +the Place de la Revolution. There a large crowd had assembled to witness +the daily tribute to the guillotine. + +"You shall not be disappointed, my patriots!" cried Henriot. + +They answered him with a cheer. The crowd here was in sympathy with him, +and he felt grimly cheerful. + +"My friends, you will cheer again when you learn that one hour ago +Robespierre was set free by me. The convention is trembling. The Commune +triumphs." + +Again the crowd cheered. + +Henriot rode up to the guillotine. + +"Sanson," he cried out to the executioner, "here is your daily +allowance. We have kept you waiting, but you can now use dispatch." + +The occupants in the tumbrils had seen their last hope of deliverance +vanish in the Rue Vaugirard. They were fully prepared for death. One +after another they mounted the fatal scaffold and were led to the +guillotine. + +Some went bravely forward to meet their fate. Others almost fainted and +were nearly dead from fear by the time they reached the hands of Sanson. + +La Liberte came forward with a firm step. As she did so, the crowd set +up a deafening shout. It was a shout of genuine astonishment at the +sight of this well-known figure, though mingled with it were cries of +satisfaction from those who had been jealous of her popularity. Some +thought it was a new escapade on her part, and they applauded it all the +louder because of its daring nature. + +Even the red-handed Sanson opened his huge bull's-mouth with surprise as +she appeared before him. + +"Bon jour, Sanson," said she airily; "you did not look for me to-day, I +imagine. Do not touch me," she exclaimed as he stretched out his large +hand towards her. "I have sent too many along this road, not to know the +way myself, alone." Then walking down until she stood under the very +shadow of the knife she looked out over the sea of faces. + +The mighty yell was repeated. + +The pallor of approaching death was on her face, but unflinchingly she +met the gaze of thousands, while with a toss of her chestnut curls she +surveyed them proudly, taking the shouts as a tribute to herself. + +Suddenly her face became animated and the color rushed back to her +cheeks. + +"Well done, my compatriot!" she exclaimed aloud; she no longer saw the +crowd at her feet, but stood transfixed, her gaze on the further corner +of the square. + +There Robert Tournay, at the head of some of his own men, charged upon +Henriot's troops. Steel clashed upon steel, and Tournay's men pressed +on. + +"Bravely struck, my compatriot. Well parried, my compatriot. That was +worthy of my brave colonel. One little moment, Sanson," she pleaded as +the burly executioner caught her by the arm. + +"You have had twice the allotted time already," he objected; "you are +keeping the others waiting." + +"One more look, Sanson, just one! Ah, well done, my brave." + +"En avant," said the ruthless Sanson. + +"Good-by, compatriot," murmured La Liberte, a tear glistening in her +eye. The knife descended, and La Liberte was no more. + +"Another!" said the insatiable executioner, extending his huge hands +towards the cart. + +St. Hilaire looked into Madame d'Arlincourt's face. Their eyes met full. + +"Madame," he said, "in such a case as this you will pardon me if I +precede you," and stepping in front of her he walked quietly up the +scaffold. + +Meantime Colonel Tournay, with Captain Dessarts at his shoulder and a +company of his own troops behind him, had dashed out of a side street +into the Place de la Revolution. + +Tournay, with the ends of the blood-stained kerchief flapping on his +forehead, and the sword wrested from the gendarme waving in his hand, +urged his men forward. + +Commandant Henriot, his forces augmented by a company of civic guards, +charged upon them. The commandant's men outnumbered those led by the +colonel, two to one, but in the shock that followed the tried veterans +held together like a granite wall, and broke through Henriot's troops, +hurling them in disorder to the right and left of the square. + +Tournay saw the white-clad figure of La Liberte disappear under the +glittering knife. He saw St. Hilaire standing on the scaffold with head +turned toward Madame d'Arlincourt. + +"Soldiers, on to the guillotine!" cried the colonel, dashing forward at +full speed. + +The populace, who, between the blood of the executions and the battle +going on in the square, were mad with excitement, pressed forward, and +circled about the scaffold, angrily menacing the approaching troops, who +seemed about to put an end to their entertainment. + +"Sweep them away!" cried Tournay ruthlessly, his eye still upon the +scaffold where St. Hilaire stood. "Use the bayonet!" + +Meanwhile Henriot, by desperate efforts, had rallied his own troopers at +the other side of the square, while his civic guards, having no further +stomach for the fray, had fled incontinently. + +"Colonel, they are about to attack us in the rear," said Dessarts +warningly. + +Tournay wheeled his men about as the enemy rode at them for a second +time. Henriot, with his brandy-swollen face purple with excitement, was +reeling drunk in his saddle, yet he plunged forward with the desperate +courage of a baited bull. + +"Down with the traitor!" he yelled. "The Commune must triumph; +Robespierre is free, and the Republic lives." + +With the answering cry of "Long live the Republic!" Tournay's men braced +themselves firmly together. + +"Fire!" commanded the colonel. A deadly volley poured into the +commandant's forces. + +"Charge!" + +Henriot's troops were dashed back, scattered in all directions, and +their drunken commander, putting spurs to his horse, fled cursing from +the scene. + +The populace, now thoroughly dismayed and frightened, parted on all +sides before the soldiers. Tournay ran to the guillotine. He leaped up +the steps of the scaffold. + +"In the name of the convention, halt!" he cried. + +"I know nothing about the convention," protested Sanson, laying his hand +upon St. Hilaire's shoulder. "This man is sent to me to be +guillotined--and"-- + +Tournay threw the executioner from the platform to the ground below, and +cutting the cords that bound St. Hilaire set his arms at liberty. + +Captain Dessarts formed his men around the scaffold to prevent +interference on the part of the crowd. St. Hilaire took Tournay by the +hand. + +"You have come in time, colonel, to do me a great service," he said. +"Now give me a weapon, and let me take part in any further fight." + +Tournay gave him a pistol. St. Hilaire went to the side of Madame +d'Arlincourt. The crowd began again to surge around the soldiers +threateningly. + +"Let the guillotine go on!" "Let the executioner finish his work!" were +the cries from all sides. + +"Citizens," yelled Sanson, who had risen to his feet and was now rubbing +his bruised sides, "you are a thousand. They are only a few soldiers. +Take back the prisoners and I will execute them." + +"Make ready--aim," was Colonel Tournay's quick command. The muskets +clicked; the crowd fell back. "Fix bayonets, forward march." And through +the press Colonel Tournay bore those whom he had saved from the +guillotine. + +No organized attempt was made to attack them, and the party proceeded to +the Rue d'Arcis unmolested. Here Tournay turned to his captain. + +"Dessarts, leave a file of men here and take the others back to their +barracks for repose, but hold them subject to immediate orders." + +"Very good, my colonel," and the soldiers were marched away. + +Madame d'Arlincourt showed signs of succumbing to the effects of the +terrible strain to which she had been subjected, and St. Hilaire, +supporting her gently, hastened to the door of his former servant. + +In another instant they were all inside. + +They passed through the corridor and entered the wainscoted salon. As +they did so the bookcase above moved gently. Edme entered through the +secret door and stood for an instant surrounded by a frame of dusty +books, looking down upon them. + +In her plain gown of homespun, with her skin browned by exposure to the +air, and cheeks which had the glow of health in them despite the +hardship she had undergone, Edme de Rochefort was a different picture +from that of the girl of five years before. Yet it was not the present +Edme that suffered by comparison. + +With a cry of joy she hastened down the stairs. "I have been told the +glorious news," she cried. "Have you returned to tell me it is all true? +But you are wounded!" she exclaimed in the same breath, with a cry of +alarm. + +"'Tis nothing," Tournay replied, folding her in his arms. "I do not even +feel it." + +"Is all the danger over?" she asked anxiously, looking up in his face. + +"Not all over," he answered caressingly. "The result hangs in the +balance, but we shall win, we shall surely win. At present we have need +of a little food and repose. St. Hilaire and myself must go out again +shortly. Has Gaillard come with a message? I expected him from the +convention," he continued, addressing Beaurepaire. + +"He has not returned," was the answer. + +Edme turned to assist Agatha in caring for Madame d'Arlincourt, while +old Beaurepaire busied himself in setting forth some food upon the +table. + +At this moment Gaillard burst into the room, followed by Father Ambrose. + +"I bring glorious news!" cried the actor excitedly. "Robespierre, at one +time released by the aid of Henriot, has been rearrested. He has +attempted suicide. Henriot, St. Just, Couthon, are also arrested. They +will all be sent to the guillotine. The convention triumphs. The Commune +is defeated. The Reign of Terror is at an end." + +The news was received with a great shout of joy. "Listen," called out +Gaillard, "and you will learn what the people think." + +The booming of guns and the ringing of bells throughout the city +verified his statement. + +"We have won!" said Colonel Tournay. + +"Let us celebrate the victory by this feast that Beaurepaire has +provided!" exclaimed St. Hilaire. + +Tournay drew Edme into the recess of one of the large windows. The sound +of a whole city rejoicing at the abolition of the Reign of Terror filled +the air. In the room at the back the voices of Gaillard and St. Hilaire +were heard in joyful conversation. + +For a moment they stood in silence. She looked into his eyes and read +the question there. + +[Illustration: A MOMENT THEY STOOD IN SILENCE] + +"Yes," her eyes answered. + +"In order to save your life," he said, "Father Ambrose once stated that +you and I were man and wife. It was a subterfuge, and had no other +meaning. We now stand before him once again; will you let him marry us +now?" + +"Yes, Robert." + +With a look of pride and happiness upon his face Tournay faced about and +addressed the company. + +"There can be no more fitting time than this," he said, "to present to +you my bride," and he looked proudly down at Edme who still had her arm +through his. + +"Father Ambrose," Tournay went on, "will you marry us now?" + +The priest, who had evidently had a premonition of the event, was all +prepared; and in the wainscoted salon, with the portraits of the old +regime looking down upon them from the walls, Robert Tournay, a colonel +of the Republic, and Edme de Rochefort, of the ancient Regime of France, +were made man and wife. + +"Let us drink a toast to them!" cried St. Hilaire as the happy party +gathered about the table after the ceremony. "Long life and happiness to +Colonel Robert Tournay and his bride!" + +Beaurepaire filled their glasses with some rare old Burgundy, which he +drew from some hidden stores in the cellar, and the toast was drunk with +enthusiasm. + +St. Hilaire's eyes met Madame d'Arlincourt's, and the look that was +interchanged foretold their future. + +Tournay stood in silence for a moment, and when he did speak there was a +note in his voice which showed how deep was his emotion. "I will give +you a toast. Let us drink to the new France; for after all," he +continued, looking from one to the other, "we are all Frenchmen. The +fate of France must be our fate. With her we must stand or fall. A new +France has now risen from the ashes of the old. To her we turn with new +hope." + +"Long live the Republic!" cried Gaillard. + +Tournay, St. Hilaire, and Gaillard touched glasses and looked into one +another's eyes. They understood one another as brave men do. + +"Nations may rise or they may crumble into dust," said Colonel Tournay, +"but Justice and Liberty are eternal. They will live always in the +hearts of men." + +"And Love also," whispered Edme in his ear. + +"Yes, truly, and Love also, sweetheart." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Robert Tournay, by William Sage + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT TOURNAY *** + +***** This file should be named 34846.txt or 34846.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/8/4/34846/ + +Produced by Bethanne M. 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