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diff --git a/6229.txt b/6229.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..778fc0f --- /dev/null +++ b/6229.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13109 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Seats Of The Mighty, Complete, by Gilbert Parker + +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: The Seats Of The Mighty, Complete + +Author: Gilbert Parker + +Last Updated: March 12, 2009 +Release Date: October 18, 2006 [EBook #6229] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY, COMPLETE *** + + + +Produced by Andrew Sly + + + + + +THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY + +BEING THE MEMOIRS OF CAPTAIN ROBERT MORAY, SOMETIME AN OFFICER IN THE +VIRGINIA REGIMENT, AND AFTERWARDS OF AMHERST'S REGIMENT + +By Gilbert Parker + + +To the Memory of Madge Henley. + + +CONTENTS + + +Chapter Introduction to the Imperial Edition + Prefatory note to First Edition + I An escort to the citadel + II The master of the King's magazine + III The wager and the sword + IV The rat in the trap + V The device of the dormouse + VI Moray tells the story of his life + VII "Quoth little Garaine" + VIII As vain as Absalom + IX A little concerning the Chevalier de la Darante + X An officer of marines + XI The coming of Doltaire + XII "The point envenomed too!" + XIII A little boast + XIV Argand Cournal + XV In the chamber of torture + XVI Be saint or imp + XVII Through the bars of the cage + XVIII The steep path of conquest + XIX A Danseuse and the Bastile + XX Upon the ramparts + XXI La Jongleuse + XXII The lord of Kamaraska + XXIII With Wolfe at Montmorenci + XXIV The sacred countersign + XXV In the cathedral + XXVI The secret of the tapestry + XXVII A side-wind of revenge + XXVIII "To cheat the Devil yet" + XXIX "Master Devil" Doltaire + XXX "Where all the lovers can hide" + Appendix--Excerpt from 'The Scot in New France' + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO THE IMPERIAL EDITION + +It was in the winter of 1892, when on a visit to French Canada, that I +made up my mind I would write the volume which the public knows as 'The +Seats of the Mighty,' but I did not begin the composition until early in +1894. It was finished by the beginning of February, 1895, and began to +appear in 'The Atlantic Monthly' in March of that year. It was not my +first attempt at historical fiction, because I had written 'The Trail of +the Sword' in the year 1893, but it was the first effort on an ambitious +scale, and the writing of it was attended with as much searching of +heart as enthusiasm. I had long been saturated by the early history of +French Canada, as perhaps 'The Trail of the Sword' bore witness, and +particularly of the period of the Conquest, and I longed for a subject +which would, in effect, compel me to write; for I have strong views upon +this business of compulsion in the mind of the writer. Unless a thing +has seized a man, has obsessed him, and he feels that it excludes +all other temptations to his talent or his genius, his book will +not convince. Before all else he must himself be overpowered by the +insistence of his subject, then intoxicated with his idea, and, being +still possessed, become master of his material while remaining the slave +of his subject. I believe that every book which has taken hold of the +public has represented a kind of self-hypnotism on the part of the +writer. I am further convinced that the book which absorbs the author, +which possesses him as he writes it, has the effect of isolating +him into an atmosphere which is not sleep, and which is not absolute +wakefulness, but a place between the two, where the working world +is indistinct and the mind is swept along a flood submerging the +self-conscious but not drowning into unconsciousness. + +Such, at any rate, is my own experience. I am convinced that the books +of mine which have had so many friends as this book, 'The Seats of the +Mighty', has had in the English-speaking world were written in just such +conditions of temperamental isolation or absorption. First the subject, +which must of itself have driving power, then the main character, which +becomes a law working out its own destiny; and the subject in my own +work has always been translatable into a phrase. Nearly every one of my +books has always been reducible to its title. + +For years I had wished to write an historical novel of the conquest +of Canada or the settlement of the United Empire loyalists and the +subsequent War of 1812, but the central idea and the central character +had not come to me; and without both and the driving power of a big idea +and of a big character, a book did not seem to me possible. The human +thing with the grip of real life was necessary. At last, as pointed out +in the prefatory note of the first edition, published in the spring of +1896 by Messrs. D. Appleton & Co., of New York, and Messrs. Methuen & +Co., of London, I ran across a tiny little volume in the library of Mr. +George M. Fairchild, Jr., of Quebec, called the Memoirs of Major +Robert Stobo. It was published by John S. Davidson, of Market Street, +Pittsburgh, with an introduction by an editor who signed himself "N. +B.C." + +The Memoirs proper contained about seventeen thousand words, the +remaining three thousand words being made up of abstracts and appendices +collected by the editor. The narrative was written in a very ornate and +grandiloquent style, but the hero of the memoirs was so evidently a man +of remarkable character, enterprise and adventure, that I saw in the few +scattered bones of the story which he unfolded the skeleton of an ample +historical romance. There was necessary to offset this buoyant and +courageous Scotsman, adventurous and experienced, a character of the +race which captured him and held him in leash till just before the +taking of Quebec. I therefore found in the character of Doltaire--which +was the character of Voltaire spelled with a big D--purely a creature +of the imagination, one who, as the son of a peasant woman and Louis +XV, should be an effective offset to Major Stobo. There was no hint of +Doltaire in the Memoirs. There could not be, nor of the plot on which +the story was based, because it was all imagination. Likewise, there +was no mention of Alixe Duvarney in the Memoirs, nor of Bigot or +Madame Cournal and all the others. They too, when not characters of the +imagination, were lifted out of the history of the time; but the first +germ of the story came from 'The Memoirs of Robert Stobo', and when 'The +Seats of the Mighty' was first published in 'The Atlantic Monthly' the +subtitle contained these words: "Being the Memoirs of Captain Robert +Stobo, sometime an officer in the Virginia Regiment, and afterwards of +Amherst's Regiment." + +When the book was published, however, I changed the name of Robert Stobo +to Robert Moray, because I felt I had no right to saddle Robert Stobo's +name with all the incidents and experiences and strange enterprises +which the novel contained. I did not know then that perhaps it might +be considered an honour by Robert Stobo's descendants to have his name +retained. I could not foresee the extraordinary popularity of 'The +Seats of the Mighty', but with what I thought was a sense of honour I +eliminated his name and changed it to Robert Moray. 'The Seats of the +Mighty' goes on, I am happy to say, with an ever-increasing number +of friends. It has a position perhaps not wholly deserved, but it has +crystallised some elements in the life of the continent of America, the +history of France and England, and of the British Empire which may serve +here and there to inspire the love of things done for the sake of a +nation rather than for the welfare of an individual. + +I began this introduction by saying that the book was started in +the summer of 1894. That was at a little place called Mablethorpe in +Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. For several months I worked +in absolute seclusion in that out-of-the-way spot which had not then +become a Mecca for trippers, and on the wonderful sands, stretching for +miles upon miles coastwise and here and there as much as a mile out +to the sea, I tried to live over again the days of Wolfe and Montcalm. +Appropriately enough the book was begun in a hotel at Mablethorpe called +"The Book in Hand." The name was got, I believe, from the fact that, in +a far-off day, a ship was wrecked upon the coast at Mablethorpe, and the +only person saved was the captain, who came ashore with a Bible in his +hands. During the writing now and again a friend would come to me from +London or elsewhere, and there would be a day off, full of literary +tattle, but immediately my friends were gone I was lost again in the +atmosphere of the middle of the eighteenth century. + +I stayed at Mablethorpe until the late autumn, and then I went to +Harrogate, exchanging the sea for the moors, and there, still living the +open-air life, I remained for several months until I had finished the +book. The writing of it knew no interruption and was happily set. It +was a thing apart, and not a single untoward invasion of other interests +affected its course. + +The title of the book was for long a trouble to me. Months went by +before I could find what I wanted. Scores of titles occurred to me, +but each was rejected. At last, one day when I was being visited by +Mr. Grant Richards, since then a London publisher, but at that time a +writer, who had come to interview me for 'Great Thoughts', I told him of +my difficulties regarding the title. I was saying that I felt the title +should be, as it were, the kernel of a book. I said: "You see, it is a +struggle of one simple girl against principalities and powers; it is the +final conquest of the good over the great. In other words, the book will +be an illustration of the text, 'He has put down the mighty from their +seats, and has exalted the humble and meek.'" Then, like a flash, the +title came 'The Seats of the Mighty'. + +Since the phrase has gone into the language and was from the very first +a popular title, it seems strange that the literary director of the +American firm that published the book should take strong exception to +it on the ground that it was grandiloquent. I like to think that I was +firm, and that I declined to change the title. + +I need say no more save that the book was dramatised by myself, and +produced, first at Washington by Herbert (now Sir Herbert) Beerbohm Tree +in the winter of 1897 and 1898, and in the spring of 1898 it opened his +new theatre in London. + + + +PREFATORY NOTE TO FIRST EDITION + +This tale would never have been written had it not been for the kindness +of my distinguished friend Dr. John George Bourinot, C.M.G., of Ottawa, +whose studies in parliamentary procedure, the English and Canadian +Constitutions, and the history and development of Canada have been +of singular benefit to the Dominion and to the Empire. Through Dr. +Bourinot's good offices I came to know Mr. James Lemoine, of Quebec, the +gifted antiquarian, and President of the Royal Society of Canada. +Mr. Lemoine placed in my hands certain historical facts suggestive +of romance. Subsequently, Mr. George M. Fairchild, Jr., of Cap Rouge, +Quebec, whose library contains a valuable collection of antique Canadian +books, maps, and prints, gave me generous assistance and counsel, +allowing me "the run" of all his charts, prints, histories, and memoirs. +Many of these prints, and a rare and authentic map of Wolfe's operations +against Quebec are now reproduced in this novel, and may be considered +accurate illustrations of places, people, and events. By the insertion +of these faithful historical elements it is hoped to give more vividness +to the atmosphere of the time, and to strengthen the verisimilitude of a +piece of fiction which is not, I believe, out of harmony with fact. + +Gilbert Parker + + + +PRELUDE + + +To Sir Edward Seaforth, Bart., of Sangley Hope in Derbyshire, and +Seaforth House in Hanover Square. + +Dear Ned: You will have them written, or I shall be pestered to my +grave! Is that the voice of a friend of so long standing? And yet it +seems but yesterday since we had good hours in Virginia together, or met +among the ruins of Quebec. My memoirs--these only will content you? And +to flatter or cajole me, you tell me Mr. Pitt still urges on the matter. +In truth, when he touched first upon this, I thought it but the courtesy +of a great and generous man. But indeed I am proud that he is curious to +know more of my long captivity at Quebec, of Monsieur Doltaire and all +his dealings with me, and the motions he made to serve La Pompadour on +one hand, and, on the other, to win from me that most perfect of ladies, +Mademoiselle Alixe Duvarney. + +Our bright conquest of Quebec is now heroic memory, and honour and fame +and reward have been parcelled out. So I shall but briefly, in these +memoirs (ay, they shall be written, and with a good heart), travel the +trail of history, or discourse upon campaigns and sieges, diplomacies +and treaties. I shall keep close to my own story; for that, it would +seem, yourself and the illustrious minister of the King most wish to +hear. Yet you will find figuring in it great men like our flaming hero +General Wolfe, and also General Montcalm, who, I shall ever keep on +saying, might have held Quebec against us, had he not been balked by the +vain Governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil; together with such notorious +men as the Intendant Bigot, civil governor of New France, and such noble +gentlemen as the Seigneur Duvarney, father of Alixe. + +I shall never view again the citadel on those tall heights where I +was detained so barbarously, nor the gracious Manor House at Beauport, +sacred to me because of her who dwelt therein--how long ago, how long! +Of all the pictures that flash before my mind when I think on those +times, one is most with me: that of the fine guest-room in the Manor +House, where I see moving the benign maid whose life and deeds alone can +make this story worth telling. And with one scene therein, and it the +most momentous in all my days, I shall begin my tale. + +I beg you convey to Mr. Pitt my most obedient compliments, and say that +I take his polite wish as my command. + +With every token of my regard, I am, dear Ned, affectionately your +friend, + +Robert Moray + + + + +I. AN ESCORT TO THE CITADEL + + +When Monsieur Doltaire entered the salon, and, dropping lazily into a +chair beside Madame Duvarney and her daughter, drawled out, "England's +Braddock--fool and general--has gone to heaven, Captain Moray, and your +papers send you there also," I did not shift a jot, but looked over at +him gravely--for, God knows, I was startled--and I said, + +"The General is dead?" + +I did not dare to ask, Is he defeated? though from Doltaire's look I was +sure it was so, and a sickness crept through me, for at the moment that +seemed the end of our cause. But I made as if I had not heard his words +about my papers. + +"Dead as a last years courtier, shifted from the scene," he replied; +"and having little now to do, we'll go play with the rat in our trap." + +I would not have dared look towards Alixe, standing beside her mother +then, for the song in my blood was pitched too high, were it not that a +little sound broke from her. At that, I glanced, and saw that her face +was still and quiet, but her eyes were shining, and her whole body +seemed listening. I dared not give my glance meaning, though I wished to +do so. She had served me much, had been a good friend to me, since I was +brought a hostage to Quebec from Fort Necessity. There, at that little +post on the Ohio, France threw down the gauntlet, and gave us the great +Seven Years War. And though it may be thought I speak rashly, the lever +to spring that trouble had been within my grasp. Had France sat still +while Austria and Prussia quarreled, that long fighting had never been. +The game of war had lain with the Grande Marquise--or La Pompadour, as +she was called--and later it may be seen how I, unwillingly, moved her +to set it going. + +Answering Monsieur Doltaire, I said stoutly, "I am sure he made a good +fight; he had gallant men." + +"Truly gallant," he returned--"your own Virginians among others" (I +bowed); "but he was a blunderer, as were you also, monsieur, or you had +not sent him plans of our forts and letters of such candour. They have +gone to France, my captain." + +Madame Duvarney seemed to stiffen in her chair, for what did this +mean but that I was a spy? and the young lady behind them now put her +handkerchief to her mouth as if to stop a word. To make light of the +charges against myself was the only thing, and yet I had little heart to +do so. There was that between Monsieur Doltaire and myself--a matter I +shall come to by-and-bye--which well might make me apprehensive. + +"My sketch and my gossip with my friends," said I, "can have little +interest in France." + +"My faith, the Grande Marquise will find a relish for them," he said +pointedly at me. He, the natural son of King Louis, had played the part +between La Pompadour and myself in the grave matter of which I spoke. +"She loves deciding knotty points of morality," he added. + +"She has had chance and will enough," said I boldly, "but what point of +morality is here?" + +"The most vital--to you," he rejoined, flicking his handkerchief a +little, and drawling so that I could have stopped his mouth with my +hand. "Shall a hostage on parole make sketches of a fort and send them +to his friends, who in turn pass them on to a foolish general?" + +"When one party to an Article of War brutally breaks his sworn promise, +shall the other be held to his?" I asked quietly. + +I was glad that, at this moment, the Seigneur Duvarney entered, for +I could feel the air now growing colder about Madame his wife. He, at +least, was a good friend; but as I glanced at him, I saw his face was +troubled and his manner distant. He looked at Monsieur Doltaire a +moment steadily, stooped to his wife's hand, and then offered me his +own without a word; which done, he went to where his daughter stood. She +kissed him, and, as she did so, whispered something in his ear, to which +he nodded assent. I knew afterwards that she had asked him to keep me to +dinner with them. + +Presently turning to Monsieur Doltaire, he said inquiringly, "You have a +squad of men outside my house, Doltaire?" + +Doltaire nodded in a languid way, and answered, "An escort--for Captain +Moray--to the citadel." + +I knew now, as he had said, that I was in the trap; that he had begun +the long sport which came near to giving me the white shroud of death, +as it turned white the hair upon my head ere I was thirty-two. Do I not +know, the indignities, the miseries I suffered, I owed mostly to him, +and that at the last he nearly robbed England of her greatest pride, +the taking of New France?--For chance sometimes lets humble men like +me balance the scales of fate; and I was humble enough in rank, if in +spirit always something above my place. + +I was standing as he spoke these words, and I turned to him and said, +"Monsieur, I am at your service." + +"I have sometimes wished," he said instantly, and with a courteous if +ironical gesture, "that you were in my service--that is, the King's." + +I bowed as to a compliment, for I would not see the insolence, and I +retorted, "Would I could offer you a company in my Virginia regiment!" + +"Delightful! delightful!" he rejoined. "I should make as good a Briton +as you a Frenchman, every whit." + +I suppose he would have kept leading to such silly play, had I not +turned to Madame Duvarney and said, "I am most sorry that this mishap +falls here; but it is not of my doing, and in colder comfort, Madame, I +shall recall the good hours spent in your home." + +I think I said it with a general courtesy, yet, feeling the eyes of the +young lady on me, perhaps a little extra warmth came into my voice, and +worked upon Madame, or it may be she was glad of my removal from contact +with her daughter; but kindness showed in her face, and she replied +gently, "I am sure it is only for a few days till we see you again." + +Yet I think in her heart she knew my life was perilled: those were rough +and hasty times, when the axe or the rope was the surest way to deal +with troubles. Three years before, at Fort Necessity, I had handed +my sword to my lieutenant, bidding him make healthy use of it, and, +travelling to Quebec on parole, had come in and out of this house with +great freedom. Yet since Alixe had grown towards womanhood there had +been strong change in Madame's manner. + +"The days, however few, will be too long until I tax your courtesy +again," I said. "I bid you adieu, Madame." + +"Nay, not so," spoke up my host; "not one step: dinner is nearly served, +and you must both dine with us. Nay, but I insist," he added, as he saw +me shake my head. "Monsieur Doltaire will grant you this courtesy, and +me the great kindness. Eh, Doltaire?" + +Doltaire rose, glancing from Madame to her daughter. Madame was smiling, +as if begging his consent; for, profligate though he was, his position, +and more than all, his personal distinction, made him a welcome guest +at most homes in Quebec. Alixe met his look without a yes or no in her +eyes--so young, yet having such control and wisdom, as I have had reason +beyond all men to know. Something, however, in the temper of the scene +had filled her with a kind of glow, which added to her beauty and +gave her dignity. The spirit of her look caught the admiration of this +expatriated courtier, and I knew that a deeper cause than all our past +conflicts--and they were great--would now, or soon, set him fatally +against me. + +"I shall be happy to wait Captain Moray's pleasure," he said presently, +"and to serve my own by sitting at your table. I was to have dined with +the Intendant this afternoon, but a messenger shall tell him duty stays +me.... If you will excuse me!" he added, going to the door to find a +man of his company. He looked back for an instant, as if it struck him I +might seek escape, for he believed in no man's truth; but he only said, +"I may fetch my men to your kitchen, Duvarney? 'Tis raw outside." + +"Surely. I shall see they have some comfort," was the reply. + +Doltaire then left the room, and Duvarney came to me. "This is a bad +business, Moray," he said sadly. "There is some mistake, is there not?" + +I looked him fair in the face. "There is a mistake," I answered. "I am +no spy, and I do not fear that I shall lose my life, my honour, or my +friends by offensive acts of mine." + +"I believe you," he responded, "as I have believed since you came, +though there has been gabble of your doings. I do not forget you bought +my life back from those wild Mohawks five years ago. You have my hand in +trouble or out of it." + +Upon my soul, I could have fallen on his neck, for the blow to our cause +and the shadow on my own fate oppressed me for the moment. + +At this point the ladies left the room to make some little toilette +before dinner, and as they passed me the sleeve of Alixe's dress touched +my arm. I caught her fingers for an instant, and to this day I can feel +that warm, rich current of life coursing from finger-tips to heart. She +did not look at me at all, but passed on after her mother. Never till +that moment had there been any open show of heart between us. When I +first came to Quebec (I own it to my shame) I was inclined to use +her youthful friendship for private and patriotic ends; but that soon +passed, and then I wished her companionship for true love of her. Also, +I had been held back because when I first knew her she seemed but a +child. Yet how quickly and how wisely did she grow out of her childhood! +She had a playful wit, and her talents were far beyond her years. It +amazed me often to hear her sum up a thing in some pregnant sentence +which, when you came to think, was the one word to be said. She had such +a deep look out of her blue eyes that you scarcely glanced from them +to see the warm sweet colour of her face, the fair broad forehead, the +brown hair, the delicate richness of her lips, which ever were full +of humour and of seriousness--both running together, as you may see a +laughing brook steal into the quiet of a river. + +Duvarney and I were thus alone for a moment, and he straightway dropped +a hand upon my shoulder. "Let me advise you," he said, "be friendly with +Doltaire. He has great influence at the Court and elsewhere. He can make +your bed hard or soft at the citadel." + +I smiled at him, and replied, "I shall sleep no less sound because of +Monsieur Doltaire." + +"You are bitter in your trouble," said he. + +I made haste to answer, "No, no, my own troubles do not weigh so +heavy--but our General's death!" + +"You are a patriot, my friend," he added warmly. "I could well have been +content with our success against your English army without this deep +danger to your person." + +I put out my hand to him, but I did not speak, for just then Doltaire +entered. He was smiling at something in his thought. + +"The fortunes are with the Intendant always," said he. "When things are +at their worst, and the King's storehouse, the dear La Friponne, is to +be ripped by our rebel peasants like a sawdust doll, here comes this +gay news of our success on the Ohio; and in that Braddock's death the +whining beggars will forget their empty bellies, and bless where +they meant to curse. What fools, to be sure! They had better loot La +Friponne. Lord, how we love fighting, we French! And 'tis so much easier +to dance, or drink, or love." He stretched out his shapely legs as he +sat musing. + +Duvarney shrugged a shoulder, smiling. "But you, Doltaire--there's no +man out of France that fights more." + +He lifted an eyebrow. "One must be in the fashion; besides, it does +need some skill to fight. The others--to dance, drink, love: blind men's +games!" He smiled cynically into the distance. + +I have never known a man who interested me so much--never one so +original, so varied, and so uncommon in his nature. I marvelled at the +pith and depth of his observations; for though I agreed not with him +once in ten times, I loved his great reflective cleverness and his fine +penetration--singular gifts in a man of action. But action to him was a +playtime; he had that irresponsibility of the Court from which he came, +its scornful endurance of defeat or misery, its flippant look upon the +world, its scoundrel view of women. Then he and Duvarney talked, and I +sat thinking. Perhaps the passion of a cause grows in you as you suffer +for it, and I had suffered, and suffered most by a bitter inaction. +Governor Dinwiddie, Mr. Washington (alas that, as I write the fragment +chapters of my life, among the hills where Montrose my ancestor fought, +George leads the colonists against the realm of England!), and the rest +were suffering, but they were fighting too. Brought to their knees, they +could rise again to battle; and I thought then, How more glorious to +be with my gentlemen in blue from Virginia, holding back death from the +General, and at last falling myself, than to spend good years a hostage +at Quebec, knowing that Canada was for our taking, yet doing nothing to +advance the hour! + +In the thick of these thoughts I was not conscious of what the two were +saying, but at last I caught Madame Cournal's name; by which I guessed +Monsieur Doltaire was talking of her amours, of which the chief and +final was with Bigot the Intendant, to whom the King had given all civil +government, all power over commerce and finance in the country. The +rivalry between the Governor and the Intendant was keen and vital at +this time, though it changed later, as I will show. At her name I looked +up and caught Monsieur Doltaire's eye. + +He read my thoughts. "You have had blithe hours here, monsieur," he +said--"you know the way to probe us; but of all the ladies who could be +most useful to you, you left out the greatest. There you erred. I say it +as a friend, not as an officer, there you erred. From Madame Cournal +to Bigot, from Bigot to Vaudreuil the Governor, from the Governor to +France. But now--" + +He paused, for Madame Duvarney and her daughter had come, and we all +rose. + +The ladies had heard enough to know Doltaire's meaning. "But +now--Captain Moray dines with us," said Madame Duvarney quietly and +meaningly. + +"Yet I dine with Madame Cournal," rejoined Doltaire, smiling. + +"One may use more option with enemies and prisoners," she said keenly, +and the shot ought to have struck home. In so small a place it was +not easy to draw lines close and fine, and it was in the power of the +Intendant, backed by his confederates, to ruin almost any family in the +province if he chose; and that he chose at times I knew well, as did my +hostess. Yet she was a woman of courage and nobility of thought, and I +knew well where her daughter got her good flavor of mind. + +I could see something devilish in the smile at Doltaire's lip's, but +his look was wandering between Alixe and me, and he replied urbanely, "I +have ambition yet--to connive at captivity"; and then he looked full and +meaningly at her. + +I can see her now, her hand on the high back of a great oak chair, the +lace of her white sleeve falling away, and her soft arm showing, her +eyes on his without wavering. They did not drop, nor turn aside; they +held straight on, calm, strong--and understanding. By that look I saw +she read him; she, who had seen so little of the world, felt what he +was, and met his invading interest firmly, yet sadly; for I knew long +after that a smother was at her heart then, foreshadowings of dangers +that would try her as few women are tried. Thank God that good women are +born with greater souls for trial than men; that, given once an anchor +for their hearts, they hold until the cables break. + +When we were about to enter the dining-room, I saw, to my joy, Madame +incline towards Doltaire, and I knew that Alixe was for myself--though +her mother wished it little, I am sure. As she took my arm, her +finger-tips plunged softly into the velvet of my sleeve, giving me a +thrill of courage. I felt my spirits rise, and I set myself to carry +things off gaily, to have this last hour with her clear of gloom, for it +seemed easy to think that we should meet no more. + +As we passed into the dining-room, I said, as I had said the first +time I went to dinner in her father's house, "Shall we be flippant, or +grave?" + +I guessed that it would touch her. She raised her eyes to mine and +answered, "We are grave; let us seem flippant." + +In those days I had a store of spirits. I was seldom dismayed, for life +had been such a rough-and-tumble game that I held to cheerfulness and +humour as a hillsman to his broadsword, knowing it the greatest of +weapons with a foe, and the very stone and mortar of friendship. So we +were gay, touching lightly on events around us, laughing at gossip of +the doorways (I in my poor French), casting small stones at whatever +drew our notice, not forgetting a throw or two at Chateau Bigot, the +Intendant's country house at Charlesbourg, five miles away, where +base plots were hatched, reputations soiled, and all clean things +dishonoured. But Alixe, the sweetest soul France ever gave the world, +could not know all I knew; guessing only at heavy carousals, cards, +song, and raillery, with far-off hints of feet lighter than fit in +cavalry boots dancing among the glasses on the table. I was never before +so charmed with her swift intelligence, for I never had great nimbleness +of thought, nor power to make nice play with the tongue. + +"You have been three years with us," suddenly said her father, passing +me the wine. "How time has flown! How much has happened!" + +"Madame Cournal's husband has made three million francs," said Doltaire, +with dry irony and truth. + +Duvarney shrugged a shoulder, stiffened; for, oblique as the suggestion +was, he did not care to have his daughter hear it. + +"And Vaudreuil has sent bees buzzing to Versailles about Bigot and +Company," added the impish satirist. + +Madame Duvarney responded with a look of interest, and the Seigneur's +eyes steadied to his plate. All at once by that I saw the Seigneur had +known of the Governor's action, and maybe had counseled with him, siding +against Bigot. If that were so--as it proved to be--he was in a nest of +scorpions; for who among them would spare him: Marin, Cournal, Rigaud, +the Intendant himself? Such as he were thwarted right and left in this +career of knavery and public evils. + +"And our people have turned beggars; poor and starved, they beg at the +door of the King's storehouse--it is well called La Friponne," said +Madame Duvarney, with some heat; for she was ever liberal to the poor, +and she had seen manor after manor robbed, and peasant farmers made to +sell their corn for a song, to be sold to them again at famine prices +by La Friponne. Even now Quebec was full of pilgrim poor begging against +the hard winter, and execrating their spoilers. + +Doltaire was too fond of digging at the heart of things not to admit she +spoke truth. + + "La Pompadour et La Friponne! + Qu'est que cela, mon petit homme?" + "Les deux terribles, ma chere mignonne, + Mais, c'est cela-- + La Pompadour et La Friponne!" + +He said this with cool drollery and point, in the patois of the native, +so that he set us all laughing, in spite of our mutual apprehensions. + +Then he continued, "And the King has sent a chorus to the play, with +eyes for the preposterous make-believe, and more, no purse to fill." + +We all knew he meant himself, and we knew also that so far as money went +he spoke true; that though hand-in-glove with Bigot, he was poor, save +for what he made at the gaming-table and got from France. There was the +thing that might have clinched me to him, had matters been other than +they were; for all my life I have loathed the sordid soul, and I would +rather, in these my ripe years, eat with a highwayman who takes his life +in his hands than with the civilian who robs his king and the king's +poor, and has no better trick than false accounts, nor better friend +than the pettifogging knave. Doltaire had no burning love for France, +and little faith in anything; for he was of those Versailles water-flies +who recked not if the world blackened to cinders when their lights went +out. As will be seen by-and-bye, he had come here to seek me, and to +serve the Grande Marquise. + +More speech like this followed, and amid it all, with the flower of the +world beside me at this table, I remembered my mother's words before I +bade her good-bye and set sail from Glasgow for Virginia. + +"Keep it in mind, Robert," she said, "that an honest love is the thing +to hold you honest with yourself. 'Tis to be lived for, and fought for, +and died for. Ay, be honest in your loves. Be true." + +And there I took an oath, my hand clenched beneath the table, that Alixe +should be my wife if better days came; when I was done with citadel and +trial and captivity, if that might be. + +The evening was well forward when Doltaire, rising from his seat in the +drawing-room, bowed to me, and said, "If it pleases you, monsieur?" + +I rose also, and prepared to go. There was little talk, yet we all kept +up a play of cheerfulness. When I came to take the Seigneur's hand, +Doltaire was a distance off, talking to Madame. "Moray," said the +Seigneur quickly and quietly, "trials portend for both of us." He nodded +towards Doltaire. + +"But we shall come safe through," said I. + +"Be of good courage, and adieu," he answered, as Doltaire turned towards +us. + +My last words were to Alixe. The great moment of my life was come. If I +could but say one thing to her out of earshot, I would stake all on the +hazard. She was standing beside a cabinet, very still, a strange glow in +her eyes, a new, fine firmness at the lips. I felt I dared not look as +I would; I feared there was no chance now to speak what I would. But +I came slowly up the room with her mother. As we did so, Doltaire +exclaimed and started to the window, and the Seigneur and Madame +followed. A red light was showing on the panes. + +I caught Alixe's eye, and held it, coming quickly to her. All backs were +on us. I took her hand and pressed it to my lips suddenly. She gave a +little gasp, and I saw her bosom heave. + +"I am going from prison to prison," said I, "and I leave a loved jailer +behind." + +She understood. "Your jailer goes also," she answered, with a sad smile. + +"I love you! I love you!" I urged. + +She was very pale. "Oh, Robert!" she whispered timidly; and then, "I +will be brave, I will help you, and I will not forget. God guard you." + +That was all, for Doltaire turned to me then and said, "They've made of +La Friponne a torch to light you to the citadel, monsieur." + +A moment afterwards we were outside in the keen October air, a squad +of soldiers attending, our faces towards the citadel heights. I looked +back, doffing my cap. The Seigneur and Madame stood at the door, but my +eyes were for a window where stood Alixe. The reflection of the far-off +fire bathed the glass, and her face had a glow, the eyes shining +through, intent and most serious. Yet how brave she was, for she lifted +her handkerchief, shook it a little, and smiled. + +As though the salute were meant for him, Doltaire bowed twice +impressively, and then we stepped forward, the great fire over against +the Heights lighting us and hurrying us on. + +We scarcely spoke as we went, though Doltaire hummed now and then the +air La Pompadour et La Friponne. As we came nearer I said, "Are you sure +it is La Friponne, monsieur?" + +"It is not," he said, pointing. "See!" + +The sky was full of shaking sparks, and a smell of burning grain came +down the wind. + +"One of the granaries, then," I added, "not La Friponne itself?" + +To this he nodded assent, and we pushed on. + + + + +II. THE MASTER OF THE KING'S MAGAZINE + + +"What fools," said Doltaire presently, "to burn the bread and oven too! +If only they were less honest in a world of rogues, poor moles!" + +Coming nearer, we saw that La Friponne itself was safe, but one +warehouse was doomed and another threatened. The streets were full of +people, and thousands of excited peasants, laborers, and sailors were +shouting, "Down with the palace! Down with Bigot!" + +We came upon the scene at the most critical moment. None of the +Governors soldiers were in sight, but up the Heights we could hear the +steady tramp of General Montcalm's infantry as they came on. Where +were Bigot's men? There was a handful--one company--drawn up before La +Friponne, idly leaning on their muskets, seeing the great granary burn, +and watching La Friponne threatened by the mad crowd and the fire. There +was not a soldier before the Intendant's palace, not a light in any +window. + +"What is this weird trick of Bigot's?" said Doltaire, musing. + +The Governor, we knew, had been out of the city that day. But where was +Bigot? At a word from Doltaire we pushed forward towards the palace, the +soldiers keeping me in their midst. We were not a hundred feet from +the great steps when two gates at the right suddenly swung open, and a +carriage rolled out swiftly and dashed down into the crowd. I recognized +the coachman first--Bigot's, an old one-eyed soldier of surpassing +nerve, and devoted to his master. The crowd parted right and left. +Suddenly the carriage stopped, and Bigot stood up, folding his arms, +and glancing round with a disdainful smile without speaking a word. He +carried a paper in one hand. + +Here were at least two thousand armed and unarmed peasants, sick with +misery and oppression, in the presence of their undefended tyrant. +One shot, one blow of a stone, one stroke of a knife--to the end of a +shameless pillage. But no hand was raised to do the deed. The roar of +voices subsided--he waited for it--and silence was broken only by the +crackle of the burning building, the tramp of Montcalm's soldiers in +Mountain Street, and the tolling of the cathedral bell. I thought it +strange that almost as Bigot came out the wild clanging gave place to a +cheerful peal. + +After standing for a moment, looking round him, his eye resting on +Doltaire and myself (we were but a little distance from him), Bigot said +in a loud voice: "What do you want with me? Do you think I may be moved +by threats? Do you punish me by burning your own food, which, when the +English are at our doors, is your only hope? Fools! How easily could I +turn my cannon and my men upon you! You think to frighten me. Who do you +think I am?--a Bostonnais or an Englishman? You--revolutionists! T'sh! +You are wild dogs without a leader. You want one that you can trust; you +want no coward, but one who fears you not at your wildest. Well, I will +be your leader. I do not fear you, and I do not love you, for how have +you deserved my love? By ingratitude and aspersion? Who has the King's +favour? Francois Bigot. Who has the ear of the Grande Marquise? Francois +Bigot. Who stands firm while others tremble lest their power pass +to-morrow? Francois Bigot. Who else dare invite revolution, this +danger"--his hand sweeping to the flames--"who but Francois Bigot?" He +paused for a moment, and looking up to the leader of Montcalm's soldiers +on the Heights, waved him back; then he continued: + +"And to-day, when I am ready to give you great news, you play the mad +dog's game; you destroy what I had meant to give you in our hour of +danger, when those English came. I made you suffer a little, that +you might live then. Only to-day, because of our great and glorious +victory--" + +He paused again. The peal of bells became louder. Far up on the Heights +we heard the calling of bugles and the beating of drums; and now I saw +the whole large plan, the deep dramatic scheme. He had withheld the news +of the victory that he might announce it when it would most turn to his +own glory. Perhaps he had not counted on the burning of the warehouse, +but this would tell now in his favour. He was not a large man, but he +drew himself up with dignity, and continued in a contemptuous tone: + +"Because of our splendid victory, I designed to tell you all my plans, +and, pitying your trouble, divide among you at the smallest price, that +all might pay, the corn which now goes to feed the stars." + +At that moment some one from the Heights above called out shrilly, "What +lie is in that paper, Francois Bigot?" + +I looked up, as did the crowd. A woman stood upon a point of the great +rock, a red robe hanging on her, her hair free over her shoulders, her +finger pointing at the Intendant. Bigot only glanced up, then smoothed +out the paper. + +He said to the people in a clear but less steady voice, for I could +see that the woman had disturbed him, "Go pray to be forgiven for your +insolence and folly. His most Christian Majesty is triumphant upon the +Ohio. The English have been killed in thousands, and their General with +them. Do you not hear the joy-bells in the Church of Our Lady of the +Victories? and more--listen!" + +There burst from the Heights on the other side a cannon shot, and +then another and another. There was a great commotion, and many ran +to Bigot's carriage, reached in to touch his hand, and called down +blessings on him. + +"See that you save the other granaries," he urged, adding, with a sneer, +"and forget not to bless La Friponne in your prayers!" + +It was a clever piece of acting. Presently from the Heights above came +the woman's voice again, so piercing that the crowd turned to her. + +"Francois Bigot is a liar and a traitor!" she cried. "Beware of Francois +Bigot! God has cast him out." + +A dark look came upon Bigot's face; but presently he turned, and gave a +sign to some one near the palace. The doors of the courtyard flew open, +and out came squad after squad of soldiers. In a moment, they, with the +people, were busy carrying water to pour upon the side of the endangered +warehouse. Fortunately the wind was with them, else it and the palace +also would have been burned that night. + +The Intendant still stood in his carriage watching and listening to the +cheers of the people. At last he beckoned to Doltaire and to me. We both +went over. + +"Doltaire, we looked for you at dinner," he said. "Was Captain +Moray"--nodding towards me--"lost among the petticoats? He knows the +trick of cup and saucer. Between the sip and click he sucked in secrets +from our garrison--a spy where had been a soldier, as we thought. You +once wore a sword, Captain Moray--eh?" + +"If the Governor would grant me leave, I would not only wear, but use +one, your excellency knows well where," said I. + +"Large speaking, Captain Moray. They do that in Virginia, I am told." + +"In Gascony there's quiet, your excellency." + +Doltaire laughed outright, for it was said that Bigot, in his coltish +days, had a shrewish Gascon wife, whom he took leave to send to heaven +before her time. I saw the Intendant's mouth twitch angrily. + +"Come," he said, "you have a tongue; we'll see if you have a stomach. +You've languished with the girls; you shall have your chance to drink +with Francois Bigot. Now, if you dare, when we have drunk to the first +cockcrow, should you be still on your feet, you'll fight some one among +us, first giving ample cause." + +"I hope, your excellency," I replied, with a touch of vanity, "I have +still some stomach and a wrist. I will drink to cockcrow, if you will. +And if my sword prove the stronger, what?" + +"There's the point," he said. "Your Englishman loves not fighting for +fighting's sake, Doltaire; he must have bonbons for it. Well, see: if +your sword and stomach prove the stronger, you shall go your ways to +where you will. Voila!" + +If I could but have seen a bare portion of the craftiness of this pair +of devils artisans! They both had ends to serve in working ill to me, +and neither was content that I should be shut away in the citadel, and +no more. There was a deeper game playing. I give them their due: the +trap was skillful, and in those times, with great things at stake, +strategy took the place of open fighting here and there. For Bigot I was +to be a weapon against another; for Doltaire, against myself. + +What a gull they must have thought me! I might have known that, with my +lost papers on the way to France, they must hold me tight here till +I had been tried, nor permit me to escape. But I was sick of doing +nothing, thinking with horror on a long winter in the citadel, and I +caught at the least straw of freedom. + +"Captain Moray will like to spend a couple of hours at his lodgings +before he joins us at the palace," the Intendant said, and with a nod +to me he turned to his coachman. The horses wheeled, and in a moment the +great doors opened, and he had passed inside to applause, though here +and there among the crowd was heard a hiss, for the Scarlet Woman had +made an impression. The Intendant's men essayed to trace these noises, +but found no one. Looking again to the Heights, I saw that the woman had +gone. Doltaire noted my glance and the inquiry in my face, and he said: + +"Some bad fighting hours with the Intendant at Chateau Bigot, and then a +fever, bringing a kind of madness: so the story creeps about, as told by +Bigot's enemies." + +Just at this point I felt a man hustle me as he passed. One of the +soldiers made a thrust at him, and he turned round. I caught his eye, +and it flashed something to me. It was Voban the barber, who had shaved +me every day for months when I first came, while my arm was stiff from +a wound got fighting the French on the Ohio. It was quite a year since +I had met him, and I was struck by the change in his face. It had grown +much older; its roundness was gone. We had had many a talk together; he +helping me with French, I listening to the tales of his early life in +France, and to the later tale of a humble love, and of the home which +he was fitting up for his Mathilde, a peasant girl of much beauty, I +was told, but whom I had never seen. I remembered at that moment, as he +stood in the crowd looking at me, the piles of linen which he had bought +at Ste. Anne de Beaupre, and the silver pitcher which his grandfather +had got from the Duc de Valois for an act of merit. Many a time we had +discussed the pitcher and the deed, and fingered the linen, now talking +in French, now in English; for in France, years before, he had been a +valet to an English officer at King Louis's court. But my surprise had +been great when I learned that this English gentleman was no other than +the best friend I ever had, next to my parents and my grandfather. Voban +was bound to Sir John Godric by as strong ties of affection as I. What +was more, by a secret letter I had sent to George Washington, who was +then as good a Briton as myself, I had been able to have my barber's +young brother, a prisoner of war, set free. + +I felt that he had something to say to me. But he turned away and +disappeared among the crowd. I might have had some clue if I had known +that he had been crouched behind the Intendant's carriage while I was +being bidden to the supper. I did not guess then that there was anything +between him and the Scarlet Woman who railed at Bigot. + +In a little while I was at my lodgings, soldiers posted at my door and +one in my room. Doltaire gone to his own quarters promising to call for +me within two hours. There was little for me to do but to put in a bag +the fewest necessaries, to roll up my heavy cloak, to stow safely my +pipes and two goodly packets of tobacco, which were to be my chiefest +solace for many a long day, and to write some letters--one to Governor +Dinwiddie, one to George Washington, and one to my partner in Virginia, +telling them my fresh misfortunes, and begging them to send me money, +which, however useless in my captivity, would be important in my fight +for life and freedom. I did not write intimately of my state, for I was +not sure my letters would ever pass outside Quebec. There were only two +men I could trust to do the thing. One was a fellow-countryman, Clark, +a ship-carpenter, who, to save his neck and to spare his wife and child, +had turned Catholic, but who hated all Frenchmen barbarously at heart, +remembering two of his bairns butchered before his eyes. The other was +Voban. I knew that though Voban might not act, he would not betray +me. But how to reach either of them? It was clear that I must bide my +chances. + +One other letter I wrote, brief but vital, in which I begged the +sweetest girl in the world not to have uneasiness because of me; that +I trusted to my star and to my innocence to convince my judges; and +begging her, if she could, to send me a line at the citadel. I told her +I knew well how hard it would be, for her mother and her father would +not now look upon my love with favour. But I trusted all to time and +Providence. + +I sealed my letters, put them in my pocket, and sat down to smoke and +think while I waited for Doltaire. To the soldier on duty, whom I did +not notice at first, I now offered a pipe and a glass of wine, which he +accepted rather gruffly, but enjoyed, if I might judge by his devotion +to them. + +By-and-bye, without any relevancy at all, he said abruptly, "If a little +sooner she had come--aho!" + +For a moment I could not think what he meant; but soon I saw. + +"The palace would have been burnt if the girl in scarlet had come +sooner--eh?" I asked. "She would have urged the people on?" + +"And Bigot burnt, too, maybe," he answered. + +"Fire and death--eh?" + +I offered him another pipeful of tobacco. He looked doubtful, but +accepted. + +"Aho! And that Voban, he would have had his hand in," he growled. + +I began to get more light. + +"She was shut up at Chateau Bigot--hand of iron and lock of steel--who +knows the rest! But Voban was for always," he added presently. + +The thing was clear. The Scarlet Woman was Mathilde. So here was the end +of Voban's little romance--of the fine linen from Ste. Anne de Beaupre +and the silver pitcher for the wedding wine. I saw, or felt, that in +Voban I might find now a confederate, if I put my hard case on Bigot's +shoulders. + +"I can't see why she stayed with Bigot," I said tentatively. + +"Break the dog's leg, it can't go hunting bones--mais, non! Holy, how +stupid are you English!" + +"Why doesn't the Intendant lock her up now? She's dangerous to him. You +remember what she said?" + +"Tonnerre, you shall see to-morrow," he answered; "now all the sheep go +bleating with the bell. Bigot--Bigot--Bigot--there is nothing but Bigot! +But, pish! Vaudreuil the Governor is the great man, and Montcalm, aho! +son of Mahomet! You shall see. Now they dance to Bigot's whistling; he +will lock her safe enough to-morrow, 'less some one steps in to help +her. Before to-night she never spoke of him before the world--but a +poor daft thing, going about all sad and wild. She missed her chance +to-night--aho!" + +"Why are you not with Montcalm's soldiers?" I asked. "You like him +better." + +"I was with him, but my time was out, and I left him for Bigot. Pish! I +left him for Bigot, for the militia!" He raised his thumb to his nose, +and spread out his fingers. Again light dawned on me. He was still with +the Governor in all fact, though soldiering for Bigot--a sort of watch +upon the Intendant. + +I saw my chance. If I could but induce this fellow to fetch me Voban! +There was yet an hour before I was to go to the intendance. + +I called up what looks of candour were possible to me, and told him +bluntly that I wished Voban to bear a letter for me to the Seigneur +Duvarney's. At that he cocked his ear and shook his bushy head, fiercely +stroking his mustaches. + +I knew that I should stake something if I said it was a letter for +Mademoiselle Duvarney, but I knew also that if he was still the +Governor's man in Bigot's pay he would understand the Seigneur's +relations with the Governor. And a woman in the case with a +soldier--that would count for something. So I said it was for her. +Besides, I had no other resource but to make a friend among my enemies, +if I could, while yet there was a chance. + +It was like a load lifted from me when I saw his mouth and eyes open +wide in a big soundless laugh, which came to an end with a voiceless +aho! I gave him another tumbler of wine. Before he took it, he made a +wide mouth at me again, and slapped his leg. After drinking, he said, +"Poom--what good? They're going to hang you for a spy." + +"That rope's not ready yet," I answered. "I'll tie a pretty knot in +another string first, I trust." + +"Damned if you haven't spirit!" said he. "That Seigneur Duvarney, I know +him; and I know his son the ensign--whung, what saltpetre is he! And the +ma'm'selle--excellent, excellent; and a face, such a face, and a seat +like leeches in the saddle. And you a British officer mewed up to kick +your heels till gallows day! So droll, my dear!" + +"But will you fetch Voban?" I asked. + +"To trim your hair against the supper to-night--eh, like that?" + +As he spoke he puffed out his red cheeks with wide boylike eyes, burst +his lips in another soundless laugh, and laid a finger beside his nose. +His marvellous innocence of look and his peasant openness hid, I saw, +great shrewdness and intelligence--an admirable man for Vaudreuil's +purpose, as admirable for mine. I knew well that if I had tried to bribe +him he would have scouted me, or if I had made a motion for escape he +would have shot me off-hand. But a lady--that appealed to him; and that +she was the Seigneur Duvarney's daughter did the rest. + +"Yes, yes," said I, "one must be well appointed in soul and body when +one sups with his Excellency and Monsieur Doltaire." + +"Limed inside and chalked outside," he retorted gleefully. "But M'sieu' +Doltaire needs no lime, for he has no soul. No, by Sainte Helois! The +good God didn't make him. The devil laughed, and that laugh grew into +M'sieu' Doltaire. But brave!--no kicking pulse is in his body." + +"You will send for Voban--now?" I asked softly. + +He was leaning against the door as he spoke. He reached and put the +tumbler on a shelf, then turned and opened the door, his face all +altered to a grimness. + +"Attend here, Labrouk!" he called; and on the soldier coming, he blurted +out in scorn, "Here's this English captain can't go to supper without +Voban's shears to snip him. Go fetch him, for I'd rather hear a calf in +a barn-yard than this whing-whanging for 'M'sieu' Voban!'" + +He mocked my accent in the last two words, so that the soldier grinned, +and at once started away. Then he shut the door, and turned to me +again, and said more seriously, "How long have we before Monsieur +comes?"--meaning Doltaire. + +"At least an hour," said I. + +"Good," he rejoined, and then he smoked while I sat thinking. + +It was near an hour before we heard footsteps outside; then came a +knock, and Voban was shown in. + +"Quick, m'sieu'," he said. "M'sieu' is almost at our heels." + +"This letter," said I, "to Mademoiselle Duvarney," and I handed four: +hers, and those to Governor Dinwiddie, to Mr. Washington, and to my +partner. + +He quickly put them in his coat, nodding. The soldier--I have not yet +mentioned his name--Gabord, did not know that more than one passed into +Voban's hands. + +"Off with your coat, m'sieu'," said Voban, whipping out his shears, +tossing his cap aside, and rolling down his apron. "M'sieu' is here." + +I had off my coat, was in a chair in a twinkling, and he was clipping +softly at me as Doltaire's hand turned the handle of the door. + +"Beware--to-night!" Voban whispered. + +"Come to me in the prison," said I. "Remember your brother!" + +His lips twitched. "M'sieu', I will if I can." This he said in my ear as +Doltaire entered and came forward. + +"Upon my life!" Doltaire broke out. "These English gallants! They go to +prison curled and musked by Voban. VOBAN--a name from the court of the +King, and it garnishes a barber. Who called you, Voban?" + +"My mother, with the cure's help, m'sieu'." + +Doltaire paused, with a pinch of snuff at his nose, and replied lazily, +"I did not say 'Who called you VOBAN?' Voban, but who called you here, +Voban?" + +I spoke up testily then of purpose: "What would you have, monsieur? The +citadel has better butchers than barbers. I sent for him." + +He shrugged his shoulders and came over to Voban. "Turn round, my +Voban," he said. "Voban--and such a figure! a knee, a back like that!" + +Then, while my heart stood still, he put forth a finger and touched +the barber on the chest. If he should touch the letters! I was ready to +seize them--but would that save them? Twice, thrice, the finger prodded +Voban's breast, as if to add an emphasis to his words. "In Quebec you +are misplaced, Monsieur le Voban. Once a wasp got into a honeycomb and +died." + +I knew he was hinting at the barber's resentment of the poor Mathilde's +fate. Something strange and devilish leapt into the man's eyes, and he +broke out bitterly, + +"A honey-bee got into a nest of wasps--and died." + +I thought of the Scarlet Woman on the hill. + +Voban looked for a moment as if he might do some wild thing. His spirit, +his devilry, pleased Doltaire, and he laughed. "Who would have thought +our Voban had such wit? The trade of barber is double-edged. Razors +should be in fashion at Versailles." + +Then he sat down, while Voban made a pretty show of touching off my +person. A few minutes passed so, in which the pealing of bells, the +shouting of the people, the beating of drums, and the calling of bugles +came to us clearly. + +A half hour afterwards, on our way to the Intendant's palace, we +heard the Benedictus chanted in the Church of the Recollets as we +passed--hundreds kneeling outside, and responding to the chant sung +within: + +"That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hands of all +that hate us." + +At the corner of a building which we passed, a little away from +the crowd, I saw a solitary cloaked figure. The words of the chant, +following us, I could hear distinctly: + +"That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve +Him without fear." + +And then, from the shadowed corner came in a high, melancholy voice the +words: + +"To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, +and to guide our feet into the way of peace." + +Looking closer, I saw it was Mathilde. + +Doltaire smiled as I turned and begged a moment's time to speak to her. + +"To pray with the lost angel and sup with the Intendant, all in +one night--a liberal taste, monsieur; but who shall stay the good +Samaritan!" + +They stood a little distance away, and I went over to her and said, +"Mademoiselle--Mathilde, do you not know me?" + +Her abstracted eye fired up, as there ran to her brain some little +sprite out of the House of Memory and told her who I was. + +"There were two lovers in the world," she said: "the Mother of God +forgot them, and the devil came. I am the Scarlet Woman," she went on; +"I made this red robe from the curtains of Hell--" + +Poor soul! My own trouble seemed then as a speck among the stars to +hers. I took her hand and held it, saying again, "Do you not know me? +Think, Mathilde!" + +I was not sure that she had ever seen me, to know me, but I thought +it possible; for, as a hostage, I had been much noticed in Quebec, and +Voban had, no doubt, pointed me out to her. Light leapt from her black +eye, and then she said, putting her finger on her lips, "Tell all the +lovers to hide. I have seen a hundred Francois Bigots." + +I looked at her, saying nothing--I knew not what to say. Presently her +eye steadied to mine, and her intellect rallied. "You are a prisoner, +too," she said; "but they will not kill you: they will keep you till +the ring of fire grows in your head, and then you will make your scarlet +robe, and go out, but you will never find It--never. God hid first, and +then It hides.... It hides, that which you lost--It hides, and you can +not find It again. You go hunting, hunting, but you can not find It." + +My heart was pinched with pain. I understood her. She did not know her +lover now at all. If Alixe and her mother at the Manor could but care +for her, I thought. But alas! what could I do? It were useless to ask +her to go to the Manor; she would not understand. + +Perhaps there come to the disordered mind flashes of insight, +illuminations and divinations, greater than are given to the sane, for +she suddenly said in a whisper, touching me with a nervous finger, "I +will go and tell her where to hide. They shall not find her. I know +the woodpath to the Manor. Hush! she shall own all I have--except the +scarlet robe. She showed me where the May-apples grew. Go,"--she pushed +me gently away--"go to your prison, and pray to God. But you can not +kill Francois Bigot, he is a devil." Then she thrust into my hands a +little wooden cross, which she took from many others at her girdle. "If +you wear that, the ring of fire will not grow," she said. "I will go +by the woodpath, and give her one, too. She shall live with me: I will +spread the cedar branches and stir the fire. She shall be safe. Hush! +Go, go softly, for their wicked eyes are everywhere, the were-wolves!" + +She put her fingers on my lips for an instant, and then, turning, stole +softly away towards the St. Charles River. + +Doltaire's mockery brought me back to myself. + +"So much for the beads of the addled; now for the bowls of sinful man," +said he. + + + + +III. THE WAGER AND THE SWORD + + +As I entered the Intendant's palace with Doltaire I had a singular +feeling of elation. My spirits rose unaccountably, and I felt as though +it were a fete night, and the day's duty over, the hour of play was +come. I must needs have felt ashamed of it then, and now, were I not +sure it was some unbidden operation of the senses. Maybe a merciful +Spirit sees how, left alone, we should have stumbled and lost ourselves +in our own gloom, and so gives us a new temper fitted to our needs. I +remember that at the great door I turned back and smiled upon the ruined +granary, and sniffed the air laden with the scent of burnt corn--the +peoples bread; that I saw old men and women who could not be moved by +news of victory, shaking with cold, even beside this vast furnace, and +peevishly babbling of their hunger, and I did not say, "Poor souls!" +that for a time the power to feel my own misfortunes seemed gone, and a +hard, light indifference came on me. + +For it is true I came into the great dining-hall, and looked upon the +long loaded table, with its hundred candles, its flagons and pitchers +of wine, and on the faces of so many idle, careless gentlemen bid to a +carouse, with a manner, I believe, as reckless and jaunty as their own. +And I kept it up, though I saw it was not what they had looked for. I +did not at once know who was there, but presently, at a distance from +me, I saw the face of Juste Duvarney, the brother of my sweet Alixe, +a man of but twenty or so, who had a name for wildness, for no badness +that I ever heard of, and for a fiery temper. He was in the service of +the Governor, an ensign. He had been little at home since I had come to +Quebec, having been employed up to the past year in the service of the +Governor of Montreal. We bowed, but he made no motion to come to me, and +the Intendant engaged me almost at once in gossip of the town; suddenly, +however, diverging upon some questions of public tactics and civic +government. He much surprised me, for though I knew him brave and able, +I had never thought of him save as the adroit politician and servant of +the King, the tyrant and the libertine. I might have known by that very +scene a few hours before that he had a wide, deep knowledge of human +nature, and despised it; unlike Doltaire, who had a keener mind, was +more refined even in wickedness, and, knowing the world, laughed at it +more than he despised it, which was the sign of the greater mind. And +indeed, in spite of all the causes I had to hate Doltaire, it is but +just to say he had by nature all the great gifts--misused and disordered +as they were. He was the product of his age; having no real moral sense, +living life wantonly, making his own law of right or wrong. As a lad, I +was taught to think the evil person carried evil in his face, repelling +the healthy mind. But long ago I found that this was error. I had no +reason to admire Doltaire, and yet to this hour his handsome face, with +its shadows and shifting lights, haunts me, charms me. The thought came +to me as I talked with the Intendant, and I looked round the room. Some +present were of coarse calibre--bushranging sons of seigneurs and petty +nobles, dashing and profane, and something barbarous; but most had gifts +of person and speech, and all seemed capable. + +My spirits continued high. I sprang alertly to meet wit and gossip, my +mind ran nimbly here and there, I filled the role of honoured guest. But +when came the table and wine, a change befell me. From the first drop I +drank, my spirits suffered a decline. On one side the Intendant rallied +me, on the other Doltaire. I ate on, drank on; but while smiling by +the force of will, I grew graver little by little. Yet it was a gravity +which had no apparent motive, for I was not thinking of my troubles, not +even of the night's stake and the possible end of it all; simply a +sort of gray colour of the mind, a stillness in the nerves, a general +seriousness of the senses. I drank, and the wine did not affect me, +as voices got loud and louder, and glasses rang, and spurs rattled on +shuffling heels, and a scabbard clanged on a chair. I seemed to feel and +know it all in some far-off way, but I was not touched by the spirit +of it, was not a part of it. I watched the reddened cheeks and loose +scorching mouths around me with a sort of distant curiosity, and the +ribald jests flung right and left struck me not at all acutely. It was +as if I were reading a Book of Bacchus. I drank on evenly, not doggedly, +and answered jest for jest without a hot breath of drunkenness. I looked +several times at Juste Duvarney, who sat not far away, on the other side +of the table, behind a grand piece of silver filled with October roses. +He was drinking hard, and Doltaire, sitting beside him, kept him at it. +At last the silver piece was shifted, and he and I could see each other +fairly. Now and then Doltaire spoke across to me, but somehow no word +passed between Duvarney and myself. + +Suddenly, as if by magic--I know it was preconcerted--the talk turned on +the events of the evening and on the defeat of the British. Then, too, +as strangely I began to be myself again, amid a sense of my position +grew upon me. I had been withdrawn from all real feeling and living for +hours, but I believe that same suspension was my salvation. For with +every man present deeply gone in liquor round me--every man save +Doltaire--I was sane and steady, and settling into a state of great +alertness, determined on escape, if that could be, and bent on turning +every chance to serve my purposes. + +Now and again I caught my own name mentioned with a sneer, then with +remarks of surprise, then with insolent laughter. I saw it all. Before +dinner some of the revellers had been told of the new charge against me, +and, by instruction, had kept it till the inflammable moment. Then, when +the why and wherefore of my being at this supper were in the hazard, the +stake, as a wicked jest of Bigot's, was mentioned. I could see the flame +grow inch by inch, fed by the Intendant and Doltaire, whose hateful +final move I was yet to see. For one instant I had a sort of fear, for I +was sure they meant I should not leave the room alive; but anon I felt +a river of fiery anger flow through me, rousing me, making me loathe +the faces of them all. Yet not all, for in one pale face, with dark, +brilliant eyes, I saw the looks of my flower of the world: the colour of +her hair in his, the clearness of the brow, the poise of the head--how +handsome he was!--the light, springing step, like a deer on the sod of +June. I call to mind when I first saw him. He was sitting in a window of +the Manor, just after he had come from Montreal, playing a violin which +had once belonged to De Casson, the famous priest whose athletic power +and sweet spirit endeared him to New France. His fresh cheek was bent +to the brown, delicate wood, and he was playing to his sister the air of +the undying chanson, "Je vais mourir pour ma belle reine." I loved the +look of his face, like that of a young Apollo, open, sweet, and bold, +all his body having the epic strength of life. I wished that I might +have him near me as a comrade, for out of my hard experience I could +teach him much, and out of his youth he could soften my blunt nature, by +comradeship making flexuous the hard and ungenial. + +I went on talking to the Intendant, while some of the guests rose and +scattered about the rooms, at tables, to play picquet, the jesting on +our cause and the scorn of myself abating not at all. I would not have +it thought that anything was openly coarse or brutal; it was all by +innuendo, and brow-lifting, and maddening, allusive phrases such as it +is thought fit for gentlefolk to use instead of open charge. There was +insult in a smile, contempt in the turn of a shoulder, challenge in the +flicking of a handkerchief. With great pleasure I could have wrung their +noses one by one, and afterwards have met them tossing sword-points in +the same order. I wonder now that I did not tell them so, for I was ever +hasty; but my brain was clear that night, and I held myself in proper +check, letting each move come from my enemies. There was no reason why +I should have been at this wild feast at all, I a prisoner, accused +falsely of being a spy, save because of some plot by which I was to have +fresh suffering and some one else be benefited--though how that could be +I could not guess at first. + +But soon I understood everything. Presently I heard a young gentleman +say to Duvarney over my shoulder: + +"Eating comfits and holding yarn--that was his doing at your manor when +Doltaire came hunting him." + +"He has dined at your table, Lancy," broke out Duvarney hotly. + +"But never with our ladies," was the biting answer. + +"Should prisoners make conditions?" was the sharp, insolent retort. + +The insult was conspicuous, and trouble might have followed, but that +Doltaire came between them, shifting the attack. + +"Prisoners, my dear Duvarney," said he, "are most delicate and exacting; +they must be fed on wine and milk. It is an easy life, and hearts grow +soft for them. As thus--Indeed, it is most sad: so young and gallant; in +speech, too, so confiding! And if we babble all our doings to him, think +you he takes it seriously? No, no--so gay and thoughtless, there is a +thoroughfare from ear to ear, and all's lost on the other side. Poor +simple gentleman, he is a claimant on our courtesy, a knight without a +sword, a guest without the power to leave us--he shall make conditions, +he shall have his caprice. La, la! my dear Duvarney and my Lancy!" + +He spoke in a clear, provoking tone, putting a hand upon the shoulder of +each young gentleman as he talked, his eyes wandering over me idly, and +beyond me. I saw that he was now sharpening the sickle to his office. +His next words made this more plain to me: + +"And if a lady gives a farewell sign to one she favours for the moment, +shall not the prisoner take it as his own?" (I knew he was recalling +Alixe's farewell gesture to me at the manor.) "Who shall gainsay our +peacock? Shall the guinea cock? The golden crumb was thrown to the +guinea cock, but that's no matter. The peacock clatters of the crumb." +At that he spoke an instant in Duvarney's ear. I saw the lad's face +flush, and he looked at me angrily. + +Then I knew his object: to provoke a quarrel between this young +gentleman and myself, which might lead to evil ends; and the Intendant's +share in the conspiracy was to revenge himself upon the Seigneur for his +close friendship with the Governor. If Juste Duvarney were killed in the +duel which they foresaw, so far as Doltaire was concerned I was out of +the counting in the young lady's sight. In any case my life was of +no account, for I was sure my death was already determined on. Yet it +seemed strange that Doltaire should wish me dead, for he had reasons for +keeping me alive, as shall be seen. + +Juste Duvarney liked me once, I knew, but still he had the Frenchman's +temper, and had always to argue down his bias against my race, and to +cherish a good heart towards me; for he was young, and most sensitive to +the opinions of his comrades. I can not express what misery possessed +me when I saw him leave Doltaire, and, coming to me where I stood alone, +say-- + +"What secrets found you at our seigneury, monsieur?" + +I understood the taunt--as though I were the common interrogation mark, +the abuser of hospitality, the abominable Paul Pry. But I held my wits +together. + +"Monsieur," said I, "I found the secret of all good life: a noble +kindness to the unfortunate." + +There was a general laugh, led by Doltaire, a concerted influence on the +young gentleman. I cursed myself that I had been snared to this trap. + +"The insolent," responded Duvarney, "not the unfortunate." + +"Insolence is no crime, at least," I rejoined quietly, "else this room +were a penitentiary." + +There was a moment's pause, and presently, as I kept my eye on him, he +raised his handkerchief and flicked me across the face with it, saying, +"Then this will be a virtue, and you may have more such virtues as often +as you will." + +In spite of will, my blood pounded in my veins, and a devilish anger +took hold of me. To be struck across the face by a beardless Frenchman, +scarce past his teens!--it shook me more than now I care to own. I felt +my cheek burn, my teeth clinched, and I know a kind of snarl came from +me; but again, all in a moment, I caught a turn of his head, a motion +of the hand, which brought back Alixe to me. Anger died away, and I saw +only a youth flushed with wine, stung by suggestions, with that foolish +pride the youngster feels--and he was the youngest of them all--in +being as good a man as the best, and as daring as the worst. I felt how +useless it would be to try the straightening of matters there, though +had we two been alone a dozen words would have been enough. But to try +was my duty, and I tried with all my might; almost, for Alixe's sake, +with all my heart. + +"Do not trouble to illustrate your meaning," said I patiently. "Your +phrases are clear and to the point." + +"You bolt from my words," he retorted, "like a shy mare on the curb; +you take insult like a donkey on a well-wheel. What fly will the English +fish rise to? Now it no more plays to my hook than an August chub." + +I could not help but admire his spirit and the sharpness of his speech, +though it drew me into a deeper quandary. It was clear that he would +not be tempered to friendliness; for, as is often so, when men have said +things fiercely, their eloquence feeds their passion and convinces them +of holiness in their cause. Calmly, but with a heavy heart, I answered: + +"I wish not to find offense in your words, my friend, for in some good +days gone you and I had good acquaintance, and I can not forget that the +last hours of a light imprisonment before I entered on a dark one were +spent in the home of your father--of the brave Seigneur whose life I +once saved." + +I am sure I should not have mentioned this in any other situation--it +seemed as if I were throwing myself on his mercy; but yet I felt it was +the only thing to do--that I must bridge this affair, if at cost of some +reputation. + +It was not to be. Here Doltaire, seeing that my words had indeed +affected my opponent, said: "A double retreat! He swore to give a +challenge to-night, and he cries off like a sheep from a porcupine; his +courage is so slack, he dares not move a step to his liberty. It was a +bet, a hazard. He was to drink glass for glass with any and all of us, +and fight sword for sword with any of us who gave him cause. Having +drunk his courage to death, he'd now browse at the feet of those who +give him chance to win his stake." + +His words came slowly and bitingly, yet with an air of damnable +nonchalance. I looked round me. Every man present was full-sprung with +wine; and a distance away, a gentleman on either side of him, stood the +Intendant, smiling detestably, a keen, houndlike look shooting out of +his small round eyes. + +I had had enough; I could bear no more. To be baited like a bear by +these Frenchmen--it was aloes in my teeth! I was not sorry then that +these words of Juste Duvarney's gave me no chance of escape from +fighting; though I would it had been any other man in the room than +he. It was on my tongue to say that if some gentleman would take up his +quarrel I should be glad to drive mine home, though for reasons I cared +not myself to fight Duvarney. But I did not, for I knew that to carry +that point farther might rouse a general thought of Alixe, and I had no +wish to make matters hard for her. Everything in its own good time, and +when I should be free! So, without more ado, I said to him: + +"Monsieur, the quarrel was of your choosing, not mine. There was no need +for strife between us, and you have more to lose than I: more friends, +more years of life, more hopes. I have avoided your bait, as you call +it, for your sake, not mine own. Now I take it, and you, monsieur, show +us what sort of fisherman you are." + +All was arranged in a moment. As we turned to pass from the room to the +courtyard, I noted that Bigot was gone. When we came outside, it was +just one, as I could tell by a clock striking in a chamber near. It was +cold, and some of the company shivered as we stepped upon the white, +frosty stones. The late October air bit the cheek, though now and then +a warm, pungent current passed across the courtyard--the breath from +the people's burnt corn. Even yet upon the sky was the reflection of the +fire, and distant sounds of singing, shouting, and carousal came to us +from the Lower Town. + +We stepped to a corner of the yard and took off our coats; swords were +handed us--both excellent, for we had had our choice of many. It was +partial moonlight, but there were flitting clouds. That we should have +light, however, pine torches had been brought, and these were stuck in +the wall. My back was to the outer wall of the courtyard, and I saw the +Intendant at a window of the palace looking down at us. Doltaire stood +a little apart from the other gentlemen in the courtyard, yet where he +could see Duvarney and myself at advantage. + +Before we engaged, I looked intently into my opponent's face, and +measured him carefully with my eye, that I might have his height and +figure explicit and exact; for I know how moonlight and fire distort, +how the eye may be deceived. I looked for every button; for the spot in +his lean, healthy body where I could disable him, spit him, and yet not +kill him--for this was the thing furthest from my wishes, God knows. +Now the deadly character of the event seemed to impress him, for he was +pale, and the liquor he had drunk had given him dark hollows round the +eyes, and a gray shining sweat was on his cheek. But his eyes themselves +were fiery and keen and there was reckless daring in every turn of his +body. + +I was not long in finding his quality, for he came at me violently from +the start, and I had chance to know his strength and weakness also. His +hand was quick, his sight clear and sure, his knowledge to a certain +point most definite and practical, his mastery of the sword delightful; +but he had little imagination, he did not divine, he was merely a +brilliant performer, he did not conceive. I saw that if I put him on the +defensive I should have him at advantage, for he had not that art of +the true swordsman, the prescient quality which foretells the opponents +action and stands prepared. There I had him at fatal advantage--could, +I felt, give him last reward of insult at my pleasure. Yet a lust of +fighting got into me, and it was difficult to hold myself in check at +all, nor was it easy to meet his breathless and adroit advances. + +Then, too, remarks from the bystanders worked me up to a deep sort of +anger, and I could feel Doltaire looking at me with that still, cold +face of his, an ironical smile at his lips. Now and then, too, a ribald +jest came from some young roisterer near, and the fact that I stood +alone among sneering enemies wound me up to a point where pride was more +active than aught else. I began to press him a little, and I pricked him +once. Then a singular feeling possessed me. I would bring this to an end +when I had counted ten; I would strike home when I said "ten." + +So I began, and I was not aware then that I was counting aloud. +"One--two--three!" It was weird to the onlookers, for the yard grew +still, and you could hear nothing but maybe a shifting foot or a hard +breathing. "Four--five--six!" There was a tenseness in the air, and +Juste Duvarney, as if he felt a menace in the words, seemed to lose all +sense of wariness, and came at me lunging, lunging with great swiftness +and heat. I was incensed now, and he must take what fortune might send; +one can not guide one's sword to do the least harm fighting as did we. + +I had lost blood, and the game could go on no longer. "Eight!" I pressed +him sharply now. "Nine!" I was preparing for the trick which would end +the matter, when I slipped on the frosty stones, now glazed with our +tramping back and forth, and, trying to recover myself, left my side +open to his sword. It came home, though I partly diverted it. I was +forced to my knees, but there, mad, unpardonable youth, he made another +furious lunge at me. I threw myself back, deftly avoided the lunge, and +he came plump on my upstretched sword, gave a long gasp, and sank down. + +At that moment the doors of the courtyard opened, and men stepped +inside, one coming quickly forward before the rest. It was the Governor, +the Marquis de Vaudreuil. He spoke, but what he said I knew not, for the +stark upturned face of Juste Duvarney was there before me, there was a +great buzzing in my ears, and I fell back into darkness. + + + + +IV. THE RAT IN THE TRAP + + +When I waked I was alone. At first nothing was clear to me; my brain was +dancing in my head, my sight was obscured, my body painful, my senses +were blunted. I was in darkness, yet through an open door there showed a +light, which, from the smell and flickering, I knew to be a torch. This, +creeping into my senses, helped me to remember that the last thing I +saw in the Intendant's courtyard was a burning torch, which suddenly +multiplied to dancing hundreds and then went out. I now stretched forth +a hand, and it touched a stone wall; I moved, and felt straw under me. +Then I fixed my eyes steadily on the open door and the shaking light, +and presently it all came to me: the events of the night, and that I +was now in a cell of the citadel. Stirring, I found that the wound in +my body had been bound and cared for. A loosely tied scarf round my arm +showed that some one had lately left me, and would return to finish the +bandaging. I raised myself with difficulty, and saw a basin of water, +a sponge, bits of cloth, and a pocket-knife. Stupid and dazed though I +was, the instinct of self-preservation lived, and I picked up the knife +and hid it in my coat. I did it, I believe, mechanically, for a hundred +things were going through my mind at the time. + +All at once there rushed in on me the thought of Juste Duvarney as I saw +him last--how long ago was it?--his white face turned to the sky, his +arms stretched out, his body dabbled in blood. I groaned aloud. Fool, +fool! to be trapped by these lying French! To be tricked into playing +their shameless games for them, to have a broken body, to have killed +the brother of the mistress of my heart, and so cut myself off from her +and ruined my life for nothing--for worse than nothing! I had swaggered, +boasted, had taken a challenge for a bout and a quarrel like any +hanger-on of a tavern. + +Suddenly I heard footsteps and voices outside; then one voice, louder +than the other, saying, "He hasn't stirred a peg--lies like a log!" It +was Gabord. + +Doltaire's voice replied, "You will not need a surgeon--no?" His tone, +as it seemed to me, was less careless than usual. + +Gabord answered, "I know the trick of it all--what can a surgeon do? +This brandy will fetch him to his intellects. And by-and-bye crack'll go +his spine--aho!" + +You have heard a lion growling on a bone. That is how Gabord's voice +sounded to me then--a brutal rawness; but it came to my mind also that +this was the man who had brought Voban to do me service! + +"Come, come, Gabord, crack your jaws less, and see you fetch him on his +feet again," said Doltaire. "From the seats of the mighty they have said +that he must live--to die another day; and see to it, or the mighty folk +will say that you must die to live another day--in a better world, my +Gabord." + +There was a moment in which the only sound was that of tearing linen, +and I could see the shadows of the two upon the stone wall of the +corridor wavering to the light of the torch; then the shadows shifted +entirely, and their footsteps came on towards my door. I was lying on my +back as when I came to, and, therefore, probably as Gabord had left +me, and I determined to appear still in a faint. Through nearly closed +eyelids however I saw Gabord enter. Doltaire stood in the doorway +watching as the soldier knelt and lifted my arm to take off the bloody +scarf. His manner was imperturbable as ever. Even then I wondered what +his thoughts were, what pungent phrase he was suiting to the time and +to me. I do not know to this day which more interested him--that +very pungency of phrase, or the critical events which inspired his +reflections. He had no sense of responsibility; his mind loved talent, +skill, and cleverness, and though it was scathing of all usual ethics, +for the crude, honest life of the poor it had sympathy. I remember +remarks of his in the market-place a year before, as he and I watched +the peasant in his sabots and the good-wife in her homespun cloth. + +"These are they," said he, "who will save the earth one day, for they +are like it, kin to it. When they are born they lie close to it, and +when they die they fall no height to reach their graves. The rest--the +world--are like ourselves in dreams: we do not walk; we think we fly, +over houses, over trees, over mountains; and then one blessed instant +the spring breaks, or the dream gets twisted, and we go falling, +falling, in a sickening fear, and, waking up, we find we are and have +been on the earth all the while, and yet can make no claim on it, +and have no kin with it, and no right to ask anything of it--quelle +vie--quelle vie!" + +Sick as I was, I thought of that as he stood there, looking in at me; +and though I knew I ought to hate him, I admired him in spite of all. + +Presently he said to Gabord, "You'll come to me at noon to-morrow, and +see you bring good news. He breathes?" + +Gabord put a hand on my chest and at my neck, and said at once, "Breath +for balloons--aho!" + +Doltaire threw his cloak over his shoulder and walked away, his +footsteps sounding loud in the passages. Gabord began humming to himself +as he tied the bandages, and then he reached down for the knife to cut +the flying strings. I could see this out of a little corner of my eye. +When he did not find it, he settled back on his haunches and looked at +me. I could feel his lips puffing out, and I was ready for the "Poom!" +that came from him. Then I could feel him stooping over me, and his +hot strong breath in my face. I was so near to unconsciousness at that +moment by a sudden anxiety that perhaps my feigning had the look of +reality. In any case, he thought me unconscious and fancied that he +had taken the knife away with him; for he tucked in the strings of the +bandage. Then, lifting my head, he held the flask to my lips; for which +I was most grateful--I was dizzy and miserably faint. + +I think I came to with rather more alacrity than was wise, but he was +deceived, and his first words were, "Ho, ho! the devil's knocking; who's +for home, angels?" + +It was his way to put all things allusively, using strange figures and +metaphors. Yet, when one was used to him and to them, their potency +seemed greater than polished speech and ordinary phrase. + +He offered me more brandy, and then, without preface, I asked him the +one question which sank back on my heart like a load of ice even as I +sent it forth. "Is he alive?" I inquired. "Is Monsieur Juste Duvarney +alive?" + +With exasperating coolness he winked an eye, to connect the event with +what he knew of the letter I had sent to Alixe, and, cocking his head, +he blew out his lips with a soundless laugh, and said: + +"To whisk the brother off to heaven is to say good-bye to sister and +pack yourself to Father Peter." + +"For God's sake, tell me, is the boy dead?" I asked, my voice cracking +in my throat. + +"He's not mounted for the journey yet," he answered, with a shrug, "but +the Beast is at the door." + +I plied my man with questions, and learned that they had carried Juste +into the palace for dead, but found life in him, and straightway used +all means to save him. A surgeon came, his father and mother were sent +for, and when Doltaire had left there was hope that he would live. + +I learned also that Voban had carried word to the Governor of the deed +to be done that night; had for a long time failed to get admittance to +him, but was at last permitted to tell his story; and Vaudreuil had gone +to Bigot's palace to have me hurried to the citadel, and had come just +too late. + +After answering my first few questions, Gabord say nothing more, and +presently he took the torch from the wall and with a gruff good-night +prepared to go. When I asked that a light be left, he shook his head, +said he had no orders. Whereupon he left me, the heavy door clanging +to, the bolts were shot, and I was alone in darkness with my wounds and +misery. My cloak had been put into the cell beside my couch, and this +I now drew over me, and I lay and thought upon my condition and my +prospects, which, as may be seen, were not cheering. I did not suffer +great pain from my wounds--only a stiffness that troubled me not at all +if I lay still. After an hour or so passed--for it is hard to keep count +of time when one's thoughts are the only timekeeper--I fell asleep. + +I know not how long I slept, but I awoke refreshed. I stretched forth my +uninjured arm, moving it about. In spite of will a sort of hopelessness +went through me, for I could feel long blades of corn grown up about +my couch, an unnatural meadow, springing from the earth floor of my +dungeon. I drew the blades between my fingers, feeling towards them as +if they were things of life out of place like myself. I wondered what +colour they were. Surely, said I to myself, they can not be green, but +rather a yellowish white, bloodless, having only fibre, the heart all +pinched to death. Last night I had not noted them, yet now, looking +back, I saw, as in a picture, Gabord the soldier feeling among them +for the knife that I had taken. So may we see things, and yet not be +conscious of them at the time, waking to their knowledge afterwards. +So may we for years look upon a face without understanding, and then, +suddenly, one day it comes flashing out, and we read its hidden story +like a book. + +I put my hand out farther, then brought it back near to my couch, +feeling towards its foot mechanically, and now I touched an earthen pan. +A small board lay across its top, and moving my fingers along it I +found a piece of bread. Then I felt the jar, and knew it was filled with +water. Sitting back, I thought hard for a moment. Of this I was sure: +the pan and bread were not there when I went to sleep, for this was the +spot where my eyes fell naturally while I lay in bed looking towards +Doltaire; and I should have remembered it now, even if I had not noted +it then. My jailer had brought these while I slept. But it was still +dark. I waked again as though out of sleep, startled: I was in a dungeon +that had no window! + +Here I was, packed away in a farthest corner of the citadel, in a deep +hole that maybe had not been used for years, to be, no doubt, denied all +contact with the outer world--I was going to say FRIENDS, but whom could +I name among them save that dear soul who, by last night's madness, +should her brother be dead, was forever made dumb and blind to me? Whom +had I but her and Voban!--and Voban was yet to be proved. The Seigneur +Duvarney had paid all debts he may have owed me, and he now might, +because of the injury to his son, leave me to my fate. On Gabord the +soldier I could not count at all. + +There I was, as Doltaire had said, like a rat in a trap. But I would not +let panic seize me. So I sat and ate the stale but sweet bread, took a +long drink of the good water from the earthen jar, and then, stretching +myself out, drew my cloak up to my chin, and settled myself for sleep +again. And that I might keep up a kind delusion that I was not +quite alone in the bowels of the earth, I reached out my hand and +affectionately drew the blades of corn between my fingers. + +Presently I drew my chin down to my shoulder, and let myself drift out +of painful consciousness almost as easily as a sort of woman can call +up tears at will. When I waked again, it was without a start or moving, +without confusion, and I was bitterly hungry. Beside my couch, with his +hands on his hips and his feet thrust out, stood Gabord, looking down at +me in a quizzical and unsatisfied way. A torch was burning near him. + +"Wake up, my dickey-bird," said he in his rough, mocking voice, "and +we'll snuggle you into the pot. You've been long hiding; come out of the +bush--aho!" + +I drew myself up painfully. "What is the hour?" I asked, and meanwhile I +looked for the earthen jar and the bread. + +"Hour since when?" said he. + +"Since it was twelve o'clock last night," I answered. + +"Fourteen hours since THEN," said he. + +The emphasis arrested my attention. "I mean," I added, "since the +fighting in the courtyard." + +"Thirty-six hours and more since then, m'sieu' the dormouse," was his +reply. + +I had slept a day and a half since the doors of this cell closed on me. +It was Friday then; now it was Sunday afternoon. Gabord had come to me +three times, and seeing how sound asleep I was had not disturbed me, but +had brought bread and water--my prescribed diet. + +He stood there, his feet buried in the blanched corn--I could see the +long yellowish-white blades--the torch throwing shadows about him, his +back against the wall. I looked carefully round my dungeon. There was no +a sign of a window; I was to live in darkness. Yet if I were but allowed +candles, or a lantern, or a torch, some books, paper, pencil, and +tobacco, and the knowledge that I had not killed Juste Duvarney, I +could abide the worst with some sort of calmness. How much might have +happened, must have happened, in all these hours of sleep! My letter to +Alixe should have been delivered long ere this; my trial, no doubt, had +been decided on. What had Voban done? Had he any word for me? Dear Lord! +here was a mass of questions tumbling one upon the other in my head, +while my heart thumped behind my waistcoat like a rubber ball to a +prize-fighter's fist. Misfortunes may be so great and many that one may +find grim humour and grotesqueness in their impossible conjunction and +multiplicity. I remembered at that moment a friend of mine in Virginia, +the most unfortunate man I ever knew. Death, desertion, money losses, +political defeat, flood, came one upon the other all in two years, and +coupled with this was loss of health. One day he said to me: + +"Robert, I have a perforated lung, my liver is a swelling sponge, eating +crowds my waistband like a balloon, I have a swimming in my head and +a sinking at my heart, and I can not say litany for happy release from +these for my knees creak with rheumatism. The devil has done his worst, +Robert, for these are his--plague and pestilence, being final, are the +will of God--and, upon my soul, it is an absurd comedy of ills!" At that +he had a fit of coughing, and I gave him a glass of spirits, which eased +him. + +"That's better," said I cheerily to him. + +"It's robbing Peter to pay Paul," he answered; "for I owed it to my head +to put the quid refert there, and here it's gone to my lungs to hurry +up my breathing. Did you ever think, Robert," he added, "that this +breathing of ours is a labor, and that we have to work every second to +keep ourselves alive? We have to pump air in and out like a blacksmith's +boy." He said it so drolly, though he was deadly ill, that I laughed for +half an hour at the stretch, wiping away my tears as I did it; for his +pale gray face looked so sorry, with its quaint smile and that odd, dry +voice of his. + +As I sat there in my dungeon, with Gabord cocking his head and his eyes +rolling, that scene flashed on me, and I laughed freely--so much so +that Gabord sulkily puffed out his lips, and flamed like bunting on +a coast-guard's hut. The more he scowled and spluttered, the more I +laughed, till my wounded side hurt me and my arm had twinges. But my +mood changed suddenly, and I politely begged his pardon, telling him +frankly then and there what had made me laugh, and how I had come to +think of it. The flame passed out of his cheeks, the revolving fire of +his eyes dimmed, his lips broke into a soundless laugh, and then, in his +big voice, he said: + +"You've got your knees to pray on yet, and crack my bones, but you'll +have need to con your penitentials if tattle in the town be true." + +"Before you tell of that," said I, "how is young Monsieur Duvarney? +Is--is he alive?" I added, as I saw his face look lower. + +"The Beast was at door again last night, wild to be off, and foot of +young Seigneur was in the stirrup, when along comes sister with drug got +from an Indian squaw who nursed her when a child. She gives it him, and +he drinks; they carry him back, sleeping, and Beast must stand there +tugging at the leathers yet." + +"His sister--it was his sister," said I, "that brought him back to +life?" + +"Like that--aho! They said she must not come, but she will have her way. +Straight she goes to the palace at night, no one knowing but--guess who? +You can't--but no!" + +A light broke in on me. "With the Scarlet Woman--with Mathilde," I said, +hoping in my heart that it was so, for somehow I felt even then that +she, poor vagrant, would play a part in the history of Alixe's life and +mine. + +"At the first shot," he said. "'Twas the crimson one, as quiet as a baby +chick, not hanging to ma'm'selle's skirts, but watching and whispering a +little now and then--and she there in Bigot's palace, and he not knowing +it! And maids do not tell him, for they knew the poor wench in better +days--aho!" + +I got up with effort and pain, and made to grasp his hand in gratitude, +but he drew back, putting his arms behind him. + +"No, no," said he, "I am your jailer. They've put you here to break your +high spirits, and I'm to help the breaking." + +"But I thank you just the same," I answered him; "and I promise to give +you as little trouble as may be while you are my jailer--which, with all +my heart, I hope may be as long as I'm a prisoner." + +He waved out his hands to the dungeon walls, and lifted his shoulders +as if to say that I might as well be docile, for the prison was safe +enough. "Poom!" said he, as if in genial disdain of my suggestion. + +I smiled, and then, after putting my hands on the walls here and there +to see if they were, as they seemed, quite dry, I drew back to my couch +and sat down. Presently I stooped to tip the earthen jar of water to my +lips, for I could not lift it with one hand, but my humane jailer took +it from me and held it to my mouth. When I had drunk, "Do you know," +asked I as calmly as I could, "if our barber gave the letter to +Mademoiselle?" + +"M'sieu', you've travelled far to reach that question," said he, +jangling his keys as if he enjoyed it. "And if he had--?" + +I caught at his vague suggestion, and my heart leaped. + +"A reply," said I, "a message or a letter," though I had not dared to +let myself even think of that. + +He whipped a tiny packet from his coat. "'Tis a sparrow's pecking--no +great matter here, eh?"--he weighed it up and down on his fingers--"a +little piping wren's par pitie." + +I reached out for it. "I should read it," said he. "There must be no +more of this. But new orders came AFTER I'd got her dainty a m'sieu'! +Yes, I must read it," said he--"but maybe not at first," he added, "not +at first, if you'll give word of honour not to tear it." + +"On my sacred honour," said I, reaching out still. + +He looked it all over again provokingly, and then lifted it to his nose, +for it had a delicate perfume. Then he gave a little grunt of wonder and +pleasure, and handed it over. + +I broke the seal, and my eyes ran swiftly through the lines, traced in a +firm, delicate hand. I could see through it all the fine, sound nature, +by its healthy simplicity mastering anxiety, care, and fear. + + +"Robert," she wrote, "by God's help my brother will live, to repent with +you, I trust, of Friday night's ill work. He was near gone, yet we have +held him back from that rough-rider, Death. + +"You will thank God, will you not, that my brother did not die? Indeed, +I feel you have. I do not blame you; I know--I need not tell you +how--the heart of the affair; and even my mother can see through the +wretched thing. My father says little, and he has not spoken harshly; +for which I gave thanksgiving this morning in the chapel of the +Ursulines. Yet you are in a dungeon, covered with wounds of my brother's +making, both of you victims of others' villainy, and you are yet to bear +worse things, for they are to try you for your life. But never shall I +believe that they will find you guilty of dishonour. I have watched you +these three years; I do not, nor ever will, doubt you, dear friend of my +heart. + +"You would not believe it, Robert, and you may think it fanciful, but as +I got up from my prayers at the chapel I looked towards a window, and +it being a little open, for it is a sunny day, there sat a bird on the +sill, a little brown bird that peeped and nodded. I was so won by it +that I came softly over to it. It did not fly away, but hopped a little +here and there. I stretched out my hand gently on the stone, and putting +its head now this side, now that, at last it tripped into it, and +chirped most sweetly. After I had kissed it I placed it back on the +window-sill, that it might fly away again. Yet no, it would not go, +but stayed there, tipping its gold-brown head at me as though it would +invite me to guess why it came. Again I reached out my hand, and once +more it tripped into it. I stood wondering and holding it to my bosom, +when I heard a voice behind me say, 'The bird would be with thee, my +child. God hath many signs.' I turned and saw the good Mere St. George +looking at me, she of whom I was always afraid, so distant is she. I +did not speak, but only looked at her, and she nodded kindly at me and +passed on. + +"And, Robert, as I write to you here in the Intendant's palace (what a +great wonderful place it is! I fear I do not hate it and its luxury as +I ought!), the bird is beside me in a cage upon the table, with a little +window open, so that it may come out if it will. My brother lies in the +bed asleep; I can touch him if I but put out my hand, and I am alone +save for one person. You sent two messengers: can you not guess the one +that will be with me? Poor Mathilde, she sits and gazes at me till I +almost fall weeping. But she seldom speaks, she is so quiet--as if she +knew that she must keep a secret. For, Robert, though I know you did not +tell her, she knows--she knows that you love me, and she has given me a +little wooden cross which she said will make us happy. + +"My mother did not drive her away, as I half feared she would, and at +last she said that I might house her with one of our peasants. Meanwhile +she is with me here. She is not so mad but that she has wisdom too, and +she shall have my care and friendship. + +"I bid thee to God's care, Robert. I need not tell thee to be not +dismayed. Thou hast two jails, and one wherein I lock thee safe is warm +and full of light. If the hours drag by, think of all thou wouldst do if +thou wert free to go to thine own country--yet alas that thought!--and +of what thou wouldst say if thou couldst speak to thy ALIXE. + +"Postscript.--I trust that they have cared for thy wounds, and that thou +hast light and food and wine. Voban hath promised to discover this for +me. The soldier Gabord, at the citadel, he hath a good heart. Though +thou canst expect no help from him, yet he will not be rougher than his +orders. He did me a good service once, and he likes me, and I him. And +so fare thee well, Robert. I will not languish; I will act, and not be +weary. Dost thou really love me?" + + + + +V. THE DEVICE OF THE DORMOUSE + + +When I had read the letter, I handed it up to Gabord without a word. A +show of trust in him was the only thing, for he had enough knowledge of +our secret to ruin us, if he chose. He took the letter, turned it over, +looking at it curiously, and at last, with a shrug of the shoulders, +passed it back. + +"'Tis a long tune on a dot of a fiddle," said he, for indeed the +letter was but a small affair in bulk. "I'd need two pairs of eyes +and telescope! Is it all Heart-o'-my-heart, and +Come-trip-in-dewy-grass--aho? Or is there knave at window to bear +m'sieu' away?" + +I took the letter from him. "Listen," said I, "to what the lady says of +you." And then I read him that part of her postscript which had to do +with himself. + +He put his head on one side like a great wise magpie, and "H'm--ha!" +said he whimsically, "aho! Gabord the soldier, Gabord, thou hast a good +heart--and the birds fed the beast with plums and froth of comfits till +he died, and on his sugar tombstone they carved the words, 'Gabord had a +good heart.'" + +"It was spoken out of a true spirit," said I petulantly, for I could not +bear from a common soldier even a tone of disparagement, though I saw +the exact meaning of his words. So I added, "You shall read the whole +letter, or I will read it to you and you shall judge. On the honour of a +gentleman, I will read all of it!" + +"Poom!" said he, "English fire-eater! corn-cracker! Show me the 'good +heart' sentence, for I'd see how it is written--how GABORD looks with a +woman's whimsies round it." + +I traced the words with my fingers, holding the letter near the torch. +"'Yet he will not be rougher than his orders,'" said he after me, and +"'He did me a good service once.'" + +"Comfits," he continued; "well, thou shalt have comfits, too," and he +fished from his pocket a parcel. It was my tobacco and my pipe. + +Truly, my state might have been vastly worse. Little more was said +between Gabord and myself, but he refused bluntly to carry message or +letter to anybody, and bade me not to vex him with petitions. But he +left me the torch and a flint and steel, so I had light for a space, and +I had my blessed tobacco and pipe. When the doors clanged shut and the +bolts were shot, I lay back on my couch. + +I was not all unhappy. Thank God, they had not put chains on me, as +Governor Dinwiddie had done with a French prisoner at Williamsburg, for +whom I had vainly sought to be exchanged two years before, though he was +my equal in all ways and importance. Doltaire was the cause of that, +as you shall know. Well, there was one more item to add to his +indebtedness. My face flushed and my fingers tingled at thought of him, +and so I resolutely turned my meditations elsewhere, and again in a +little while I seemed to think of nothing, but lay and bathed in the +silence, and indulged my eyes with the good red light of the torch, +inhaling its pitchy scent. I was conscious, yet for a time I had no +thought: I was like something half animal, half vegetable, which feeds, +yet has no mouth, nor sees, nor hears, nor has sense, but only lives. +I seemed hung in space, as one feels when going from sleep to waking--a +long lane of half-numb life, before the open road of full consciousness +is reached. + +At last I was aroused by the sudden cracking of a knot in the torch. I +saw that it would last but a few hours more. I determined to put it out, +for I might be allowed no more light, and even a few minutes of this +torch every day would be a great boon. So I took it from its place, and +was about to quench it in the moist earth at the foot of the wall, when +I remembered my tobacco and my pipe. Can you think how joyfully I packed +full the good brown bowl, delicately filling in every little corner, and +at last held it to the flame, and saw it light? That first long whiff +was like the indrawn breath of the cold, starved hunter, when, stepping +into his house, he sees food, fire, and wife on his hearthstone. +Presently I put out the torchlight, and then went back to my couch and +sat down, the bowl shining like a star before me. + +There and then a purpose came to me--something which would keep my +brain from wandering, my nerves from fretting and wearing, for a time +at least. I determined to write to my dear Alixe the true history of my +life, even to the point--and after--of this thing which now was bringing +me to so ill a pass. But I was in darkness, I had no paper, pens, nor +ink. After a deal of thinking I came at last to the solution. I would +compose the story, and learn it by heart, sentence by sentence, as I so +composed it. + +So there and then I began to run back over the years of my life, even to +my first remembrances, that I might see it from first to last in a sort +of whole and with a kind of measurement. But when I began to dwell upon +my childhood, one little thing gave birth to another swiftly, as you may +see one flicker in the heaven multiply and break upon the mystery of +the dark, filling the night with clusters of stars. As I thought, I kept +drawing spears of the dungeon corn between my fingers softly (they had +come to be like comrades to me), and presently there flashed upon me the +very first memory of my life. It had never come to me before, and I knew +now that it was the beginning of conscious knowledge: for we can never +know till we can remember. When a child remembers what it sees or feels, +it has begun life. + +I put that recollection into the letter which I wrote Alixe, and it +shall be set down forthwith and in little space, though it took me so +very many days and weeks to think it out, to give each word a fixed +place, so that it should go from my mind no more. Every phrase of that +story as I told it is as fixed as stone in my memory. Yet it must not be +thought I can give it all here. I shall set down only a few things, but +you shall find in them the spirit of the whole. I will come at once to +the body of the letter. + + + + +VI. MORAY TELLS THE STORY OF HIS LIFE + + +"...I would have you know of what I am and whence I came, though I have +given you glimpses in the past. That done, I will make plain why I am +charged with this that puts my life in danger, which would make you +blush that you ever knew me if it were true. And I will show you first +a picture as it runs before me, sitting here, the corn of my dungeon +garden twining in my fingers:-- + +"A multiplying width of green grass spotted with white flowers, an +upland where sheep browsed on a carpet of purple and gold and green, +a tall rock on a hill where birds perched and fluttered, a blue sky +arching over all. There, sprawling in a garden, a child pulled at long +blades of grass, as he watched the birds flitting about the rocks, and +heard a low voice coming down the wind. Here in my dungeon I can hear +the voice as I have not heard it since that day in the year 1730--that +voice stilled so long ago. The air and the words come floating down (for +the words I knew years afterwards): + + 'Did ye see the white cloud in the glint o' the sun? + That's the brow and the eye o' my bairnie. + Did ye ken the red bloom at the bend o' the crag? + That's the rose in the cheek o' my bairnie. + Did ye hear the gay lilt o' the lark by the burn? + That's the voice of my bairnie, my dearie. + Did ye smell the wild scent in the green o' the wood? + That's the breath o' my ain, o' my bairnie. + Sae I'll gang awa' hame, to the shine o' the fire, + To the cot where I lie wi' my bairnie.' + +"These words came crooning over the grass of that little garden at +Balmore which was by my mother's home. There I was born one day in June, +though I was reared in the busy streets of Glasgow, where my father was +a prosperous merchant and famous for his parts and honesty. + +"I see myself, a little child of no great strength, for I was, indeed, +the only one of my family who lived past infancy, and my mother feared +she should never bring me up. She, too, is in that picture, tall, +delicate, kind yet firm of face, but with a strong brow, under which +shone grave gray eyes, and a manner so distinguished that none might +dispute her kinship to the renowned Montrose, who was lifted so high in +dying, though his gallows was but thirty feet, that all the world has +seen him there. There was one other in that picture, standing near +my mother, and looking at me, who often used to speak of our great +ancestor--my grandfather, John Mitchell, the Gentleman of Balmore, as he +was called, out of regard for his ancestry and his rare merits. + +"I have him well in mind: his black silk breeches and white stockings +and gold seals, and two eyes that twinkled with great humour when, as he +stooped over me, I ran my head between his calves and held him tight. I +recall how my mother said, 'I doubt that I shall ever bring him up,' and +how he replied (the words seem to come through great distances to me), +'He'll live to be Montrose the second, rascal laddie! Four seasons +at the breast? Tut, tut! what o' that? 'Tis but his foolery, his +scampishness! Nae, nae! his epitaph's no for writing till you and I are +tucked i' the sod, my Jeanie. Then, like Montrose's, it will be-- + + 'Tull Edinburrow they led him thair, + And on a gallows hong; + They hong him high abone the rest, + He was so trim a boy.' + +"I can hear his laugh this minute, as he gave an accent to the words by +stirring me with his stick, and I caught the gold head of it and carried +it off, trailing it through the garden, till I heard my mother calling, +and then forced her to give me chase, as I pushed open a little gate and +posted away into that wide world of green, coming quickly to the river, +where I paused and stood at bay. I can see my mother's anxious face now, +as she caught me to her arms; and yet I know she had a kind of pride, +too, when my grandfather said, on our return, 'The rascal's at it early. +Next time he'll ford the stream and skirl at ye, Jeanie, from yonder +bank.' + +"This is the first of my life that I remember. It may seem strange to +you that I thus suddenly recall not only it, but the words then spoken +too. It is strange to me, also. But here it comes to me all on a sudden +in this silence, as if another self of me were speaking from far places. +At first all is in patches and confused, and then it folds out--if not +clearly, still so I can understand--and the words I repeat come as if +filtered through many brains to mine. I do not say that it is true--it +may be dreams; and yet, as I say, it is firmly in my mind. + +"The next that I remember was climbing upon a chair to reach for my +grandfather's musket, which hung across the chimney. I got at last upon +the mantelshelf, and my hands were on the weapon, when the door opened, +and my grandfather and my father entered. I was so busy I did not hear +them till I was caught by the legs and swung to a shoulder, where I +sat kicking. 'You see his tastes, William,' said my grandfather to my +father; 'he's white o' face and slim o' body, but he'll no carry on your +hopes.' And more he said to the point, though what it was I knew not. +But I think it to have been suggestion (I heard him say it later) that I +would bring Glasgow up to London by the sword (good doting soul!) as my +father brought it by manufactures, gaining honour thereby. + +"However that may be, I would not rest till my grandfather had put the +musket into my arms. I could scarcely lift it, but from the first it had +a charm for me, and now and then, in spite of my mother's protests, +I was let to handle it, to learn its parts, to burnish it, and +by-and-bye--I could not have been more than six years old--to rest it on +a rock and fire it off. It kicked my shoulder roughly in firing, but I +know I did not wink as I pulled the trigger. Then I got a wild hunger +to fire it at all times; so much so, indeed, that powder and shot were +locked up, and the musket was put away in my grandfather's chest. But +now and again it was taken out, and I made war upon the unresisting +hillside, to the dismay of our neighbours in Balmore. Feeding the +fever in my veins, my grandfather taught me soldiers' exercises and the +handling of arms: to my dear mother's sorrow, for she ever fancied me +as leading a merchant's quiet life like my father's, hugging the +hearthstone, and finding joy in small civic duties, while she and my +dear father sat peacefully watching me in their decline of years. + +"I have told you of that river which flowed near my father's house. At +this time most of my hours were spent by it in good weather, for at last +my mother came to trust me alone there, having found her alert fears +of little use. But she would very often come with me and watch me as +I played there. I loved to fancy myself a miller, and my little +mill-wheel, made by my own hands, did duty here and there on the stream, +and many drives of logs did I, in fancy, saw into piles of lumber, and +loads of flour sent away to the City of Desire. Then, again, I made +bridges, and drove mimic armies across them; and if they were enemies, +craftily let them partly cross, to tumble them in at the moment when +part of the forces were on one side of the stream and part on the other, +and at the mercy of my men. + +"My grandfather taught me how to build forts and breastworks, and I lay +in ambush for the beadle, who was my good friend, for my grandfather, +and for half a dozen other village folk, who took no offense at my +sport, but made believe to be bitterly afraid when I surrounded them and +drove them, shackled, to my fort by the river. Little by little the +fort grew, until it was a goodly pile; for now and then a village youth +helped me, or again an old man, whose heart, maybe, rejoiced to play at +being child again with me. Years after, whenever I went back to Balmore, +there stood the fort, for no one ever meddled with it, nor tore it down. + +"And I will tell you one reason why this was, and you will think it +strange that it should have played such a part in the history of the +village, as in my own life. You must know that people living in secluded +places are mostly superstitious. Well, when my fort was built to such +proportions that a small ladder must be used to fix new mud and mortar +in place upon it, something happened. + +"Once a year there came to Balmore--and he had done so for a +generation--one of those beings called The Men, who are given to prayer, +fasting, and prophesying, who preach the word of warning ever, calling +even the ministers of the Lord sharply to account. One day this Man came +past my fort, folk with him, looking for preaching or prophesy from him. +Suddenly turning he came inside my fort, and, standing upon the ladder +against the wall, spoke to them fervently. His last words became a +legend in Balmore, and spread even to Glasgow and beyond. + +"'Hear me!' cried he. 'As I stand looking at ye from this wall, calling +on ye in your natural bodies to take refuge in the Fort of God, the +Angel of Death is looking ower the battlements of heaven, choosing ye +out, the sheep frae the goats; calling the one to burning flames, and +the other into peaceable habitations. I hear the voice now,' cried he, +'and some soul among us goeth forth. Flee ye to the Fort of Refuge.' +I can see him now, his pale face shining, his eyes burning, his beard +blowing in the wind, his grizzled hair shaking on his forehead. I had +stood within the fort watching him. At last he turned, and, seeing me +intent, stooped, caught me by the arms, and lifted me upon the wall. +'See you,' said he, 'yesterday's babe a warrior to-day. Have done, +have done, ye quarrelsome hearts. Ye that build forts here shall lie in +darksome prisons; there is no fort but the Fort of God. The call comes +frae the white ramparts. Hush!' he added solemnly, raising a finger. +'One of us goeth hence this day; are ye ready to walk i' the fearsome +valley?' + +"I have heard my mother speak these words over often, and they were, +as I said, like an old song in Balmore and Glasgow. He set me down, and +then walked away, waving the frightened people back; and there was none +of them that slept that night. + +"Now comes the stranger thing. In the morning The Man was found dead in +my little fort, at the foot of the wall. Henceforth the spot was sacred, +and I am sure it stands there as when last I saw it twelve years ago, +but worn away by rains and winds. + +"Again and again my mother said over to me his words, 'Ye that build +forts here shall lie in darksome prisons'; for always she had fear of +the soldier's life, and she was moved by signs and dreams. + +"But this is how the thing came to shape my life: + +"About a year after The Man died, there came to my grandfather's house, +my mother and I being present, a gentleman, by name Sir John Godric, +and he would have my mother tell the whole story of The Man. That being +done, he said that The Man was his brother, who had been bad and wild in +youth, a soldier; but repenting had gone as far the other way, giving up +place and property, and cutting off from all his kin. + +"This gentleman took much notice of me and said that he should be glad +to see more of me. And so he did, for in the years that followed he +would visit at our home in Glasgow when I was at school, or at Balmore +until my grandfather died. + +"My father liked Sir John greatly, and they grew exceedingly friendly, +walking forth in the streets of Glasgow, Sir John's hand upon my +father's arm. One day they came to the school in High Street, where I +learned Latin and other accomplishments, together with fencing from an +excellent master, Sergeant Dowie of the One Hundredth Foot. They +found me with my regiment at drill; for I had got full thirty of my +school-fellows under arms, and spent all leisure hours in mustering, +marching, and drum-beating, and practising all manner of discipline and +evolution which I had been taught by my grandfather and Sergeant Dowie. + +"Those were the days soon after which came Dettingen and Fontenoy and +Charles Edward the Pretender, and the ardour of arms ran high. Sir John +was a follower of the Stuarts, and this was the one point at which he +and my father paused in their good friendship. When Sir John saw me with +my thirty lads marching in fine order, all fired with the little sport +of battle--for to me it was all real, and our sham fights often saw +broken heads and bruised shoulders--he stamped his cane upon the ground, +and said in a big voice, 'Well done! well done! For that you shall have +a hundred pounds next birthday, and as fine a suit of scarlet as you +please, and a sword from London too.' + +"Then he came to me and caught me by both shoulders. 'But alack, alack! +there needs some blood and flesh here, Robert Moray,' said he. 'You have +more heart than muscle.' + +"This was true. I had ever been more eager than my strength--thank +God, that day is gone!--and sometimes, after Latin and the drill of +my Lightfoots, as I called them, I could have cried for weakness and +weariness, had I been a girl and not a proud lad. And Sir John kept his +word, liking me better from that day forth, and coming now and again to +see me at the school,--though he was much abroad in France--giving many +a pound to my Lightfoots, who were no worse soldiers for that. His eye +ran us over sharply, and his head nodded, as we marched past him; and +once I heard him say, 'If they had had but ten years each on their +heads, my Prince!' + +"About this time my father died--that is, when I was fourteen years old. +Sir John became one of the executors with my mother, and at my wish, a +year afterwards, I was sent to the university, where at least fifteen +of my Lightfoots went also; and there I formed a new battalion of them, +though we were watched at first, and even held in suspicion, because of +the known friendship of Sir John for me; and he himself had twice been +under arrest for his friendship to the Stuart cause. That he helped +Prince Charles was clear: his estates were mortgaged to the hilt. + +"He died suddenly on that day of January when Culloden was fought, +before he knew of the defeat of the Prince. I was with him at the last. +After some most serious business, which I shall come to by-and-bye, +'Robert,' said he, 'I wish thou hadst been with my Prince. When thou +becomest a soldier, fight where thou hast heart to fight; but if thou +hast conscience for it, let it be with a Stuart. I thought to leave thee +a good moiety of my fortune, Robert, but little that's free is left for +giving. Yet thou hast something from thy father, and down in Virginia, +where my friend Dinwiddie is Governor, there's a plantation for thee, +and a purse of gold, which was for me in case I should have cause to +flee this troubled realm. But I need it not; I go for refuge to my +Father's house. The little vineyard and the purse of gold are for thee, +Robert. If thou thinkest well of it, leave this sick land for that new +one. Build thyself a name in that great young country, wear thy sword +honourably and bravely, use thy gifts in council and debate--for +Dinwiddie will be thy friend--and think of me as one who would have +been a father to thee if he could. Give thy good mother my loving +farewells.... Forget not to wear my sword--it has come from the first +King Charles himself, Robert.' + +"After which he raised himself upon his elbow and said, 'Life--life, is +it so hard to untie the knot?' Then a twinge of agony crossed over his +face, and afterwards came a great clearing and peace, and he was gone. + +"King George's soldiers entered with a warrant for him even as he died, +and the same moment dropped their hands upon my shoulder. I was kept in +durance for many days, and was not even at the funeral of my benefactor; +but through the efforts of the provost of the university and some good +friends who could vouch for my loyal principles, I was released. But +my pride had got a setback, and I listened with patience to my mother's +prayers that I would not join the King's men. With the anger of a youth, +I now blamed his Majesty for the acts of Sir John Godric's enemies. And +though I was a good soldier of the King at heart, I would not serve him +henceforth. We threshed matters back and forth, and presently it was +thought I should sail to Virginia to take over my estate. My mother +urged it, too, for she thought if I were weaned from my old comrades, +military fame would no longer charm. So she urged me, and go I did, with +a commission from some merchants of Glasgow, to give my visit to the +colony more weight. + +"It was great pain to leave my mother, but she bore the parting bravely, +and away I set in a good ship. Arrived in Virginia, I was treated with +great courtesy in Williamsburg, and the Governor gave me welcome to +his home for the sake of his old friend; and yet a little for my own, I +think, for we were of one temper, though he was old and I young. We were +both full of impulse and proud, and given to daring hard things, and my +military spirit suited him. + +"In Virginia I spent a gay and busy year, and came off very well with +the rough but gentlemanly cavaliers, who rode through the wide, sandy +streets of the capital on excellent horses, or in English coaches, with +a rusty sort of show and splendour, but always with great gallantry. The +freedom of the life charmed me, and with rumours of war with the French +there seemed enough to do, whether with the sword or in the House of +Burgesses, where Governor Dinwiddie said his say with more force than +complaisance. So taken was I with the life--my first excursion into the +wide working world--that I delayed my going back to Glasgow, the more so +that some matters touching my property called for action by the House of +Burgesses, and I had to drive the affair to the end. Sir John had done +better by me than he thought, and I thanked him over and over again for +his good gifts. + +"Presently I got a letter from my father's old partner to say that my +dear mother was ill. I got back to Glasgow only in time--but how glad I +was of that!--to hear her last words. When my mother was gone I turned +towards Virginia with longing, for I could not so soon go against her +wishes and join the King's army on the Continent, and less desire had +I to be a Glasgow merchant. Gentlemen merchants had better times in +Virginia. So there was a winding-up of the estate, not greatly to my +pleasure; for it was found that by unwise ventures my father's partner +had perilled the whole, and lost part of the property. But as it was, +I had a competence and several houses in Glasgow, and I set forth to +Virginia with a goodly sum of money and a shipload of merchandise, which +I should sell to merchants, if it chanced I should become a planter +only. I was warmly welcomed by old friends and by the Governor and his +family, and I soon set up an establishment of my own in Williamsburg, +joining with a merchant there in business, while my land was worked by a +neighbouring planter. + +"Those were hearty days, wherein I made little money, but had much +pleasure in the giving and taking of civilities, in throwing my doors +open to acquaintances, and with my young friend, Mr. Washington, laying +the foundation for a Virginian army, by drill and yearly duty in camp, +with occasional excursions against the Indians. I saw very well what the +end of our troubles with the French would be, and I waited for the time +when I should put to keen use the sword Sir John Godric had given me. +Life beat high then, for I was in the first flush of manhood, and the +spirit of a rich new land was waking in us all, while in our vanity we +held to and cherished forms and customs that one would have thought to +see left behind in London streets and drawing-rooms. These things, these +functions in a small place, kept us a little vain and proud, but, I also +hope it gave us some sense of civic duty. + +"And now I come to that which will, comrade of my heart, bring home to +your understanding what lies behind the charges against me: + +"Trouble came between Canada and Virginia. Major Washington, one Captain +Mackaye, and myself marched out to the Great Meadows, where at Fort +Necessity we surrendered, after hard fighting, to a force three times +our number. I, with one Captain Van Braam, became a hostage. Monsieur +Coulon Villiers, the French commander, gave his bond that we should be +delivered up when an officer and two cadets, who were prisoners with us, +should be sent on. It was a choice between Mr. Mackaye of the Regulars +and Mr. Washington, or Mr. Van Braam and myself. I thought of what would +be best for the country; and besides, Monsieur Coulon Villiers pitched +upon my name at once, and held to it. So I gave up my sword to Charles +Bedford, my lieutenant, with more regret than I can tell, for it was +sheathed in memories, charging him to keep it safe--that he would use it +worthily I knew. And so, sorrowfully bidding my friends good-by, away we +went upon the sorry trail of captivity, arriving in due time at Fort +Du Quesne, at the junction of the Ohio and the Monongahela, where I +was courteously treated. There I bettered my French and made the +acquaintance of some ladies from Quebec city, who took pains to help me +with their language. + +"Now, there was one lady to whom I talked with some freedom of my early +life and of Sir John Godric. She was interested in all, but when I named +Sir John she became at once much impressed, and I told her of his +great attachment to Prince Charles. More than once she returned to the +subject, begging me to tell her more; and so I did, still, however, +saying nothing of certain papers Sir John had placed in my care. A few +weeks after the first occasion of my speaking, there was a new arrival +at the fort. It was--can you guess?--Monsieur Doltaire. The night after +he came he visited me in my quarters, and after courteous passages, of +which I need not speak, he suddenly said, 'You have the papers of Sir +John Godric--those bearing on Prince Charles's invasion of England?' + +"I was stunned by the question, for I could not guess his drift or +purpose, though presently it dawned upon me.--Among the papers were many +letters from a great lady in France, a growing rival with La Pompadour +in the counsels and favour of the King. She it was who had a secret +passion for Prince Charles, and these letters to Sir John, who had been +with the Pretender at Versailles, must prove her ruin if produced. I had +promised Sir John most solemnly that no one should ever have them while +I lived, except the great lady herself, and that I would give them to +her some time, or destroy them. It was Doltaire's mission to get these +letters, and he had projected a visit to Williamsburg to see me, having +just arrived in Canada, after a search for me in Scotland, when word +came from the lady gossip at Fort Du Quesne (with whom he had been on +most familiar terms in Quebec) that I was there. + +"When I said I had the papers, he asked me lightly for 'those +compromising letters,' remarking that a good price would be paid, and +adding my liberty as a pleasant gift. I instantly refused, and told him +I would not be the weapon of La Pompadour against her rival. With cool +persistence he begged me to think again, for much depended on my answer. + +"'See, monsieur le capitaine,' said he, 'this little affair at Fort +Necessity, at which you became a hostage, shall or shall not be a war +between England and France as you shall dispose.' When I asked him how +that was, he said, 'First, will you swear that you will not, to aid +yourself, disclose what I tell you? You can see that matters will be +where they were an hour ago in any case.' + +"I agreed, for I could act even if I might not speak. So I gave my word. +Then he told me that if those letters were not put into his hands, La +Pompadour would be enraged, and fretful and hesitating now, would join +Austria against England, since in this provincial war was convenient +cue for battle. If I gave the letters up, she would not stir, and the +disputed territory between us should be by articles conceded by the +French. + +"I thought much and long, during which he sat smoking and humming, and +seeming to care little how my answer went. At last I turned on him, and +told him I would not give up the letters, and if a war must hang on a +whim of malice, then, by God's help, the rightness of our cause would be +our strong weapon to bring France to her knees. + +"'That is your final answer?' asked he, rising, fingering his lace, and +viewing himself in a looking-glass upon the wall. + +"'I will not change it now or ever,' answered I. + +"'Ever is a long time,' retorted he, as one might speak to a wilful +child. 'You shall have time to think and space for reverie. For if you +do not grant this trifle you shall no more see your dear Virginia; and +when the time is ripe you shall go forth to a better land, as the Grande +Marquise shall give you carriage.' + +"'The Articles of Capitulation!' I broke out protestingly. + +"He waved his fingers at me. 'Ah, that,' he rejoined--'that is a matter +for conning. You are a hostage. Well, we need not take any wastrel or +nobody the English offer in exchange for you. Indeed, why should we be +content with less than a royal duke? For you are worth more to us just +now than any prince we have; at least so says the Grande Marquise. Is +your mind quite firm to refuse?' he added, nodding his head in a bored +sort of way. + +"'Entirely,' said I. 'I will not part with those letters.' + +"'But think once again,' he urged; 'the gain of territory to Virginia, +the peace between our countries!' + +"'Folly!' returned I. 'I know well you overstate the case. You turn +a small intrigue into a game of nations. Yours is a schoolboy's tale, +Monsieur Doltaire.' + +"'You are something of an ass,' he mused, and took a pinch of snuff. + +"'And you--you have no name,' retorted I. + +"I did not know, when I spoke, how this might strike home in two ways or +I should not have said it. I had not meant, of course, that he was King +Louis's illegitimate son. + +"'There is some truth in that,' he replied patiently, though a red spot +flamed high on his cheeks. 'But some men need no christening for their +distinction, and others win their names with proper weapons. I am not +here to quarrel with you. I am acting in a large affair, not in a small +intrigue; a century of fate may hang on this. Come with me,' he added. +'You doubt my power, maybe.' + +"He opened the door of the cell, and I followed him out, past the +storehouse and the officers' apartments, to the drawbridge. Standing in +the shadow by the gate, he took keys from his pocket. 'Here,' said he, +'are what will set you free. This fort is all mine: I act for France. +Will you care to free yourself? You shall have escort to your own +people. You see I am most serious,' he added, laughing lightly. 'It is +not my way to sweat or worry. You and I hold war and peace in our hands. +Which shall it be? In this trouble France or England will be mangled. +It tires one to think of it when life can be so easy. Now, for the last +time,' he urged, holding out the keys. 'Your word of honour that the +letters shall be mine--eh?' + +"'Never,' I concluded. 'England and France are in greater hands than +yours or mine. The God of battles still stands beside the balances.' + +"He shrugged a shoulder. 'Oh well,' said he, 'that ends it. It will be +interesting to watch the way of the God of battles. Meanwhile you travel +to Quebec. Remember that however free you may appear you will have +watchers, that when you seem safe you will be in most danger, that in +the end we will have those letters or your life; that meanwhile the war +will go on, that you shall have no share in it, and that the whole power +of England will not be enough to set her hostage free. That is all there +is to say, I think.... Will you have a glass of wine with me?' he added +courteously, waving a hand towards the commander's quarters. + +"I assented, for why, thought I, should there be a personal quarrel +between us? We talked on many things for an hour or more, and his +I found the keenest mind that ever I have met. There was in him a +dispassionateness, a breadth, which seemed most strange in a trifler of +the Court, in an exquisite--for such he was. I sometimes think that his +elegance and flippancy were deliberate, lest he should be taking himself +or life too seriously. His intelligence charmed me, held me, and, later, +as we travelled up to Quebec, I found my journey one long feast of +interest. He was never dull, and his cynicism had an admirable grace and +cordiality. A born intriguer, he still was above intrigue, justifying it +on the basis that life was all sport. In logic a leveller, praising the +moles, as he called them, the champion of the peasant, the apologist for +the bourgeois--who always, he said, had civic virtues--he nevertheless +held that what was was best, that it could not be altered, and that it +was all interesting. 'I never repent,' he said to me one day. 'I have +done after my nature, in the sway and impulse of our time, and as the +King has said, After us the deluge. What a pity it is we shall see +neither the flood nor the ark! And so, when all is done, we shall miss +the most interesting thing of all: ourselves dead and the gap and ruin +we leave behind us. By that, from my standpoint,' he would add, 'life is +a failure as a spectacle.' + +"Talking in this fashion and in a hundred other ways, we came to Quebec. +And you know in general what happened. I met your honoured father, whose +life I had saved on the Ohio some years before, and he worked for my +comfort in my bondage. You know how exchange after exchange was refused, +and that for near three years I have been here, fretting my soul out, +eager to be fighting in our cause, yet tied hand and foot, wasting time +and losing heart, idle in an enemy's country. As Doltaire said, war was +declared, but not till he had made here in Quebec last efforts to get +those letters. I do not complain so bitterly of these lost years, since +they have brought me the best gift of my life, your love and friendship; +but my enemies here, commanded from France, have bided their time, +till an accident has given them a cue to dispose of me without openly +breaking the accepted law of nations. They could not decently hang a +hostage, for whom they had signed articles; but they have got their +chance, as they think, to try me for a spy. + +"Here is the case. When I found that they were determined and had ever +determined to violate their articles, that they never intended to set +me free, I felt absolved from my duty as an officer on parole, and I +therefore secretly sent to Mr. Washington in Virginia a plan of Fort Du +Quesne and one of Quebec. I knew that I was risking my life by so doing, +but that did not deter me. By my promise to Doltaire, I could not tell +of the matter between us, and whatever he has done in other ways, he has +preserved my life; for it would have been easy to have me dropped off by +a stray bullet, or to have accidentally drowned me in the St. Lawrence. +I believe this matter of the letters to be between myself and him and +Bigot--and perhaps not even Bigot, though he must know that La Pompadour +has some peculiar reason for interesting herself in a poor captain +of provincials. You now can see another motive for the duel which was +brought about between your brother and myself. + +"My plans and letters were given by Mr. Washington to General Braddock, +and the sequel you know: they have fallen into the hands of my enemies, +copies have gone to France, and I am to be tried for my life. Preserving +faith with my enemy Doltaire, I can not plead the real cause of my long +detention; I can only urge that they had not kept to their articles, and +that I, therefore, was free from the obligations of parole. I am sure +they have no intention of giving me the benefit of any doubt. My real +hope lies in escape and the intervention of England, though my country, +alas! has not concerned herself about me, as if indeed she resented the +non-delivery of those letters to Doltaire, since they were addressed to +one she looked on as a traitor, and held by one whom she had unjustly +put under suspicion. + +"So, dear Alixe, from that little fort on the banks of the river Kelvin +have come these strange twistings of my life, and I can date this dismal +fortune of a dungeon from that day The Man made his prophecy from the +wall of my mud fort. + +"Whatever comes now, if you have this record, you will know the private +history of my life.... I have told all, with unpractised tongue, but +with a wish to be understood, and to set forth a story of which the +letter should be as true as the spirit. Friend beyond all price to me, +some day this tale will reach your hands, and I ask you to house it in +your heart, and, whatever comes, let it be for my remembrance. God be +with you, and farewell!" + + + + +VII. "QUOTH LITTLE GARAINE" + + +I have given the whole story here as though it had been thought out +and written that Sunday afternoon which brought me good news of Juste +Duvarney. But it was not so. I did not choose to break the run of the +tale to tell of other things and of the passing of time. The making +took me many, many weeks, and in all that time I had seen no face but +Gabord's, and heard no voice but his, when he came twice a day to +bring me bread and water. He would answer no questions concerning Juste +Duvarney, or Voban, or Monsieur Doltaire, nor tell me anything of what +was forward in the town. He had had his orders precise enough, he said. +At the end of my hints and turnings and approaches, stretching himself +up, and turning the corn about with his foot (but not crushing it, for +he saw that I prized the poor little comrades), he would say: + +"Snug, snug, quiet and warm! The cosiest nest in the world--aho!" + +There was no coaxing him, and at last I desisted. I had no light. With +resolution I set my mind to see in spite of the dark, and at the end of +a month I was able to note the outlines of my dungeon; nay, more, I was +able to see my field of corn; and at last what joy I had when, hearing +a little rustle near me, I looked closely and beheld a mouse running +across the floor! I straightway began to scatter crumbs of bread, that +it might, perhaps, come near me--as at last it did. + +I have not spoken at all of my wounds, though they gave me many painful +hours, and I had no attendance but my own and Gabord's. The wound in my +side was long healing, for it was more easily disturbed as I turned in +my sleep, while I could ease my arm at all times, and it came on slowly. +My sufferings drew on my flesh, my blood, and my spirits, and to this +was added that disease inaction, the corrosion of solitude, and the +fever of suspense and uncertainty as to Alixe and Juste Duvarney. Every +hour, every moment that I had ever passed in Alixe's presence, with many +little incidents and scenes in which we shared, passed before me--vivid +and cherished pictures of the mind. One of those incidents I will set +down here. + +A year or so before, soon after Juste Duvarney came from Montreal, he +brought in one day from hunting a young live hawk, and put it in a cage. +When I came the next morning, Alixe met me, and asked me to see what +he had brought. There, beside the kitchen door, overhung with +morning-glories and flanked by hollyhocks, was a large green cage, and +in it the gray-brown hawk. "Poor thing, poor prisoned thing!" she said. +"Look how strange and hunted it seems! See how its feathers stir! And +those flashing, watchful eyes, they seem to read through you, and to +say, 'Who are you? What do you want with me? Your world is not my world; +your air is not my air; your homes are holes, and mine hangs high up +between you and God. Who are you? Why do you pen me? You have shut me in +that I may not travel, not even die out in the open world. All the world +is mine; yours is only a stolen field. Who are you? What do you want +with me? There is a fire within my head, it eats to my eyes, and I burn +away. What do you want with me?'" + +She did not speak these words all at once as I have written them here, +but little by little, as we stood there beside the cage. Yet, as she +talked with me, her mind was on the bird, her fingers running up and +down the cage bars soothingly, her voice now and again interjecting soft +reflections and exclamations. + +"Shall I set it free?" I asked her. + +She turned upon me and replied, "Ah, monsieur, I hoped you +would--without my asking. You are a prisoner too," she added; "one +captive should feel for another." + +"And the freeman for both," I answered meaningly, as I softly opened the +cage. + +She did not drop her eyes, but raised them shining honestly and frankly +to mine, and said, "I wished you to think that." + +Opening the cage door wide, I called the little captive to freedom. +But while we stood close by it would not stir, and the look in its eyes +became wilder. I moved away, and Alixe followed me. Standing beside +an old well we waited and watched. Presently the hawk dropped from the +perch, hopped to the door, then with a wild spring was gone, up, up, up, +and was away over the maple woods beyond, lost in the sun and the good +air. + +I know not quite why I dwell on this scene, save that it throws some +little light upon her nature, and shows how simple and yet deep she was +in soul, and what was the fashion of our friendship. But I can perhaps +give a deeper insight of her character if I here set down the substance +of a letter written about that time, which came into my possession long +afterwards. It was her custom to write her letters first in a book, and +afterwards to copy them for posting. This she did that they might be an +impulse to her friendships and a record of her feelings. + + +ALIXE DUVARNEY TO LUCIE LOTBINIERE. + +QUEBEC CITY, the 10th of May, 1756. + +MY DEAR LUCIE: I wish I knew how to tell you all I have been thinking +since we parted at the door of the Ursulines a year ago. Then we were +going to meet again in a few weeks, and now twelve months have gone! How +have I spent them? Not wickedly, I hope, and yet sometimes I wonder if +Mere St. George would quite approve of me; for I have such wild spirits +now and then, and I shout and sing in the woods and along the river as +if I were a mad youngster home from school. But indeed, that is the +way I feel at times, though again I am so quiet that I am frightened of +myself. I am a hawk to-day and a mouse to-morrow, and fond of pleasure +all the time. Ah, what good days I have had with Juste! You remember him +before he went to Montreal? He is gay, full of fancies, as brave as can +be, and plays and sings well, but he is very hot-headed, and likes to +play the tyrant. We have some bad encounters now and then. But we +love each other better for it; he respects me, and he does not become +spoiled, as you will see when you come to us. + +I have had no society yet. My mother thinks seventeen years too few +to warrant my going into the gay world. I wonder will my wings be any +stronger, will there be less danger of scorching them at twenty-six? +Years do not make us wise; one may be as wise at twenty as at fifty. And +they do not save us from the scorching. I know more than they guess how +cruel the world may be to the innocent as to--the other. One can not +live within sight of the Intendant's palace and the Chateau St. Louis +without learning many things; and, for myself, though I hunger for all +the joys of life, I do not fret because my mother holds me back from the +gay doings in the town. I have my long walks, my fishing and rowing, and +sometimes hunting, with Juste and my sweet sister Georgette, my drawing, +painting, music, and needlework, and my housework. + +Yet I am not entirely happy, I do not know quite why. Do you ever feel +as if there were some sorrow far back in you, which now and then rushed +in and flooded your spirits, and then drew back, and you could not give +it a name? Well, that is the way with me. Yesterday, as I stood in the +kitchen beside our old cook Jovin, she said a kind word to me, and my +eyes filled, and I ran up to my room, and burst into tears as I lay upon +my bed. I could not help it. I thought at first it was because of the +poor hawk that Captain Moray and I set free yesterday morning; but it +could not have been that, for it was FREE when I cried, you see. You +know, of course, that he saved my father's life, some years ago? That is +one reason why he has been used so well in Quebec, for otherwise no one +would have lessened the rigours of his captivity. But there are tales +that he is too curious about our government and state, and so he may be +kept close jailed, though he only came here as a hostage. He is much +at our home, and sometimes walks with Juste and me and Georgette, and +accompanies my mother in the streets. This is not to the liking of the +Intendant, who loves not my father because he is such a friend of our +cousin the Governor. If their lives and characters be anything to the +point the Governor must be in the right. + +In truth, things are in a sad way here, for there is robbery on every +hand, and who can tell what the end may be? Perhaps that we go to +the English after all. Monsieur Doltaire--you do not know him, I +think--says, "If the English eat us, as they swear they will, they'll +die of megrims, our affairs are so indigestible." At another time he +said, "Better to be English than to be damned." And when some one asked +him what he meant, he said, "Is it not read from the altar, 'Cursed +is he that putteth his trust in man'? The English trust nobody, and we +trust the English." That was aimed at Captain Moray, who was present, +and I felt it a cruel thing for him to say; but Captain Moray, smiling +at the ladies, said, "Better to be French and damned than not to be +French at all." And this pleased Monsieur Doltaire, who does not love +him. I know not why, but there are vague whispers that he is acting +against the Englishman for causes best known at Versailles, which have +nothing to do with our affairs here. I do believe that Monsieur Doltaire +would rather hear a clever thing than get ten thousand francs. At such +times his face lights up, he is at once on his mettle, his eyes look +almost fiendishly beautiful. He is a handsome man, but he is wicked, and +I do not think he has one little sense of morals. I do not suppose he +would stab a man in the back, or remove his neighbour's landmark in +the night, though he'd rob him of it in open daylight, and call it +"enterprise"--a usual word with him. + +He is a favourite with Madame Cournal, who influences Bigot most, and +one day we may see the boon companions at each other's throats; and if +either falls, I hope it maybe Bigot, for Monsieur Doltaire is, at least, +no robber. Indeed, he is kind to the poor in a disdainful sort of way. +He gives to them and scoffs at them at the same moment; a bad man, with +just enough natural kindness to make him dangerous. I have not seen much +of the world, but some things we know by instinct; we feel them; and +I often wonder if that is not the way we know everything in the end. +Sometimes when I take my long walks, or go and sit beside the Falls of +Montmorenci, looking out to the great city on the Heights, to dear Isle +Orleans, where we have our pretty villa (we are to go there next week +for three months--happy summer months), up at the blue sky and into the +deep woods, I have strange feelings, which afterwards become thoughts; +and sometimes they fly away like butterflies, but oftener they stay with +me, and I give them a little garden to roam in--you can guess where. Now +and then I call them out of the garden and make them speak, and then I +set down what they say in my journal; but I think they like their garden +best. You remember the song we used to sing at school? + + "'Where do the stars grow, little Garaine? + The garden of moons, is it far away? + The orchard of suns, my little Garaine, + Will you take us there some day?' + + "'If you shut your eyes,' quoth little Garaine, + 'I will show you the way to go + To the orchard of suns, and the garden of moons, + And the field where the stars do grow. + + "'But you must speak soft,' quoth little Garaine, + 'And still must your footsteps be, + For a great bear prowls in the field of the stars, + And the moons they have men to see. + + "'And the suns have the Children of Signs to guard, + And they have no pity at all-- + You must not stumble, you must not speak, + When you come to the orchard wall. + + "'The gates are locked,' quoth little Garaine, + 'But the way I am going to tell? + The key of your heart it will open them all: + And there's where the darlings dwell!'" + +You may not care to read these lines again, but it helps to show what I +mean: that everything is in the heart, and that nothing is at all if we +do not feel it. Sometimes I have spoken of these things to my mother, +but she does not see as I do. I dare not tell my father all I think, +and Juste is so much a creature of moods that I am never sure whether he +will be sensible and kind, or scoff. One can not bear to be laughed at. +And as for my sister, she never thinks; she only lives; and she looks +it--looks beautiful. But there, dear Lucie, I must not tire you with my +childish philosophy, though I feel no longer a child. You would not know +your friend. I can not tell what has come over me. Voila! + +To-morrow we go to visit General Montcalm, who has just arrived in the +colony. Bigot and his gay set are not likely to be there. My mother +insists that I shall never darken the doors of the Intendant's palace. + +Do you still hold to your former purpose of keeping a daily journal? If +so, I beg you to copy into it this epistle and your answer; and when I +go up to your dear manor house at Beauce next summer, we will read over +our letters and other things set down, and gossip of the changes come +since we met last. Do sketch the old place for me (as will I our new +villa on dear Isle Orleans), and make interest with the good cure to +bring it to me with your letter, since there are no posts, no postmen, +yet between here and Beauce. The cure most kindly bears this to you, and +says he will gladly be our messenger. Yesterday he said to me, shaking +his head in a whimsical way, "But no treason, mademoiselle, and no +heresy or schism." I am not quite sure what he meant. I dare hardly +think he had Captain Moray in his mind. I would not for the world so +lessen my good opinion of him as to think him suspicious of me when no +other dare; and so I put his words down to chance hitting, to a humorous +fancy. + +Be sure, dear Lucie, I shall not love you less for giving me a prompt +answer. Tell me of what you are thinking and what doing. If Juste can be +spared from the Governor's establishment, may I bring him with me next +summer? He is a difficult, sparkling sort of fellow, but you are so +steady-tempered, so full of tact, getting your own way so quietly and +cleverly, that I am sure I should find plenty of straw for the bricks of +my house of hope, my castle in Spain! + +Do not give too much of my share of thy heart elsewhere, and continue to +think me, my dear Lucie, thy friend, loyal and loving, + +ALIXE DUVARNEY. + +P.S.--Since the above was written we have visited the General. Both +Monsieur Doltaire and Captain Moray were there, but neither took much +note of me--Monsieur Doltaire not at all. Those two either hate each +other lovingly, or love hatefully, I know not which, they are so biting, +yet so friendly to each other's cleverness, though their style of +word-play is so different: Monsieur Doltaire's like a bodkin-point, +Captain Moray's like a musket-stock a-clubbing. Be not surprised to +see the British at our gates any day. Though we shall beat them back, I +shall feel no less easy because I have a friend in the enemy's camp. You +may guess who. Do not smile. He is old enough to be my father. He said +so himself six months ago. + +ALIXE. + + + + +VIII. AS VAIN AS ABSALOM + + +Gabord, coming in to me one day after I had lain down to sleep, said, +"See, m'sieu' the dormouse, 'tis holiday-eve; the King's sport comes +to-morrow." + +I sat up in bed with a start, for I knew not but that my death had been +decided on without trial; and yet on second thought I was sure this +could not be, for every rule of military conduct was against it. + +"Whose holiday?" asked I after a moment; "and what is King's sport?" + +"You're to play bear in the streets to-morrow--which is sport for the +King," he retorted; "we lead you by a rope, and you dance the quickstep +to please our ladies all the way to the Chateau, where they bring the +bear to drum-head." + +"Who sits behind the drum?" I questioned. + +"The Marquis de Vaudreuil," he replied, "the Intendant, Master Devil +Doltaire, and the little men." By these last he meant officers of the +colonial soldiery. + +So then, at last I was to be tried, to be dealt with definitely on the +abominable charge. I should at least again see light and breathe fresh +air, and feel about me the stir of the world. For a long year I had +heard no voice but my own and Gabord's, had had no friends but my pale +blades of corn and a timid mouse, day after day no light at all; and now +winter was at hand again, and without fire and with poor food my body +was chilled and starved. I had had no news of the world, nor of her who +was dear to me, nor of Juste Duvarney save that he lived, nor of our +cause. But succeeding the thrill of delight I had at thought of seeing +the open world again there came a feeling of lassitude, of indifference; +I shrank from the jar of activity. But presently I got upon my feet, and +with a little air of drollery straightened out my clothes and flicked a +handkerchief across my gaiters. Then I twisted my head over my shoulder +as if I were noting the shape of my back and the set of my clothes in a +mirror, and thrust a leg out in the manner of an exquisite. I had need +to do some mocking thing at the moment, or I should have given way to +tears like a woman, so suddenly weak had I become. + +Gabord burst out laughing. + +An idea came to me. "I must be fine to-morrow," said I. "I must not +shame my jailer." I rubbed my beard--I had none when I came into this +dungeon first. + +"Aho!" said he, his eyes wheeling. + +I knew he understood me. I did not speak, but went on running my fingers +through my beard. + +"As vain as Absalom," he added. "Do you think they'll hang you by the +hair?" + +"I'd have it off," said I, "to be clean for the sacrifice." + +"You had Voban before," he rejoined; "we know what happened--a dainty +bit of a letter all rose-lily scented, and comfits for the soldier. +The pretty wren perches now in the Governor's house--a-cousining, +a-cousining. Think you it is that she may get a glimpse of m'sieu' the +dormouse as he comes to trial? But 'tis no business o' mine; and if I +bring my prisoner up when called for, there's duty done!" + +I saw the friendly spirit in the words. + +"Voban," urged I, "Voban may come to me?" + +"The Intendant said no, but the Governor yes," was the reply; "and that +M'sieu' Doltaire is not yet come back from Montreal, so he had no voice. +They look for him here to-morrow." + +"Voban may come?" I asked again. + +"At daybreak Voban--aho!" he continued. "There's milk and honey +to-morrow," he added, and then, without a word, he drew forth from his +coat, and hurriedly thrust into my hands, a piece of meat and a small +flask of wine, and, swinging round like a schoolboy afraid of being +caught in a misdemeanor, he passed through the door and the bolts +clanged after him. He left the torch behind him, stuck in the cleft of +the wall. + +I sat down on my couch, and for a moment gazed almost vacantly at the +meat and wine in my hands. I had not touched either for a year, and now +I could see that my fingers, as they closed on the food nervously, were +thin and bloodless, and I realized that my clothes hung loose upon my +person. Here were light, meat, and wine, and there was a piece of bread +on the board covering my water-jar. Luxury was spread before me, +but although I had eaten little all day I was not hungry. Presently, +however, I took the knife which I had hidden a year before, and cut +pieces of the meat and laid them by the bread. Then I drew the cork from +the bottle of wine, and, lifting it towards that face which was always +visible to my soul, I drank--drank--drank! + +The rich liquor swam through my veins like glorious fire. It wakened my +brain and nerved my body. The old spring of life came back. This wine +had come from the hands of Alixe--from the Governor's store, maybe; for +never could Gabord have got such stuff. I ate heartily of the rich beef +and bread with a new-made appetite, and drank the rest of the wine. When +I had eaten and drunk the last, I sat and looked at the glowing +torch, and felt a sort of comfort creep through me. Then there came +a delightful thought. Months ago I had put away one last pipeful of +tobacco, to save it till some day when I should need it most. I got it, +and no man can guess how lovingly I held it to a flying flame of the +torch, saw it light, and blew out the first whiff of smoke into the +sombre air; for November was again piercing this underground house of +mine, another winter was at hand. I sat and smoked, and--can you not +guess my thoughts? For have you all not the same hearts, being British +born and bred? When I had taken the last whiff, I wrapped myself in my +cloak and went to sleep. But twice or thrice during the night I waked to +see the torch still shining, and caught the fragrance of consuming pine, +and minded not at all the smoke the burning made. + + + + +IX. A LITTLE CONCERNING THE CHEVALIER DE LA DARANTE + + +I was wakened completely by the shooting of bolts. With the opening of +the door I saw the figures of Gabord and Voban. My little friend the +mouse saw them also, and scampered from the bread it had been eating, +away among the corn, through which my footsteps had now made two +rectangular paths, not disregarded by Gabord, who solicitously pulled +Voban into the narrow track, that he should not trespass on my harvest. + +I rose, showed no particular delight at seeing Voban, but greeted him +easily--though my heart was bursting to ask him of Alixe--and arranged +my clothes. Presently Gabord said, "Stools for barber," and, wheeling, +he left the dungeon. He was gone only an instant, but long enough for +Voban to thrust a letter into my hand, which I ran into the lining of my +waistcoat as I whispered, "Her brother--he is well?" + +"Well, and he have go to France," he answered. "She make me say, look to +the round window in the Chateau front." + +We spoke in English--which, as I have said, Voban understood +imperfectly. There was nothing more said, and if Gabord, when he +returned, suspected, he showed no sign, but put down two stools, seating +himself on one, as I seated myself on the other for Voban's handiwork. +Presently a soldier appeared with a bowl of coffee. Gabord rose, took it +from him, waved him away, and handed it to me. Never did coffee taste +so sweet, and I sipped and sipped till Voban had ended his work with me. +Then I drained the last drop and stood up. He handed me a mirror, +and Gabord, fetching a fine white handkerchief from his pocket, said, +"Here's for your tears, when they drum you to heaven, dickey-bird." + +But when I saw my face in the mirror, I confess I was startled. My hair, +which had been black, was plentifully sprinkled with white, my face +was intensely pale and thin, and the eyes were sunk in dark hollows. I +should not have recognized myself. But I laughed as I handed back the +glass, and said, "All flesh is grass, but a dungeon's no good meadow." + +"'Tis for the dry chaff," Gabord answered, "not for young grass--aho!" + +He rose and made ready to leave, Voban with him. "The commissariat camps +here in an hour or so," he said, with a ripe chuckle. + +It was clear the new state of affairs was more to his mind than the +long year's rigour and silence. It seemed to me strange then, and it has +seemed so ever since, that during all that time I never was visited by +Doltaire but once, and of that event I am going to write briefly here. + +It was about two months before this particular morning that he came, +greeting me courteously enough. + +"Close quarters here," said he, looking round as if the place were new +to him and smiling to himself. + +"Not so close as we all come to one day," said I. + +"Dismal comparison!" he rejoined; "you've lost your spirits." + +"Not so," I retorted; "nothing but my liberty." + +"You know the way to find it quickly," he suggested. + +"The letters for La Pompadour?" I asked. + +"A dead man's waste papers," responded he; "of no use to him or you, or +any one save the Grande Marquise." + +"Valuable to me," said I. + +"None but the Grande Marquise and the writer would give you a penny for +them!" + +"Why should I not be my own merchant?" + +"You can--to me. If not to me, to no one. You had your chance long ago, +and you refused it. You must admit I dealt fairly with you. I did not +move till you had set your own trap and fallen into it. Now, if you do +not give me the letters--well, you will give them to none else in this +world. It has been a fair game, and I am winning now. I've only used +means which one gentleman might use with another. Had you been a lesser +man I should have had you spitted long ago. You understand?" + +"Perfectly. But since we have played so long, do you think I'll give you +the stakes now--before the end?" + +"It would be wiser," he answered thoughtfully. + +"I have a nation behind me," urged I. + +"It has left you in a hole here to rot." + +"It will take over your citadel and dig me out some day," I retorted +hotly. + +"What good that? Your life is more to you than Quebec to England." + +"No, no," said I quickly; "I would give my life a hundred times to see +your flag hauled down!" + +"A freakish ambition," he replied; "mere infatuation!" + +"You do not understand it, Monsieur Doltaire," I remarked ironically. + +"I love not endless puzzles. There is no sport in following a maze that +leads to nowhere save the grave." He yawned. "This air is heavy," he +added; "you must find it trying." + +"Never as trying as at this moment," I retorted. + +"Come, am I so malarious?" + +"You are a trickster," I answered coldly. + +"Ah, you mean that night at Bigot's?" He smiled. "No, no, you were to +blame--so green. You might have known we were for having you between the +stones." + +"But it did not come out as you wished?" hinted I. + +"It served my turn," he responded; and he gave me such a smiling, +malicious look that I knew sought to convey he had his way with Alixe; +and though I felt that she was true to me, his cool presumption so +stirred me I could have struck him in the face. I got angrily to my +feet, but as I did so I shrank a little, for at times the wound in my +side, not yet entirely healed, hurt me. + +"You are not well," he said, with instant show of curiosity; "your +wounds still trouble you? They should be healed. Gabord was ordered to +see you cared for." + +"Gabord has done well enough," answered I. "I have had wounds before, +monsieur." + +He leaned against the wall and laughed. "What braggarts you English +are!" he said. "A race of swashbucklers--even on bread and water!" + +He had me at advantage, and I knew it, for he had kept his temper. I +made an effort. "Both excellent," rejoined I, "and English too." + +He laughed again. "Come, that is better. That's in your old vein. I love +to see you so. But how knew you our baker was English?--which he is, a +prisoner like yourself." + +"As easily as I could tell the water was not made by Frenchmen." + +"Now I have hope of you," he broke out gaily; "you will yet redeem your +nation." + +At that moment Gabord came with a message from the Governor to Doltaire, +and he prepared to go. + +"You are set on sacrifice?" he asked. "Think--dangling from Cape +Diamond!" + +"I will meditate on your fate instead," I replied. + +"Think!" he said again, waving off my answer with his hand. "The letters +I shall no more ask for; and you will not escape death?" + +"Never by that way," rejoined I. + +"So. Very good. Au plaisir, my captain. I go to dine at the Seigneur +Duvarney's." + +With that last thrust he was gone, and left me wondering if the Seigneur +had ever made an effort to see me, if he had forgiven the duel with his +son. + +That was the incident. + + * * * * * + +When Gabord and Voban were gone, leaving the light behind, I went over +to where the torch stuck in the wall, and drew Alixe's letter from my +pocket with eager fingers. It told the whole story of her heart. + +CHATEAU ST. LOUIS, 27th November, 1757. + +Though I write you these few words, dear Robert, I do not know that they +will reach you, for as yet it is not certain they will let Voban visit +you. A year, dear friend, and not a word from you! I should have broken +my heart if I had not heard of you one way and another. They say you +are much worn in body, though you have always a cheerful air. There are +stories of a visit Monsieur Doltaire paid you, and how you jested. He +hates you, and yet he admires you too. + +And now listen, Robert, and I beg you not to be angry--oh, do not +be angry, for I am all yours; but I want to tell you that I have not +repulsed Monsieur Doltaire when he has spoken flatteries to me. I have +not believed them, and I have kept my spirits strong against the evil +in him. I want to get you free of prison, and to that end I have to work +through him with the Intendant, that he will not set the Governor more +against you. With the Intendant himself I will not deal at all. So I use +the lesser villain, and in truth the more powerful, for he stands higher +at Versailles than any here. With the Governor I have influence, for he +is, as you know, a kinsman of my mother's, and of late he has shown a +fondness for me. Yet you can see that I must act most warily, that I +must not seem to care for you, for that would be your complete undoing. +I rather seem to scoff. (Oh, how it hurts me! how my cheeks tingle when +I think of it alone! and how I clench my hands, hating them all for +oppressing you!) + +I do not believe their slanders--that you are a spy. It is I, Robert, +who have at last induced the Governor to bring you to trial. They would +have put it off till next year, but I feared you would die in that awful +dungeon, and I was sure that if your trial came on there would be a +change, as there is to be for a time, at least. You are to be lodged in +the common jail during the sitting of the court; and so that is one step +gained. Yet I had to use all manner of device with the Governor. + +He is sometimes so playful with me that I can pretend to sulkiness; and +so one day I said that he showed no regard for our family or for me in +not bringing you, who had nearly killed my brother, to justice. So he +consented, and being of a stubborn nature, too, when Monsieur Doltaire +and the Intendant opposed the trial, he said it should come off at +once. But one thing grieves me: they are to have you marched through +the streets of the town like any common criminal, and I dare show no +distress nor plead, nor can my father, though he wishes to move for you +in this; and I dare not urge him, for then it would seem strange the +daughter asked your punishment, and the father sought to lessen it. + +When you are in the common jail it will be much easier to help you. I +have seen Gabord, but he is not to be bent to any purpose, though he is +kind to me. I shall try once more to have him take some wine and meat +to you to-night. If I fail, then I shall only pray that you may be given +strength in body for your time of trouble equal to your courage. + +It may be I can fix upon a point where you may look to see me as you +pass to-morrow to the Chateau. There must be a sign. If you will put +your hand to your forehead--But no, they may bind you, and your hands +may not be free. When you see me, pause in your step for an instant, and +I shall know. I will tell Voban where you shall send your glance, if he +is to be let in to you, and I hope that what I plan may not fail. + +And so, Robert, adieu. Time can not change me, and your misfortunes draw +me closer to you. Only the dishonourable thing could make me close the +doors of my heart, and I will not think you, whate'er they say, unworthy +of my constant faith. Some day, maybe, we shall smile at, and even +cherish, these sad times. In this gay house I must be flippant, for I +am now of the foolish world! But under all the trivial sparkle a serious +heart beats. It belongs to thee, if thou wilt have it, Robert, the heart +of thy + +ALIXE. + +An hour after getting this good letter Gabord came again, and with him +breakfast--a word which I had almost dropped from my language. True, it +was only in a dungeon, on a pair of stools, by the light of a torch, but +how I relished it!--a bottle of good wine, a piece of broiled fish, the +half of a fowl, and some tender vegetables. + +When Gabord came for me with two soldiers, an hour later--I say an hour, +but I only guess so, for I had no way of noting time--I was ready for +new cares, and to see the world again. Before the others Gabord was the +rough, almost brutal soldier, and soon I knew that I was to be driven +out upon the St. Foye Road and on into the town. My arms were well +fastened down, and I was tied about till I must have looked like a bale +of living goods of no great value. Indeed, my clothes were by no means +handsome, and save for my well-shaven face and clean handkerchief I was +an ill-favoured spectacle; but I tried to bear my shoulders up as we +marched through dark reeking corridors, and presently came suddenly into +well-lighted passages. + +I had to pause, for the light blinded my eyes, and they hurt me +horribly, so delicate were the nerves. For some minutes I stood there, +my guards stolidly waiting, Gabord muttering a little and stamping upon +the floor as if in anger, though I knew he was merely playing a small +part to deceive his comrades. The pain in my eyes grew less, and, though +they kept filling with moisture from the violence of the light, I soon +could see without distress. + +I was led into the yard of the citadel, where was drawn up a company of +soldiers. Gabord bade me stand still, and advanced towards the officers' +quarters. I asked him if I might not walk to the ramparts and view the +scene. He gruffly assented, bidding the men watch me closely, and I +walked over to a point where, standing three hundred feet above the +noble river, I could look out upon its sweet expanse, across to the +Levis shore, with its serried legions of trees behind, and its +bold settlement in front upon the Heights. There, eastward lay the +well-wooded Island of Orleans, and over all the clear sun and sky, +enlivened by a crisp and cheering air. Snow had fallen, but none now lay +upon the ground, and I saw a rare and winning earth. I stood absorbed. I +was recalling that first day that I remember in my life, when at Balmore +my grandfather made prophecies upon me, and for the first time I was +conscious of the world. + +As I stood lost to everything about me, I heard Doltaire's voice +behind, and presently he said over my shoulder, "To wish Captain Moray a +good-morning were superfluous!" + +I smiled at him: the pleasure of that scene had given me an impulse +towards good nature even with my enemies. + +"The best I ever had," I answered quietly. + +"Contrasts are life's delights," he said. "You should thank us. You have +your best day because of our worst dungeon." + +"But my thanks shall not be in words; you shall have the same courtesy +at our hands one day." + +"I had the Bastile for a year," he rejoined, calling up a squad of +men with his finger as he spoke. "I have had my best day. Two would be +monotony. You think your English will take this some time?" he asked, +waving a finger towards the citadel. "It will need good play to pluck +that ribbon from its place." He glanced up, as he spoke, at the white +flag with its golden lilies. + +"So much the better sport," I answered. "We will have the ribbon and its +heritage." + +"You yourself shall furnish evidence to-day. Gabord here will see you +temptingly disposed--the wild bull led peaceably by the nose!" + +"But one day I will twist your nose, Monsieur Doltaire." + +"That is fair enough, if rude," he responded. "When your turn comes, +you twist and I endure. You shall be nourished well like me, and I shall +look a battered hulk like you. But I shall never be the fool that you +are. If I had a way to slip the leash, I'd slip it. You are a dolt." He +was touching upon the letters again. + +"I weigh it all," said I. "I am no fool--anything else you will." + +"You'll be nothing soon, I fear--which is a pity." + +What more he might have said I do not know, but there now appeared in +the yard a tall, reverend old gentleman, in the costume of the coureur +de bois, though his belt was richly chased, and he wore an order on +his breast. There was something more refined than powerful in his +appearance, but he had a keen, kindly eye, and a manner unmistakably +superior. His dress was a little barbarous, unlike Doltaire's splendid +white uniform, set off with violet and gold, the lace of a fine +handkerchief sticking from his belt, and a gold-handled sword at his +side; but the manner of both was distinguished. + +Seeing Doltaire, he came forward and they embraced. Then he turned +towards me, and as they walked off a little distance I could see that +he was curious concerning me. Presently he raised his hand, and, as if +something had excited him, said, "No, no, no; hang him and have done +with it, but I'll have nothing to do with it--not a thing. 'Tis enough +for me to rule at--" + +I could hear no further, but I was now sure that he was some one of note +who had retired from any share in state affairs. He and Doltaire then +moved on to the doors of the citadel, and, pausing there, Doltaire +turned round and made a motion of his hand to Gabord. I was at once +surrounded by the squad of men, and the order to march was given. A drum +in front of me began to play a well-known derisive air of the French +army, The Fox and the Wolf. + +We came out on the St. Foye Road and down towards the Chateau St. Louis, +between crowds of shouting people who beat drums, kettles, pans, and +made all manner of mocking noises. It was meant not only against myself, +but against the British people. The women were not behind the men in +violence; from them at first came handfuls of gravel and dust which +struck me in the face; but Gabord put a stop to that. + +It was a shameful ordeal, which might have vexed me sorely if I had not +had greater trials and expected worse. Now and again appeared a face I +knew--some lady who turned her head away, or some gentleman who watched +me curiously, but made no sign. + +When we came to the Chateau, I looked up as if casually, and there +in the little round window I saw Alixe's face--for an instant only. I +stopped in my tracks, was prodded by a soldier from behind, and I then +stepped on. Entering, we were taken to the rear of the building, where, +in an open courtyard, were a company of soldiers, some seats, and a +table. On my right was the St. Lawrence swelling on its course, hundreds +of feet beneath, little boats passing hither and thither on its flood. + +We were waiting about half an hour, the noises of the clamoring crowd +coming to us, as they carried me aloft in effigy, and, burning me at the +cliff edge, fired guns and threw stones at me, till, rags, ashes, and +flame, I was tumbled into the river far below. At last, from the Chateau +came the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Bigot, and a number of officers. The +Governor looked gravely at me, but did not bow; Bigot gave me a sneering +smile, eying me curiously the while, and (I could feel) remarking on my +poor appearance to Cournal beside him--Cournal, who winked at his wife's +dishonour for the favour of her lover, who gave him means for public +robbery. + +Presently the Governor was seated, and he said, looking round, "Monsieur +Doltaire--he is not here?" + +Bigot shook his head, and answered, "No doubt he is detained at the +citadel." + +"And the Seigneur Duvarney?" the Governor added. + +At that moment the Governor's secretary handed him a letter. The +Governor opened it. "Listen," said he. He read to the effect that the +Seigneur Duvarney felt he was hardly fitted to be a just judge in this +case, remembering the conflict between his son and the notorious Captain +Moray. And from another standpoint, though the prisoner merited any fate +reserved for him, if guilty of spying, he could not forget that his +life had been saved by this British captain--an obligation which, +unfortunately, he could neither repay nor wipe out. After much +thought, he must disobey the Governor's summons, and he prayed that his +Excellency would grant his consideration thereupon. + +I saw the Governor frown, but he made no remark, while Bigot said +something in his ear which did not improve his humour, for he replied +curtly, and turned to his secretary. "We must have two gentlemen more," +he said. + +At that moment Doltaire entered with the old gentleman of whom I have +written. The Governor instantly brightened, and gave the stranger a warm +greeting, calling him his "dear Chevalier;" and, after a deal of urging, +the Chevalier de la Darante was seated as one of my judges: which did +not at all displease me, for I liked his face. + +I do not need to dwell upon the trial here. I have set down the facts +before. I had no counsel and no witnesses. There seemed no reason why +the trial should have dragged on all day, for I soon saw it was intended +to find me guilty. Yet I was surprised to see how Doltaire brought up a +point here and a question there in my favour, which served to lengthen +out the trial; and all the time he sat near the Chevalier de la Darante, +now and again talking with him. + +It was late evening before the trial came to a close. The one point to +be established was that the letters taken from General Braddock were +mine, and that I had made the plans while a hostage. I acknowledged +nothing, and would not do so unless I was allowed to speak freely. This +was not permitted until just before I was sentenced. + +Then Doltaire's look was fixed on me, and I knew he waited to see if +I would divulge the matter private between us. However, I stood by my +compact with him. Besides, it could not serve me to speak of it here, or +use it as an argument, and it would only hasten an end which I felt he +could prevent if he chose. + +So when I was asked if I had aught to say, I pleaded only that they had +not kept the Articles of War signed at Fort Necessity, which provided I +should be free within two months and a half--that is, when prisoners in +our hands should be delivered up to them, as they were. They had broken +their bond, though we had fulfilled ours, and I held myself justified in +doing what I had done for our cause and for my own life. + +I was not heard patiently, though I could see that the Governor and +the Chevalier were impressed; but Bigot instantly urged the case hotly +against me, and the end came very soon. It was now dark; a single light +had been brought and placed beside the Governor, while a soldier held a +torch at a distance. Suddenly there was a silence; then, in response to +a signal, the sharp ringing of a hundred bayonets as they were drawn +and fastened to the muskets, and I could see them gleaming in the feeble +torchlight. Presently, out of the stillness, the Governor's voice was +heard condemning me to death by hanging, thirty days hence, at sunrise. +Silence fell again instantly, and then a thing occurred which sent a +thrill through us all. From the dark balcony above us came a voice, +weird, high, and wailing: + +"Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! He is guilty, and shall die! Francois Bigot +shall die!" + +The voice was Mathilde's, and I saw Doltaire shrug a shoulder and look +with malicious amusement at the Intendant. Bigot himself sat pale and +furious. "Discover the intruder," he said to Gabord, who was standing +near, "and have--him--jailed." + +But the Governor interfered. "It is some drunken creature," he urged +quietly. "Take no account of it." + + + + +X. AN OFFICER OF MARINES + + +What was my dismay to know that I was to be taken back again to my +dungeon, and not lodged in the common jail, as I had hoped and Alixe had +hinted! When I saw whither my footsteps were directed I said nothing, +nor did Gabord speak at all. We marched back through a railing crowd as +we had come, all silent and gloomy. I felt a chill at my heart when the +citadel loomed up again out of the November shadow, and I half paused as +I entered the gates. "Forward!" said Gabord mechanically, and I moved +on into the yard, into the prison, through the dull corridors, the +soldiers' heels clanking and resounding behind, down into the bowels of +the earth, where the air was moist and warm, and then into my dungeon +home! I stepped inside, and Gabord ordered the ropes off my person +somewhat roughly, watched the soldiers till they were well away, and +then leaned against the wall, waiting for me to speak. I had no impulse +to smile, but I knew how I could most touch him, and so I said lightly, +"You've got dickey-bird home again." + +He answered nothing and turned towards the door, leaving the torch stuck +in the wall. But he suddenly stopped short, and suddenly thrust out to +me a tiny piece of paper. + +"A hand touched mine as I went through the Chateau," said he, "and when +out I came, look you, this here! I can't see to read. What does it say?" +he added, with a shrewd attempt at innocence. + +I opened the little paper, held it towards the torch, and read: + +"Because of the storm there is no sleeping. Is there not the watcher +aloft? Shall the sparrow fall unheeded? The wicked shall be confounded." + +It was Alixe's writing. She had hazarded this in the hands of my jailer +as her only hope, and, knowing that he might not serve her, had put her +message in vague sentences which I readily interpreted. I read the +words aloud to him, and he laughed, and remarked, "'Tis a foolish thing +that--The Scarlet Woman, mast like." + +"Most like," I answered quietly; "yet what should she be doing there at +the Chateau?" + +"The mad go everywhere," he answered, "even to the intendance!" + +With that he left me, going, as he said, "to fetch crumbs and wine." +Exhausted with the day's business, I threw myself upon my couch, drew my +cloak over me, composed myself, and in a few minutes was sound asleep. +I waked to find Gabord in the dungeon, setting out food upon a board +supported by two stools. + +"'Tis custom to feed your dickey-bird ere you fetch him to the pot." he +said, and drew the cork from a bottle of wine. + +He watched me as I ate and talked, but he spoke little. When I had +finished, he fetched a packet of tobacco from his pocket. I offered him +money, but he refused it, and I did not press him, for he said the food +and wine were not of his buying. Presently he left, and came back with +pens, ink, paper, and candles, which be laid out on my couch without +words. + +After a little he came again, and laid a book on the improvised table +before me. It was an English Bible. Opening it, I found inscribed on +the fly-leaf, Charles Wainfleet, Chaplain to the British Army. Gabord +explained that this chaplain had been in the citadel for some weeks; +that he had often inquired about me; that he had been brought from the +Ohio; and had known of me, having tended the lieutenant of my Virginian +infantry in his last hours. Gabord thought I should now begin to make my +peace with Heaven, and so had asked for the chaplain's Bible, which +was freely given. I bade him thank the chaplain for me, and opening the +book, I found a leaf turned down at the words, + +"In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these +calamities be overpast." + +When I was left alone, I sat down to write diligently that history of +myself which I had composed and fixed in my memory during the year of +my housing in this dungeon. The words came from my pen freely, and hour +after hour through many days, while no single word reached me from the +outside world, I wrote on; carefully revising, but changing little from +that which I had taken so long to record in my mind. I would not even +yet think that they would hang me; and if they did, what good could +brooding do? When the last word of the memoirs (I may call them so), +addressed to Alixe, had been written, I turned my thoughts to other +friends. + +The day preceding that fixed for my execution came, yet there was no +sign from friend or enemy without. At ten o'clock of that day Chaplain +Wainfleet was admitted to me in the presence of Gabord and a soldier. I +found great pleasure in his company, brief as his visit was; and after +I had given him messages to bear for me to old friends, if we never +met again and he were set free, he left me, benignly commending me +to Heaven. There was the question of my other letters. I had but one +desire--Voban again, unless at my request the Seigneur Duvarney would +come, and they would let him come. If it were certain that I was to go +to the scaffold, then I should not hesitate to tell him my relations +with his daughter, that he might comfort her when, being gone from the +world myself, my love could do her no harm. I could not think that he +would hold against me the duel with his son, and I felt sure he would +come to me if he could. + +But why should I not try for both Voban and the Seigneur? So I spoke to +Gabord. + +"Voban! Voban!" said he. "Does dickey-bird play at peacock still? Well, +thou shalt see Voban. Thou shalt go trimmed to heaven--aho!" + +Presently I asked him if he would bear a message to the Governor, +asking permission for the Seigneur Duvarney to visit me, if he were so +inclined. At his request I wrote my petition out, and he carried it away +with him, saying that I should have Voban that evening. + +I waited hour after hour, but no one came. As near as I could judge it +was now evening. It seemed strange to think that, twenty feet above +me, the world was all white with snow; the sound of sleigh-bells and +church-bells, and the cries of snowshoers ringing on the clear, sharp +air. I pictured the streets of Quebec alive with people: the young +seigneur set off with furs and silken sash and sword or pistols; the +long-haired, black-eyed woodsman in his embroidered moccasins and +leggings with flying thrums; the peasant farmer slapping his hands +cheerfully in the lighted market-place; the petty noble, with his +demoiselle, hovering in the precincts of the Chateau St. Louis and the +intendance. Up there were light, freedom, and the inspiriting frost; +down here in my dungeon, the blades of corn, which, dying, yet never +died, told the story of a choking air, wherein the body and soul of a +man droop and take long to die. This was the night before Christmas Eve, +when in England and Virginia they would be preparing for feasting and +thanksgiving. + +The memories of past years crowded on me. I thought of feastings and +spendthrift rejoicings in Glasgow and Virginia. All at once the carnal +man in me rose up and damned these lying foes of mine. Resignation went +whistling down the wind. Hang me! Hang me! No, by the God that gave me +breath! I sat back and laughed--laughed at my own insipid virtue, by +which, to keep faith with the fanatical follower of Prince Charlie, I +had refused my liberty; cut myself off from the useful services of my +King; wasted good years of my life, trusting to pressure and help to +come from England, which never came; twisted the rope for my own neck +to keep honour with the dishonourable Doltaire, who himself had set +the noose swinging; and, inexpressible misery! involved in my shame and +peril a young blithe spirit, breathing a miasma upon the health of +a tender life. Every rebellious atom in my blood sprang to indignant +action. I swore that if they fetched me to the gallows to celebrate +their Noel, other lives than mine should go to keep me company on the +dark trail. To die like a rat in a trap, oiled for the burning, and +lighted by the torch of hatred! No, I would die fighting, if I must die. + +I drew from its hiding-place the knife I had secreted the day I was +brought into that dungeon--a little weapon, but it would serve for the +first blow. At whom? Gabord? It all flashed through my mind how I might +do it when he came in again: bury this blade in his neck or heart--it +was long enough for the work; then, when he was dead, change my clothes +for his, take his weapons, and run my chances to get free of the +citadel. Free? Where should I go in the dead of winter? Who would hide +me, shelter me? I could not make my way to an English settlement. Ill +clad, exposed to the merciless climate, and the end death. But that was +freedom--freedom! I could feel my body dilating with the thought, as I +paced my dungeon like an ill-tempered beast. But kill Gabord, who had +put himself in danger to serve me, who himself had kept the chains from +off my ankles and body, whose own life depended upon my security--"Come, +come, Robert Moray," said I, "what relish have you for that? That's an +ill game for a gentleman. Alixe Duvarney would rather see you dead than +get your freedom over the body of this man." + +That was an hour of storm. I am glad that I conquered the baser part of +me; for, almost before I had grown calm again, the bolts of the dungeon +doors shot back, and presently Gabord stepped inside, followed by a +muffled figure. + +"Voban the barber," said Gabord in a strange voice, and stepping again +outside, he closed the door, but did not shoot the bolts. + +I stood as one in a dream. Voban the barber? In spite of cap and great +fur coat, I saw the outline of a figure that no barber ever had in this +world. I saw two eyes shining like lights set in a rosy sky. A moment +of doubt, of impossible speculation, of delicious suspense, and then the +coat of Voban the barber opened, dropped away from the lithe, graceful +figure of a young officer of marines, the cap flew off, and in an +instant the dear head, the blushing, shining face of Alixe was on my +breast. + +In that moment, stolen from the calendar of hate, I ran into the haven +where true hearts cast anchor and bless God that they have seen upon the +heights, to guide them, the lights of home. The moment flashed by and +was gone, but the light it made went not with it. + +When I drew her blushing face up, and stood her off from me that I might +look at her again, the colour flew back and forth on her cheek, as you +may see the fire flutter in an uncut ruby when you turn it in the sun. +Modestly drawing the cloak she wore more closely about her, she hastened +to tell me how it was she came in such a guise; but I made her pause for +a moment while I gave her a seat and sat down beside her. Then by the +light of the flickering torch and flaring candles I watched her feelings +play upon her face as the warm light of autumn shifts upon the glories +of ripe fruits. Her happiness was tempered by the sadness of our +position, and my heart smote me that I had made her suffer, had brought +care to her young life. I could see that in the year she had grown +older, yet her beauty seemed enhanced by that and by the trouble she had +endured. I shall let her tell her story here unbroken by my questions +and those interruptions which Gabord made, bidding her to make haste. +She spoke without faltering, save here and there; but even then I could +see her brave spirit quelling the riot of her emotions, shutting down +the sluice-gate of tears. + +"I knew," she said, her hand clasped in mine, "that Gabord was the only +person like to be admitted to you, and so for days, living in fear lest +the worst should happen, I have prepared for this chance. I have grown +so in height that I knew an old uniform of my brothers would fit me, +and I had it ready--small sword and all," she added, with a sad sort of +humour, touching the weapon at her side. "You must know that we have for +the winter a house here upon the ramparts near the Chateau. It was my +mother's doings, that my sister Georgette and I might have no great +journeyings in the cold to the festivities hereabouts. So I, being a +favourite with the Governor, ran in and out of the Chateau at my will; +of which my mother was proud, and she allowed me much liberty, for to be +a favourite of the Governor is an honour. I knew how things were going, +and what the chances were of the sentence being carried out on you. +Sometimes I thought my heart would burst with the anxiety of it all, but +I would not let that show to the world. If you could but have seen me +smile at the Governor and Monsieur Doltaire--nay, do not press my hand +so, Robert; you know well you have no need to fear monsieur--while +I learned secrets of state, among them news of you. Three nights ago +Monsieur Doltaire was talking with me at a ball--ah, those feastings +while you were lying in a dungeon, and I shutting up my love and your +danger close in my heart, even from those who loved me best! Well, +suddenly he said, 'I think I will not have our English captain shifted +to a better world.' + +"My heart stood still; I felt an ache across my breast so that I could +hardly breathe. 'Why will you not?' said I; 'was not the sentence just?' +He paused a minute, and then replied, 'All sentences are just when an +enemy is dangerous.' Then said I as in surprise, 'Why, was he no spy, +after all?' He sat back, and laughed a little. 'A spy according to the +letter of the law, but you have heard of secret history--eh?' I tried +to seem puzzled, for I had a thought there was something private between +you and him which has to do with your fate. So I said, as if bewildered, +'You mean there is evidence which was not shown at the trial?' He +answered slowly, 'Evidence that would bear upon the morals, not the law +of the case.' Then said I, 'Has it to do with you, monsieur?' 'It has +to do with France,' he replied. 'And so you will not have his death?' +I asked. 'Bigot wishes it,' he replied, 'for no other reason than that +Madame Cournal has spoken nice words for the good-looking captain, and +because that unsuccessful duel gave Vaudreuil an advantage over himself. +Vaudreuil wishes it because he thinks it will sound well in France, and +also because he really believes the man a spy. The Council do not care +much; they follow the Governor and Bigot, and both being agreed, +their verdict is unanimous.' He paused, then added, 'And the Seigneur +Duvarney--and his daughter--wish it because of a notable injury to one +of their name.' At that I cautiously replied, 'No, my father does not +wish it, for my brother gave the offense, and Captain Moray saved his +life, as you know. I do not wish it, Monsieur Doltaire, because hanging +is a shameful death, and he is a gentle man, not a ruffian. Let him be +shot like a gentleman. How will it sound at the Court of France that, on +insufficient evidence, as you admit, an English gentleman was hanged for +a spy? Would not the King say (for he is a gentleman), Why was not this +shown me before the man's death? Is it not a matter upon which a country +would feel as gentlemen feel?' + +"I knew it the right thing to say at the moment, and it seemed the only +way to aid you, though I intended, if the worst came to the worst, to go +myself to the Governor at the last and plead for your life, at least +for a reprieve. But it had suddenly flashed upon me that a reference to +France was the thing, since the Articles of War which you are accused of +dishonouring were signed by officers from France and England. + +"Presently he turned to me with a look of curiosity, and another sort of +look also that made me tremble, and said, 'Now, there you have put your +finger on the point--my point, the choice weapon I had reserved to prick +the little bubble of Bigot's hate and the Governor's conceit, if I so +chose, even at the last. And here is a girl, a young girl just freed +from pinafores, who teaches them the law of nations! If it pleased me I +should not speak, for Vaudreuil's and Bigot's affairs are none of mine; +but, in truth, why should you kill your enemy? It is the sport to keep +him living; you can get no change for your money from a dead man. He has +had one cheerful year; why not another, and another, and another? And so +watch him fretting to the slow-coming end, while now and again you give +him a taste of hope, to drop him back again into the pit which has no +sides for climbing.' He paused a minute, and then added, 'A year ago +I thought he had touched you, this Britisher, with his raw humour and +manners; but, my faith, how swiftly does a woman's fancy veer!' At that +I said calmly to him, 'You must remember that then he was not thought so +base.' 'Yes, yes,' he replied; 'and a woman loves to pity the captive, +whatever his fault, if he be presentable and of some notice or talent. +And Moray has gifts,' he went on. I appeared all at once to be offended. +'Veering, indeed! a woman's fancy! I think you might judge women better. +You come from high places, Monsieur Doltaire, and they say this and that +of your great talents and of your power at Versailles, but what proof +have we had of it? You set a girl down with a fine patronage, and you +hint at weapons to cut off my cousin the Governor and the Intendant from +their purposes; but how do we know you can use them, that you have power +with either the unnoticeable woman or the great men?' I knew very +well it was a bold move. He suddenly turned to me, in his cruel eyes +a glittering kind of light, and said, 'I suggest no more than I can +do with those "great men"; and as for the woman, the slave can not be +patron--I am the slave. I thought not of power before; but now that I +do, I will live up to my thinking. I seem idle, I am not; purposeless, +I am not; a gamester, I am none. I am a sportsman, and I will not +leave the field till all the hunt be over. I seem a trifler, yet I have +persistency. I am no romanticist, I have no great admiration for myself, +and yet when I set out to hunt a woman honestly, be sure I shall never +back to kennel till she is mine or I am done for utterly. Not by worth +nor by deserving, but by unending patience and diligence--that shall be +my motto. I shall devote to the chase every art that I have learned +or known by nature. So there you have me, mademoiselle. Since you have +brought me to the point, I will unfurl my flag.... I am--your--hunter,' +he went on, speaking with slow, painful emphasis, 'and I shall make you +mine. You fight against me, but it is no use.' I got to my feet, and +said with coolness, though I was sick at heart and trembling, 'You are +frank. You have made two resolves. I shall give weight to one as you +fulfill the other'; and, smiling at him, I moved away towards my mother. + +"Masterful as he is, I felt that this would touch his vanity. There lay +my great chance with him. If he had guessed the truth of what's +between us, be sure, Robert, your life were not worth one hour beyond +to-morrow's sunrise. You must know how I loathe deceitfulness, but when +one weak girl is matched against powerful and evil men, what can she do? +My conscience does not chide me, for I know my cause is just. Robert, +look me in the eyes.... There, like that.... Now tell me. You are +innocent of the dishonourable thing, are you not? I believe with all my +soul, but that I may say from your own lips that you are no spy, tell me +so." + +When I had said as she had wished, assuring her she should know all, +carrying proofs away with her, and that hidden evidence of which +Doltaire had spoken, she went on: + +"'You put me to the test,' said monsieur. 'Doing one, it will be proof +that I shall do the other.' He fixed his eyes upon me with such a look +that my whole nature shrank from him, as if the next instant his hateful +hands were to be placed on me. Oh, Robert, I know how perilous was the +part I played, but I dared it for your sake. For a whole year I have +dissembled to every one save to that poor mad soul Mathilde, who reads +my heart in her wild way, to Voban, and to the rough soldier outside +your dungeon. But they will not betray me. God has given us these rough +but honest friends. + +"Well, monsieur left me that night, and I have not seen him since, nor +can I tell where he is, for no one knows, and I dare not ask too much. +I did believe he would achieve his boast as to saving your life, and so, +all yesterday and to-day, I have waited with most anxious heart; but not +one word! Yet there was that in all he said which made me sure he meant +to save you, and I believe he will. Yet think: if anything happened +to him! You know what wild doings go on at Bigot's chateau out at +Charlesbourg; or, again, in the storm of yesterday he may have been +lost. You see, there are the hundred chances; so I determined not to +trust wholly to him. There was one other way--to seek the Governor +myself, open my heart to him, and beg for a reprieve. To-night at nine +o'clock--it is now six, Robert--we go to the Chateau St. Louis, my +mother and my father and I, to sup with the Governor. Oh, think what I +must endure, to face them with this awful shadow on me! If no word come +of the reprieve before that hour, I shall make my own appeal to the +Governor. It may ruin me, but it may save you; and that done, what +should I care for the rest? Your life is more to me than all the world +beside." Here she put both hands upon my shoulders and looked me in the +eyes. + +I did not answer yet, but took her hands in mine, and she continued: +"An hour past, I told my mother I should go to see my dear friend Lucie +Lotbiniere. Then I stole up to my room, put on my brother's uniform, and +came down to meet Voban near the citadel, as we had arranged. I knew he +was to have an order from the Governor to visit you. He was waiting, and +to my great joy he put the order in my hands. I took his coat and wig +and cap, a poor disguise, and came straight to the citadel, handing the +order to the soldiers at the gate. They gave it back without a word, +and passed me on. I thought this strange, and looked at the paper by the +light of the torches. What was my surprise to see that Voban's name had +been left out! It but gave permission to the bearer. That would serve +with the common soldier, but I knew well it would not with Gabord or +with the commandant of the citadel. All at once I saw the great risk I +was running, the danger to us both. Still I would not turn back. But how +good fortune serves us when we least look for it! At the commandant's +very door was Gabord. I did not think to deceive him. It was my purpose +from the first to throw myself upon his mercy. So there, that moment, +I thrust the order into his hand. He read it, looked a moment, half +fiercely and half kindly, at me, then turned and took the order to the +commandant. Presently he came out, and said to me, 'Come, m'sieu', and +see you clip the gentleman dainty fine for his sunrise travel. He'll get +no care 'twixt posting-house and end of journey, m'sieu'.' This he said +before two soldiers, speaking with harshness and a brutal humour. But +inside the citadel he changed at once, and, taking from my head this cap +and wig, he said quite gently, yet I could see he was angry, too, 'This +is a mad doing, young lady.' He said no more, and led me straight to +you. If I had told him I was coming, I know he would have stayed me. But +at the dangerous moment he had not heart to drive me back.... And that +is all my story, Robert." + +As I have said, this tale was broken often by little questionings and +exclamations, and was not told in one long narrative as I have written +it here. When she had done I sat silent and overcome for a moment. There +was one thing now troubling me sorely, even in the painful joy of having +her here close by me. She had risked all to save my life--reputation, +friends, even myself, the one solace in her possible misery. Was it not +my duty to agree to Doltaire's terms, for her sake, if there was yet +a chance to do so? I had made a solemn promise to Sir John Godric that +those letters, if they ever left my hands, should go to the lady who had +written them; and to save my own life I would not have broken faith with +my benefactor. But had I the right to add to the misery of this sweet, +brave spirit? Suppose it was but for a year or two: had I the right to +give her sorrow for that time, if I could prevent it, even at the cost +of honour with the dead? Was it not my duty to act, and at once? Time +was short. + +While in a swift moment I was debating, Gabord opened the door, and +said, "Come, end it, end it. Gabord has a head to save!" I begged him +for one minute more, and then giving Alixe the packet which held my +story, I told her hastily the matter between Doltaire and myself, and +said that now, rather than give her sorrow, I was prepared to break my +word with Sir John Godric. She heard me through with flashing eyes, and +I could see her bosom heave. When I had done, she looked me straight in +the eyes. + +"Is all that here?" she said, holding up the packet. + +"All," I answered. + +"And you would not break your word to save your own life?" + +I shook my head in negation. + +"Now I know that you are truly honourable," she answered, "and you shall +not break your promise for me. No, no, you shall not; you shall not +stir. Tell me that you will not send word to Monsieur Doltaire--tell +me!" + +When, after some struggle, I had consented, she said, "But I may act. I +am not bound to secrecy. I have given no word or bond. I will go to the +Governor with my love, and I do not fear the end. They will put me in a +convent, and I shall see you no more, but I shall have saved you." + +In vain I begged her not to do so; her purpose was strong, and I could +only get her promise that she would not act till midnight. This was +hardly achieved when Gabord entered quickly, saying, "The Seigneur +Duvarney! On with your coat, wig, and cap! Quick, mademoiselle!" + +Swiftly the disguise was put on, and I clasped her to my breast with a +joyful agony, while Gabord hastily put out the candles and torch, +and drew Alixe behind the dungeon door. Then standing himself in the +doorway, he loudly commended me to sleep sound and be ready for travel +in the morning. Taking the hint, I threw myself upon my couch, and +composed myself. An instant afterwards the Seigneur appeared with a +soldier, and Gabord met him cheerfully, looked at the order from the +Governor, and motioned the Seigneur in and the soldier away. As Duvarney +stepped inside, Gabord followed, holding up a torch. I rose to meet my +visitor, and as I took his hand I saw Gabord catch Alixe by the sleeve +and hurry her out with a whispered word, swinging the door behind her +as she passed. Then he stuck the torch in the wall, went out, shut and +bolted the dungeon door, and left us two alone. + +I was glad that Alixe's safety had been assured, and my greeting of her +father was cordial. But he was more reserved than I had ever known him. +The duel with his son, which had sent the youth to France and left him +with a wound which would trouble him for many a day, weighed heavily +against me. Again, I think that he guessed my love for Alixe, and +resented it with all his might. What Frenchman would care to have his +daughter lose her heart to one accused of a wretched crime, condemned to +death, an enemy of his country, and a Protestant? I was sure that should +he guess at the exact relations between us, Alixe would be sent behind +the tall doors of a convent, where I should knock in vain. + +"You must not think, Moray," said he, "that I have been indifferent to +your fate, but you can not guess how strong the feeling is against you, +how obdurate is the Governor, who, if he should appear lax in dealing +with you, would give a weapon into Bigot's hands which might ruin him in +France one day. I have but this moment come from the Governor, and there +seems no way to move him." + +I saw that he was troubled greatly, and I felt his helplessness. He went +on: "There is but one man who could bend the Governor, but he, alas! is +no friend of yours. And what way there is to move him I know not; he has +no wish, I fancy, but that you shall go to your fate." + +"You mean Monsieur Doltaire?" said I quietly. + +"Doltaire," he answered. "I have tried to find him, for he is the secret +agent of La Pompadour, and if I had one plausible reason to weigh with +him-- But I have none, unless you can give it. There are vague hints of +things between you and him, and I have come to ask if you can put any +fact, any argument, in my hands that would aid me with him. I would go +far to serve you." + +"Think not, I pray you," returned I, "that there is any debt unsatisfied +between us." + +He waved his hand in a melancholy way. "Indeed, I wish to serve you for +the sake of past friendship between us, not only for that debt's sake." + +"In spite of my quarrel with your son?" asked I. + +"In spite of that, indeed," he said slowly, "though a great wedge was +driven between us there." + +"I am truly sorry for it," said I, with some pride. "The blame was in no +sense mine. I was struck across the face; I humbled myself, remembering +you, but he would have me out yes or no." + +"Upon a wager!" he urged, somewhat coldly. + +"With the Intendant, monsieur," I replied, "not with your son." + +"I can not understand the matter," was his gloomy answer. + +"I beg you not to try," I rejoined; "it is too late for explanations, +and I have nothing to tell you of myself and Monsieur Doltaire. Only, +whatever comes, remember I have begged nothing of you, have desired +nothing but justice--that only. I shall make no further move; the axe +shall fall if it must. I have nothing now to do but set my house in +order, and live the hours between this and sunrise with what quiet I +may. I am ready for either freedom or death. Life is not so incomparable +a thing that I can not give it up without pother." + +He looked at me a moment steadily. "You and I are standing far off from +each other," he remarked. "I will say one last thing to you, though you +seem to wish me gone and your own grave closing in. I was asked by the +Governor to tell you that if you would put him in the way of knowing the +affairs of your provinces from the letters you have received, together +with estimate of forces and plans of your forts, as you have known them, +he will spare you. I only tell you this because you close all other ways +to me." + +"I carry," said I, with a sharp burst of anger, "the scars of wounds an +insolent youth gave me. I wish now that I had killed the son of the man +who dares bring me such a message." + +For a moment I had forgotten Alixe, everything, in the wildness of my +anger. I choked with rage; I could have struck him. + +"I mean nothing against you," he urged, with great ruefulness. "I +suggest nothing. I bring the Governor's message, that is all. And let me +say," he added, "that I have not thought you a spy, nor ever shall think +so." + +I was trembling with anger still, and I was glad that at the moment +Gabord opened the door, and stood waiting. + +"You will not part with me in peace, then?" asked the Seigneur slowly. + +"I will remember the gentleman who gave a captive hospitality," I +answered. "I am too near death to let a late injury outweigh an old +friendship. I am ashamed, but not only for myself. Let us part in +peace--ay, let us part in peace," I added with feeling, for the thought +of Alixe came rushing over me, and this was her father! + +"Good-by, Moray," he responded gravely. "You are a soldier, and brave; +if the worst comes, I know how you will meet it. Let us waive all bitter +thoughts between us. Good-by." + +We shook hands then, without a word, and in a moment the dungeon door +closed behind him, and I was alone; and for a moment my heart was heavy +beyond telling, and a terrible darkness settled on my spirit. I sat on +my couch and buried my head in my hands. + + + + +XI. THE COMING OF DOLTAIRE + + +At last I was roused by Gabord's voice. + +He sat down, and drew the leaves of faded corn between his fingers. +"'Tis a poor life, this in a cage, after all--eh, dickey-bird? If a +soldier can't stand in the field fighting, if a man can't rub shoulders +with man, and pitch a tent of his own somewhere, why not go travelling +with the Beast--aho? To have all the life sucked out like these--eh? To +see the flesh melt and the hair go white, the eye to be one hour +bright like a fire in a kiln, and the next like mother on working +vinegar--that's not living at all--no." + +The speech had evidently cost him much thinking, and when he ended, his +cheeks puffed out and a soundless laugh seemed to gather, but it burst +in a sort of sigh. I would have taken his hand that moment, if I had not +remembered when once he drew back from such demonstrations. I did not +speak, but nodded assent, and took to drawing the leaves of corn between +my fingers as he was doing. + +After a moment, cocking his head at me as might a surly schoolmaster in +a pause of leniency, he added, "As quiet, as quiet, and never did he fly +at door of cage, nor peck at jailer--aho!" + +I looked at him a minute seriously, and then, feeling in my coat, handed +to him the knife which I had secreted, with the words, "Enough for +pecking with, eh?" + +He looked at me so strangely, as he weighed the knife up and down in +his hand, that I could not at first guess his thought; but presently I +understood it, and I almost could have told what he would say. He opened +the knife, felt the blade, measured it along his fingers, and then said, +with a little bursting of the lips, "Poom! But what would ma'm'selle +have thought if Gabord was found dead with a hole in his neck--behind? +Eh?" + +He had struck the very note that had sung in me when the temptation +came; but he was gay at once again, and I said to him, "What is the hour +fixed?" + +"Seven o'clock," he answered, "and I will bring your breakfast first." + +"Good-night, then," said I. "Coffee and a little tobacco will be +enough." + +When he was gone, I lay down on my bag of straw, which, never having +been renewed, was now only full of worn chaff, and, gathering myself in +my cloak, was soon in a dreamless sleep. + +I waked to the opening of the dungeon door, to see Gabord entering with +a torch and a tray that held my frugal breakfast. He had added some +brandy, also, of which I was glad, for it was bitter cold outside, as +I discovered later. He was quiet, seeming often to wish to speak, but +pausing before the act, never getting beyond a stumbling aho! I greeted +him cheerfully enough. After making a little toilette, I drank my coffee +with relish. At last I asked Gabord if no word had come to the citadel +for me; and he said, none at all, nothing save a message from the +Governor, before midnight, ordering certain matters. No more was said, +until, turning to the door, he told me he would return to fetch me forth +in a few minutes. But when halfway out he suddenly wheeled, came back, +and blurted out, "If you and I could only fight it out, m'sieu'! 'Tis +ill for a gentleman and a soldier to die without thrust or parry." + +"Gabord," said I, smiling at him, "you preach good sermons always, and I +never saw a man I'd rather fight and be killed by than you!" Then, with +an attempt at rough humour, I added, "But as I told you once, the knot +is'nt at my throat, and I'll tie another one yet elsewhere, if God loves +honest men." + +I had no hope at all, yet I felt I must say it. He nodded, but said +nothing, and presently I was alone. + +I sat down on my straw couch and composed myself to think; not upon my +end, for my mind was made up as to that, but upon the girl who was so +dear to me, whose life had crept into mine and filled it, making it of +value in the world. It must not be thought that I no longer had care for +our cause, for I would willingly have spent my life a hundred times for +my country, as my best friends will bear witness; but there comes a time +when a man has a right to set all else aside but his own personal love +and welfare, and to me the world was now bounded by just so much space +as my dear Alixe might move in. I fastened my thought upon her face as +I had last seen it. My eyes seemed to search for it also, and to find it +in the torch which stuck out, softly sputtering, from the wall. I do not +pretend, even at this distance of time, after having thought much over +the thing, to give any good reason for so sudden a change as took place +in me there. All at once a voice appeared to say to me, "When you are +gone, she will be Doltaire's. Remember what she said. She fears him. He +has a power over her." + +Now, some will set it down to a low, unmanly jealousy and suspicion; it +is hard to name it, but I know that I was seized with a misery so deep +that all my past sufferings and disappointments, and even this present +horror were shadowy beside it. I pictured to myself Alixe in Doltaire's +arms, after I had gone beyond human call. It is strange how an idea will +seize us and master us, and an inconspicuous possibility suddenly stand +out with huge distinctness. All at once I felt in my head "the ring of +fire" of which Mathilde had warned me, a maddening heat filled my veins, +and that hateful picture grew more vivid. Things Alixe had said the +night before flashed to my mind, and I fancied that, unknown to herself +even, he already had a substantial power over her. + +He had deep determination, the gracious subtlety which charms a woman, +and she, hemmed in by his devices, overcome by his pleadings, attracted +by his enviable personality, would come at last to his will. The evening +before I had seen strong signs of the dramatic qualities of her nature. +She had the gift of imagination, the epic spirit. Even three years +previous I felt how she had seen every little incident of her daily life +in a way which gave it vividness and distinction. All things touched her +with delicate emphasis--were etched upon her brain--or did not touch her +at all. She would love the picturesque in life, though her own tastes +were so simple and fine. Imagination would beset her path with dangers; +it would be to her, with her beauty, a fatal gift, a danger to herself +and others. She would have power, and feeling it, womanlike, would use +it, dissipating her emotions, paying out the sweetness of her soul, +till one day a dramatic move, a strong picturesque personality like +Doltaire's, would catch her from the moorings of her truth, and the +end must be tragedy to her. Doltaire! Doltaire! The name burnt into my +brain. Some prescient quality in me awaked, and I saw her the sacrifice +of her imagination, of the dramatic beauty of her nature, my enemy her +tyrant and destroyer. He would leave nothing undone to achieve his end, +and do nothing that would not in the end poison her soul and turn her +very glories into miseries. How could she withstand the charm of his +keen knowledge of the world, the fascination of his temperament, the +alluring eloquence of his frank wickedness? And I should rather a +million times see her in her grave than passed through the atmosphere of +his life. + +This may seem madness, selfish and small; but after-events went far to +justify my fears and imaginings, for behind there was a love, an aching, +absorbing solicitude. I can not think that my anxiety was all vulgar +smallness then. + +I called him by coarse names, as I tramped up and down my dungeon; I +cursed him; impotent contempt was poured out on him; in imagination I +held him there before me, and choked him till his eyes burst out and +his body grew limp in my arms. The ring of fire in my head scorched and +narrowed till I could have shrieked in agony. My breath came short and +labored, and my heart felt as though it were in a vise and being clamped +to nothing. For an instant, also, I broke out in wild bitterness against +Alixe. She had said she would save me, and yet in an hour or less I +should be dead. She had come to me last night ah--true; but that was in +keeping with her dramatic temperament; it was the drama of it that had +appealed to her; and to-morrow she would forget me, and sink her fresh +spirit in the malarial shadows of Doltaire's. + +In my passion I thrust my hand into my waistcoat and unconsciously drew +out something. At first my only feeling was that my hand could clench +it, but slowly a knowledge of it travelled to my brain, as if through +clouds and vapours. Now I am no Catholic, I do not know that I am +superstitious, yet when I became conscious that the thing I held was the +wooden cross that Mathilde had given me, a weird feeling passed through +me, and there was an arrest of the passions of mind and body; a coolness +passed over all my nerves, and my brain got clear again, the ring of +fire loosing, melting away. It was a happy, diverting influence, which +gave the mind rest for a moment, till the better spirit, the wiser +feeling, had a chance to reassert itself; but then it seemed to me +almost supernatural. + +One can laugh when misery and danger are over, and it would be easy to +turn this matter into ridicule, but from that hour to this the wooden +cross which turned the flood of my feelings then into a saving channel +has never left me. I keep it, not indeed for what it was, but for what +it did. + +As I stood musing, there came to my mind suddenly the words of a song +which I had heard some voyageurs sing on the St. Lawrence, as I sat on +the cliff a hundred feet above them and watched them drift down in the +twilight: + + "Brothers, we go to the Scarlet Hills: + (Little gold sun, come out of the dawn!) + There we will meet in the cedar groves; + (Shining white dew, come down!) + There is a bed where you sleep so sound, + The little good folk of the hills will guard, + Till the morning wakes and your love comes home. + (Fly away, heart, to the Scarlet Hills!)" + +Something in the half-mystical, half-Arcadian spirit of the words +soothed me, lightened my thoughts, so that when, presently, Gabord +opened the door, and entered with four soldiers, I was calm enough +for the great shift. Gabord did not speak, but set about pinioning me +himself. I asked him if he could not let me go unpinioned, for it was +ignoble to go to ones death tied like a beast. At first he shook his +head, but as if with a sudden impulse lie cast the ropes aside, and, +helping me on with my cloak, threw again over it a heavier cloak he had +brought, gave me a fur cap to wear, and at last himself put on me a pair +of woollen leggings, which, if they were no ornament, and to be of but +transitory use (it seemed strange to me then that one should be caring +for a body so soon to be cut off from all feeling), were most comforting +when we came into the bitter, steely air. Gabord might easily have given +these last tasks to the soldiers, but he was solicitous to perform them +himself. Yet with surly brow and a rough accent he gave the word to +go forward, and in a moment we were marching through the passages, up +frosty steps, in the stone corridors, and on out of the citadel into the +yard. + +I remember that as we passed into the open air I heard the voice of a +soldier singing a gay air of love and war. Presently he came in sight. +He saw me, stood still for a moment looking curiously, and then, taking +up the song again at the very line where he had broken off, passed round +an angle of the building and was gone. To him I was no more than a moth +fluttering in the candle, to drop dead a moment later. + +It was just on the verge of sunrise. There was the grayish-blue light in +the west, the top of a long range of forest was sharply outlined against +it, and a timorous darkness was hurrying out of the zenith. In the east +a sad golden radiance was stealing up and driving back the mystery of +the night, and that weird loneliness of an arctic world. The city was +hardly waking as yet, but straight silver columns of smoke rolled up out +of many chimneys, and the golden cross on the cathedral caught the +first rays of the sun. I was not interested in the city; I had now, as +I thought, done with men. Besides the four soldiers who had brought me +out, another squad surrounded me, commanded by a young officer whom I +recognized as Captain Lancy, the rough roysterer who had insulted me at +Bigot's palace over a year ago. I looked with a spirit absorbed upon the +world about me, and a hundred thoughts which had to do with man's life +passed through my mind. But the young officer, speaking sharply to me, +ordered me on, and changed the current of my thoughts. The coarseness +of the man and his insulting words were hard to bear, so that I was +constrained to ask him if it were not customary to protect a condemned +man from insult rather than to expose him to it. I said that I should +be glad of my last moments in peace. At that he asked Gabord why I was +unbound, and my jailer answered that binding was for criminals who were +to be HANGED! + +I could scarcely believe my ears. I was to be shot, not hanged. I had +a thrill of gratitude which I can not describe. It may seem a nice +distinction, but to me there were whole seas between the two modes of +death. I need not blush in advance for being shot--my friends could bear +that without humiliation; but hanging would have always tainted their +memory of me, try as they would against it. + +"The gallows is ready, and my orders were to see him hanged," Mr. Lancy +said. + +"An order came at midnight that he should be shot," was Gabord's reply, +producing the order, and handing it over. + +The officer contemptuously tossed it back, and now, a little more +courteous, ordered me against the wall, and I let my cloak fall to the +ground. I was placed where, looking east, I could see the Island of +Orleans, on which was the summer-house of the Seigneur Duvarney. Gabord +came to me and said, "M'sieu', you are a brave man"--then, all at once +breaking off, he added in a low, hurried voice, "'Tis not a long flight +to heaven, m'sieu'!" I could see his face twitching as he stood looking +at me. He hardly dared to turn round to his comrades, lest his emotion +should be seen. But the officer roughly ordered him back. Gabord coolly +drew out his watch, and made a motion to me not to take off my cloak +yet. + +"'Tis not the time by six minutes," he said. "The gentleman is to be +shot to the stroke--aho!" His voice and manner were dogged. The officer +stepped forward threateningly; but Gabord said something angrily in an +undertone, and the other turned on his heel and began walking up and +down. This continued for a moment, in which we all were very still and +bitter cold--the air cut like steel--and then my heart gave a great +leap, for suddenly there stepped into the yard Doltaire. Action seemed +suspended in me, but I know I listened with singular curiosity to the +shrill creaking of his boots on the frosty earth, and I noticed that the +fur collar of the coat he wore was all white with the frozen moisture of +his breath, also that tiny icicles hung from his eyelashes. He came down +the yard slowly, and presently paused and looked at Gabord and the young +officer, his head laid a little to one side in a quizzical fashion, his +eyelids drooping. + +"What time was monsieur to be shot?" he asked of Captain Lancy. + +"At seven o'clock, monsieur," was the reply. + +Doltaire took out his watch. "It wants three minutes of seven," said +he. "What the devil means this business before the stroke o' the hour?" +waving a hand towards me. + +"We were waiting for the minute, monsieur," was the officer's reply. + +A cynical, cutting smile crossed Doltaire's face. "A charitable trick, +upon my soul, to fetch a gentleman from a warm dungeon and stand him +against an icy wall on a deadly morning to cool his heels as he +waits for his hour to die! You'd skin your lion and shoot him +afterwards--voila!" All this time he held the watch in his hand. + +"You, Gabord," he went on, "you are a man to obey orders--eh?" + +Gabord hesitated a moment as if waiting for Lancy to speak, and then +said, "I was not in command. When I was called upon I brought him +forth." + +"Excuses! excuses! You sweated to be rid of your charge." + +Gabord's face lowered. "M'sieu' would have been in heaven by this if I +had'nt stopped it," he broke out angrily. + +Doltaire turned sharply on Lancy. "I thought as much," said he, "and +you would have let Gabord share your misdemeanor. Yet your father was a +gentleman! If you had shot monsieur before seven, you would have taken +the dungeon he left. You must learn, my young provincial, that you are +not to supersede France and the King. It is now seven o'clock; you will +march your men back into quarters." + +Then turning to me, he raised his cap. "You will find your cloak more +comfortable, Captain Moray," said he, and he motioned Gabord to hand +it to me, as he came forward. "May I breakfast with you?" he added +courteously. He yawned a little. "I have not risen so early in years, +and I am chilled to the bone. Gabord insists that it is warm in your +dungeon; I have a fancy to breakfast there. It will recall my year in +the Bastile." + +He smiled in a quaint, elusive sort of fashion, and as I drew the cloak +about me, I said through chattering teeth, for I had suffered with the +brutal cold, "I am glad to have the chance to offer breakfast." + +"To me or any one?" he dryly suggested. "Think! by now, had I not come, +you might have been in a warmer world than this--indeed, much warmer," +he suddenly said, as he stooped, picked up some snow in his bare hand, +and clapped it to my cheek, rubbing it with force and swiftness. The +cold had nipped it, and this was the way to draw out the frost. His +solicitude at the moment was so natural and earnest that it was hard to +think he was my enemy. + +When he had rubbed awhile, he gave me his own handkerchief to dry my +face; and so perfect was his courtesy, it was impossible to do otherwise +than meet him as he meant and showed for the moment. He had stepped +between me and death, and even an enemy who does that, no matter what +the motive, deserves something at your hands. + +"Gabord," he said, as we stepped inside the citadel, "we will breakfast +at eight o'clock. Meanwhile, I have some duties with our officers here. +Till we meet in your dining-hall, then, monsieur," he added to me, and +raised his cap. + +"You must put up with frugal fare," I answered, bowing. + +"If you but furnish locusts," he said gaily, "I will bring the wild +honey.... What wonderful hives of bees they have at the Seigneur +Duvarney's!" he continued musingly, as if with second thought; "a +beautiful manor--a place for pretty birds and honey-bees!" + +His eyelids drooped languidly, as was their way when he had said +something a little carbolic, as this was to me, because of its +hateful suggestion. His words drew nothing from me, not even a look of +understanding, and, again bowing, we went our ways. + +At the door of the dungeon Gabord held the torch up to my face. His own +had a look which came as near to being gentle as was possible to him. +Yet he was so ugly that it looked almost ludicrous in him. "Poom!" said +he. "A friend at court. More comfits." + +"You think Monsieur Doltaire gets comfits, too?" asked I. + +He rubbed his cheek with a key. "Aho!" mused he--"aho! M'sieu' Doltaire +rises not early for naught." + + + + +XII. "THE POINT ENVENOMED TOO!" + + +I was roused by the opening of the door. Doltaire entered. He advanced +towards me with the manner of an admired comrade, and, with no trace of +what would mark him as my foe, said, as he sniffed the air: + +"Monsieur, I have been selfish. I asked myself to breakfast with you, +yet, while I love the new experience, I will deny myself in this. You +shall breakfast with me, as you pass to your new lodgings. You must not +say no," he added, as though we were in some salon. "I have a sleigh +here at the door, and a fellow has already gone to fan my kitchen fires +and forage for the table. Come," he went on, "let me help you with your +cloak." + +He threw my cloak around me, and turned towards the door. I had not +spoken a word, for what with weakness, the announcement that I was to +have new lodgings, and the sudden change in my affairs, I was like a +child walking in its sleep. I could do no more than bow to him and force +a smile, which must have told more than aught else of my state, for he +stepped to my side and offered me his arm. I drew back from that with +thanks, for I felt a quick hatred of myself that I should take favours +of the man who had moved for my destruction, and to steal from me my +promised wife. Yet it was my duty to live if I could, to escape if that +were possible, to use every means to foil my enemies. It was all a +game; why should I not accept advances at my enemy's hands, and match +dissimulation with dissimulation? + +When I refused his arm, he smiled comically, and raised his shoulders in +deprecation. + +"You forget your dignity, monsieur," I said presently as we walked on, +Gabord meeting us and lighting us through the passages; "you voted me a +villain, a spy, at my trial!" + +"Technically and publicly, you are a spy, a vulgar criminal," he +replied; "privately, you are a foolish, blundering gentleman." + +"A soldier, also, you will admit, who keeps his compact with his enemy." + +"Otherwise we should not breakfast together this morning," he answered. +"What difference would it make to this government if our private matter +had been dragged in? Technically, you still would have been the spy. But +I will say this, monsieur, to me you are a man better worth torture than +death." + +"Do you ever stop to think of how this may end for you?" I asked +quietly. + +He seemed pleased with the question. "I have thought it might be +interesting," he answered; "else, as I said, you should long ago have +left this naughty world. Is it in your mind that we shall cross swords +one day?" + +"I feel it in my bones," said I, "that I shall kill you." + +At that moment we stood at the entrance to the citadel, where a good +pair of horses and a sleigh awaited us. We got in, the robes were piled +around us, and the horses started off at a long trot. I was muffled to +the ears, but I could see how white and beautiful was the world, how the +frost glistened in the trees, how the balsams were weighted down with +snow, and how snug the chateaux looked with the smoke curling up from +their hunched chimneys. + +Presently Doltaire replied to my last remark. "Conviction is the +executioner of the stupid," said he. "When a man is not great enough to +let change and chance guide him, he gets convictions, and dies a fool." + +"Conviction has made men and nations strong," I rejoined. + +"Has made men and nations asses," he retorted. "The Mohammmedan has +conviction, so has the Christian: they die fighting each other, and the +philosopher sits by and laughs. Expediency, monsieur, expediency is the +real wisdom, the true master of this world. Expediency saved your life +to-day; conviction would have sent you to a starry home." + +As he spoke a thought came in on me. Here we were in the open world, +travelling together, without a guard of any kind. Was it not possible to +make a dash for freedom? The idea was put away from me, and yet it was a +fresh accent of Doltaire's character that he tempted me in this way. As +if he divined what I thought, he said to me--for I made no attempt to +answer his question: + +"Men of sense never confuse issues or choose the wrong time for their +purposes. Foes may have unwritten truces." + +There was the matter in a nutshell. He had done nothing carelessly; he +was touching off our conflict with flashes of genius. He was the man who +had roused in me last night the fiercest passions of my life, and yet +this morning he had saved me from death, and, though he was still my +sworn enemy, I was about to breakfast with him. + +Already the streets of the town were filling; for it was the day before +Christmas, and it would be the great market-day of the year. Few noticed +us as we sped along down Palace Street and I could not conceive whither +we were going, until, passing the Hotel Dieu, I saw in front the +Intendance. I remembered the last time I was there, and what had +happened then, and a thought flashed through me that perhaps this was +another trap. But I put it from me, and soon afterwards Doltaire said: + +"I have now a slice of the Intendance for my own, and we shall breakfast +like squirrels in a loft." + +As we drove into the open space before the palace, a company of soldiers +standing before the great door began marching up to the road by which +we came. With them was a prisoner. I saw at once that he was a British +officer, but I did not recognize his face. I asked his name of Doltaire, +and found it was one Lieutenant Stevens, of Rogers' Rangers, those brave +New Englanders. After an interview with Bigot he was being taken to +the common jail. To my request that I might speak with him Doltaire +assented, and at a sign from my companion the soldiers stopped. +Stevens's eyes were fixed on me with a puzzled, disturbed expression. +He was well built, of intrepid bearing, with a fine openness of manner +joined to handsome features. But there was a recklessness in his eye +which seemed to me to come nearer the swashbuckling character of a young +French seigneur than the wariness of a British soldier. + +I spoke his name and introduced myself. His surprise and pleasure were +pronounced, for he had thought (as he said) that by this time I would be +dead. There was an instant's flash of his eye, as if a suspicion of +my loyalty had crossed his mind; but it was gone on the instant, and +immediately Doltaire, who also had interpreted the look, smiled, and +said he had carried me off to breakfast while the furniture of my former +prison was being shifted to my new one. After a word or two more, with +Stevens's assurance that the British had recovered from Braddock's +defeat and would soon be knocking at the portals of the Chateau St. +Louis, we parted, and soon Doltaire and I got out at the high stone +steps of the palace. + +Standing there a moment, I looked round. In this space surrounding the +Intendance was gathered the history of New France. This palace, large +enough for the king of a European country with a population of a +million, was the official residence of the commercial ruler of a +province. It was the house of the miller, and across the way was the +King's storehouse, La Friponne, where poor folk were ground between the +stones. The great square was already filling with people who had come to +trade. Here were barrels of malt being unloaded; there, great sacks +of grain, bags of dried fruits, bales of home-made cloth, and loads of +fine-sawn boards and timber. Moving about among the peasants were the +regular soldiers in their white uniforms faced with blue, red, yellow, +or violet, with black three-cornered hats, and black gaiters from foot +to knee, and the militia in coats of white with black facings. Behind a +great collar of dogskin a pair of jet-black eyes flashed out from under +a pretty forehead; and presently one saw these same eyes grown sorrowful +or dull under heavy knotted brows, which told of a life too vexed by +care and labour to keep alive a spark of youth's romance. Now the bell +in the tower above us rang a short peal, the signal for the opening of +La Friponne, and the bustling crowd moved towards its doors. As I stood +there on the great steps, I chanced to look along the plain, bare front +of the palace to an annex at the end, and standing in a doorway opening +on a pair of steps was Voban. I was amazed that he should be there--the +man whose life had been spoiled by Bigot. At the same moment Doltaire +motioned to him to return inside; which he did. + +Doltaire laughed at my surprise, and as he showed me inside the +palace said: "There is no barber in the world like Voban. Interesting +interesting! I love to watch his eye when he draws the razor down my +throat. It would be so easy to fetch it across; but Voban, as you see, +is not a man of absolute conviction. It will be sport, some day, to +put Bigot's valet to bed with a broken leg or a fit of spleen, and send +Voban to shave him." + +"Where is Mathilde?" I asked, as though I knew naught of her +whereabouts. + +"Mathilde is where none may touch her, monsieur; under the protection +of the daintiest lady of New France. It is her whim; and when a lady is +charming, an Intendant, even, must not trouble her caprice." + +He did not need to speak more plainly. It was he who had prevented Bigot +from taking Mathilde away from Alixe, and locking her up, or worse. I +said nothing, however, and soon we were in a large room, sumptuously +furnished, looking out on the great square. The morning sun stared in, +some snowbirds twittered on the window-sill, and inside, a canary, in +an alcove hung with plants and flowers, sang as if it were the heart of +summer. All was warm and comfortable, and it was like a dream that I had +just come from the dismal chance of a miserable death. My cloak and cap +and leggings had been taken from me when I entered, as courteously +as though I had been King Louis himself, and a great chair was drawn +solicitously to the fire. All this was done by the servant, after +one quick look from Doltaire. The man seemed to understand his master +perfectly, to read one look as though it were a volume-- + + "The constant service of the antique world." + +Such was Doltaire's influence. The closer you came to him, the more +compelling was he--a devilish attraction, notably selfish, yet capable +of benevolence. Two years before this time I saw him lift a load from +the back of a peasant woman and carry it home for her, putting into her +hand a gold piece on leaving. At another time, an old man had died of +a foul disease in a miserable upper room of a warehouse. Doltaire was +passing at the moment when the body should be carried to burial. The +stricken widow of the dead man stood below, waiting, but no one would +fetch the body down. Doltaire stopped and questioned her kindly, and +in another minute he was driving the carter and another upstairs at the +point of his sword. Together they brought the body down, and Doltaire +followed it to the burying-ground; keeping the gravedigger at his task +when he would have run away, and saying the responses to the priest in +the short service read above the grave. + +I said to him then, "You rail at the world and scoff at men and many +decencies, and yet you do these things!" + +To this he replied--he was in my own lodgings at the time--"The brain +may call all men liars and fools, but the senses feel the shock of +misery which we do not ourselves inflict. Inflicting, we are prone to +cruelty, as you have seen a schoolmaster begin punishment with tears, +grow angry at the shrinking back under his cane, and give way to a +sudden lust of torture. I have little pity for those who can help +themselves--let them fight or eat the leek; but the child and the +helpless and the sick it is a pleasure to aid. I love the poor as much +as I love anything. I could live their life, if I were put to it. As a +gentleman, I hate squalor and the puddles of wretchedness but I could +have worked at the plough or the anvil; I could have dug in the earth +till my knuckles grew big and my shoulders hardened to a roundness, +have eaten my beans and pork and pea-soup, and have been a healthy +ox, munching the bread of industry and trailing the puissant pike, a +diligent serf. I have no ethics, and yet I am on the side of the just +when they do not put thorns in my bed to keep me awake at night!" + +Upon the walls hung suits of armour, swords of beautiful make, spears, +belts of wonderful workmanship, a tattered banner, sashes knit by +ladies' fingers, pouches, bandoleers, and many strong sketches of scenes +that I knew well. Now and then a woman's head in oils or pencil peeped +out from the abundant ornaments. I recalled then another thing he said +at that time of which I write: + +"I have never juggled with my conscience--never 'made believe' with it. +My will was always stronger than my wish for anything, always stronger +than temptation. I have chosen this way or that deliberately. I am ever +ready to face consequences, and never to cry out. It is the ass who does +not deserve either reward or punishment who says that something carried +him away, and, being weak, he fell. That is a poor man who is no +stronger than his passions. I can understand the devil fighting God, and +taking the long punishment without repentance, like a powerful prince as +he was. I could understand a peasant, killing King Louis in the palace, +and being ready, if he had a hundred lives, to give them all, having +done the deed he set out to do. If a man must have convictions of that +sort, he can escape everlasting laughter--the final hell--only by facing +the rebound of his wild deeds." + +These were strange sentiments in the mouth of a man who was ever the +mannered courtier, and as I sat there alone, while he was gone elsewhere +for some minutes, many such things he had said came back to me, +suggested, no doubt, by this new, inexplicable attitude towards myself. +I could trace some of his sentiments, perhaps vaguely, to the fact +that--as I had come to know through the Seigneur Duvarney--his mother +was of peasant blood, the beautiful daughter of a farmer of Poictiers, +who had died soon after giving birth to Doltaire. His peculiar nature +had shown itself in his refusal to accept a title. It was his whim to be +the plain "Monsieur"; behind which was, perhaps, some native arrogancy +which made him prefer that to being a noble whose origin, well known, +must ever interfere with his ambitions. Then, too, maybe, the peasant in +him--never in his face or form, which were patrician altogether--spoke +for more truth and manliness than he was capable of, and so he chose to +be the cynical, irresponsible courtier, while many of his instincts had +urged him to the peasant's integrity. He had undisturbed, however, one +instinct of the peasant--a directness, which was evident chiefly in the +clearness of his thoughts. + +As these things hurried through my mind, my body sunk in a kind of +restfulness before the great fire, Doltaire came back. + +"I will not keep you from breakfast," said he. "Voban must wait, if you +will pass by untidiness." + +A thought flashed through my mind. Maybe Voban had some word for me from +Alixe! So I said instantly, "I am not hungry. Perhaps you will let +me wait yonder while Voban tends you. As you said, it should be +interesting." + +"You will not mind the disorder of my dressing-room? Well, then, this +way, and we can talk while Voban plays with temptation." + +So saying, he courteously led the way into another chamber, where Voban +stood waiting. I spoke to him, and he bowed, but did not speak; and then +Doltaire said: + +"You see, Voban, your labour on Monsieur was wasted so far as concerns +the world to come. You trimmed him for the glorious company of the +apostles, and see, he breakfasts with Monsieur Doltaire--in the +Intendance, too, my Voban, which, as you know, is wicked--a very nest of +wasps!" + +I never saw more hate than shot out of Voban's eyes at that moment; but +the lids drooped over them at once, and he made ready for his work, as +Doltaire, putting aside his coat, seated himself, laughing. There was no +little daring, as there was cruelty, in thus torturing a man whose life +had been broken by Doltaire's associate. I wondered now and then if +Doltaire were not really putting acid on the barber's bare nerves for +some other purpose than mere general cruelty. Even as he would have +understood the peasant's murder of King Louis, so he would have seen a +logical end to a terrible game in Bigot's death at the hand of Voban. +Possibly he wondered that Voban did not strike, and he himself took +a delight in showing him his own wrongs occasionally. Then, again, +Doltaire might wish for Bigot's death, to succeed him in his place! +But this I put by as improbable, for the Intendant's post was not his +ambition, or, favourite of La Pompadour as he was, he would, desiring, +have long ago achieved that end. Moreover, every evidence showed that +he would gladly return to France, for his clear brain foresaw the final +ruin of the colony and the triumph of the British. He had once said in +my hearing: + +"Those swaggering Englishmen will keep coming on. They are too stupid to +turn back. The eternal sameness of it all will so distress us we shall +awake one morning, find them at our bedsides, give a kick, and die from +sheer ennui. They'll use our banners to boil their fat puddings in, +they'll roast oxen in the highways, and after our girls have married +them they'll turn them into kitchen wenches with frowsy skirts and +ankles like beeves!" + +But, indeed, beneath his dangerous irony there was a strain of +impishness, and he would, if need be, laugh at his own troubles, and +torture himself as he had tortured others. This morning he was full of a +carbolic humour. As the razor came to his neck he said: + +"Voban, a barber must have patience. It is a sad thing to mistake friend +for enemy. What is a friend? Is it one who says sweet words?" + +There was a pause, in which the shaving went on, and then he continued: + +"Is it he who says, I have eaten Voban's bread, and Voban shall +therefore go to prison, or be hurried to Walhalla? Or is it he who stays +the iron hand, who puts nettles in Voban's cold, cold bed, that he may +rise early and go forth among the heroes?" + +I do not think Voban understood that, through some freak of purpose, +Doltaire was telling him thus obliquely he had saved him from Bigot's +cruelty, from prison or death. Once or twice he glanced at me, but not +meaningly, for Doltaire was seated opposite a mirror, and could see each +motion made by either of us. Presently Doltaire said to me idly: + +"I dine to-day at the Seigneur Duvarney's. You will be glad to hear +that mademoiselle bids fair to rival the charming Madame Cournal. Her +followers are as many, so they say, and all in one short year she has +suddenly thrown out a thousand new faculties and charms. Doubtless +you remember she was gifted, but who would have thought she could have +blossomed so! She was all light and softness and air; she is now all +fire and skill as well. Matchless! matchless! Every day sees her with +some new capacity, some fresh and delicate aplomb. She has set the town +admiring, and jealous mothers prophesy trist ending for her. Her swift +mastery of the social arts is weird, they say. La! la! The social +arts! A good brain, a gift of penetration, a manner--which is a grand +necessity, and it must be with birth--no heart to speak of, and the rest +is easy. No heart--there is the thing; with a good brain and senses all +warm with life--to feel, but never to have the arrow strike home. You +must never think to love and be loved, and be wise too. The emotions +blind the judgment. Be heartless, be perfect with heavenly artifice, +and, if you are a woman, have no vitriol on your tongue--and you may +rule at Versailles or Quebec. But with this difference: in Quebec you +may be virtuous; at Versailles you must not. It is a pity that you may +not meet Mademoiselle Duvarney. She would astound you. She was a simple +ballad a year ago; to-morrow she may be an epic." + +He nodded at me reflectively, and went on: + +"'Mademoiselle,' said the Chevalier de la Darante to her at dinner, +some weeks ago, 'if I were young, I should adore you.' 'Monsieur,' she +answered, 'you use that "if" to shirk the responsibility.' That put him +on his mettle. 'Then, by the gods, I adore you now,' he answered. 'If I +were young, I should blush to hear you say so,' was her reply. 'I empty +out my heart, and away trips the disdainful nymph with a laugh,' he +rejoined gaily, the rusty old courtier; 'there's nothing left but to +fall upon my sword!' 'Disdainful nymphs are the better scabbards for +distinguished swords,' she said, with charming courtesy. Then, laughing +softly, 'There is an Egyptian proverb which runs thus: "If thou, Dol, +son of Hoshti, hast emptied out thy heart, and it bring no fruit +in exchange, curse not thy gods and die, but build a pyramid in the +vineyard where thy love was spent, and write upon it, Pride hath no +conqueror."' It is a mind for a palace, is it not?" + +I could see in the mirror facing him the provoking devilry of his eyes. +I knew that he was trying how much he could stir me. He guessed my love +for her, but I could see he was sure that she no longer--if she ever +had--thought of me. Besides, with a lover's understanding, I saw also +that he liked to talk of her. His eyes, in the mirror, did not meet +mine, but were fixed, as on some distant and pleasing prospect, though +there was, as always, a slight disdain at his mouth. But the eyes +were clear, resolute, and strong, never wavering--and I never saw them +waver--yet in them something distant and inscrutable. It was a candid +eye, and he was candid in his evil; he made no pretense; and though the +means to his ends were wicked, they were never low. Presently, glancing +round the room, I saw an easel on which was a canvas. He caught my +glance. + +"Silly work for a soldier and a gentleman," he said, "but silliness is +a great privilege. It needs as much skill to carry folly as to be an +ambassador. Now, you are often much too serious, Captain Moray." + +At that he rose, and, after putting on his coat, came over to the +easel and threw up the cloth, exposing a portrait of Alixe! It had been +painted in by a few bold strokes, full of force and life, yet giving her +face more of that look which comes to women bitterly wise in the ways of +this world than I cared to see. The treatment was daring, and it cut me +like a knife that the whole painting had a red glow: the dress was red, +the light falling on the hair was red, the shine of the eyes was red +also. It was fascinating, but weird, and, to me, distressful. There +flashed through my mind the remembrance of Mathilde in her scarlet robe +as she stood on the Heights that momentous night of my arrest. I +looked at the picture in silence. He kept gazing at it with a curious, +half-quizzical smile, as if he were unconscious of my presence. At last +he said, with a slight knitting of his brows: + +"It is strange--strange. I sketched that in two nights ago, by the light +of the fire, after I had come from the Chateau St. Louis--from memory, +as you see. It never struck me where the effect was taken from, that +singular glow over all the face and figure. But now I see it; it +returns: it is the impression of colour in the senses, left from the +night that lady-bug Mathilde flashed out on the Heights! A fine--a fine +effect! H'm! for another such one might give another such Mathilde!" + +At that moment we were both startled by a sound behind us, and, +wheeling, we saw Voban, a mad look in his face, in the act of throwing +at Doltaire a short spear which he had caught up from a corner. The +spear flew from his hand even as Doltaire sprang aside, drawing his +sword with great swiftness. I thought he must have been killed, but the +rapidity of his action saved him, for the spear passed his shoulder +so close that it tore away a shred of his coat, and stuck in the wall +behind him. In another instant Doltaire had his sword-point at Voban's +throat. The man did not cringe, did not speak a word, but his hands +clinched, and the muscles of his face worked painfully. There was at +first a fury in Doltaire's face and a metallic hardness in his eyes, +and I was sure he meant to pass his sword through the other's body; +but after standing for a moment, death hanging on his sword-point, +he quietly lowered his weapon, and, sitting on a chair-arm, looked +curiously at Voban, as one might sit and watch a mad animal within +a cage. Voban did not stir, but stood rooted to the spot, his eyes, +however, never moving from Doltaire. It was clear that he had looked +for death, and now expected punishment and prison. Doltaire took out his +handkerchief and wiped a sweat from his cheeks. He turned to me soon, +and said, in a singularly impersonal way, as though he were speaking of +some animal: + +"He had great provocation. The Duchess de Valois had a young panther +once which she had brought up from the milk. She was inquisitive, and +used to try its temper. It was good sport, but one day she took away +its food, gave it to the cat, and pointed her finger at monsieur the +panther. The Duchess de Valois never bared her breast thereafter to an +admiring world--a panther's claws leave scars." He paused, and presently +continued: "You remember it, Voban; you were the Duke's valet then--you +see I recall you! Well, the panther lost his head, both figuratively and +in fact. The panther did not mean to kill, maybe, but to kill the lady's +beauty was death to her.... Voban, yonder spear was poisoned!" + +He wiped his face, and said to me, "I think you saw that at the +dangerous moment I had no fear; yet now when the game is in my own +hands, my cheek runs with cold sweat. How easy to be charged with +cowardice! Like evaporation, the hot breath of peril passing suddenly +into the cold air of safety leaves this!"--he wiped his cheek again. + +He rose, moved slowly to Voban, and, pricking him with his sword, said, +"You are a bungler, barber. Now listen. I never wronged you; I have only +been your blister. I prick your sores at home. Tut! tut! they prick them +openly in the market-place. I gave you life a minute ago; I give you +freedom now. Some day I may ask that life for a day's use, and then, +Voban, then will you give it?" + +There was a moment's pause, and the barber answered, "M'sieu', I owe you +nothing. I would have killed you then; you may kill me, if you will." + +Doltaire nodded musingly. Something was passing through his mind. I +judged he was thinking that here was a man who as a servant would be +invaluable. + +"Well, well, we can discuss the thing at leisure, Voban," he said at +last. "Meanwhile you may wait here till Captain Moray has breakfasted, +and then you shall be at his service; and I would have a word with you, +also." + +Turning with a polite gesture to me, he led the way into the +breakfast-room, and at once, half famished, I was seated at the table, +drinking a glass of good wine, and busy with a broiled whitefish of +delicate quality. We were silent for a time, and the bird in the alcove +kept singing as though it were in Eden, while chiming in between the +rhythms there came the silvery sound of sleigh-bells from the world +without. I was in a sort of dream, and I felt there must be a rude +awakening soon. After a while, Doltaire, who seemed thinking keenly, +ordered the servant to take in a glass of wine to Voban. + +He looked up at me after a little, as if he had come back from a long +distance, and said, "It is my fate to have as foes the men I would have +as friends, and as friends the men I would have as foes. The cause of my +friends is often bad; the cause of my enemies is sometimes good. It +is droll. I love directness, yet I have ever been the slave of +complication. I delight in following my reason, yet I have been of the +motes that stumble in the sunlight. I have enough cruelty in me, enough +selfishness and will, to be a ruler, and yet I have never held an +office in my life. I love true diplomacy, yet I have been comrade to the +official liar, and am the captain of intrigue--la! la!" + +"You have never had an enthusiasm, a purpose?" said I. + +He laughed, a dry, ironical laugh. "I have both an enthusiasm and a +purpose," he answered, "or you would by now be snug in bed forever." + +I knew what he meant, though he could not guess I understood. He was +referring to Alixe and the challenge she had given him. I did not +feel that I had anything to get by playing a part of friendliness, and +besides, he was a man to whom the boldest speaking was always palatable, +even when most against himself. + +"I am sure neither would bear daylight," said I. + +"Why, I almost blush to say that they are both honest--would at this +moment endure a moral microscope. The experience, I confess, is new, and +has the glamour of originality." + +"It will not stay honest," I retorted. "Honesty is a new toy with you. +You will break it on the first rock that shows." + +"I wonder," he answered, "I wonder,... and yet I suppose you are right. +Some devilish incident will twist things out of gear, and then the +old Adam must improvise for safety and success. Yes, I suppose my one +beautiful virtue will get a twist." + +What he had said showed me his mind as in a mirror. He had no idea that +I had the key to his enigmas. I felt as had Voban in the other room. I +could see that he had set his mind on Alixe, and that she had roused in +him what was perhaps the first honest passion of his life. + +What further talk we might have had I can not tell, but while we were +smoking and drinking coffee the door opened suddenly, and the servant +said, "His Excellency the Marquis de Vaudreuil!" + +Doltaire got to his feet, a look of annoyance crossing his face; but he +courteously met the Governor, and placed a chair for him. The Governor, +however, said frostily, "Monsieur Doltaire, it must seem difficult for +Captain Moray to know who is Governor in Canada, since he has so many +masters. I am not sure who needs assurance most upon the point, you or +he. This is the second time he has been feasted at the Intendance when +he should have been in prison. I came too late that other time; now it +seems I am opportune." + +Doltaire's reply was smooth: "Your Excellency will pardon the liberty. +The Intendance was a sort of halfway house between the citadel and the +jail." + +"There is news from France," the Governor said, "brought from Gaspe. We +meet in council at the Chateau in an hour. A guard is without to take +Captain Moray to the common jail." + +In a moment more, after a courteous good-by from Doltaire, and a remark +from the Governor to the effect that I had spoiled his night's sleep +to no purpose, I was soon on my way to the common jail, where arriving, +what was my pleased surprise to see Gabord! He had been told off to be +my especial guard, his services at the citadel having been deemed so +efficient. He was outwardly surly--as rough as he was ever before the +world, and without speaking a word to me, he had a soldier lock me in a +cell. + + + + +XIII. "A LITTLE BOAST" + + +My new abode was more cheerful than the one I had quitted in the +citadel. It was not large, but it had a window, well barred, through +which came the good strong light of the northern sky. A wooden bench for +my bed stood in one corner, and, what cheered me much, there was a small +iron stove. Apart from warmth, its fire would be companionable, and to +tend it a means of passing the time. Almost the first thing I did was to +examine it. It was round, and shaped like a small bulging keg on end. +It had a lid on top, and in the side a small door with bars for draught, +suggesting to me in little the delight of a fireplace. A small pipe from +the side carried away the smoke into a chimney in the wall. It seemed to +me luxurious, and my spirits came back apace. + +There was no fire yet, and it was bitter cold, so that I took to walking +up and down to keep warmth in me. I was ill nourished, and I felt the +cold intensely. But I trotted up and down, plans of escape already +running through my head. I was as far off as you can imagine from that +event of the early morning, when I stood waiting, half frozen, to be +shot by Lancy's men. + +After I had been walking swiftly up and down for an hour or more, +slapping my hands against my sides to keep them warm--for it was so cold +I ached and felt a nausea--I was glad to see Gabord enter with a soldier +carrying wood and shavings. I do not think I could much longer have +borne the chilling air--a dampness, too, had risen from the floor, which +had been washed that morning--for my clothes were very light in texture +and much worn. I had had but the one suit since I entered the dungeon, +for my other suit, which was by no means smart, had been taken from me +when I was first imprisoned the year before. As if many good things had +been destined to come at once, soon afterwards another soldier entered +with a knapsack, which he laid down on the bench. My delight was great +when I saw it held my other poor suit of clothes, together with a rough +set of woollens, a few handkerchiefs, two pairs of stockings, and a wool +cap for night wear. + +Gabord did not speak to me at all, but roughly hurried the soldier at +his task of fire-lighting, and ordered the other to fetch a pair +of stools and a jar of water. Meanwhile I stood near, watching, and +stretched out my skinny hands to the grateful heat as soon as the fire +was lighted. I had a boy's delight in noting how the draught pumped the +fire into violence, shaking the stove till it puffed and roared. I +was so filled, that moment, with the domestic spirit that I thought a +steaming kettle on the little stove would give me a tabby-like comfort. + +"Why not a kettle on the hob?" said I gaily to Gabord. + +"Why not a cat before the fire, a bit of bacon on the coals, a pot of +mulled wine at the elbow, and a wench's chin to chuck, baby-bumbo!" said +Gabord in a mocking voice, which made the soldiers laugh at my expense. +"And a spinet, too, for ducky dear, Scarrat; a piece of cake and cherry +wine, and a soul to go to heaven! Tonnerre!" he added, with an oath, +"these English prisoners want the world for a sou, and they'd owe that +till judgment day." + +I saw at once the meaning of his words, for he turned his back on me +and went to the window and tried the stanchions, seeming much concerned +about them, and muttering to himself. I drew out from my pocket two +gold pieces, and gave them to the soldier Scarrat; and the other soldier +coming in just then, I did the same with him; and I could see that their +respect for me mightily increased. Gabord, still muttering, turned to us +again, and began to berate the soldiers for their laziness. As the two +men turned to go, Scarrat, evidently feeling that something was due for +the gold I had given, said to Gabord, "Shall m'sieu' have the kettle?" + +Gabord took a step forward as if to strike the soldier, but stopped +short, blew out his cheeks, and laughed in a loud, mocking way. + +"Ay, ay, fetch m'sieu' the kettle, and fetch him flax to spin, and a +pinch of snuff, and hot flannels for his stomach, and every night at +sundown you shall feed him with pretty biscuits soaked in milk. Ah, go +to the devil and fetch the kettle, fool!" he added roughly again, and +quickly the place was empty save for him and myself. + +"Those two fellows are to sit outside your cage door, dickey-bird, and +two are to march beneath your window yonder, so you shall not lack care +if you seek to go abroad. Those are the new orders." + +"And you, Gabord," said I, "are you not to be my jailer?" I said it +sorrowfully, for I had a genuine feeling for him, and I could not keep +that from my voice. + +When I had spoken so feelingly, he stood for a moment, flushing and +puffing, as if confused by the compliment in the tone, and then he +answered, "I'm to keep you safe till word comes from the King what's to +be done with you." + +Then he suddenly became surly again, standing with legs apart and keys +dangling; for Scarrat entered with the kettle, and put it on the stove. +"You will bring blankets for m'sieu'," he added, "and there's an order +on my table for tobacco, which you will send your comrade for." + +In a moment we were left alone. + +"You'll live like a stuffed pig here," he said, "though 'twill be cold +o' nights." + +After another pass or two of words he left me, and I hastened to make +a better toilet than I had done for a year. My old rusty suit which +I exchanged for the one I had worn seemed almost sumptuous, and the +woollen wear comforted my weakened body. Within an hour my cell looked +snug, and I sat cosily by the fire, feeding it lazily. + +It must have been about four o'clock when there was a turning of keys +and a shooting of bolts, the door opened, and who should step inside +but Gabord, followed by Alixe! I saw Alixe's lips frame my name thrice, +though no word came forth, and my heart was bursting to cry out and +clasp her to my breast. But still with a sweet, serious look cast on me, +she put out her hand and stayed me. + +Gabord, looking not at us at all, went straight to the window, and, +standing on a stool, busied himself with the stanchions and to whistle. +I took Alixe's hands and held them, and spoke her name softly, and she +smiled up at me with so perfect a grace that I thought there never was +aught like it in the world. + +She was the first to break the good spell. I placed a seat for her, and +sat down by her. She held out her fingers to the fire, and then, after a +moment, she told me the story of last night's affair. First she made me +tell her briefly of the events of the morning, of which she knew, but +not fully. This done, she began. I will set down her story as a whole, +and you must understand as you read that it was told as women tell a +story, with all little graces and diversions, and those small details +with which even momentous things are enveloped in their eyes. I loved +her all the more because of these, and I saw, as Doltaire had said, how +admirably poised was her intellect, how acute her wit, how delicate and +astute a diplomatist she was becoming; and yet, through all, preserving +a simplicity of character almost impossible of belief. Such qualities, +in her directed to good ends, in lesser women have made them infamous. +Once that day Alixe said to me, breaking off as her story went on, "Oh, +Robert, when I see what power I have to dissimulate--for it is that, +call it by what name you will--when I see how I enjoy accomplishing +against all difficulty, how I can blind even so skilled a diplomatist as +Monsieur Doltaire, I almost tremble. I see how, if God had not given me +something here"--she placed her hand upon her heart--"that saves me, I +might be like Madame Cournal, and far worse, far worse than she. For I +love power--I do love it; I can see that!" + +She did not realize that it was her strict honesty with herself that was +her true safeguard. + +But here is the story she told me: + +"When I left you, last night, I went at once to my home, and was glad to +get in without being seen. At nine o'clock we were to be at the Chateau, +and while my sister Georgette was helping me with my toilette--oh, how +I wished she would go and leave me quite alone!--my head was in a whirl, +and now and then I could feel my heart draw and shake like a half-choked +pump, and there was a strange pain behind my eyes. Georgette is of such +a warm disposition, so kind always to me, whom she would yield to in +everything, so simple in her affections, that I seemed standing there by +her like an intrigante, as one who had got wisdom at the price of a good +something lost. But do not think, Robert, that for one instant I was +sorry I played a part, and have done so for a long year and more. I +would do it and more again, if it were for you. + +"Georgette could not understand why it was I stopped all at once and +caught her head to my breast, as she sat by me where I stood arranging +my gown. I do not know quite why I did it, but perhaps it was from my +yearning that never should she have a lover in such sorrow and danger +as mine, and that never should she have to learn to mask her heart as I +have done. Ah, sometimes I fear, Robert, that when all is over, and +you are free, and you see what the world and all this playing at +hide-and-seek have made me, you will feel that such as Georgette, who +have never looked inside the hearts of wicked people, and read the tales +therein for knowledge to defeat wickedness--that such as she were better +fitted for your life and love. No, no, please do not take my hand--not +till you have heard all I am going to tell." + +She continued quietly; yet her eye flashed out now and then, and now and +then, also, something in her thoughts as to how she, a weak, powerless +girl, had got her ends against astute evil men, sent a little laugh to +her lips; for she had by nature as merry a heart as serious. + +"At nine o'clock we came to the Chateau St. Louis from Ste. Anne Street, +where our winter home is--yet how much do I prefer the Manor House! +There were not many guests to supper, and Monsieur Doltaire was not +among them. I affected a genial surprise, and asked the Governor if one +of the two vacant chairs at the table was for monsieur; and looking a +little as though he would reprove me--for he does not like to think +of me as interested in monsieur--he said it was, but that monsieur was +somewhere out of town, and there was no surety that he would come. The +other chair was for the Chevalier de la Darante, one of the oldest and +best of our nobility, who pretends great roughness and barbarism, but is +a kind and honourable gentleman, though odd. He was one of your judges, +Robert; and though he condemned you, he said that you had some reason on +your side. And I will show you how he stood for you last night. + +"I need not tell you how the supper passed, while I was +planning--planning to reach the Governor if monsieur did not come; and +if he did come, how to play my part so he should suspect nothing but a +vain girl's caprice, and maybe heartlessness. Moment after moment went +by, and he came not. I almost despaired. Presently the Chevalier de la +Darante entered, and he took the vacant chair beside me. I was glad of +this. I had gone in upon the arm of a rusty gentleman of the Court, who +is over here to get his health again, and does it by gaming and drinking +at the Chateau Bigot. The Chevalier began at once to talk to me, and he +spoke of you, saying that he had heard of your duel with my brother, +and that formerly you had been much a guest at our house. I answered him +with what carefulness I could, and brought round the question of +your death, by hint and allusion getting him to speak of the mode of +execution. + +"Upon this point he spoke his mind strongly, saying that it was a case +where the penalty should be the musket, not the rope. It was no subject +for the supper table, and the Governor felt this, and I feared he would +show displeasure; but other gentlemen took up the matter, and he could +not easily change the talk at the moment. The feeling was strong against +you. My father stayed silent, but I could see he watched the effect +upon the Governor. I knew that he himself had tried to get the mode of +execution changed, but the Governor had been immovable. The Chevalier +spoke most strongly, for he is afraid of no one, and he gave the other +gentlemen raps upon the knuckles. + +"'I swear,' he said at last, 'I am sorry now I gave in to his death at +all, for it seems to me that there is much cruelty and hatred behind the +case against him. He seemed to me a gentleman of force and fearlessness, +and what he said had weight. Why was the gentleman not exchanged long +ago? He was here three years before he was tried on this charge. Ay, +there's the point. Other prisoners were exchanged--why not he? If the +gentleman is not given a decent death, after these years of captivity, I +swear I will not leave Kamaraska again to set foot in Quebec.' + +"At that the Governor gravely said, 'These are matters for our Council, +dear Chevalier.' To this the Chevalier replied, 'I meant no reflection +on your Excellency, but you are good enough to let the opinions of +gentlemen not so wise as you weigh with you in your efforts to be +just; and I have ever held that one wise autocrat was worth a score of +juries.' There was an instant's pause, and then my father said quietly, +'If his Excellency had always councillors and colleagues like the +Chevalier de la Darante, his path would be easier, and Canada happier +and richer.' This settled the matter, for the Governor, looking at them +both for a moment, suddenly said, 'Gentlemen, you shall have your way, +and I thank you for your confidence.--If the ladies will pardon a sort +of council of state here!' he added. The Governor called a servant, and +ordered pen, ink, and paper; and there before us all he wrote an order +to Gabord, your jailer, to be delivered before midnight. + +"He had begun to read it aloud to us, when the curtains of the +entrance-door parted, and Monsieur Doltaire stepped inside. The Governor +did not hear him, and monsieur stood for a moment listening. When the +reading was finished, he gave a dry little laugh, and came down to the +Governor, apologizing for his lateness, and bowing to the rest of us. He +did not look at me at all, but once he glanced keenly at my father, and +I felt sure that he had heard my father's words to the Governor. + +"'Have the ladies been made councillors?' he asked lightly, and took +his seat, which was opposite to mine. 'Have they all conspired to give +a criminal one less episode in his life for which to blush?... May I not +join the conspiracy?' he added, glancing round, and lifting a glass +of wine. Not even yet had he looked at me. Then he waved his glass the +circuit of the table, and said, 'I drink to the councillors and applaud +the conspirators,' and as he raised his glass to his lips his eyes came +abruptly to mine and stayed, and he bowed profoundly and with an air +of suggestion. He drank, still looking, and then turned again to the +Governor. I felt my heart stand still. Did he suspect my love for you, +Robert? Had he discovered something? Was Gabord a traitor to us? Had +I been watched, detected? I could have shrieked at the suspense. I was +like one suddenly faced with a dreadful accusation, with which was a +great fear. But I held myself still--oh, so still, so still--and as in +a dream I heard the Governor say pleasantly, 'I would I had such +conspirators always by me. I am sure you would wish them to take more +responsibility than you will now assume in Canada.' Doltaire bowed and +smiled, and the Governor went on: 'I am sure you will approve of Captain +Moray being shot instead of hanged. But indeed it has been my good +friend the Chevalier here who has given me the best council I have held +in many a day.' + +"To this Monsieur Doltaire replied: 'A council unknown to statute, but +approved of those who stand for etiquette with ones foe's at any cost. +For myself, it is so unpleasant to think of the rope'" (here Alixe hid +her face in her hands for a moment) "'that I should eat no breakfast +to-morrow, if the gentleman from Virginia were to hang.' It was +impossible to tell from his tone what was in his mind, and I dared not +think of his failure to interfere as he had promised me. As yet he had +done nothing, I could see, and in eight or nine hours more you were to +die. He did not look at me again for some time, but talked to my mother +and my father and the Chevalier, commenting on affairs in France and +the war between our countries, but saying nothing of where he had been +during the past week. He seemed paler and thinner than when I last saw +him, and I felt that something had happened to him. You shall hear soon +what it was. + +"At last he turned from the Chevalier to me, and, said, 'When did you +hear from your brother, mademoiselle?' I told him; and he added, 'I have +had a letter since, and after supper, if you will permit me, I will +tell you of it.' Turning to my father and my mother, he assured them of +Juste's well-being, and afterwards engaged in talk with the Governor, to +whom he seemed to defer. When we all rose to go to the salon, he offered +my mother his arm, and I went in upon the arm of the good Chevalier. A +few moments afterwards he came to me, and remarked cheerfully, 'In this +farther corner where the spinet sounds most we can talk best'; and we +went near to the spinet, where Madame Lotbiniere was playing. 'It is +true,' he began, 'that I have had a letter from your brother. He begs me +to use influence for his advancement. You see he writes to me instead of +to the Governor. You can guess how I stand in France. Well, we shall +see what I may do.... Have you not wondered concerning me this week?' he +asked. I said to him, 'I scarce expected you till after to-morrow, when +you would plead some accident as cause for not fulfilling your pretty +little boast.' He looked at me sharply for a minute, and then said: +'A pretty LITTLE boast, is it? H'm! you touch great things with light +fingers.' I nodded. 'Yes,' said I, 'when I have no great faith.' 'You +have marvellous coldness for a girl that promised warmth in her youth,' +he answered. 'Even I, who am old in these matters, can not think of this +Moray's death without a twinge, for it is not like an affair of battle; +but you seem to think of it in its relation to my "little boast," as you +call it. Is it not so?' + +"'No, no,' said I, with apparent indignation, 'you must not make me out +so cruel. I am not so hard-hearted as you think. My brother is well--I +have no feeling against Captain Moray on his account; and as for +spying--well, it is only a painful epithet for what is done here and +everywhere all the time.' 'Dear me, dear me,' he remarked lightly, 'what +a mind you have for argument!--a born casuist; and yet, like all women, +you would let your sympathy rule you in matters of state. But come,' +he added, 'where do you think I have been?' It was hard to answer him +gaily, and yet it must be done, and so I said, 'You have probably put +yourself in prison, that you should not keep your tiny boast.' 'I have +been in prison,' he answered, 'and I was on the wrong side, with no +key--even locked in a chest-room of the Intendance,' he explained, 'but +as yet I do not know by whom, nor am I sure why. After two days without +food or drink, I managed to get out through the barred window. I +spent three days in my room, ill, and here I am. You must not speak of +this--you will not?' he asked me. 'To no one,' I answered gaily, 'but +my other self.' 'Where is your other self?' he asked. 'In here,' said I, +touching my bosom. I did not mean to turn my head away when I said it, +but indeed I felt I could not look him in the eyes at the moment, for I +was thinking of you. + +"He mistook me; he thought I was coquetting with him, and he leaned +forward to speak in my ear, so that I could feel his breath on my cheek. +I turned faint, for I saw how terrible was this game I was playing; +but oh, Robert, Robert,"--her hands fluttered towards me, then drew +back--"it was for your sake, for your sake, that I let his hand rest +on mine an instant, as he said: 'I shall go hunting THERE to find your +other self. Shall I know the face if I see it?' I drew my hand away, +for it was torture to me, and I hated him, but I only said a little +scornfully, 'You do not stand by your words. You said'--here I laughed +a little disdainfully--'that you would meet the first test to prove your +right to follow the second boast.' + +"He got to his feet, and said in a low, firm voice: 'Your memory is +excellent, your aplomb perfect. You are young to know it all so well. +But you bring your own punishment,' he added, with a wicked smile, 'and +you shall pay hereafter. I am going to the Governor. Bigot has arrived, +and is with Madame Cournal yonder. You shall have proof in half an +hour.' + +"Then he left me. An idea occurred to me. If he succeeded in staying +your execution, you would in all likelihood be placed in the common +jail. I would try to get an order from the Governor to visit the jail to +distribute gifts to the prisoners, as my mother and I had done before on +the day before Christmas. So, while Monsieur Doltaire was passing with +Bigot and the Chevalier de la Darante into another room, I asked the +Governor; and that very moment, at my wish, he had his secretary write +the order, which he countersigned and handed me, with a gift of gold for +the prisoners. As he left my mother and myself, Monsieur Doltaire came +back with Bigot, and, approaching the Governor, they led him away, +engaging at once in serious talk. One thing I noticed: as monsieur and +Bigot came up, I could see monsieur eying the Intendant askance, as +though he would read treachery; for I feel sure that it was Bigot who +contrived to have monsieur shut up in the chest-room. I can not quite +guess the reason, unless it be true what gossips say, that Bigot is +jealous of the notice Madame Cournal has given Doltaire, who visits much +at her house. + +"Well, they asked me to sing, and so I did; and can you guess what it +was? Even the voyageurs' song,-- + + 'Brothers, we go to the Scarlet Hills, + (Little gold sun, come out of the dawn!)' + +I know not how I sang it, for my heart, my thoughts, were far away in +a whirl of clouds and mist, as you may see a flock of wild ducks in the +haze upon a river, flying they know not whither, save that they follow +the sound of the stream. I was just ending the song when Monsieur +Doltaire leaned over me, and said in my ear, 'To-morrow I shall invite +Captain Moray from the scaffold to my breakfast-table--or, better still, +invite myself to his own.' His hand caught mine, as I gave a little cry; +for when I felt sure of your reprieve, I could not, Robert, I could not +keep it back. He thought I was startled at his hand-pressure, and did +not guess the real cause. + +"'I have met one challenge, and I shall meet the other,' he said +quickly. 'It is not so much a matter of power, either; it is that engine +opportunity. You and I should go far in this wicked world,' he added. +'We think together, we see through ladders. I admire you, mademoiselle. +Some men will say they love you; and they should, or they have no taste; +and the more they love you, the better pleased am I--if you are best +pleased with me. But it is possible for men to love and not to admire. +It is a foolish thing to say that reverence must go with love. I know +men who have lost their heads and their souls for women whom they knew +infamous. But when one admires where one loves, then in the ebb and flow +of passion the heart is safe, for admiration holds when the sense is +cold.' + +"You know well, Robert, how clever he is; how, listening to him, you +must admit his talent and his power. But oh, believe that, though I am +full of wonder at his cleverness, I can not bear him very near me." + +She paused. I looked most gravely at her, as well one might who saw so +sweet a maid employing her heart thus, and the danger that faced her. +She misread my look a little, maybe, for she said at once: + +"I must be honest with you, and so I tell you all--all, else the part +I play were not possible to me. To you I can speak plainly, pour out my +soul. Do not fear for me. I see a battle coming between that man and +me, but I shall fight it stoutly, worthily, so that in this, at least, I +shall never have to blush for you that you loved me. Be patient, Robert, +and never doubt me; for that would make me close the doors of my heart, +though I should never cease to aid you, never weary in labor for your +well-being. If these things, and fighting all these wicked men, to make +Doltaire help me to save you, have schooled to action some worse parts +of me, there is yet in me that which shall never be brought low, never +be dragged to the level of Versailles or the Chateau Bigot--never!" + +She looked at me with such dignity and pride that my eyes filled with +tears, and, not to be stayed, I reached out and took her hands, and +would have clasped her to my breast, but she held back from me. + +"You believe in me, Robert?" she said most earnestly. "You will never +doubt me? You know that I am true and loyal." + +"I believe in God, and you," I answered reverently, and I took her in my +arms and kissed her. I did not care at all whether or no Gabord saw; but +indeed he did not, as Alixe told me afterwards, for, womanlike, even in +this sweet crisis she had an eye for such details. + +"What more did he say?" I asked, my heart beating hard in the joy of +that embrace. + +"No more, or little more, for my mother came that instant and brought me +to talk with the Chevalier de la Darante, who wished to ask me for +next summer to Kamaraska or Isle aux Coudres, where he has manorhouses. +Before I left Monsieur Doltaire, he said, 'I never made a promise but +I wished to break it. This one shall balance all I've broken, for I'll +never unwish it.' + +"My mother heard this, and so I summoned all my will, and said gaily, +'Poor broken crockery! You stand a tower among the ruins.' This pleased +him, and he answered, 'On the tower base is written, This crockery +outserves all others.' My mother looked sharply at me, but said nothing, +for she has come to think that I am heartless and cold to men and to the +world, selfish in many things." + +At this moment Gabord turned round, saying, "'Tis time to be done. +Madame comes." + +"It is my mother," said Alixe, standing up, and hastily placing her +hands in mine. "I must be gone. Good-bye, good-bye." + +There was no chance for further adieu, and I saw her pass out with +Gabord; but she turned at the last, and said in English, for she spoke +it fairly now, "Believe, and remember." + + + + +XIV. ARGAND COURNAL. +The most meagre intelligence came to me from the outer world. I no +longer saw Gabord; he had suddenly been with drawn and a new jailer +substituted, and the sentinels outside my door and beneath the window +of my cell refused all information. For months I had no news whatever of +Alixe or of those affairs nearest my heart. I heard nothing of Doltaire, +little of Bigot, and there was no sign of Voban. + +Sometimes I could see my new jailer studying me, if my plans were a +puzzle to his brain. At first he used regularly to try the bars of the +window, and search the wall as though he thought my devices might be +found there. + +Scarrat and Flavelle, the guards at my door, set too high a price on +their favours, and they talked seldom, and then with brutal jests and +ribaldry, of matters in the town which were not vital to me. Yet once +or twice, from things they said, I came to know that all was not well +between Bigot and Doltaire on one hand, and Doltaire and the Governor +on the other. Doltaire had set the Governor and the Intendant scheming +against him because of his adherence to the cause of neither, and his +power to render the plans of either of no avail when he chose, as in my +case. Vaudreuil's vanity was injured, and besides, he counted Doltaire +too strong a friend of Bigot. Bigot, I doubted not, found in Madame +Cournal's liking for Doltaire all sorts of things of which he never +would have dreamed; for there is no such potent devilry in this world +as the jealousy of such a sort of man over a woman whose vanity and +cupidity are the springs of her affections. Doltaire's imprisonment in a +room of the Intendance was not so mysterious as suggestive. I foresaw a +strife, a complication of intrigues, and internal enmities which would +be (as they were) the ruin of New France. I saw, in imagination, the +English army at the gates of Quebec, and those who sat in the seats of +the mighty, sworn to personal enmities--Vaudreuil through vanity, +Bigot through cupidity, Doltaire by the innate malice of his +nature--sacrificing the country; the scarlet body of British power +moving down upon a dishonoured city, never to take its foot from that +sword of France which fell there on the soil of the New World. + +But there was another factor in the situation which I have not dwelt on +before. Over a year earlier, when war was being carried into Prussia by +Austria and France, and against England, the ally of Prussia, the French +Minister of War, D'Argenson, had, by the grace of La Pompadour, sent +General the Marquis de Montcalm to Canada, to protect the colony with a +small army. From the first, Montcalm, fiery, impetuous, and honourable, +was at variance with Vaudreuil, who, though honest himself, had never +dared to make open stand against Bigot. When Montcalm came, practically +taking the military command out of the hands of the Governor, Vaudreuil +developed a singular jealous spirit against the General. It began to +express itself about the time I was thrown into the citadel dungeon, and +I knew from what Alixe had told me, and from the gossip of the soldiers, +that there was a more open show of disagreement now. + +The Governor, seeing how ill it was to be at variance with both Montcalm +and Bigot, presently began to covet a reconciliation with the latter. To +this Bigot was by no means averse, for his own position had danger. +His followers and confederates, Cournal, Marin, Cadet, and Rigaud, were +robbing the King with a daring and effrontery which must ultimately +bring disaster. This he knew, but it was his plan to hold on for a time +longer, and then to retire before the axe fell, with an immense fortune. +Therefore, about the time set for my execution, he began to close +with the overtures of the Governor, and presently the two formed a +confederacy against the Marquis de Montcalm. Into it they tried to +draw Doltaire, and were surprised to find that he stood them off as to +anything more than outward show of friendliness. + +Truth was, Doltaire, who had no sordid feeling in him, loathed alike the +cupidity of Bigot and the incompetency of the Governor, and respected +Montcalm for his honour, and reproached him for his rashness. From first +to last, he was, without show of it, the best friend Montcalm had in the +province; and though he held aloof from bringing punishment to Bigot, +he despised him and his friends, and was not slow to make that plain. +D'Argenson made inquiry of Doltaire when Montcalm's honest criticisms +were sent to France in cipher, and Doltaire returned the reply that +Bigot was the only man who could serve Canada efficiently in this +crisis; that he had abounding fertility of resource, a clear head, a +strong will, and great administrative faculty. This was all he would +say, save that when the war was over other matters might be conned. +Meanwhile France must pay liberally for the Intendant's services. + +Through a friend in France, Bigot came to know that his affairs were +moving to a crisis, and saw that it would be wise to retire; but he +loved the very air of crisis, and Madame Cournal, anxious to keep him in +Canada, encouraged him in his natural feeling to stand or fall with +the colony. He never showed aught but a hold and confident face to +the public, and was in all regards the most conspicuous figure in New +France. When, two years before, Montcalm took Oswego from the English, +Bigot threw open his palace to the populace for two days' feasting, and +every night during the war he entertained lavishly, though the people +went hungry, and their own corn, bought for the King, was sold back to +them at famine prices. + +As the Governor amid the Intendant grew together in friendship, +Vaudreuil sinking past disapproval in present selfish necessity, they +quietly combined against Doltaire as against Montcalm. Yet at this very +time Doltaire was living in the Intendance, and, as he had told Alixe, +not without some personal danger. He had before been offered rooms at +the Chateau St. Louis; but these he would not take, for he could not +bear to be within touch of the Governor's vanity and timidity. He would +of preference have stayed in the Intendance had he known that pitfalls +and traps were at every footstep. Danger gave a piquancy to his +existence. I think he did not greatly value Madame Cournal's admiration +of himself; but when it drove Bigot to retaliation, his imagination got +an impulse, and he entered upon a conflict which ran parallel with the +war, and with that delicate antagonism which Alixe waged against him, +long undiscovered by himself. + +At my wits' end for news, at last I begged my jailer to convey a message +for me to the Governor, asking that the barber be let come to me. The +next day an answer arrived in the person of Voban himself, accompanied +by the jailer. For a time there was little speech between us, but as he +tended me we talked. We could do so with safety, for Voban knew English; +and though he spoke it brokenly, he had freedom in it, and the jailer +knew no word of it. At first the fellow blustered, but I waved him off. +He was a man of better education than Gabord, but of inferior judgment +and shrewdness. He made no trial thereafter to interrupt our talk, but +sat and drummed upon a stool with his keys, or loitered at the window, +or now and again thrust his hand into my pockets, as if to see if +weapons were concealed in them. + +"Voban," said I, "what has happened since I saw you at the Intendance? +Tell me first of mademoiselle. You have nothing from her for me?" + +"Nothing," he answered. "There is no time. A soldier come an hour ago +with an order from the Governor, and I must go all at once. So I come as +you see. But as for the ma'm'selle, she is well. Voila, there is no one +like her in New France. I do not know all, as you can guess, but they +say she can do what she will at the Chateau. It is a wonder to see her +drive. A month ago, a droll thing come to pass. She is driving on the +ice with ma'm'selle Lotbiniere and her brother Charles. M'sieu' Charles, +he has the reins. Soon, ver' quick, the horses start with all their +might. M'sieu' saw and pull, but they go the faster. Like that for a +mile or so; then ma'm'selle remember there is a great crack in the ice +a mile farther on, and beyond the ice is weak and rotten, for there +the curren' is ver' strongest. She see that M'sieu' Charles, he can do +nothing, so she reach and take the reins. The horses go on; it make no +diff'rence at first. But she begin to talk to them so sof', and to pull +ver' steady, and at last she get them shaping to the shore. She have the +reins wound on her hands, and people on the shore, they watch. Little on +little the horses pull up, and stop at last not a hunder' feet from the +great crack and the rotten ice. Then she turn them round and drive them +home. + +"You should hear the people cheer as she drive up Mountain Street. The +bishop stand at the window of his palace and smile at her as she pass, +and m'sieu'"--he looked at the jailer and paused--"m'sieu' the gentleman +we do not love, he stand in the street with his cap off for two minutes +as she come, and after she go by, and say a grand compliment to her, so +that her face go pale. He get froze ears for his pains--that was a cold +day. Well, at night there was a grand dinner at the Intendance, and +afterwards a ball in the splendid room which that man" (he meant Bigot: +I shall use names when quoting him further, that he may be better +understood) "built for the poor people of the land for to dance down +their sorrows. So you can guess I would be there--happy. Ah yes, so +happy! I go and stand in the great gallery above the hall of dance, with +crowd of people, and look down at the grand folk. + +"One man come to me and say, 'Ah, Voban, is it you here? Who would think +it!'--like that. Another, he come and say, 'Voban, he can not keep away +from the Intendance. Who does he come to look for? But no, SHE is not +here--no.' And again, another, 'Why should not Voban be here? One man +has not enough bread to eat, and Bigot steals his corn. Another hungers +for a wife to sit by his fire, and Bigot takes the maid, and Voban +stuffs his mouth with humble pie like the rest. Chut! shall not Bigot +have his fill?' And yet another, and voila, she was a woman, she say, +'Look at the Intendant down there with madame. And M'sieu' Cournal, he +also is there. What does M'sieu' Cournal care? No, not at all. The rich +man, what he care, if he has gold? Virtue! ha, ha! what is that in your +wife if you have gold for it? Nothing. See his hand at the Intendant's +arm. See how M'sieu' Doltaire look at them, and then up here at us. What +is it in his mind, you think? Eh? You think he say to himself, A wife +all to himself is the poor man's one luxury? Eh? Ah, M'sieu' Doltaire, +you are right, you are right. You catch up my child from its basket +in the market-place one day, and you shake it ver' soft, an' you say, +"Madame, I will stake the last year of my life that I can put my finger +on the father of this child." And when I laugh in his face, he say +again, "And if he thought he wasn't its father, he would cut out the +liver of the other--eh?" And I laugh, and say, "My Jacques would follow +him to hell to do it." Then he say, Voban, he say to me, "That is the +difference between you and us. We only kill men who meddle with our +mistresses!" Ah, that M'sieu' Doltaire, he put a louis in the hand of +my babe, and he not even kiss me on the cheek. Pshaw! Jacques would sell +him fifty kisses for fifty louis. But sell me, or a child of me? Well, +Voban, you can guess! Pah, barber, if you do not care what he did to the +poor Mathilde, there are other maids in St. Roch.'" + +Voban paused a moment then added quietly, "How do you think I bear +it all? With a smile? No, I hear with my ears open and my heart close +tight. Do they think they can teach me? Do they guess I sit down and +hear all without a cry from my throat or a will in my body? Ah, m'sieu' +le Capitaine, it is you who know. You saw what I would have go to do +with M'sieu' Doltaire before the day of the Great Birth. You saw if I +am coward--if I not take the sword when it was at my throat without a +whine. No, m'sieu', I can wait. Then is a time for everything. At first +I am all in a muddle, I not how what to do; but by-and-bye it all come +to me, and you shall one day what I wait for. Yes, you shall see. I +look down on that people dancing there, quiet and still, and I hear some +laugh at me, and now and then some one say a good word to me that make +me shut my hands tight, so the tears not come to my eyes. But I felt +alone--so much alone. The world does not want a sad man. In my shop I +try to laugh as of old, and I am not sour or heavy, but I can see men +do not say droll things to me as once back time. No, I am not as I was. +What am I to do? There is but one way. What is great to one man is not +to another. What kills the one does not kill the other. Take away from +some people one thing, and they will not care; from others that same, +and there is nothing to live for, except just to live, and because a man +does not like death." + +He paused. "You are right, Voban," said I. "Go on." + +He was silent again for a time, and then he moved his hand in a helpless +sort of way across his forehead. It had become deeply lined and wrinkled +all in a couple of years. His temples were sunken, his cheeks hollow, +and his face was full of those shadows which lend a sort of tragedy to +even the humblest and least distinguished countenance. His eyes had a +restlessness, anon an intense steadiness almost uncanny, and his thin, +long fingers had a stealthiness of motion, a soft swiftness, which +struck me strangely. I never saw a man so changed. He was like a vessel +wrested from its moorings; like some craft, filled with explosives, set +loose along a shore lined with fishing-smacks, which might come foul +of one, and blow the company of men and boats into the air. As he stood +there, his face half turned to me for a moment, this came to my mind, +and I said to him, "Voban, you look like some wicked gun which would +blow us all to pieces." + +He wheeled, and came to me so swiftly that I shrank back in my chair +with alarm, his action was so sudden, and, peering into my face, he +said, glancing, as I thought, anxiously at the jailer, "Blow--blow--how +blow us all to pieces, m'sieu'?" He eyed me with suspicion, and I could +see that he felt like some hurt animal among its captors, ready to +fight, yet not knowing from what point danger would come. Something +pregnant in what I said had struck home, yet I could not guess then what +it was, though afterwards it came to me with great force and vividness. + +"I meant nothing, Voban," answered I, "save that you look dangerous." + +I half put out my hand to touch his arm in a friendly way, but I saw +that the jailer was watching, and I did not. Voban felt what I was about +to do, and his face instantly softened, and his blood-shot eyes gave me +a look of gratitude. Then he said: + +"I will tell you what happen next I know the palace very well, and when +I see the Intendant and M'sieu' Doltaire and others leave the ballroom +I knew that they go to the chamber which they call 'la Chambre de la +Joie,' to play at cards. So I steal away out of the crowd into a passage +which, as it seem, go nowhere, and come quick, all at once, to a bare +wall. But I know the way. In one corner of the passage I press a spring, +and a little panel open. I crawl through and close it behin'. Then I +feel my way along the dark corner till I come to another panel. This +I open, and I see light. You ask how I can do this? Well, I tell you. +There is the valet of Bigot, he is my friend. You not guess who it is? +No? It is a man whose crime in France I know. He was afraid when he saw +me here, but I say to him, 'No, I will not speak--never'; and he is all +my friend just when I most need. Eh, voila, I see light, as I said, and +I push aside heavy curtains ver' little, and there is the Chamber of the +Joy below. There they all are, the Intendant and the rest, sitting +down to the tables. There was Capitaine Lancy, M'sieu' Cadet, M'sieu' +Cournal, M'sieu' le Chevalier de Levis, and M'sieu' le Generale, le +Marquis de Montcalm. I am astonish to see him there, the great General, +in his grand coat of blue and gold and red, and laces tres beau at his +throat, with a fine jewel. Ah, he is not ver' high on his feet, but he +has an eye all fire, and a laugh come quick to his lips, and he speak +ver' galant, but he never let them, Messieurs Cadet, Marin, Lancy, and +the rest, be thick friends with him. They do not clap their hands on his +shoulder comme le bon camarade--non! + +"Well, they sit down to play, and soon there is much noise and laughing, +and then sometimes a silence, and then again the noise, and you can +see one snuff a candle with the points of two rapiers, or hear a sword +jangle at a chair, or listen to some one sing ver' soft a song as he +hold a good hand of cards, or the ring of louis on the table, or +the sound of glass as it break on the floor. And once a young +gentleman--alas! he is so young--he get up from his chair, and cry out, +'All is lost! I go to die!' He raise a pistol to his head; but M'sieu' +Doltaire catch his hand, and say quite soft and gentle, 'No, no, mon +enfant, enough of making fun of us. Here is the hunder' louis I borrow +of you yesterday. Take your revenge.' The lad sit down slow, looking +ver' strange at M'sieu' Doltaire. And it is true: he took his revenge +out of M'sieu' Cadet, for he win--I saw it--three hunder' louis. Then +M'sieu' Doltaire lean over to him and say, 'M'sieu', you will carry for +me a message to the citadel for M'sieu' Ramesay, the commandant.' Ah, it +was a sight to see M'sieu' Cadet's face, going this way and that. But +it was no use: the young gentleman pocket his louis, and go away with a +letter from M'sieu' Doltaire. But M'sieu' Doltaire, he laugh in the face +of M'sieu' Cadet, and say ver' pleasant, 'That is a servant of the King, +m'sieu', who live by his sword alone. Why should civilians be so greedy? +Come, play, M'sieu' Cadet. If M'sieu' the General will play with me, we +two will what we can do with you and his Excellency the Intendant.' + +"They sit just beneath me, and I hear all what is said, I see all the +looks of them, every card that is played. M'sieu' the General have not +play yet, but watch M'sieu' Doltaire and the Intendant at the cards. +With a smile he now sit down. Then M'sieu' Doltaire, he say, 'M'sieu' +Cadet, let us have no mistake--let us be commercial.' He take out his +watch. 'I have two hours to spare; are you dispose to play for that +time only? To the moment we will rise, and there shall be no question of +satisfaction, no discontent anywhere--eh, shall it be so, if m'sieu' the +General can spare the time also?' It is agree that the General play for +one hour and go, and that M'sieu' Doltaire and the Intendant play for +the rest of the time. + +"They begin, and I hide there and watch. The time go ver' fast, and my +breath catch in my throat to see how great the stakes they play for. I +hear M'sieu' Doltaire say at last, with a smile, taking out his watch, +'M'sieu' the General, your time is up, and you take with you twenty +thousan' francs.' + +"The General, he smile and wave his hand, as if sorry to take so much +from M'sieu' Cadet and the Intendant. M'sieu' Cadet sit dark, and speak +nothing at first, but at last he get up and turn on his heel and walk +away, leaving what he lose on the table. M'sieu' the General bow also, +and go from the room. Then M'sieu' Doltaire and the Intendant play. One +by one the other players stop, and come and watch these. Something get +into the two gentlemen, for both are pale, and the face of the Intendant +all of spots, and his little round eyes like specks of red fire; but +M'sieu' Doltaire's face, it is still, and his brows bend over, and now +and then he make a little laughing out of his lips. All at once I hear +him say, 'Double the stakes, your Excellency!' The Intendant look up +sharp and say, 'What! Two hunder' thousan' francs!'--as if M'sieu' +Doltaire could not pay such a like that. M'sieu' Doltaire smile ver' +wicked, and answer, 'Make it three hunder' thousan' francs, your +Excellency.' It is so still in the Chamber of the Joy that all you hear +for a minute was the fat Monsieur Varin breathe like a hog, and the +rattle of a spur as some one slide a foot on the floor. + +"The Intendant look blank; then he nod his head for answer, and each +write on a piece of paper. As they begin, M'sieu' Doltaire take out his +watch and lay it on the table, and the Intendant do the same, and they +both look at the time. The watch of the Intendant is all jewels. +'Will you not add the watches to the stake?' say M'sieu' Doltaire. The +Intendant look, and shrug a shoulder, and shake his head for no, and +M'sieu' Doltaire smile in a sly way, so that the Intendant's teeth show +at his lips and his eyes almost close, he is so angry. + +"Just this minute I hear a low noise behind me, and then some one give +a little cry. I turn quick and Madame Cournal. She stretch her hand, and +touch my lips, and motion me not to stir. I look down again, and I see +that M'sieu' Doltaire look up to the where I am, for he hear that sound, +I think--I not know sure. But he say once more, 'The watch, the watch, +your Excellency! I have a fancy for yours!' I feel madame breathe hard +beside me, but I not like to look at her. I am not afraid of men, but a +woman that way--ah, it make me shiver! She will betray me, I think. All +at once I feel her hand at my belt, then at my pocket, to see if I have +a weapon; for the thought come to her that I am there to kill Bigot. +But I raise my hands and say, 'No,' ver' quiet, and she nod her head all +right. + +"The Intendant wave his hand at M'sieu' Doltaire to say he would not +stake the watch, for I know it is one madame give him; and then they +begin to play. No one stir. The cards go out flip, flip, on the table, +and with a little soft scrape in the hands, and I hear Bigot's hound +much a bone. All at once M'sieu' Doltaire throw down his cards, and say, +'Mine, Bigot! Three hunder' thousan' francs, and the time is up!' The +other get from his chair, and say, 'How would you have pay if you had +lost, Doltaire?' And m'sieu' answer, 'From the coffers of the King, like +you, Bigot' His tone is odd. I feel madame's breath go hard. Bigot turn +round and say to the others, 'Will you take your way to the great hall, +messieurs, and M'sieu' Doltaire and I will follow. We have some private +conf'rence.' They all turn away, all but M'sieu' Cournal, and leave the +room, whispering. 'I will join you soon, Cournal,' say his Excellency. +M'sieu' Cournal not go, for he have been drinking, and something +stubborn got into him. But the Intendant order him rough, and he go. I +can hear madame gnash her teeth sof' beside me. + +"When the door close, the Intendant turn to M'sieu' Doltaire and say, +'What is the end for which you play?' M'sieu' Doltaire make a light +motion of his hand, and answer, 'For three hunder' thousan' francs.' +'And to pay, m'sieu', how to pay if you have lost?' M'sieu' Doltaire lay +his hand on his sword sof'. 'From the King's coffers, as I say; he owes +me more than he has paid. But not like you, Bigot. I have earned, this +way and that, all that I might ever get from the King's coffers--even +this three hunder' thousan' francs, ten times told. But you, +Bigot--tush! why should we make bubbles of words?' The Intendant get +white in the face, but there are spots on it like on a late apple of an +old tree. 'You go too far, Doltaire,' he say. 'You have hint before +my officers and my friends that I make free with the King's coffers.' +M'sieu' answer, 'You should see no such hints, if your palms were not +musty.' 'How know you,' ask the Intendant, 'that my hands are musty from +the King's coffers?' M'sieu' arrange his laces, and say light, 'As easy +from the must as I tell how time passes in your nights by the ticking of +this trinket here.' He raise his sword and touch the Intendant's watch +on the table. + +"I never hear such silence as there is for a minute, and then the +Intendant say, 'You have gone one step too far. The must on my hands, +seen through your eyes, is no matter, but when you must the name of a +lady there is but one end. You understan', m'sieu', there is but one +end.' M'sieu' laugh. 'The sword, you mean? Eh? No, no, I will not fight +with you. I am not here to rid the King of so excellent an officer, +however large fee he force for his services.' 'And I tell you,' say the +Intendant, 'that I will not have you cast a slight upon a lady.' Madame +beside me start up, and whisper to me, 'If you betray me, you shall +die. If you be still, I too will say nothing.' But then a thing happen. +Another voice sound from below, and there, coming from behind a great +screen of oak wood, is M'sieu' Cournal, his face all red with wine, his +hand on his sword. 'Bah!' he say, coming forward--'bah! I will speak for +madame. I will speak. I have been silent long enough.' He come between +the two, and, raising his sword, he strike the time-piece and smash it. +'Ha! ha!' he say, wild with drink, 'I have you both here alone.' He snap +his fingers under the Intendant's nose. 'It is time I protect my wife's +name from you, and by God, I will do it!' At that M'sieu' Doltaire +laugh, and Cournal turn to him, and say, 'Batard!' The Intendant have +out his sword, and he roar in a hoarse voice, 'Dog, you shall die!' But +M'sieu' Doltaire strike up his sword, and face the drunken man. 'No, +leave that to me. The King's cause goes shipwreck; we can't change +helmsman now. Think--scandal and your disgrace!' Then he make a pass at +m'sieu' Cournal, who parry quick. Another, and he prick his shoulder. +Another, and then madame beside me, as I spring back, throw aside the +curtains, and cry out, 'No, m'sieu'! no! For shame!' + +"I kneel in a corner behind the curtains, and wait and listen. There is +not a sound for a moment; then I hear a laugh from M'sieu' Cournal, such +a laugh make me sick--loud, and full of what you call not care and the +devil. Madame speak down at them. 'Ah,' she say, 'it is so fine a sport +to drag a woman's name in the mire!' Her voice is full of spirit and she +look beautiful--beautiful. I never guess how a woman like that look; +so full of pride, and to speak like you could think knives sing as they +strike steel--sharp and cold. 'I came to see how gentlemen look at play, +and they end in brawling over a lady!' + +"M'sieu' Doltaire speak to her, and they all put up their swords, and +M'sieu' Cournal sit down at a table, and he stare and stare up at the +balcony, and make a motion now and then with his hand. M'sieu' Doltaire +say to her, 'Madame, you must excuse our entertainment; we did not know +we had an audience so distinguished.' She reply, 'As scene-shifter and +prompter, M'sieu' Doltaire, you have a gift. Your Excellency,' she +say to the Intendant, 'I will wait for you at the top of the great +staircase, if you will be so good as to take me to the ballroom.' The +Intendant and M'sieu' Doltaire bow, and turn to the door, and M'sieu' +Cournal scowl, and make as if to follow; but madame speak down at him, +'M'sieu'--Argand'--like that! and he turn back, and sit down. I think +she forget me, I keep so still. The others bow and scrape, and leave the +room, and the two are alone--alone, for what am I? What if a dog hear +great people speak? No, it is no matter! + +"There is all still for a little while, and I watch her face as she lean +over the rail and look down at him; it is like stone, like stone that +aches, and her eyes stare and stare at him. He look up at her and scowl; +then he laugh, with a toss of the finger, and sit down. All at once he +put his hand on his sword, and gnash his teeth. + +"Then she speak down to him, her voice ver' quiet. 'Argand,' she say, +'you are more a man drunk than sober. Argand,' she go on, 'years ago, +they said you were a brave man; you fight well, you do good work for the +King, your name goes with a sweet sound to Versailles. You had only your +sword and my poor fortune and me then--that is all; but you were a man. +You had ambition, so had I. What can a woman do? You had your sword, +your country, the King's service. I had beauty; I wanted power--ah yes, +power, that was the thing! But I was young and a fool; you were older. +You talked fine things then, but you had a base heart, so much baser +than mine.... I might have been a good woman. I was a fool, and weak, +and vain, but you were base--so base--coward and betrayer, you!' + +"At that m'sieu' start up and snatch at his sword, and speak out between +his teeth, 'By God, I will kill you to-night!' She smile cold and hard, +and say, 'No, no, you will not; it is too late for killing; that should +have been done before. You sold your right to kill long ago, Argand +Cournal. You have been close friends with the man who gave me power, +and you gold.' Then she get fierce. 'Who gave you gold before he gave +me power, traitor?' Like that she speak. 'Do you never think of what you +have lost?' Then she break out in a laugh. 'Pah! Listen: if there must +be killing, why not be the great Roman--drunk!' + +"Then she laugh so hard a laugh, and turn away, and go quick by me and +not see me. She step into the dark, and he sit down in the chair, and +look straight in front of him. I do not stir, and after a minute she +come back sof', and peep down, her face all differen'. 'Argand! Argand!' +she say ver' tender and low, 'if--if--if'--like that. But just then he +see the broken watch on the floor, and he stoop, with a laugh, and pick +up the pieces; then he get a candle and look on the floor everywhere +for the jewels, and he pick them up, and put them away one by one in his +purse like a miser. He keep on looking, and once the fire of the candle +burn his beard, and he swear, and she stare and stare at him. He sit +down at the table, and look at the jewels and laugh to himself. Then she +draw herself up, and shake, and put her hands to her eyes, and 'C'est +fini! c'est fini!' she whisper, and that is all. + +"When she is gone, after a little time he change--ah, he change much, he +go to a table and pour out a great bowl of wine, and then another, and +he drink them both, and he begin to walk up and down the floor. He sway +now and then, but he keep on for a long time. Once a servant come, but +he wave him away, and he scowl and talk to himself, and shut the doors +and lock them. Then he walk on and on. At last he sit down, and he face +me. In front of him are candles, and he stare between them, and +stare and stare. I sit and watch, and I feel a pity. I hear him say, +'Antoinette! Antoinette! My dear Antoinette! We are lost forever, my +Antoinette!' Then he take the purse from his pocket, and throw it up to +the balcony where I am. 'Pretty sins,' he say, 'follow the sinner!' It +lie there, and it have sprung open, and I can see the jewels shine, but +I not touch it--no. Well, he sit there long--long, and his face get gray +and his cheeks all hollow. + +"I hear the clock strike one! two! three! four! Once some one come and +try the door, but go away again, and he never stir; he is like a dead +man. At last I fall asleep. When I wake up, he still sit there, but his +head lie in his arms. I look round. Ah, it is not a fine sight--no. The +candles burn so low, and there is a smell of wick, and the grease runs +here and there down the great candlesticks. Upon the floor, this place +and that, is a card, and pieces of paper, and a scarf, and a broken +glass, and something that shine by a small table. This is a picture in a +little gold frame. On all the tables stand glasses, some full, and some +empty of wine. And just as the dawn come in through the tall windows, a +cat crawl out from somewhere, all ver' thin and shy, and walk across +the floor; it make the room look so much alone. At last it come and move +against m'sieu's legs, and he lift his head and look down at it, and +nod, and say something which I not hear. After that he get up, and pull +himself together with a shake, and walk down the room. Then he see the +little gold picture on the floor which some drunk young officer drop, +and he pick it up and look at it, and walk again. 'Poor fool!' he say, +and look at the picture again. 'Poor fool! Will he curse her some day--a +child with a face like that? Ah!' And he throw the picture down. Then +he walk away to the doors, unlock them, and go out. Soon I steal away +through the panels, and out of the palace ver' quiet, and go home. But I +can see that room in my mind." + +Again the jailer hurried Voban; There was no excuse for him to remain +longer; so I gave him a message to Alixe, and slipped into his hand a +transcript from my journal. Then he left me, and I sat and thought upon +the strange events of the evening which he had described to me. That he +was bent on mischief I felt sure, but how it would come, what were his +plans, I could not guess. Then suddenly there flashed into my mind my +words to him, "blow us all to pieces," and his consternation and strange +eagerness. It came to me suddenly: he meant to blow up the Intendance. +When? And how? It seemed absurd to think of it. Yet--yet--The grim +humour of the thing possessed me, and I sat back and laughed heartily. + +In the midst of my mirth the cell door opened and let in Doltaire. + + + + +XV. IN THE CHAMBER OF TORTURE + + +I started from my seat; we bowed, and, stretching out a hand to the +fire, Doltaire said, "Ah, my Captain, we meet too seldom. Let me +see: five months--ah yes, nearly five months. Believe me, I have not +breakfasted so heartily since. You are looking older--older. Solitude to +the active mind is not to be endured alone--no." + +"Monsieur Doltaire is the surgeon to my solitude," said I. + +"H'm!" he answered, "a jail surgeon merely. And that brings me to a +point, monsieur. I have had letters from France. The Grande Marquise--I +may as well be frank with you--womanlike, yearns violently for those +silly letters which you hold. She would sell our France for them. There +is a chance for you who would serve your country so. Serve it, and +yourself--and me. We have no news yet as to your doom, but be sure it is +certain. La Pompadour knows all, and if you are stubborn, twenty deaths +were too few. I can save you little longer, even were it my will so to +do. For myself, the great lady girds at me for being so poor an agent. +You, monsieur"--he smiled whimsically--"will agree that I have been +persistent--and intelligent." + +"So much so," rejoined I, "as to be intrusive." + +He smiled again. "If La Pompadour could hear you, she would understand +why I prefer the live amusing lion to the dead dog. When you are gone, I +shall be inconsolable. I am a born inquisitor." + +"You were born for better things than this," I answered. + +He took a seat and mused for a moment. "For larger things, you mean," +was his reply. "Perhaps--perhaps. I have one gift of the strong man--I +am inexorable when I make for my end. As a general, I would pour men +into the maw of death as corn into the hopper, if that would build a +bridge to my end. You call to mind how those Spaniards conquered the +Mexique city which was all canals like Venice? They filled the waterways +with shattered houses and the bodies of their enemies, as they fought +their way to Montezuma's palace. So I would know not pity if I had a +great cause. In anything vital I would have success at all cost, and to +get, destroy as I went--if I were a great man." + +I thought for a moment with horror of his pursuit of my dear Alixe. +"I am your hunter," had been his words to her, and I knew not what had +happened in all these months. + +"If you were a great man, you should have the best prerogative of +greatness," I remarked quietly. + +"And what is that? Some excellent moral, I doubt not," was the +rejoinder. + +"Mercy," I replied. + +"Tush!" he retorted, "mercy is for the fireside, not for the throne. +In great causes, what is a screw of tyranny here, a bolt of oppression +there, or a few thousand lives!" He suddenly got to his feet, and, +looking into the distance, made a swift motion of his hand, his eyes +half closed, his brows brooding and firm. "I should look beyond the +moment, the year, or the generation. Why fret because the hour of death +comes sooner than we looked for? In the movement of the ponderous car, +some honest folk must be crushed by the wicked wheels. No, no, in large +affairs there must be no thought of the detail of misery, else what +should be done in the world! He who is the strongest shall survive, and +he alone. It is all conflict--all. For when conflict ceases, and those +who could and should be great spend their time chasing butterflies among +the fountains, there comes miasma and their doom. Mercy? Mercy? No, no: +for none but the poor and sick and overridden, in time of peace; in time +of war, mercy for none, pity nowhere, till the joybells ring the great +man home." + +"But mercy to women always," said I, "in war or peace." + +He withdrew his eyes as if from a distant prospect, and they dropped to +the stove, where I had corn parching. He nodded, as if amused, but did +not answer at once, and taking from my hand the feather with which I +stirred the corn, softly whisked some off for himself, and smiled at the +remaining kernels as they danced upon the hot iron. After a little while +he said, "Women? Women should have all that men can give them. Beautiful +things should adorn them; no man should set his hand in cruelty on a +woman--after she is his. Before--before? Woman is wilful, and sometimes +we wring her heart that we may afterwards comfort it." + +"Your views have somewhat changed," I answered. "I mind when you talked +less sweetly." + +He shrugged a shoulder. "That man is lost who keeps one mind concerning +woman. I will trust the chastity of no woman, yet I will trust +her virtue--if I have her heart. They a foolish tribe, and all +are vulnerable in their vanity. They of consequence to man, of no +consequence in state matters. When they meddle there, we have La +Pompadour and war with England, and Captain Moray in the Bastile of New +France." + +"You come from a court, monsieur, which believes in nothing, not even in +itself." + +"I come from a court," he rejoined, "which has made a gospel of +artifice, of frivolity a creed; buying the toys for folly with the +savings of the poor. His most Christian Majesty has set the fashion +of continual silliness and universal love. He begets children in the +peasant's oven and in the chamber of Charlemagne alike. And we are +all good subjects of the King. We are brilliant, exquisite, brave, and +naughty; and for us there is no to-morrow." + +"Nor for France," I suggested. + +He laughed, as he rolled a kernel of parched corn on his tongue. "Tut, +tut! that is another thing. We the fashion of an hour, but France is a +fact as stubborn as the natures of you English; for beyond stubbornness +and your Shakespeare you have little. Down among the moles, in the +peasants' huts, the spirit of France never changes--it is always the +same; it is for all time. You English, nor all others, you can not blow +out that candle which is the spirit of France. I remember of the Abbe +Bobon preaching once upon the words, 'The spirit of man is the candle of +the Lord'; well, the spirit of France is the candle of Europe, and you +English will be its screen against the blowing out, though in spasms of +stupidity you flaunt the extinguisher. You--you have no imagination, no +passion, no temperament, no poetry. Yet I am wrong. The one thing you +have--" + +He broke off, nodding his head in amusement. "Yes, you have, but it is a +secret. You English are the true lovers, we French the true poets; and I +will tell you why. You are a race of comrades, the French of gentlemen; +you cleave to a thing, we to an idea; you love a woman best when she +is near, we when she is away; you make a romance of marriage, we of +intrigue; you feed upon yourselves, we upon the world; you have fever +in your blood, we in our brains; you believe the world was made in seven +days, we have no God; you would fight for the seven days, we would fight +for the danseuse on a bonbon box. The world will say 'fie!' at us and +love us; it will respect you and hate you. That is the law and the +gospel," he added, smiling. + +"Perfect respect casteth out love" said I ironically. + +He waved his fingers in approval. "By the Lord, but you are pungent now +and then!" he answered; "cabined here you are less material. By the time +you are chastened unto heaven you will be too companionable to lose." + +"When is that hour of completed chastening?" I asked. + +"Never," he said, "if you will oblige me with those letters." + +"For a man of genius you discern but slowly," retorted I. + +"Discern your amazing stubbornness?" he asked. "Why should you play at +martyr, when your talent is commercial? You have no gifts for martyrdom +but wooden tenacity. Pshaw! the leech has that. You mistake your +calling." + +"And you yours," I answered. "This is a poor game you play, and losing +it you lose all. La Pompadour will pay according to the goods you +bring." + +He answered with an amusing candour: "Why, yes, you are partly in the +right. But when La Pompadour and I come to our final reckoning, when it +is a question who can topple ruins round the King quickest, his mistress +or his 'cousin,' there will be tales to tell." + +He got up, and walked to and fro in the cell, musing, and his face grew +dark and darker. "Your Monmouth was a fool," he said. "He struck from +the boundaries; the blow should fall in the very chambers of the King." +He put a finger musingly upon his lip. "I see--I see how it could +be done. Full of danger, but brilliant, brilliant and bold! Yes, +yes...yes!" Then all at once he seemed to come out of a dream, and +laughed ironically. "There it is," he said; "there is my case. I have +the idea, but I will not strike; it is not worth the doing unless I am +driven to it. We are brave enough, we idlers," he went on; "we die with +an air--all artifice, artifice!... Yet of late I have had dreams. Now +that is not well. It is foolish to dream, and I had long since ceased to +do so. But somehow all the mad fancies of my youth come back. This dream +will go, it will not last; it is--my fate, my doom," he added lightly, +"or what you will!" + +I knew, alas, too well where his thoughts were hanging, and I loathed +him anew; for, as he hinted, his was a passion, not a deep abiding love. +His will was not stronger than the general turpitude of his nature. As +if he had divined my thought, he said, "My will is stronger than +any passion that I have; I can never plead weakness in the day of my +judgment. I am deliberate. When I choose evil it is because I love it. I +could be an anchorite; I am, as I said--what you will." + +"You are a conscienceless villain, monsieur." + +"Who salves not his soul," he added, with a dry smile, "who will play +his game out as he began; who repents nor ever will repent of anything; +who for him and you some interesting moments yet. Let me make one now," +and he drew from his pocket a packet. He smiled hatefully as he handed +it to me, and said, "Some books which monsieur once lent Mademoiselle +Duvarney--poems, I believe. Mademoiselle found them yesterday, and +desired me to fetch them to you; and I obliged her. I had the pleasure +of glancing through the books before she rolled them up. She bade me say +that monsieur might find them useful in his captivity. She has a tender +heart--even to the worst of criminals." + +I felt a strange churning in my throat, but with composure I took +the books, and said, "Mademoiselle Duvarney chooses distinguished +messengers." + +"It is a distinction to aid her in her charities," he replied. + +I could not at all conceive what was meant. The packet hung in my hands +like lead. There was a mystery I could not solve. I would not for an +instant think what he meant to convey by a look--that her choice of him +to carry back my gift to her was a final repulse of past advances I had +made to her, a corrective to my romantic memories. I would not believe +that, not for one fleeting second. Perhaps, I said to myself, it was +a ruse of this scoundrel. But again, I put that from me, for I did not +think he would stoop to little meannesses, no matter how vile he was in +great things. I assumed indifference to the matter, laying the packet +down upon my couch, and saying to him, "You will convey my thanks to +Mademoiselle Duvarney for these books, whose chief value lies in the +honourable housing they have had." + +He smiled provokingly; no doubt he was thinking that my studied +compliment smelt of the oil of solitude. "And add--shall I--your +compliments that they should have their airing at the hands of Monsieur +Doltaire?" + +"I shall pay those compliments to Monsieur Doltaire himself one day," I +replied. + +He waved his fingers. "The sentiments of one of the poems were +commendable, fanciful. I remember it"--he put a finger to his +lip--"let me see." He stepped towards the packet, but I made a sign of +interference--how grateful was I of this afterwards!--and he drew back +courteously. "Ah well," he said, "I have a fair memory; I can, I think, +recall the morsel. It impressed me. I could not think the author an +Englishman. It runs thus," and with admirable grace he recited the +words: + + "O flower of all the world, O flower of all! + The garden where thou dwellest is so fair, + Thou art so goodly and so queenly tall, + Thy sweetness scatters sweetness everywhere, + O flower of all! + + "O flower of all the years, O flower of all! + A day beside thee is a day of days; + Thy voice is softer than the throstle's call, + There is not song enough to sing thy praise, + O flower of all! + + "O flower of all the years, O flower of all! + I seek thee in thy garden, and I dare + To love thee; and though my deserts be small, + Thou art the only flower I would wear, + O flower of all!" + +"Now that," he said, "is the romantic, almost the Arcadian spirit. We +have lost it, but it lingers like some rare scent in the folds of lace. +It is also but artifice, yet so is the lingering perfume. When it hung +in the flower it was lost after a day's life, but when gathered and +distilled into an essence it becomes, through artifice, an abiding +sweetness. So with your song there. It is the spirit of devotion, +gathered, it may be, from a thousand flowers, and made into an essence, +which is offered to one only. It is not the worship of this one, but the +worship of a thousand distilled at last to one delicate liturgy. So much +for sentiment," he continued. "Upon my soul, Captain Moray, you are a +boon. I love to have you caged. I shall watch your distressed career to +its close with deep scrutiny. You and I are wholly different, but you +are interesting. You never could be great. Pardon the egotism, but it +is truth. Your brain works heavily, you are too tenacious of your +conscience, you are a blunderer. You will always sow, and others will +reap." + +I waved my hand in deprecation, for I was in no mood for further talk, +and I made no answer. He smiled at me, and said, "Well, since you doubt +my theories, let us come, as your Shakespeare says, to Hecuba.... If you +will come with me," he added, as he opened my cell door, and motioned me +courteously to go outside. I drew back, and he said, "There is no need +to hesitate; I go to show you merely what will interest you." + +We passed in silence through the corridors, two sentinels attending, +and at last came into a large square room, wherein stood three men with +hands tied over their heads against the wall, their faces twitching with +pain. I drew back in astonishment, for there, standing before them, were +Gabord and another soldier. Doltaire ordered from the room the soldier +with Gabord, and my two sentinels, and motioned me to one of two chairs +set in the middle of the floor. + +Presently his face became hard and cruel, and he said to the tortured +prisoners, "You will need to speak the truth, and promptly. I have an +order to do with you what I will, and I will do it without pause. Hear +me. Three nights ago, as Mademoiselle Duvarney was returning from the +house of a friend living near the Intendance, she was set upon by you. A +cloak was thrown over her head, she was carried to a carriage, where two +of you got inside with her. Some gentlemen and myself were coming that +way. We heard the lady's cries, and two gave chase to the carriage, +while one followed the others. By the help of soldier Gabord here you +all were captured. You have hung where you are for two days, and now I +shall have you whipped. When that is done, you shall tell your story. +If you do not speak truth, you shall be whipped again, and then hung. +Ladies shall have safety from rogues like you." + +Alixe's danger told in these concise words made me, I am sure, turn +pale; but Doltaire did not see it, he was engaged with the prisoners. As +I thought and wondered, four soldiers were brought in, and the men were +made ready for the lash. In vain they pleaded they would tell their +story at once. Doltaire would not listen; the whipping first, and their +story after. Soon their backs were bared, their faces were turned to +the wall, and, as Gabord with harsh voice counted, the lashes were +mercilessly laid on. There was a horrible fascination in watching +the skin corrugate under the lashes, rippling away in red and purple +blotches, the grooves in the flesh crossing and recrossing, the raw +misery spreading from the hips to the shoulders. Now and again +Doltaire drew out a box and took a pinch of snuff, and once, coolly +and curiously, he walked up to the most stalwart prisoner and felt his +pulse, then to the weakest, whose limbs and body had stiffened as though +dead. "Ninety-seven! Ninety-eight! Ninety-nine!" growled Gabord, and +then came Doltaire's voice: + +"Stop! Now fetch some brandy." + +The prisoners were loosened, and Doltaire spoke sharply to a soldier who +was roughly pulling one man's shirt over the excoriated back. Brandy +was given by Gabord, and the prisoners stood, a most pitiful sight, the +weakest livid. + +"Now tell your story," said Doltaire to this last. + +The man, with broken voice and breath catching, said that they had +erred. They had been hired to kidnap Madame Cournal, not Mademoiselle +Duvarney. + +Doltaire's eyes flashed. "I see, I see," he said aside to me. "The +wretch speaks truth." + +"Who was your master?" he asked of the sturdiest of the villains; and +he was told that Monsieur Cournal had engaged them. To the question what +was to be done with Madame Cournal, another answered that she was to be +waylaid as she was coming from the Intendance, kidnapped, and hurried to +a nunnery to be imprisoned for life. + +Doltaire sat for a moment, looking at the men in silence. "You are not +to hang," he said at last; "but ten days hence, when you have had one +hundred lashes more, you shall go free. Fifty for you," he continued to +the weakest who had first told the story. + +"Not fifty nor one!" was the shrill reply, and, being unbound, the +prisoner snatched something from a bench near; there was a flash +of steel, and he came huddling in a heap on the floor, muttering a +malediction on the world. + +"There was some bravery in that," said Doltaire, looking at the dead +man. "If he has friends, hand over the body to them. This matter must +not be spoken of--at your peril," he added sternly. "Give them food and +brandy." + +Then he accompanied me to my cell, and opened the door. I passed in, and +he was about going without a word, when on a sudden his old nonchalance +came back, and he said: + +"I promised you a matter of interest. You have had it. Gather philosophy +from this: you may with impunity buy anything from a knave and fool +except his nuptial bed. He throws the money in your face some day." + +So saying he plunged in thought again, and left me. + + + + +XVI. BE SAINT OR IMP + + +Immediately I opened the packet. As Doltaire had said, the two books of +poems I had lent Alixe were there, and between the pages of one lay a +letter addressed to me. It was, indeed, a daring thing to make Doltaire +her messenger. But she trusted to his habits of courtesy; he had no +small meannesses--he was no spy or thief. + +DEAR ROBERT (the letter ran): I know not if this will ever reach you, +for I am about to try a perilous thing, even to make Monsieur Doltaire +my letter-carrier. Bold as it is, I hope to bring it through safely. + +You must know that my mother now makes Monsieur Doltaire welcome to our +home, for his great talents and persuasion have so worked upon her that +she believes him not so black as he is painted. My father, too, is not +unmoved by his amazing address and complaisance. I do not think he +often cares to use his arts--he is too indolent; but with my father, my +mother, and my sister he has set in motion all his resources. + +Robert, all Versailles is here. This Monsieur Doltaire speaks for it. +I know not if all courts in the world are the same, but if so, I am at +heart no courtier; though I love the sparkle, the sharp play of wit and +word, the very touch-and-go of weapons. I am in love with life, and I +wish to live to be old, very old, that I will have known it all, from +helplessness to helplessness again, missing nothing, even though much be +sad to feel and bear. Robert, I should have gone on many years, seeing +little, knowing little, I think, if it had not been for you and for +your troubles, which are mine, and for this love of ours, builded in the +midst of sorrows. Georgette is now as old as when I first came to +love you, and you were thrown into the citadel, and yet in feeling and +experience, I am ten years older than she; and necessity has made me +wiser. Ah, if necessity would but make me happy too, by giving you your +liberty, that on these many miseries endured we might set up a sure +home. I wonder if you think--if you think of that: a little home away +from all these wars, aloof from vexing things. + +But there! all too plainly I am showing you my heart. Yet it is so great +a comfort to speak on paper to you, in this silence here. Can you guess +where is that HERE, Robert? It is not the Chateau St. Louis--no. It +is not the Manor. It is the chateau, dear Chateau Alixe--my father has +called it that--on the Island of Orleans. Three days ago I was sick at +heart, tired of all the junketings and feastings, and I begged my mother +to fetch me here, though it is yet but early spring, and snow is on the +ground. + +First, you must know that this new chateau is built upon, and is joined +to, the ruins of an old one, owned long years ago by the Baron of +Beaugard, whose strange history you must learn some day, out of the +papers we have found here. I begged my father not to tear the old +portions of the manor down, but, using the first foundations, put up a +house half castle and half manor. Pictures of the old manor were found, +and so we have a place that is no patchwork, but a renewal. I made my +father give me the old surviving part of the building for my own, and so +it is. + +It is all set on high ground abutting on the water almost at the +point where I am, and I have the river in my sight all day. Now, think +yourself in the new building. You come out of a dining-hall, hung all +about with horns and weapons and shields and such bravery, go through +a dark, narrow passage, and then down a step or two. You open a door, +bright light breaks on your eyes, then two steps lower, and you are +here with me. You might have gone outside the dining-hall upon a stone +terrace, and so have come along to the deep window where I sit so often. +You may think of me hiding in the curtains, watching you, though +you knew it not till you touched the window and I came out quietly, +startling you, so that your heart would beat beyond counting. + +As I look up towards the window, the thing first in sight is the cage, +with the little bird which came to me in the cathedral the morning my +brother got lease of life again: you DO remember--is it not so? It never +goes from my room, and though I have come here but for a week I muffled +the cage well and brought it over; and there the bird swings and sings +the long day through. I have heaped the window-seats with soft furs, and +one of these I prize most rarely. It was a gift--and whose, think you? +Even a poor soldier's. You see I have not all friends among the great +folk. I often lie upon that soft robe of sable--ay, sable, Master +Robert--and think of him who gave it to me. Now I know you are jealous, +and I can see your eyes flash up. But you shall at once be soothed. It +is no other than Gabord's gift. He is now of the Governor's body-guard, +and I think is by no means happy, and would prefer service with the +Marquis de Montcalm, who goes not comfortably with the Intendant and the +Governor. + +One day Gabord came to our house on the ramparts, and, asking for me, +blundered out, "Aho, what shall a soldier do with sables? They are for +gentles and for wrens to snuggle in. Here comes a Russian count oversea, +and goes mad in tavern. Here comes Gabord, and saves count from ruddy +crest for kissing the wrong wench. Then count falls on Gabord's neck, +and kisses both his ears, and gives him sables, and crosses oversea +again; and so good-bye to count and his foolery. And sables shall be +ma'm'selle's, if she will have them." He might have sold the thing for +many louis, and yet he brought it to me; and he would not go till he had +seen me sitting on it, muffling my hands and face in the soft fur. + +Just now, as I am writing, I glance at the table where I sit--a +small brown table of oak, carved with the name of Felise, Baroness of +Beaugard. She sat here; and some day, when you hear her story, you will +know why I begged Madame Lotbiniere to give it to me in exchange for +another, once the King's. Carved, too, beneath her name, are the words, +"Oh, tarry thou the Lord's leisure." + +And now you shall laugh with me at a droll thing Georgette has given me +to wipe my pen upon. There are three little circles of deerskin and one +of ruby velvet, stitched together in the centre. Then, standing on the +velvet is a yellow wooden chick, with little eyes of beads, and a +little wooden bill stuck in most quaintly, and a head that twists like a +weathercock. It has such a piquant silliness of look that I laugh at +it most heartily, and I have an almost elfish fun in smearing its downy +feathers. I am sure you did not think I could be amused so easily. You +shall see this silly chick one day, humorously ugly and all daubed with +ink. + +There is a low couch in one corner of the room, and just above hangs +a picture of my mother. In another corner is a little shelf of books, +among them two which I have studied constantly since you were put in +prison--your great Shakespeare, and the writings of one Mr. Addison. I +had few means of studying at first, so difficult it seemed, and all the +words sounded hard; but there is your countryman, one Lieutenant Stevens +of Rogers' Rangers, a prisoner, and he has helped me, and is ready +to help you when the time comes for stirring. I teach him French; and +though I do not talk of you, he tells me in what esteem you are held +in Virginia and in England, and is not slow to praise you on his own +account, which makes me more forgiving when he would come to sentiment! + +In another corner is my spinning-wheel, and there stands a harpsichord, +just where the soft sun sends in a ribbon of light; and I will presently +play for you a pretty song. I wonder if you can hear it? Where I +shall sit at the harpsichord the belt of sunlight will fall across my +shoulder, and, looking through the window, I shall see your prison there +on the Heights; the silver flag with its gold lilies on the Chateau St. +Louis; the great guns of the citadel; and far off at Beauport the +Manor House and garden which you and I know so well, and the Falls of +Montmorenci, falling like white flowing hair from the tall cliff. + +You will care to know of how these months have been spent, and what news +of note there is of the fighting between our countries. No matters of +great consequence have come to our ears, save that it is thought your +navy may descend on Louisburg; that Ticonderoga is also to be set upon, +and Quebec to be besieged in the coming summer. From France the news +is various. Now, Frederick of Prussia and England defeat the allies, +France, Russia, and Austria; now, they, as Monsieur Doltaire says, "send +the great Prussian to verses and the megrims." For my own part, I am +ever glad to hear that our cause is victorious, and letters that my +brother writes me rouse all my ardour for my country. Juste has grown +in place and favour, and in his latest letter he says that Monsieur +Doltaire's voice has got him much advancement. He also remarks that +Monsieur Doltaire has reputation for being one of the most reckless, +clever, and cynical men in France. Things that he has said are quoted +at ball and rout. Yet the King is angry with him, and La Pompadour's +caprice may send him again to the Bastile. These things Juste heard +from D'Argenson, Minister of War, through his secretary, with whom he is +friendly. + +I will now do what I never thought to do: I will send you here some +extracts from my journal, which will disclose to you the secrets of a +girl's troubled heart. Some folk might say that I am unmaidenly in this. +But I care not, I fear not. + + +December 24. I was with Robert to-day. I let him see what trials I had +had with Monsieur Doltaire, and what were like to come. It hurt me to +tell him, yet it would have hurt me more to withhold them. I am hurt +whichever way it goes. Monsieur Doltaire rouses the worst parts of me. +On the one hand I detest him for his hatred of Robert and for his evil +life, yet on the other I must needs admire him for his many graces--why +are not the graces of the wicked horrible?--for his singular abilities, +and because, gamester though he may be, he is no public robber. Then, +too, the melancholy of his birth and history claims some sympathy. +Sometimes when I listen to him speak, hear the almost piquant sadness of +his words, watch the spirit of isolation which, by design or otherwise, +shows in him, for the moment I am conscious of a pity or an interest +which I flout in wiser hours. This is his art, the potent danger of his +personality. + +To-night he came, and with many fine phrases wished us a happy day +to-morrow, and most deftly worked upon my mother and Georgette by +looking round and speaking with a quaint sort of raillery--half pensive, +it was--of the peace of this home-life of ours; and indeed, he did it so +inimitably that I was not sure how much was false and how much true. +I tried to avoid him to-day, but my mother as constantly made private +speech between us easy. At last he had his way, and then I was not +sorry; for Georgette was listening to him with more colour than she is +wont to wear. I would rather see her in her grave than with her hand in +his, her sweet life in his power. She is unschooled in the ways of the +world, and she never will know it as I now do. How am I sounding all +the depths! Can a woman walk the dance with evil, and be no worse for it +by-and-bye? Yet for a cause, for a cause! What can I do? I can not say, +"Monsieur Doltaire, you must not speak with me, or talk with me; you are +a plague-spot." No, I must even follow this path, so it but lead at last +to Robert and his safety. + +Monsieur, having me alone at last, said to me, "I have kept my word as +to the little boast: this Captain Moray still lives." + +"You are not greater than I thought," said I. + +He professed to see but one meaning in my words, and answered, "It was +then mere whim to see me do this thing, a lady's curious mind, eh? My +faith, I think your sex are the true scientists: you try experiment for +no other reason than to see effect." + +"You forget my deep interest in Captain Moray," said I, with airy +boldness. + +He laughed. He was disarmed. How could he think I meant it! "My +imagination halts," he rejoined. "Millennium comes when you are +interested. And yet," he continued, "it is my one ambition to interest +you, and I will do it, or I will say my prayers no more." + + "But how can that be done no more, + Which ne'er was done before?" + +I retorted, railing at him, for I feared to take him seriously. + +"There you wrong me," he said. "I am devout; I am a lover of the +Scriptures--their beauty haunts me; I go to mass--its dignity affects +me; and I have prayed, as in my youth I wrote verses. It is not a matter +of morality, but of temperament. A man may be religious and yet be evil. +Satan fell, but he believed and he admired, as the English Milton wisely +shows it." + +I was most glad that my father came between us at that moment; but +before Monsieur left, he said to me, "You have challenged me. Beware: I +have begun this chase. Yet I would rather be your follower, rather +have your arrow in me, than be your hunter." He said it with a sort of +warmth, which I knew was a glow in his senses merely; he was heated with +his own eloquence. + +"Wait," returned I. "You have heard the story of King Artus?" + +He thought a moment. "No, no. I never was a child as other children. I +was always comrade to the imps." + +"King Artus," said I, "was most fond of hunting." (It is but a legend +with its moral, as you know.) "It was forbidden by the priests to hunt +while mass was being said. One day, at the lifting of the host, the +King, hearing a hound bay, rushed out, and gathered his pack together; +but as they went, a whirlwind caught them up into the air, where they +continue to this day, following a lonely trail, never resting, and all +the game they get is one fly every seventh year. And now, when all on a +sudden at night you hear the trees and leaves and the sleepy birds and +crickets stir, it is the old King hunting--for the fox he never gets." + +Monsieur looked at me with curious intentness. "You have a great gift," +he said; "you make your point by allusion. I follow you. But see: when +I am blown into the air I shall not ride alone. Happiness is the fox we +ride to cover, you and I, though we find but a firefly in the end." + +"A poor reply," I remarked easily; "not worthy of you." + +"As worthy as I am of you," he rejoined; then he kissed my hand. "I will +see you at mass to-morrow." + +Unconsciously, I rubbed the hand he kissed with my handkerchief. + +"I am not to be provoked," he said. "It is much to have you treat my +kiss with consequence." + + +March 25. No news of Robert all this month. Gabord has been away in +Montreal. I see Voban only now and then, and he is strange in manner, +and can do nothing. Mathilde is better--so still and desolate, yet not +wild; but her memory is all gone, all save for that "Francois Bigot is a +devil." My father has taken anew a strong dislike to Monsieur Doltaire, +because of talk that is abroad concerning him and Madame Cournal. I once +thought she was much sinned against, but now I am sure she is not to be +defended. She is most defiant, though people dare not shut their doors +against her. A change seemed to come over her all at once, and over her +husband also. He is now gloomy and taciturn, now foolishly gay, yet he +is little seen with the Intendant, as before. However it be, Monsieur +Doltaire and Bigot are no longer intimate. What should I care for that, +if Monsieur Doltaire had no power, if he were not the door between +Robert and me? What care I, indeed, how vile he is, so he but serve my +purpose? Let him try my heart and soul and senses as he will; I will +one day purify myself of his presence and all this soiling, and find my +peace in Robert's arms--or in the quiet of a nunnery. + +This morning I got up at sunrise, it being the Annunciation of the +Virgin, and prepared to go to mass in the chapel of the Ursulines. How +peaceful was the world! So still, so still. The smoke came curling up +here and there through the sweet air of spring, a snowbird tripped along +the white coverlet of the earth, and before a Calvary, I saw a peasant +kneel and say an Ave as he went to market. There was springtime in the +sun, in the smell of the air; springtime everywhere but in my heart, +which was all winter. I seemed alone--alone--alone. I felt the tears +start. But that was for a moment only, I am glad to say, for I got my +courage again, as I did the night before when Monsieur Doltaire placed +his arm at my waist, and poured into my ears a torrent of protestations. + +I did not move at first. But I could feel my cheeks go to stone, and +something clamp my heart. Yet had ever man such hateful eloquence! There +is that in him--oh, shame! oh, shame!--which goes far with a woman. He +has the music of passion, and though it is lower than love, it is the +poetry of the senses. I spoke to him calmly, I think, begging him place +his merits where they would have better entertainment; but I said hard, +cold things at last, when other means availed not; which presently made +him turn upon me in another fashion. + +His words dropped slowly, with a consummate carefulness, his manner was +pointedly courteous, yet there was an underpressure of force, of will, +which made me see the danger of my position. He said that I was quite +right; that he would wish no privilege of a woman which was not given +with a frank eagerness; that to him no woman was worth the having who +did not throw her whole nature into the giving. Constancy--that was +another matter. But a perfect gift while there was giving at all--that +was the way. + +"There is something behind all this," he said. "I am not so vain as +to think any merits of mine would influence you. But my devotion, my +admiration of you, the very force of my passion, should move you. Be you +ever so set against me--and I do not think you are--you should not be +so strong to resist the shock of feeling. I do not know the cause, but +I will find it out; and when I do, I shall remove it or be myself +removed." He touched my arm with his fingers. "When I touch you like +that," he said, "summer riots in my veins. I will not think that this +which rouses me so is but power upon one side, and effect upon the +other. Something in you called me to you, something in me will wake you +yet. Mon Dieu, I could wait a score of years for my touch to thrill you +as yours does me! And I will--I will." + +"You think it suits your honour to force my affections?" I asked; for I +dared not say all I wished. + +"What is there in this reflecting on my honour?" he answered. "At +Versailles, believe me, they would say I strive here for a canonizing. +No, no; think me so gallant that I follow you to serve you, to convince +you that the way I go is the way your hopes will lie. Honour? To fetch +you to the point where you and I should start together on the Appian +Way, I would traffic with that, even, and say I did so, and would do so +a thousand times, if in the end it put your hand in mine. Who, who can +give you what I offer, can offer? See: I have given myself to a hundred +women in my time--but what of me? That which was a candle in a wind, +and the light went out. There was no depth, no life, in that; only the +shadow of a man was there those hundred times. But here, now, the whole +man plunges into this sea, and he will reach the lighthouse on the +shore, or be broken on the reefs. Look in my eyes, and see the furnace +there, and tell me if you think that fire is for cool corners in the +gardens at Neuilly or for the Hills of--" He suddenly broke off, and a +singular smile followed. "There, there," he said, "I have said enough. +It came to me all at once how droll my speech would sound to our people +at Versailles. It is an elaborate irony that the occasional virtues +of certain men turn and mock them. That is the penalty of being +inconsistent. Be saint or imp; it is the only way. But this imp that +mocks me relieves you of reply. Yet I have spoken truth, and again and +again I will tell it you, till you believe according to my gospel." + +How glad I was that he himself lightened the situation! I had been +driven to despair, but this strange twist in his mood made all smooth +for me. "That 'again and again' sounds dreary," said I. "It might almost +appear I must sometime accept your gospel, to cure you of preaching it, +and save me from eternal drowsiness." + +We were then most fortunately interrupted. He made his adieus, and I +went to my room, brooded till my head ached, then fell a-weeping, and +wished myself out of the world, I was so sick and weary. Now and again +a hot shudder of shame and misery ran through me, as I thought of +monsieur's words to me. Put them how he would, they sound an insult now, +though as he spoke I felt the power of his passion. "If you had lived a +thousand years ago, you would have loved a thousand times," he said +to me one day. Sometimes I think he spoke truly; I have a nature that +responds to all eloquence in life. + + +Robert, I have bared my heart to thee. I have hidden nothing. In a few +days I shall go back to the city with my mother, and when I can I will +send news; and do thou send me news also, if thou canst devise a safe +way. Meanwhile, I have written my brother Juste to be magnanimous, and +to try for thy freedom. He will not betray me, and he may help us. I +have begged him to write to thee a letter of reconcilement. + +And now, comrade of my heart, do thou have courage. I also shall be +strong as I am ardent. Having written thee, I am cheerful once more; and +when again I may, I will open the doors of my heart that thou mayst come +in. That heart is thine, Robert. Thy + +ALIXE, + +who loves thee all her days. + +P.S.--I have found the names and places of the men who keep the guard +beneath thy window. If there is chance for freedom that way, fix the day +some time ahead, and I will see what may be done. Voban fears nothing; +he will act secretly for me. + +The next day I arranged for my escape, which had been long in planning. + + + + +XVII. THROUGH THE BARS OF THE CAGE + + +I should have tried escape earlier but that it was little use to venture +forth in the harsh winter in a hostile country. But now April had come, +and I was keen to make a trial of my fortune. I had been saving food for +a long time, little by little, and hiding it in the old knapsack which +had held my second suit of clothes. I had used the little stove for +parching my food--Indian corn, for which I had professed a fondness to +my jailer, and liberally paid for out of funds which had been sent me +by Mr. George Washington in answer to my letter, and other moneys to +a goodly amount in a letter from Governor Dinwiddie. These letters had +been carefully written, and the Marquis de Vaudreuil, into whose hands +they had first come, was gallant enough not to withhold them--though he +read them first. + +Besides Indian corn, the parching of which amused me, I had dried ham +and tongue, and bread and cheese, enough, by frugal use, to last me a +month at least. I knew it would be a journey of six weeks or more to +the nearest English settlement, but if I could get that month's start I +should forage for the rest, or take my fate as I found it: I was used +to all the turns of fortune now. My knapsack gradually filled, and +meanwhile I slowly worked my passage into the open world. There was the +chance that my jailer would explore the knapsack; but after a time I +lost that fear, for it lay untouched with a blanket in a corner, and I +cared for my cell with my own hands. + +The true point of danger was the window. There lay my way. It was +stoutly barred with iron up and down, and the bars were set in the solid +limestone. Soon after I entered this prison, I saw that I must cut a +groove in the stone from stanchion to stanchion, and then, by drawing +one to the other, make an opening large enough to let my body through. +For tools I had only a miserable knife with which I cut my victuals, and +the smaller but stouter one which Gabord had not taken from me. There +could be no pounding, no chiselling, but only rubbing of the hard +stone. So hour after hour I rubbed away, in constant danger of discovery +however. My jailer had a trick of sudden entrance, which would have been +grotesque if it had not been so serious to me. To provide against the +flurried inquisition of his eye, I kept near me bread well chewed, with +which I filled the hole, covering it with the sand I had rubbed or the +ashes of my pipe. I lived in dread of these entrances, but at last I +found that they chanced only within certain hours, and I arranged my +times of work accordingly. Once or twice, however, being impatient, I +scratched the stone with some asperity and noise, and was rewarded by +hearing my fellow stumbling in the hall; for he had as uncertain limbs +as ever I saw. He stumbled upon nothing, as you have seen a child trip +itself up by tangling of its feet. + +The first time that he came, roused by the grating noise as he sat +below, he stumbled in the very centre of the cell, and fell upon his +knees. I would have laughed if I had dared, but I yawned over the book I +had hastily snatched up, and puffed great whiffs from my pipe. I dreaded +lest he should go to the window. He started for it, but suddenly made +for my couch, and dragged it away, as if looking to find a hole dug +beneath it. Still I did not laugh at him, but gravely watched him; and +presently he went away. At another time I was foolishly harsh with my +tools; but I knew now the time required by him to come upstairs, and I +swiftly filled the groove with bread, strewed ashes and sand over it, +rubbed all smooth, and was plunged in my copy of Montaigne when he +entered. This time he went straight to the window, looked at it, tried +the stanchions, and then, with an amused attempt at being cunning and +hiding his own vigilance, he asked me, with laborious hypocrisy, if I +had seen Captain Lancy pass the window. And so for weeks and weeks we +played hide-and-seek with each other. + +At last I had nothing to do but sit and wait, for the groove was cut, +the bar had room to play. I could not bend it, for it was fast at the +top; but when my hour of adventure was come, I would tie a handkerchief +round the two bars and twist it with the piece of hickory used for +stirring the fire. Here was my engine of escape, and I waited till April +should wind to its close, when I should, in the softer weather, try my +fortune outside these walls. + +So time went on until one eventful day, even the 30th of April of that +year 1758. It was raining and blowing when I waked, and it ceased not +all the day, coming to a hailstorm towards night. I felt sure that +my guards without would, on such a day, relax their vigilance. In the +evening I listened, and heard no voices nor any sound of feet, only the +pelting rain and the whistling wind. Yet I did not stir till midnight. +Then I slung the knapsack in front of me, so that I could force it +through the window first, and tying my handkerchief round the iron bars, +I screwed it up with my stick. Presently the bars came together, and my +way was open. I got my body through by dint of squeezing, and let myself +go plump into the mire below. Then I stood still a minute, and listened +again. + +A light was shining not far away. Drawing near, I saw that it came from +a small hut or lean-to. Looking through the cracks, I observed my two +gentlemen drowsing in the corner. I was eager for their weapons, but I +dared not make the attempt to get them, for they were laid between their +legs, the barrels resting against their shoulders. I drew back, and for +a moment paused to get my bearings. Then I made for a corner of the yard +where the wall was lowest, and, taking a run at it, caught the top, with +difficulty scrambled up, and speedily was over and floundering in the +mud. I knew well where I was, and at once started off in a northwesterly +direction, toward the St. Charles River, making for a certain farmhouse +above the town. Yet I took care, though it was dangerous, to travel a +street in which was Voban's house. There was no light in the street +nor in his house, nor had I seen any one abroad as I came, not even a +sentinel. + +I knew where was the window of the barber's bedroom, and I tapped upon +it softly. Instantly I heard a stir; then there came the sound of flint +and steel, then a light, and presently a hand at the window, and a voice +asking who was there. + +I gave a quick reply; the light was put out, the window opened, and +there was Voban staring at me. + +"This letter," said I, "to Mademoiselle Duvarney," and I slipped ten +louis into his hand, also. + +This he quickly handed back. "M'sieu'," said he, "if I take it I +would seem to myself a traitor--no, no. But I will give the letter to +ma'm'selle." + +Then he asked me in; but I would not, yet begged him, if he could, to +have a canoe at my disposal at a point below the Falls of Montmorenci +two nights hence. + +"M'sieu'," said he, "I will do so if I can, but I am watched. I would +not pay a sou for my life--no. Yet I will serve you, if there is a way." + +Then I told him what I meant to do, and bade him repeat it exactly to +Alixe. This he swore to do, and I cordially grasped the good wretch's +shoulder, and thanked him with all my heart. I got from him a weapon, +also, and again I put gold louis into his hand, and bade him keep +it, for I might need his kind offices to spend it for me. To this he +consented, and I plunged into the dark again. I had not gone far when I +heard footsteps coming, and I drew aside into the corner of a porch. +A moment, then the light flashed full upon me. I had my hand upon the +hanger I had got from Voban, and I was ready to strike if there were +need, when Gabord's voice broke on my ear, and his hand caught at the +short sword by his side. + +"'Tis dickey-bird, aho!" cried he. There was exultation in his eye and +voice. Here was a chance for him to prove himself against me; he had +proved himself for me more than once. + +"Here was I," added he, "making for M'sieu' Voban, that he might come +and bleed a sick soldier, when who should come running but our English +captain! Come forth, aho!" + +"No, Gabord," said I, "I'm bound for freedom." I stepped forth. His +sword was poised against me. I was intent to make a desperate fight. + +"March on," returned he gruffly, and I could feel the iron in his voice. + +"But not with you, Gabord. My way lies towards Virginia." + +I did not care to strike the first blow, and I made to go past him. His +lantern came down, and he made a catch at my shoulder. I swung back, +threw off my cloak and up my weapon. + +Then we fought. My knapsack troubled me, for it was loose, and kept +shifting. Gabord made stroke after stroke, watchful, heavy, offensive, +muttering to himself as he struck and parried. There was no hatred in +his eyes, but he had the lust of fighting on him, and he was breathing +easily, and could have kept this up for hours. As we fought I could hear +a clock strike one in a house near. Then a cock crowed. I had received +two slight wounds, and I had not touched my enemy. But I was swifter, +and I came at him suddenly with a rush, and struck for his left shoulder +when I saw my chance. I felt the steel strike the bone. As I did so, he +caught my wrist and lunged most fiercely at me, dragging me to him. The +blow struck straight at my side, but it went through the knapsack, which +had swung loose, and so saved my life; for another instant and I had +tripped him down, and he lay bleeding badly. + +"Aho! 'twas a fair fight," said he. "Now get you gone. I call for help." + +"I can not leave you so, Gabord," said I. I stooped and lifted up his +head. + +"Then you shall go to citadel," said he, feeling for his small trumpet. + +"No, no," I answered; "I'll go fetch Voban." + +"To bleed me more!" quoth he whimsically; and I knew well he was pleased +that I did not leave him. "Nay, kick against yon door. It is Captain +Lancy's." + +At that moment a window opened, and Lancy's voice was heard. Without a +word I seized the soldier's lantern and my cloak, and made away as hard +as I could go. + +"I'll have a wing of you for lantern there!" roared Gabord, swearing +roundly as I ran off with it. + +With all my might I hurried, and was soon outside the town, and coming +fast to the farmhouse about two miles beyond. Nearing it, I hid the +lantern beneath my cloak and made for an outhouse. The door was not +locked, and I passed in. There was a loft nearly full of hay, and I +crawled up, and dug a hole far down against the side of the building, +and climbed in, bringing with me for drink a nest of hen's eggs which I +found in a corner. The warmth of the dry hay was comforting, and after +caring for my wounds, which I found were but scratches, I had somewhat +to eat from my knapsack, drank up two eggs, and then coiled myself for +sleep. It was my purpose, if not discovered, to stay where I was two +days, and then to make for the point below the Falls of Montmorenci +where I hoped to find a canoe of Voban's placing. + +When I waked it must have been near noon, so I lay still for a time, +listening to the cheerful noise of fowls and cattle in the yard without, +and to the clacking of a hen above me. The air smelt very sweet. I +also heard my unknowing host, at whose table I had once sat, two years +before, talking with his son, who had just come over from Quebec, +bringing news of my escape, together with a wonderful story of the fight +between Gabord and myself. It had, by his calendar, lasted some three +hours, and both of us, in the end, fought as we lay upon the ground. +"But presently along comes a cloaked figure, with horses, and he lifts +m'sieu' the Englishman upon one, and away they ride like the devil +towards St. Charles River and Beauport. Gabord was taken to the +hospital, and he swore that Englishman would not have got away if +stranger had not fetched him a crack with a pistol-butt which sent him +dumb and dizzy. And there M'sieu' Lancy sleep snug through all until the +horses ride away!" + +The farmer and his son laughed heartily, with many a "By Gar!" their +sole English oath. Then came the news that six thousand livres were +offered for me, dead or living, the drums beating far and near to tell +the people so. + +The farmer gave a long whistle, and in a great bustle set to calling all +his family to arm themselves and join with him in this treasure-hunting. +I am sure at least a dozen were at the task, searching all about; nor +did they neglect the loft where I lay. But I had dug far down, drawing +the hay over me as I went, so that they must needs have been keen to +smell me out. After about three hours' poking about over all the farm, +they met again outside this building, and I could hear their gabble +plainly. The smallest among them, the piping chore-boy, he was for +spitting me without mercy; and the milking-lass would toast me with +a hay-fork, that she would, and six thousand livres should set her up +forever. + +In the midst of their rattling came two soldiers, who ordered them +about, and with much blustering began searching here and there, and +chucking the maids under the chins, as I could tell by their little +bursts of laughter, and the "La M'sieu's!" which trickled through the +hay. + +I am sure that one such little episode saved me. For I heard a soldier +just above me poking and tossing hay with uncomfortable vigour. But +presently the amorous hunter turned his thoughts elsewhere, and I was +left to myself, and to a late breakfast of parched beans and bread and +raw eggs, after which I lay and thought; and the sum of the thinking +was that I would stay where I was till the first wave of the hunt had +passed. + +Near midnight of the second day I came out secretly from my +lurking-place, and faced straight for the St. Charles River. Finding it +at high water, I plunged in, with my knapsack and cloak on my head, and +made my way across, reaching the opposite shore safely. After going two +miles or so, I discovered friendly covert in the woods, where, in spite +of my cloak and dry cedar boughs wrapped round, I shivered as I lay +until the morning. When the sun came up, I drew out, that it might +dry me; after which I crawled back into my nest and fell into a broken +sleep. Many times during the day I heard the horns of my hunters, and +more than once voices near me. But I had crawled into the hollow of a +half-uprooted stump, and the cedar branches, which had been cut off a +day or two before, were a screen. I could see soldiers here and there, +armed and swaggering, and faces of peasants and shopkeepers whom I knew. + +A function was being made of my escape; it was a hunting-feast, in which +women were as eager as their husbands and their brothers. There was +something devilish in it, when I came to think of it: a whole town +roused and abroad to hunt down one poor fugitive, whose only sin was, +in themselves, a virtue--loyalty to his country. I saw women armed with +sickles and iron forks, and lads bearing axes and hickory poles cut to a +point like a spear, while blunderbusses were in plenty. Now and again +a weapon was fired, and, to watch their motions and peepings, it might +have been thought I was a dragon, or that they all were hunting La +Jongleuse, their fabled witch, whose villainies, are they not told at +every fireside? + +Often I shivered violently, and anon I was burning hot; my adventure had +given me a chill and fever. Late in the evening of this day, my hunters +having drawn off with as little sense as they had hunted me, I edged +cautiously down past Beauport and on to the Montmorenci Falls. I came +along in safety, and reached a spot near the point where Voban was to +hide the boat. The highway ran between. I looked out cautiously. I could +hear and see nothing, and so ran out and crossed the road, and pushed +for the woods on the banks of the river. I had scarcely got across when +I heard a shout, and looking round I saw three horsemen, who instantly +spurred towards me. I sprang through the underbrush and came down +roughly into a sort of quarry, spraining my ankle on a pile of stones. +I got up quickly; but my ankle hurt me sorely, and I turned sick and +dizzy. Limping a little way, I set my back against a tree, and drew my +hanger. As I did so, the three gentlemen burst in upon me. They were +General Montcalm, a gentleman of the Governor's household, and Doltaire! + +"It is no use, dear Captain," said Doltaire. "Yield up your weapon." + +General Montcalm eyed me curiously, as the other gentleman talked in +low, excited tones; and presently he made a gesture of courtesy, for he +saw that I was hurt. Doltaire's face wore a malicious smile; but when he +noted how sick I was, he came and offered me his arm, and was constant +in courtesy till I was set upon a horse; and with him and the General +riding beside me I came to my new imprisonment. They both forbore to +torture me with words, for I was suffering greatly; but they fetched +me to the Chateau St. Louis, followed by a crowd, who hooted at me. +Doltaire turned on them at last, and stopped them. + +The Governor, whose petty vanity was roused, showed a foolish fury at +seeing me, and straightway ordered me to the citadel again. + +"It's useless kicking 'gainst the pricks," said Doltaire to me +cynically, as I passed out limping between two soldiers; but I did not +reply. In another half hour of most bitter journeying I found myself in +my dungeon. I sank upon the old couch of straw, untouched since I had +left it; and when the door shut upon me, desponding, aching in all my +body, now feverish and now shivering, my ankle in great pain, I could +bear up no longer, and I bowed my head and fell a-weeping like a woman. + + + + +XVIII. THE STEEP PATH OF CONQUEST + + +Now I am come to a period on which I shall not dwell, nor repeat a tale +of suffering greater than that I had yet endured. All the first night of +this new imprisonment I tossed on my wretched bed in pain and misery. A +strange and surly soldier came and went, bringing bread and water; but +when I asked that a physician be sent me, he replied, with a vile +oath, that the devil should be my only surgeon. Soon he came again, +accompanied by another soldier, and put irons on me. With what quietness +I could I asked him by whose orders this was done; but he vouchsafed no +reply save that I was to "go bound to fires of hell." + +"There is no journeying there," I answered; "here is the place itself." + +Then a chain was roughly put round my injured ankle, and it gave me such +agony that I turned sick, but I kept back groaning, for I would not have +these varlets catch me quaking. + +"I'll have you grilled for this one day," said I. "You are no men, but +butchers. Can you not see my ankle has been sorely hurt?" + +"You are for killing," was the gruff reply, "and here's a taste of it." + +With that he drew the chain with a jerk round the hurt member, so that +it drove me to madness. I caught him by the throat and hurled him back +against the wall, and snatching a pistol from his comrade's belt aimed +it at his head. I was beside myself with pain, and if he had been +further violent I should have shot him. His fellow dared not stir in his +defence, for the pistol was trained on him too surely; and so at last +the wretch, promising better treatment, crawled to his feet, and made +motion for the pistol to be given him. But I would not yield it, telling +him it should be a guarantee of truce. Presently the door closed behind +them, and I sank back upon the half-fettered chains. + +I must have sat for more than an hour, when there was a noise without, +and there entered the Commandant, the Marquis de Montcalm, and the +Seigneur Duvarney. The pistol was in my hand, and I did not put it down, +but struggled to my feet, and waited for them to speak. + +For a moment there was silence, and then the Commandant said, "Your +guards have brought me word, Monsieur le Capitaine, that you are +violent. You have resisted them, and have threatened them with their own +pistols." + +"With one pistol, monsieur le commandant," answered I. Then, in bitter +words, I told them of my treatment by those rascals, and I showed them +how my ankle had been tortured. "I have no fear of death," said I, "but +I will not lie and let dogs bite me with 'I thank you.' Death can come +but once, it is a damned brutality to make one die a hundred and yet +live--the work of Turks, not Christians. If you want my life, why, take +it and have done." + +The Marquis de Montcalm whispered to the Commandant. The Seigneur +Duvarney, to whom I had not yet spoken, nor he to me, stood leaning +against the wall, gazing at me seriously and kindly. + +Presently Ramesay, the Commandant, spoke, not unkindly: "It was ordered +you should wear chains, but not that you should be maltreated. A surgeon +shall be sent to you, and this chain shall be taken from your ankle. +Meanwhile, your guards shall be changed." + +I held out the pistol, and he took it. "I can not hope for justice +here," said I, "but men are men, and not dogs, and I ask for human usage +till my hour comes and my country is your jailer." + +The Marquis smiled, and his gay eyes sparkled. "Some find comfort in +daily bread, and some in prophecy," he rejoined. "One should envy your +spirit, Captain Moray." + +"Permit me, your Excellency," replied I; "all Englishmen must envy the +spirit of the Marquis de Montcalm, though none is envious of his cause." + +He bowed gravely. "Causes are good or bad as they are ours or our +neighbours'. The lion has a good cause when it goes hunting for its +young; the deer has a good cause when it resists the lion's leap upon +its fawn." + +I did not reply, for I felt a faintness coming; and at that moment the +Seigneur Duvarney came to me, and put his arm through mine. A dizziness +seized me, my head sank upon his shoulder, and I felt myself floating +away into darkness, while from a great distance came a voice: + +"It had been kinder to have ended it last year." + +"He nearly killed your son, Duvarney." This was the voice of the Marquis +in a tone of surprise. + +"He saved my life, Marquis," was the sorrowful reply. "I have not paid +back those forty pistoles, nor ever can, in spite of all." + +"Ah, pardon me, seigneur," was the courteous rejoinder of the General. + +That was all I heard, for I had entered the land of complete darkness. +When I came to, I found that my foot had been bandaged, there was a +torch in the wall, and by my side something in a jug, of which I drank, +according to directions in a surgeon's hand on a paper beside it. + +I was easier in all my body, yet miserably sick still, and I remained +so, now shivering and now burning, a racking pain in my chest. My couch +was filled with fresh straw, but in no other wise was my condition +altered from the first time I had entered this place. My new jailer was +a man of no feeling that I could see, yet of no violence or cruelty; one +whose life was like a wheel, doing the eternal round. He did no more nor +less than his orders, and I made no complaint nor asked any favour. No +one came to me, no message found its way. + +Full three months went by in this fashion, and then, one day, who should +step into my dungeon, torch in hand, but Gabord! He raised the light +above his head, and looked down at me most quizzically. + +"Upon my soul--Gabord!" said I. "I did not kill you, then?" + +"Upon your soul and upon your body, you killed not Gabord." + +"And what now, quarrelsome Gabord?" I questioned cheerfully. + +He shook some keys. "Back again to dickey-bird's cage. 'Look you,' +quoth Governor, 'who will guard and bait this prisoner like the man he +mauled?' 'No one,' quoth a lady who stands by Governor's chair. And she +it was who had Governor send me here--even Ma'm'selle Duvarney. And she +it was who made the Governor loose off these chains." + +He began to free me from the chains. I was in a vile condition. The +irons had made sores upon my wrists and legs, my limbs now trembled so +beneath me that I could scarcely walk, and my head was very light and +dizzy at times. Presently Gabord ordered a new bed of straw brought in; +and from that hour we returned to our old relations, as if there had +not been between us a fight to the death. Of what was going on abroad he +would not tell me, and soon I found myself in as ill a state as before. +No Voban came to me, no Doltaire, no one at all. I sank into a deep +silence, dropped out of a busy world, a morsel of earth slowly coming to +Mother Earth again. + +A strange apathy began to settle on me. All those resources of my first +year's imprisonment had gone, and I was alone: my mouse was dead; there +was no history of my life to write, no incident to break the pitiful +monotony. There seemed only one hope: that our army under Amherst would +invest Quebec and take it. I had no news of any movement, winter again +was here, and it must be five or six months before any action could +successfully be taken; for the St. Lawrence was frozen over in winter, +and if the city was to be seized it must be from the water, with +simultaneous action by land. + +I knew the way, the only way, to take the city. At Sillery, west of the +town, there was a hollow in the cliffs, up which men, secretly conveyed +above the town by water, could climb. At the top was a plateau, smooth +and fine as a parade-ground, where battle could be given, or move be +made upon the city and citadel, which lay on ground no higher. Then, +with the guns playing on the town from the fleet, and from the Levis +shore with forces on the Beauport side, attacking the lower town where +was the Intendant's palace, the great fortress might be taken, and +Canada be ours. + +This passage up the cliff side at Sillery I had discovered three years +before. + +When winter set well in Gabord brought me a blanket, and though last +year I had not needed it, now it was most grateful. I had been fed +for months on bread and water, as in my first imprisonment, but at +last--whether by orders or not, I never knew--he brought me a little +meat every day, and some wine also. Yet I did not care for them, and +often left them untasted. A hacking cough had never left me since my +attempt at escape, and I was miserably thin, and so weak that I could +hardly drag myself about my dungeon. So, many weeks of the winter went +on, and at last I was not able to rise from my bed of straw, and could +do little more than lift a cup of water to my lips and nibble at some +bread. I felt that my hours were numbered. + +At last, one day, I heard commotion at my dungeon door; it opened, and +Gabord entered and closed it after him. He came and stood over me, as +with difficulty I lifted myself upon my elbow. + +"Come, try your wings," said he. + +"It is the end, Gabord?" asked I. + +"Not paradise yet!" said he. + +"Then I am free?" I asked. + +"Free from this dungeon," he answered cheerily. + +I raised myself and tried to stand upon my feet, but fell back. He +helped me to rise, and I rested an arm on his shoulder. + +I tried to walk, but faintness came over me, and I sank back. Then +Gabord laid me down, went to the door, and called in two soldiers with +a mattress. I was wrapped in my cloak and blankets, laid thereon, and +so was borne forth, all covered even to my weak eyes. I was placed in a +sleigh, and as the horses sprang away, the clear sleigh-bells rang out, +and a gun from the ramparts was fired to give the noon hour, I sank into +unconsciousness. + + + + +XIX. A DANSEUSE AND THE BASTILE + + +Recovering, I found myself lying on a couch, in a large, well-lighted +room hung about with pictures and adorned with trophies of the hunt. +A wide window faced the foot of the bed where I lay, and through it I +could see--though the light hurt my eyes greatly--the Levis shore, on +the opposite side of the St. Lawrence. I lay and thought, trying to +discover where I was. It came to me at last that I was in a room of the +Chateau St. Louis. Presently I heard breathing near me, and, looking +over, I saw a soldier sitting just inside the door. + +Then from another corner of the room came a surgeon with some cordial +in a tumbler, and, handing it to me, he bade me drink. He felt my pulse; +then stopped and put his ear to my chest, and listened long. + +"Is there great danger?" asked I. + +"The trouble would pass," said he, "if you were stronger. Your life is +worth fighting for, but it will be a struggle. That dungeon was slow +poison. You must have a barber," added he; "you are a ghost like this." + +I put my hand up, and I found my hair and beard were very long and +almost white. Held against the light, my hands seemed transparent. "What +means my coming here?" asked I. + +He shook his head. "I am but a surgeon," he answered shortly, meanwhile +writing with a flourish on a piece of paper. When he had finished, he +handed the paper to the soldier, with an order. Then he turned to go, +politely bowing to me, but turned again and said, "I would not, were +I you, trouble to plan escape these months yet. This is a comfortable +prison, but it is easier coming in than going out. Your mind and body +need quiet. You have, we know, a taste for adventure"--he smiled--"but +is it wise to fight a burning powder magazine?" + +"Thank you, monsieur," said I, "I am myself laying the fuse to that +magazine. It fights for me by-and-bye." + +He shrugged a shoulder. "Drink," said he, with a professional air which +almost set me laughing, "good milk and brandy, and think of nothing but +that you are a lucky man to have this sort of prison." + +He bustled out in an important way, shaking his head and talking to +himself. Tapping the chest of a bulky soldier who stood outside, he +said brusquely, "Too fat, too fat; you'll come to apoplexy. Go fight the +English, lazy ruffian!" + +The soldier gave a grunt, made a mocking gesture, and the door closed on +me and my attendant. This fellow would not speak at all, and I did not +urge him, but lay and watched the day decline and night come down. I was +taken to a small alcove which adjoined the room, where I slept soundly. + +Early the next morning I waked, and there was Voban sitting just outside +the alcove, looking at me. I sat up in bed and spoke to him, and he +greeted me in an absent sort of way. He was changed as much as I; he +moved as one in a dream; yet there was the ceaseless activity of the +eye, the swift, stealthy motion of the hand. He began to attend me, and +I questioned him; but he said he had orders from mademoiselle that he +was to tell nothing--that she, as soon as she could, would visit me. + +I felt at once a new spring of life. I gave him the letter I had +written, and bade him deliver it, which he promised to do; for though +there was much in it not vital now, it was a record of my thoughts and +feelings, and she would be glad of it, I knew. I pressed Voban's hand +in leaving, and he looked at me as if he would say something; but +immediately he was abstracted, and left me like one forgetful of the +world. + +About three hours after this, as I lay upon the couch in the large room, +clean and well shaven, the door opened, and some one entered, saying to +my guard, "You will remain outside. I have the Governor's order." + +I knew the voice; an instant, and I saw the face shining with +expectancy, the eyes eager, yet timid, a small white hand pressed to a +pulsing breast--my one true friend, the jailer of my heart. + +For a moment she was all trembling and excited, her hand softly +clutching at my shoulder, tears dripping from her eyes and falling on my +cheek, as hers lay pressed to mine; but presently she grew calm, and her +face was lifted with a smile, and, brushing back some flying locks of +hair, she said in a tone most quaint and touching too, "Poor gentleman! +poor English prisoner! poor hidden lover! I ought not, I ought not," she +added, "show my feelings thus, nor excite you so." My hand was trembling +on hers, for in truth I was very weak. "It was my purpose," she +continued, "to come most quietly to you; but there are times when one +must cry out, or the heart will burst." + +I spoke then as a man may who has been delivered from bondage into the +arms of love. She became very quiet, looking at me in her grave, sweet +way, her deep eyes shining with a sincerity. + +"Honest, honest eyes," said I--"eyes that never deceive, and never were +deceived." + +"All this in spite of what you do not know," she answered. For an +instant a look elfish and childlike came into her eyes, and she drew +back from me, stood in the middle of the floor, and caught her skirts in +her fingers. + +"See," she said, "is there no deceit here?" + +Then she began to dance softly, her feet seeming hardly to touch the +ground, her body swaying like a tall flower in the wind, her face +all light and fire. I was charmed, fascinated. I felt my sleepy blood +stirring to the delicate rise and fall of her bosom, the light of her +eyes flashing a dozen colours. There was scarce a sound her steps could +not be heard across the room. + +All at once she broke off from this, and stood still. + +"Did my eyes seem all honest then?" she asked, with a strange, wistful +expression. Then she came to the couch where I was. + +"Robert," said she, "can you, do you trust me, even when you see me at +such witchery?" + +"I trust you always," answered I. "Such witcheries are no evils that I +can see." + +She put her finger upon my lips, with a kind of bashfulness. "Hush, till +I tell you where and when I danced like that, and then, and then--" + +She settled down in a low chair. "I have at least an hour," she +continued. "The Governor is busy with my father and General Montcalm, +and they will not be free for a long time. For your soldiers, I have +been bribing them to my service these weeks past, and they are safe +enough for to-day. Now I will tell you of that dancing. + +"One night last autumn there was a grand dinner at the Intendance. Such +gentlemen as my father were not asked; only the roisterers and hard +drinkers, and gambling friends of the Intendant. You would know the sort +of upspring it would be. Well, I was sitting in my window, looking down +into the garden; for the moon was shining. Presently I saw a man appear +below, glance up towards me, and beckon. It was Voban. I hurried down to +him, and he told me that there had been a wild carousing at the palace, +and that ten gentlemen had determined, for a wicked sport, to mask +themselves, go to the citadel at midnight, fetch you forth, and make you +run the gauntlet in the yard of the Intendance, and afterwards set you +fighting for your life with another prisoner, a common criminal. To +this, Bigot, heated with wine, made no objection. Monsieur Doltaire +was not present; he had, it was said, taken a secret journey into the +English country. The Governor was in Montreal, where he had gone to +discuss matters of war with the Council. + +"There was but one thing to do--get word to General Montcalm. He was +staying at the moment with the Seigneur Pipon at his manor by the +Montmorenci Falls. He must needs be sought there: he would never allow +this shameless thing. So I bade Voban go thither at once, getting a +horse from any quarter, and to ride as if for his life. He promised, and +left me, and I returned to my room to think. Voban had told me that his +news came from Bigot's valet, who is his close friend. This I knew, and +I knew the valet too, for I had seen something of him when my brother +lay wounded at the palace. Under the best circumstances General Montcalm +could not arrive within two hours. Meanwhile, these miserable men might +go on their dreadful expedition. Something must be done to gain time. +I racked my brain for minutes, till the blood pounded at my temples. +Presently a plan came to me. + +"There is in Quebec one Madame Jamond, a great Parisian dancer, who, +for reasons which none knows save perhaps Monsieur Doltaire, has been +banished from France. Since she came to Canada, some nine months ago, +she has lived most quietly and religiously, though many trials have been +made to bring her talents into service; and the Intendant has made many +efforts have her dance in the palace for his guests. But she would not. + +"Madame Lotbiniere had come to know Jamond, and she arranged, after +much persuasion, for lessons in dancing to be given to Lucy, myself, and +Georgette. To me the dancing was a keen delight, a passion. As I danced +I saw and felt a thousand things, I can not tell you how. Now my feet +appeared light as air, like thistledown, my body to float. I was as a +lost soul flying home, flocks of birds singing me to come with them into +a pleasant land. + +"Then all that changed, and I was passing through a bitter land, with +harsh shadows and tall cold mountains. From clefts and hollows figures +flew out and caught at me with filmy hands. These melancholy things +pursued me as I flew, till my wings drooped, and I felt that I must drop +into the dull marsh far beneath, round which travelled a lonely mist. + +"But this too passed, and I came through a land all fire, so that, as I +flew swiftly, my wings were scorched, and I was blinded often, and often +missed my way, and must change my course of flight. It was all scarlet, +all that land--scarlet sky and scarlet sun, and scarlet flowers, and the +rivers running red, and men and women in long red robes, with eyes of +flame, and voices that kept crying, 'The world is mad, and all life is a +fever!'" + +She paused for a moment, seeming to come out of a dream, and then she +laughed a little. "Will you not go on?" I asked gently. + +"Sometimes, too," she continued, "I fancied I was before a king and his +court, dancing for my life or for another's. Oh, how I scanned the faces +of my judges, as they sat there watching me; some meanwhile throwing +crumbs to fluttering birds that whirled round me, some stroking the ears +of hounds that gaped at me, while the king's fool at first made mock at +me, and the face of a man behind the king's chair smiled like Satan--or +Monsieur Doltaire! Ah, Robert, I know you think me fanciful and foolish, +as indeed I am; but you must bear with me. + +"I danced constantly, practising hour upon hour with Jamond, who came +to be my good friend; and you shall hear from me some day her history--a +sad one indeed; a woman sinned against, not sinning. But these special +lessons went on secretly, for I was sure, if people knew how warmly I +followed this recreation, they would set it down to wilful desire to be +singular--or worse. It gave me new interest in lonely days. So the weeks +went on. + +"Well, that wicked night I sent Voban to General Montcalm, and, as +I said, a thought came to me: I would find Jamond, beg her to mask +herself, go to the Intendance, and dance before the gentlemen there, +keeping them amused till the General came, as I was sure he would at +my suggestion, for he is a just man and a generous. All my people, even +Georgette, were abroad at a soiree, and would not be home till late. So +I sought Mathilde, and she hurried with me, my poor daft protector, to +Jamond's, whose house is very near the bishop's palace. + +"We were at once admitted to Jamond, who was lying upon a couch. +I hurriedly told her what I wished her to do, what was at stake, +everything but that I loved you; laying my interest upon humanity and +to your having saved my father's life. She looked troubled at once, then +took my face in her hands. 'Dear child,' she said, 'I understand. You +have sorrow too young--too young.' 'But you will do this for me?' I +cried. She shook her head sadly. 'I can not. I am lame these two days,' +she answered. 'I have had a sprain.' I sank on the floor beside her, +sick and dazed. She put her hand pitifully on my head, then lifted up +my chin. Looking into her eyes, I read a thought there, and I got to my +feet with a spring. 'I myself will go,' said I; 'I will dance there till +the General comes.' She put out her hand in protest. 'You must not,' she +urged. 'Think: you may be discovered, and then the ruin that must come!' + +"'I shall put my trust in God,' said I. 'I have no fear. I will do this +thing.' She caught me to her breast. 'Then God be with you, child,' was +her answer; 'you shall do it.' In ten minutes I was dressed in a gown +of hers, which last had been worn when she danced before King Louis. It +fitted me well, and with a wig the colour of her hair, brought quickly +from her boxes, and use of paints which actors use, I was transformed. +Indeed, I could scarce recognize myself without the mask, and with it on +my mother would not have known me. 'I will go with you,' she said to me, +and she hurriedly put on an old woman's wig and a long cloak, quickly +lined her face, and we were ready. She walked lame, and must use a +stick, and we issued forth towards the Intendance, Mathilde remaining +behind. + +"When we got to the palace, and were admitted, I asked for the +Intendant's valet, and we stood waiting in the cold hall until he was +brought. 'We come from Voban, the barber,' I whispered to him, for there +were servants near; and he led us at once to his private room. He did +not recognize me, but looked at us with sidelong curiosity. 'I am,' said +I, throwing back my cloak, 'a dancer, and I have come to dance before +the Intendant and his guests.' 'His Excellency does not expect you?' +he asked. 'His Excellency has many times asked Madame Jamond to dance +before him,' I replied. He was at once all complaisance, but his +face was troubled. 'You come from Monsieur Voban?' he inquired. 'From +Monsieur Voban,' answered I. 'He has gone to General Montcalm.' His face +fell, and a kind of fear passed over it. 'There is no peril to any one +save the English gentleman,' I urged. A light dawned on him. 'You dance +until the General comes?' he asked, pleased at his own penetration. 'You +will take me at once to the dining-hall,' said I, nodding. 'They are +in the Chambre de la Joie,' he rejoined. 'Then the Chambre de la Joie,' +said I; and he led the way. When we came near the chamber, I said to +him, 'You will tell the Intendant that a lady of some gifts in dancing +would entertain his guests; but she must come and go without exchange of +individual courtesies, at her will. + +"He opened the door of the chamber, and we followed him; for there was +just inside a large oak screen, and from its shadow we could see the +room and all therein. At the first glance I shrank back, for, apart from +the noise and the clattering of tongues, such a riot of carousal I have +never seen. I was shocked to note gentlemen whom I had met in society, +with the show of decorum about them, loosed now from all restraint, and +swaggering like woodsmen at a fair. I felt a sudden fear, and drew back +sick; but that was for an instant, for even as the valet came to the +Intendant's chair a dozen or more men, who were sitting near together in +noisy yet half-secret conference, rose to their feet, each with a mask +in his hand, and started towards the door. I felt my blood fly back +and forth in my heart with great violence, and I leaned against the oak +screen for support. 'Courage,' said the voice of Jamond in my ear, and I +ruled myself to quietness. + +"Just then the Intendant's voice stopped the men in their movement +towards the great entrance door, and drew the attention of the whole +company. 'Messieurs,' said he, 'a lady has come to dance for us. She +makes conditions which must be respected. She must be let come and +go without individual courtesies. Messieurs,' he added, 'I grant her +request in your name and my own.' + +"There was a murmur of 'Jamond! Jamond!' and every man stood looking +towards the great entrance door. The Intendant, however, was gazing +towards the door where I was, and I saw he was about to come, as if to +welcome me. Welcome from Francois Bigot to a dancing-woman! I slipped +off the cloak, looked at Jamond, who murmured once again, 'Courage,' and +then I stepped out swiftly, and made for a low, large dais at one side +of the room. I was so nervous that I knew not how I went. The faces and +forms of the company were blurred before me, and the lights shook and +multiplied distractedly. The room shone brilliantly, yet just under the +great canopy, over the dais; there were shadows, and they seemed to me, +as I stepped under the red velvet, a relief, a sort of hiding-place from +innumerable candles and hot unnatural eyes. + +"Once there I was changed. I did not think of the applause that greeted +me, the murmurs of surprise, approbation, questioning, rising round me. +Suddenly, as I paused and faced them all, nervousness passed out of me, +and I saw nothing--nothing but a sort of far-off picture. My mind +was caught away into that world which I had created for myself when +I danced, and these rude gentlemen were but visions. All sense of +indignity passed from me. I was only a woman fighting for a life and for +her own and her another's happiness. + +"As I danced I did not know how time passed--only that I must keep those +men where they were till General Montcalm came. After a while, when the +first dazed feeling had passed, I could see their faces plainly through +my mask, and I knew that I could hold them; for they ceased to lift +their glasses, and stood watching me, sometimes so silent that I could +hear their breathing only, sometimes making a great applause, which +passed into silence again quickly. Once, as I wheeled, I caught the +eyes of Jamond watching me closely. The Intendant never stirred from +his seat, and scarcely moved, but kept his eyes fixed on me. Nor did he +applaud. There was something painful in his immovability. + +"I saw it all as in a dream, yet I did see it, and I was resolute to +triumph over the wicked designs of base and abandoned men. I feared that +my knowledge and power to hold them might stop before help came. Once, +in a slight pause, when a great noise of their hands and a rattling of +scabbards on the table gave me a short respite, some one--Captain Lancy, +I think--snatched up a glass, and called on all to drink my health. + +"'Jamond! Jamond!' was the cry, and they drank; the Intendant himself +standing up, and touching the glass to his lips, then sitting down +again, silent and immovable as before. One gentleman, a nephew of the +Chevalier de la Darante, came swaying towards me with a glass of wine, +begging me in a flippant courtesy to drink; but I waved him back, and +the Intendant said most curtly, 'Monsieur de la Darante will remember my +injunction.' + +"Again I danced, and I can not tell you with what anxiety and +desperation--for there must be an end to it before long, and your peril, +Robert, come again, unless these rough fellows changed their minds. +Moment after moment went, and though I had danced beyond reasonable +limits, I still seemed to get new strength, as I have heard men say, in +fighting, they 'come to their second wind.' At last, at the end of the +most famous step that Jamond had taught me, I stood still for a moment +to renewed applause; and I must have wound these men up to excitement +beyond all sense, for they would not be dissuaded, but swarmed towards +the dais where I was, and some called for me to remove my mask. + +"Then the Intendant came down among them, bidding them stand back, and +himself stepped towards me. I felt affrighted, for I liked not the look +in his eyes, and so, without a word, I stepped down from the dais--I did +not dare to speak, lest they should recognize my voice--and made for the +door with as much dignity as I might. But the Intendant came to me with +a mannered courtesy, and said in my ear, 'Madame, you have won all our +hearts; I would you might accept some hospitality--a glass of wine, a +wing of partridge, in a room where none shall disturb you?' I shuddered, +and passed on. 'Nay, nay, madame, not even myself with you, unless you +would have it otherwise,' he added. + +"Still I did not speak, but put out my hand in protest, and moved on +towards the screen, we two alone, for the others had fallen back with +whisperings and side-speeches. Oh, how I longed to take the mask from +my face and spurn them! The hand that I put out in protest the Intendant +caught within his own, and would have held it, but that I drew it back +with indignation, and kept on towards the screen. Then I realized that a +new-corner had seen the matter, and I stopped short, dumfounded--for it +was Monsieur Doltaire! He was standing beside the screen, just within +the room, and he sent at the Intendant and myself a keen, piercing +glance. + +"Now he came forward quickly, for the Intendant also half stopped at +sight of him, and a malignant look shot from his eyes; hatred showed +in the profane word that was chopped off at his teeth. When Monsieur +Doltaire reached us, he said, his eyes resting on me with intense +scrutiny, 'His Excellency will present me to his distinguished +entertainer?' He seemed to read behind my mask. I knew he had discovered +me, and my heart stood still. But I raised my eyes and met his gaze +steadily. The worst had come. Well, I would face it now. I could endure +defeat with courage. He paused an instant, a strange look passed over +his face, his eyes got hard and very brilliant, and he continued (oh, +what suspense that was!): 'Ah yes, I see--Jamond, the perfect and +wonderful Jamond, who set us all a-kneeling at Versailles. If Madame +will permit me?' He made to take my hand. Here the Intendant interposed, +putting out his hand also. 'I have promised to protect Madame from +individual courtesy while here,' he said. Monsieur Doltaire looked +at him keenly. 'Then your Excellency must build stone walls about +yourself,' he rejoined, with cold emphasis. 'Sometimes great men are +foolish. To-night your Excellency would have let'--here he raised his +voice so that all could hear--'your Excellency would have let a dozen +cowardly gentlemen drag a dying prisoner from his prison, forcing back +his Majesty's officers at the dungeon doors, and, after baiting, have +matched him against a common criminal. That was unseemly in a great +man and a King's chief officer, the trick of a low law-breaker. Your +Excellency promised a lady to protect her from individual courtesy, if +she gave pleasure--a pleasure beyond price--to you and your guests, and +you would have broken your word without remorse. General Montcalm has +sent a company of men to set your Excellency right in one direction, and +I am come to set you right in the other.' + +"The Intendant was white with rage. He muttered something between his +teeth, then said aloud, 'Presently we will talk more of this, monsieur. +You measure strength with Francois Bigot: we will see which proves the +stronger in the end.' 'In the end the unjust steward kneels for mercy +to his master,' was Monsieur Doltaire's quiet answer; and then he made +a courteous gesture towards the door, and I went to it with him slowly, +wondering what the end would be. Once at the other side of the screen, +he peered into Jamond's face for an instant, then he gave a low whistle. +'You have an apt pupil, Jamond, one who might be your rival one day,' +said he. Still there was a puzzled look on his face, which did not leave +it till he saw Jamond walking. 'Ah yes,' he added, 'I see now. You are +lame. This was a desperate yet successful expedient.' + +"He did not speak to me, but led the way to where, at the great door, +was the Intendant's valet standing with my cloak. Taking it from him, he +put it round my shoulders. 'The sleigh by which I came is at the door,' +he said, 'and I will take you home.' I knew not what to do, for I feared +some desperate act on his part to possess me. I determined that I would +not leave Jamond, in any case, and I felt for a weapon which I had +hidden in my dress. We had not, however, gone a half dozen paces in the +entrance hall when there were quick steps behind, and four soldiers came +towards us, with an officer at their head--an officer whom I had seen in +the chamber, but did not recognize. + +"'Monsieur Doltaire,' the officer said; and monsieur stopped. Then he +cried in surprise, 'Legrand, you here!' To this the officer replied by +handing monsieur a paper. Monsieur's hand dropped to his sword, but in a +moment he gave a short, sharp laugh, and opened up the packet. 'H'm,' +he said, 'the Bastile! The Grande Marquise is fretful--eh, Legrand? +You will permit me some moments with these ladies?' he added. 'A moment +only,' answered the officer. 'In another room?' monsieur again asked. 'A +moment where you are, monsieur,' was the reply. Making a polite gesture +for me to step aside, Monsieur Doltaire said, in a voice which was +perfectly controlled and courteous, though I could hear behind all a +deadly emphasis, 'I know everything now. You have foiled me, blindfolded +me and all others, these three years past. You have intrigued against +the captains of intrigue, you have matched yourself against practised +astuteness. On one side, I resent being made a fool and tool of; on the +other, I am lost in admiration of your talent. But henceforth there is +no such thing as quarter between us. Your lover shall die, and I will +come again. This whim of the Grande Marquise will last but till I see +her; then I will return to you--forever. Your lover shall die, your +love's labour for him shall be lost. I shall reap where I did not +sow--his harvest and my own. I am as ice to you, mademoiselle, at this +moment; I have murder in my heart. Yet warmth will come again. I admire +you so much that I will have you for my own, or die. You are the high +priestess of diplomacy; your brain is a statesman's, your heart is +a vagrant; it goes covertly from the sweet meadows of France to the +marshes of England, a taste unworthy of you. You shall be redeemed from +that by Tinoir Doltaire. Now thank me for all I have done for you, and +let me say adieu.' He stooped and kissed my hand. 'I can not thank you +for what I myself achieved,' I said. 'We are, as in the past, to be at +war, you threaten, and I have no gratitude.' 'Well, well, adieu and +au revoir, sweetheart,' he answered. 'If I should go to the Bastile, I +shall have food for thought; and I am your hunter to the end. In this +good orchard I pick sweet fruit one day.' His look fell on me in such a +way that shame and anger were at equal height in me. Then he bowed again +to me and to Jamond, and, with a sedate gesture, walked away with the +soldiers and the officer. + +"You can guess what were my feelings. You were safe for the moment--that +was the great thing. The terror I had felt when I saw Monsieur Doltaire +in the Chambre de la Joie had passed, for I felt he would not betray me. +He is your foe, and he would kill you; but I was sure he would not put +me in danger while he was absent in France--if he expected to return--by +making public my love for you and my adventure at the palace. There is +something of the noble fighter in him, after all, though he is so evil a +man. A prisoner himself now, he would have no immediate means to hasten +your death. But I can never forget his searching, cruel look when he +recognized me! Of Jamond I was sure. Her own past had been full of +sorrow, and her life was now so secluded and religious that I could not +doubt her. Indeed, we have been blessed with good, true friends, Robert, +though they are not of those who are powerful, save in their loyalty." + +Alixe then told me that the officer Legrand had arrived from France but +two days before the eventful night of which I have just written, +armed with an order from the Grande Marquise for Doltaire's arrest +and transportation. He had landed at Gaspe, and had come on to Quebec +overland. Arriving at the Intendance, he had awaited Doltaire's coming. +Doltaire had stopped to visit General Montcalm at Montmorenci Falls, +on his way back from an expedition to the English country, and had thus +himself brought my protection and hurried to his own undoing. I was +thankful for his downfall, though I believed it was but for a moment. + +I was curious to know how it chanced I was set free of my dungeon, and I +had the story from Alixe's lips; but not till after I had urged her, +for she was sure her tale had wearied me, and she was eager to do little +offices of comfort about me; telling me gaily, while she shaded the +light, freshened my pillow, and gave me a cordial to drink, that she +would secretly convey me wines and preserves and jellies and such +kickshaws, that I should better get my strength. + +"For you must know," she said, "that though this gray hair and +transparency of flesh become you, making your eyes look like two jets of +flame and your face to have shadows most theatrical, a ruddy cheek and +a stout hand are more suited to a soldier. When you are young again in +body, these gray hairs shall render you distinguished." + +Then she sat down beside me, and clasped my hand, now looking out into +the clear light of afternoon to the farther shores of Levis, showing +green here and there from a sudden March rain, the boundless forests +beyond, and near us the ample St. Lawrence still covered with its vast +bridge of ice; anon into my face, while I gazed into those deeps of her +blue eyes that I had drowned my heart in. I loved to watch her, for with +me she was ever her own absolute self, free from all artifice, lost +in her perfect naturalness: a healthy, perfect soundness, a primitive +simplicity beneath the artifice of usual life. She had a beautiful hand, +long, warm, and firm, and the fingers, when they clasped, seemed to +possess and inclose your own--the tenderness of the maidenly, the +protectiveness of the maternal. She carried with her a wholesome +fragrance and beauty as of an orchard, and while she sat there I thought +of the engaging words: + +"Thou art to me like a basket of summer fruit, and I seek thee in thy +cottage by the vineyard, fenced about with good commendable trees." + +Of my release she spoke thus: "Monsieur Doltaire is to be conveyed +overland to the coast en route for France, and he sent me by his valet a +small arrow studded with emeralds and pearls, and a skull all polished, +with a message that the arrow was for myself, and the skull for +another--remembrances of the past, and earnests of the future--truly an +insolent and wicked man. When he was gone I went to the Governor, and, +with great show of interest in many things pertaining to the government +(for he has ever been flattered by my attentions--me, poor little bee in +the buzzing hive!), came to the question of the English prisoner. I +told him it was I that prevented the disgrace to his good government by +sending to General Montcalm to ask for your protection. + +"He was deeply impressed, and he opened out his vain heart in divers +ways. But I may not tell you of these--only what concerns yourself; the +rest belongs to his honour. When he was in his most pliable mood, I grew +deeply serious, and told him there was a danger which perhaps he did not +see. Here was this English prisoner, who, they said abroad in the town, +was dying. There was no doubt that the King would approve the sentence +of death, and if it were duly and with some display enforced, it would +but add to the Governor's reputation in France. But should the prisoner +die in captivity, or should he go an invalid to the scaffold, there +would only be pity excited in the world for him. For his own honour, +it were better the Governor should hang a robust prisoner, who in full +blood should expiate his sins upon the scaffold. The advice went down +like wine; and when he knew not what to do, I urged your being brought +here, put under guard, and fed and nourished for your end. And so it +was. + +"The Governor's counsellor in the matter will remain a secret, for +by now he will be sure that he himself had the sparkling inspiration. +There, dear Robert, is the present climax to many months of suspense and +persecution, the like of which I hope I may never see again. Some time +I will tell you all: those meetings with Monsieur Doltaire, his designs +and approaches, his pleadings and veiled threats, his numberless small +seductions of words, manners, and deeds, his singular changes of mood, +when I was uncertain what would happen next; the part I had to play to +know all that was going on in the Chateau St. Louis, in the Intendance, +and with General Montcalm; the difficulties with my own people; the +despair of my poor father, who does not know that it is I who have +kept him from trouble by my influence with the Governor. For since the +Governor and the Intendant are reconciled, he takes sides with General +Montcalm, the one sound gentleman in office in this poor country--alas!" + +Soon afterwards we parted. As she passed out she told me I might at any +hour expect a visit from the Governor. + + + + +XX. UPON THE RAMPARTS + + +The Governor visited me. His attitude was marked by nothing so much as a +supercilious courtesy, a manner which said, You must see I am not to be +trifled with; and though I have you here in my chateau, it is that I may +make a fine scorching of you in the end. He would make of me an example +to amaze and instruct the nations--when I was robust enough to die. + +I might easily have flattered myself on being an object of interest to +the eyes of nations. I almost pitied him; for he appeared so lost in +self-admiration and the importance of his office that he would never see +disaster when it came. + +"There is but one master here in Canada," he said, "and I am he. If +things go wrong it is because my orders are not obeyed. Your people have +taken Louisburg; had I been there, it should never have been given up. +Drucour was hasty--he listened to the women. I should allow no woman to +move me. I should be inflexible. They might send two Amhersts and two +Wolfes against me, I would hold my fortress." + +"They will never send two, your Excellency," said I. + +He did not see the irony, and he prattled on: "That Wolfe, they tell me, +is bandy-legged; is no better than a girl at sea, and never well ashore. +I am always in raw health--the strong mind in the potent body. Had I +been at Louisburg, I should have held it, as I held Ticonderoga last +July, and drove the English back with monstrous slaughter." + +Here was news. I had had no information in many months, and all at once +two great facts were brought to me. + +"Your Excellency, then, was at Ticonderoga?" said I. + +"I sent Montcalm to defend it," he replied pompously. "I told him how +he must act; I was explicit, and it came out as I had said: we +were victorious. Yet he would have done better had he obeyed me in +everything. If I had been at Louisburg--" + +I could not at first bring myself to flatter the vice-regal peacock; +for it had been my mind to fight these Frenchmen always; to yield +in nothing; to defeat them like a soldier, not like a juggler. But I +brought myself to say half ironically, "If all great men had capable +instruments, they would seldom fail." + +"You have touched the heart of the matter," he said credulously. "It +is a pity," he added, with complacent severity, "that you have been +so misguided and criminal; you have, in some things, more sense than +folly." + +I bowed as to a compliment from a great man. Then, all at once, I spoke +to him with an air of apparent frankness, and said that if I must die, I +cared to do so like a gentleman, with some sort of health, and not like +an invalid. He must admit that at least I was no coward. He might fence +me about with what guards he chose, but I prayed him to let me walk +upon the ramparts, when I was strong enough to be abroad, under all due +espionage. I had already suffered many deaths, I said, and I would go to +the final one looking like a man, and not like an outcast of humanity. + +"Ah, I have heard this before," said he. "Monsieur Doltaire, who is in +prison here, and is to fare on to the Bastile, was insolent enough to +send me message yesterday that I should keep you close in your dungeon. +But I had had enough of Monsieur Doltaire; and indeed it was through +me that the Grande Marquise had him called to durance. He was a muddler +here. They must not interfere with me; I am not to be cajoled or +crossed in my plans. We shall see, we shall see about the ramparts," he +continued. "Meanwhile prepare to die." This he said with such importance +that I almost laughed in his face. But I bowed with a sort of awed +submission, and he turned and left the room. + +I grew stronger slowly day by day, but it was quite a month before Alixe +came again. Sometimes I saw her walking on the banks of the river, and +I was sure she was there that I might see her, though she made no sign +towards me, nor ever seemed to look towards my window. + +Spring was now fully come. The snow had gone from the ground, the tender +grass was springing, the air was so soft and kind. One fine day, at the +beginning of May, I heard the booming of cannons and a great shouting, +and, looking out, I could see crowds of people upon the banks, and many +boats in the river, where yet the ice had not entirely broken up. By +stretching from my window, through the bars of which I could get my +head, but not my body, I noted a squadron sailing round the point of +the Island of Orleans. I took it to be a fleet from France bearing +re-enforcements and supplies--as indeed afterwards I found was so; but +the re-enforcements were so small and the supplies so limited that it +is said Montcalm, when he knew, cried out, "Now is all lost! Nothing +remains but to fight and die. I shall see my beloved Candiac no more." + +For the first time all the English colonies had combined against Canada. +Vaudreuil and Montcalm were at variance, and Vaudreuil had, through his +personal hatred and envy of Montcalm, signed the death-warrant of the +colony by writing to the colonial minister that Montcalm's agents, going +for succour, were not to be trusted. Yet at that moment I did not know +these things, and the sight made me grave, though it made me sure also +that this year would find the British battering this same Chateau. + +Presently there came word from the Governor that I might walk upon the +ramparts, and I was taken forth for several hours each day; always, +however, under strict surveillance, my guards, well armed, attending, +while the ramparts were, as usual, patrolled by soldiers. I could see +that ample preparations were being made against a siege, and every day +the excitement increased. I got to know more definitely of what was +going on, when, under vigilance, I was allowed to speak to Lieutenant +Stevens, who also was permitted some such freedom as I had enjoyed when +I first came to Quebec. He had private information that General Wolfe or +General Amherst was likely to proceed against Quebec from Louisburg, and +he was determined to join the expedition. + +For months he had been maturing plans for escape. There was one Clark, +a ship-carpenter (of whom I have before written), and two other bold +spirits, who were sick of captivity, and it was intended to fare forth +one night and make a run for freedom. Clark had had a notable plan. +A wreck of several transports had occurred at Belle Isle, and it was +thought to send him down the river with a sloop to bring back the +crew, and break up the wreck. It was his purpose to arm his sloop with +Lieutenant Stevens and some English prisoners the night before she was +to sail, and steal away with her down the river. But whether or not the +authorities suspected him, the command was given to another. + +It was proposed, however, on a dark night, to get away to some point on +the river, where a boat should be stationed--though that was a difficult +matter, for the river was well patrolled and boats were scarce--and +drift quietly down the stream, till a good distance below the city. Mr. +Stevens said he had delayed the attempt on the faint hope of fetching me +along. Money, he said, was needed, for Clark and all were very poor, and +common necessaries were now at exorbitant prices in the country. Tyranny +and robbery had made corn and clothing luxuries. All the old tricks of +Bigot and his La Friponne, which, after the outbreak the night of my +arrest at the Seigneur Duvarney's, had been somewhat repressed, were in +full swing again, and robbery in the name of providing for defense was +the only habit. + +I managed to convey to Mr. Stevens a good sum of money, and begged him +to meet me every day upon the ramparts, until I also should see my way +to making a dart for freedom. I advised him in many ways, for he was +more bold than shrewd, and I made him promise that he would not tell +Clark or the others that I was to make trial to go with them. I feared +the accident of disclosure, and any new failure on my part to get away +would, I knew, mean my instant death, consent of King or no consent. + +One evening, a soldier entered my room, whom in the half-darkness I did +not recognize, till a voice said, "There's orders new! Not dungeon now, +but this room Governor bespeaks for gentlemen from France." + +"And where am I to go, Gabord?" + +"Where you will have fighting," he answered. + +"With whom?" + +"Yourself, aho!" A queer smile crossed his lips, and was followed by a +sort of sternness. There was something graver in his manner than I had +ever seen. I could not guess his meaning. At last he added, pulling +roughly at his mustache, "And when that's done, if not well done, to +answer to Gabord the soldier; for, God take my soul without bed-going, +but I will call you to account! That Seigneur's home is no place for +you." + +"You speak in riddles," said I. Then all at once the matter burst upon +me. "The Governor quarters me at the Seigneur Duvarney's?" I asked. + +"No other," answered he. "In three days to go." + +I understood him now. He had had a struggle, knowing of the relations +between Alixe and myself, to avoid telling the Governor all. And now, +if I involved her, used her to effect my escape from her father's house! +Even his peasant brain saw my difficulty, the danger to my honour--and +hers. In spite of the joy I felt at being near her, seeing her, I shrank +from the situation. If I escaped from the Seigneur Duvarney's, it would +throw suspicion upon him, upon Alixe, and that made me stand abashed. +Inside the Seigneur Duvarney's house I should now feel unhappy, bound +to certain calls of honour concerning his daughter and himself. I stood +long, thinking, Gabord watching me. + +Finally, "Gabord," said I, "I give you my word of honour that I will not +put Mademoiselle or Monsieur Duvarney in peril." + +"You will not try to escape?" + +"Not to use them for escape. To elude my guards, to fight my way to +liberty--yes--yes--yes!" + +"But that mends not. Who's to know the lady did not help you?" + +"You. You are to be my jailer again there?" + +He nodded, and fell to pulling his mustache. "'Tis not enough," he said +decisively. + +"Come, then," said I, "I will strike a bargain with you. If you will +grant me one thing, I will give my word of honour not to escape from the +seigneur's house." + +"Say on." + +"You tell me I am not to go to the seigneur's for three days yet. +Arrange that mademoiselle may come to me to-morrow at dusk--at six +o'clock, when all the world dines--and I will give my word. No more do I +ask you--only that." + +"Done," said he. "It shall be so." + +"You will fetch her yourself?" I asked. + +"On the stroke of six. Guard changes then." + +Here our talk ended. He went, and I plunged deep into my great plan; +for all at once, as we had talked, came a thing to me which I shall +make clear ere long. I set my wits to work. Once since my coming to +the chateau I had been visited by the English chaplain who had been a +prisoner at the citadel the year before. He was now on parole, and had +freedom to come and go in the town. The Governor had said he might visit +me on a certain day every week, at a fixed hour, and the next day at +five o'clock was the time appointed for his second visit. Gabord had +promised to bring Alixe to me at six. + +The following morning I met Mr. Stevens on the ramparts. I told him it +was my purpose to escape the next night, if possible. If not, I must go +to the Seigneur Duvarney's, where I should be on parole--to Gabord. I +bade him fulfill my wishes to the letter, for on his boldness and my +own, and the courage of his men, I depended for escape. He declared +himself ready to risk all, and die in the attempt, if need be, for he +was sick of idleness. He could, he said, mature his plans that day, if +he had more money. I gave him secretly a small bag of gold, and then I +made explicit note of what I required of him: that he should tie up in +a loose but safe bundle a sheet, a woman's skirt, some river grasses +and reeds, some phosphorus, a pistol and a knife, and some saltpetre and +other chemicals. That evening, about nine o'clock, which was the hour +the guard changed, he was to tie this bundle to a string which I let +down from my window, and I would draw it up. Then, the night following, +the others must steal away to that place near Sillery--the west side of +the town was always ill guarded--and wait there with a boat. He should +see me at a certain point on the ramparts, and, well armed, we also +would make our way to Sillery, and from the spot called the Anse du +Foulon drift down the river in the dead of night. + +He promised to do all as I wished. + +The rest of the day I spent in my room fashioning strange toys out of +willow rods. I had got these rods from my guards, to make whistles for +their children, and they had carried away many of them. But now, with +pieces of a silk handkerchief tied to the whistle and filled with air, +I made a toy which, when squeezed, sent out a weird lament. Once when my +guard came in, I pressed one of these things in my pocket, and it gave +forth a sort of smothered cry, like a sick child. At this he started, +and looked round the room in trepidation; for, of all peoples, these +Canadian Frenchmen are the most superstitious, and may be worked on +without limit. The cry had seemed to come from a distance. I looked +around, also, and appeared serious, and he asked me if I had heard the +thing before. + +"Once or twice," said I. + +"Then you are a dead man," said he; "'tis a warning, that!" + +"Maybe it is not I, but one of you," I answered. Then, with a sort of +hush, "Is't like the cry of La Jongleuse?" I added. (La Jongleuse is +their fabled witch, or spirit, of disaster.) + +He nodded his head, crossed himself, mumbled a prayer, and turned to go, +but came back. "I'll fetch a crucifix," he said. "You are a heathen, and +you bring her here. She is the devil's dam." + +He left with a scared face, and I laughed to myself quietly, for I saw +success ahead of me. True to his word, he brought a crucifix and put it +up--not where he wished, but, at my request, opposite the door, upon the +wall. He crossed himself before it, and was most devout. + +It looked singular to see this big, rough soldier, who was in most +things a swaggerer, so childlike in all that touched his religion. With +this you could fetch him to his knees; with it I would cow him that I +might myself escape. + +At half past five the chaplain came, having been delayed by the guard to +have his order indorsed by Captain Lancy of the Governor's household. To +him I told my plans so far as I thought he should know them, and then I +explained what I wished him to do. He was grave and thoughtful for some +minutes, but at last consented. He was a pious man, and of as honest a +heart as I have known, albeit narrow and confined, which sprang perhaps +from his provincial practice and his theological cutting and trimming. +We were in the midst of a serious talk, wherein I urged him upon matters +which shall presently be set forth, when there came a noise outside. +I begged him to retire to the alcove where my bed was, and draw the +curtain for a few moments, nor come forth until I called. He did so, yet +I thought it hurt his sense of dignity to be shifted to a bedroom. + +As he disappeared the door opened, and Gabord and Alixe entered. "One +half hour," said Gabord, and went out again. + +Presently Alixe told me her story. + +"I have not been idle, Robert, but I could not act, for my father and +mother suspect my love for you. I have come but little to the chateau +without them, and I was closely watched. I knew not how the thing would +end, but I kept up my workings with the Governor, which is easier now +Monsieur Doltaire is gone, and I got you the freedom to walk upon the +ramparts. Well, once before my father suspected me, I said that if his +Excellency disliked your being in the Chateau, you could be as well +guarded in my father's house, with sentinels always there, until you +could, in better health, be taken to the common jail again. What was my +surprise when yesterday came word to my father that he should make +ready to receive you as a prisoner; being sure that he, his Excellency's +cousin, the father of the man you had injured, and the most loyal of +Frenchmen, would guard you diligently; he now needed all extra room in +the Chateau for the entertainment of gentlemen and officers lately come +from France. + +"When my father got the news, he was thrown into dismay. He knew not +what to do. On what ground could he refuse the Governor? Yet when he +thought of me he felt it his duty to do so. Again, on what ground could +he refuse this boon to you, to whom we all owe the blessing of his +life? On my brother's account? But my brother has written to my father +justifying you, and magnanimously praising you as a man, while hating +you as an English soldier. On my account? But he could not give this +reason to the Governor. As for me, I was silent, I waited--and I wait; +I know not what will be the end. Meanwhile preparations go on to receive +you." + +I could see that Alixe's mood was more tranquil since Doltaire was gone. +A certain restlessness had vanished. Her manner had much dignity, and +every movement a peculiar grace and elegance. She was dressed in a soft +cloth of a gray tone, touched off with red and slashed with gold, and +a cloak of gray, trimmed with fur, with bright silver buckles, hung +loosely on her, thrown off at one shoulder. There was a sweet disorder +in the hair, which indeed was prettiest when freest. + +When she had finished speaking, she looked at me, as I thought, with a +little anxiety. + +"Alixe," I said, "we have come to the cross-roads, and the way we choose +now is for all time." + +She looked up, startled, yet governing herself, and her hand sought +mine and nestled there. "I feel that, too," she replied. "What is it, +Robert?" + +"I can not in honour escape from your father's house. I can not steal +his daughter and his safety too--" + +"You must escape," she interrupted firmly. + +"From here, from the citadel, from anywhere but your house; and so I +will not go to it." + +"You will not go to it?" she repeated slowly and strangely. "How may +you not? You are a prisoner. If they make my father your jailer--" She +laughed. + +"I owe that jailer and that jailer's daughter--" + +"You owe them your safety and your freedom. Oh, Robert, I know, I know +what you mean. But what care I what the world may think by-and-bye, or +to-morrow, or to-day? My conscience is clear." + +"Your father--" I persisted. + +She nodded. "Yes, yes, you speak truth, alas! And yet you must be freed. +And"--here she got to her feet, and with flashing eyes spoke out--"and +you shall be set free. Let come what will, I owe my first duty to you, +though all the world chatter; and I will not stir from that. As soon as +I can make it possible, you shall escape." + +"You shall have the right to set me free," said I, "if I must go to +your father's house. And if I do not go there, but out to my own good +country, you shall still have the right before all the world to follow, +or to wait till I come to fetch you." + +"I do not understand you, Robert," said she. "I do not--" Here she broke +off, looking, looking at me, and trembling a little. + +Then I stooped and whispered softly in her ear. She gave a little cry, +and drew back from me; yet instantly her hand came out and caught my +arm. + +"Robert, Robert! I can not, I dare not!" she cried softly. "No, no, it +may not be," she added in a whisper of fear. + +I went to the alcove, drew back the curtain, and asked Mr. Wainfleet to +step forth. + +"Sir," said I, picking up my Prayer Book and putting it in his hands, "I +beg you to marry this lady and myself." + +He paused, dazed. "Marry you--here--now?" he asked shakingly. + +"Before ten minutes go round, this lady must be my wife," said I. + +"Mademoiselle Duvarney, you--" he began. + +"Be pleased, dear sir, to open the book at 'Wilt thou have,'" said I. +"The lady is a Catholic; she has not the consent of her people; but when +she is my wife, made so by you, whose consent need we ask? Can you not +tie us fast enough, a man and woman of sense sufficient, but you must +pause here? Is the knot you tie safe against picking and stealing?" + +I had touched his vanity and his ecclesiasticism. "Married by me," he +replied, "once chaplain to the Bishop of London, you have a knot that no +sword can cut. I am in full orders. My parish is in Boston itself." + +"You will hand a certificate to my wife to-morrow, and you will uphold +this marriage against all gossip?" asked I. + +"Against all France and all England," he answered, roused now. + +"Then come," I urged. + +"But I must have a witness," he interposed, opening the book. + +"You shall have one in due time," said I. "Go on. When the marriage is +performed, and at the point where you shall proclaim us man and wife, I +will have a witness." + +I turned to Alixe, and found her pale and troubled. "Oh, Robert, +Robert!" she cried, "it can not be. Now, now I am afraid, for the first +time in my life, clear, the first time!" + +"Dearest lass in the world," I said, "it must be. I shall not go to your +father's. To-morrow night, I make my great stroke for freedom, and when +I am free I shall return to fetch my wife." + +"You will try to escape from here to-morrow?" she asked, her face +flushing finely. + +"I will escape or die," I answered; "but I shall not think of death. +Come--come and say with me that we shall part no more--in spirit no +more; that, whatever comes, you and I have fulfilled our great hope, +though under the shadow of the sword." + +At that she put her hand in mine with pride and sweetness, and said, +"I am ready, Robert. I give my heart, my life, and my honour to +you--forever." + +Then, with great sweetness and solemnity she turned to the clergyman: +"Sir, my honour is also in your hands. If you have mother or sister, +or any care of souls upon you, I pray you, in the future act as becomes +good men." + +"Mademoiselle," he said earnestly, "I am risking my freedom, maybe my +life, in this; do you think--" + +Here she took his hand and pressed it. "Ah, I ask your pardon. I am of +a different faith from you, and I have known how men forget when they +should remember." She smiled at him so perfectly that he drew himself up +with pride. + +"Make haste, sir," said I. "Jailers are curious folk." + +The room was not yet lighted, the evening shadows were creeping in, and +up out of the town came the ringing of the vesper bell from the church +of the Recollets. For a moment there was stillness in the room and all +around us, and then the chaplain began in a low voice: "I require and +charge you both--" and so on. In a few moments I had made the great vow, +and had put on Alixe's finger a ring which the clergyman drew from his +own hand. Then we knelt down, and I know we both prayed most fervently +with the good man that we might "ever remain in perfect love and perfect +peace together." + +Rising, he paused, and I went to the door and knocked upon it. It was +opened by Gabord. "Come in, Gabord," said I. "There is a thing that you +must hear." + +He stepped back and got a light, and then entered, holding it up, and +shutting the door. A strange look came upon his face when he saw the +chaplain, and a stranger when, stepping beside Alixe, I took her +hand, and Mr. Wainfleet declared us man and wife. He stood like one +dumfounded, and he did not stir as Alixe, turning to me, let me kiss her +on the lips, and then went to the crucifix on the wall and embraced the +feet of it, and stood for a moment, praying. Nor did he move or make a +sign till she came back and stood beside me. + +"A pretty scene!" he burst forth then with anger. "But, by God! no +marriage is it!" + +Alixe's hand tightened on my arm, and she drew close to me. + +"A marriage that will stand at Judgment Day, Gabord," said I. + +"But not in France or here. 'Tis mating wild, with end of doom." + +"It is a marriage our great Archbishop at Lambeth Palace will uphold +against a hundred popes and kings," said the chaplain with importance. + +"You are no priest, but holy peddler!" cried Gabord roughly. "This is +not mating as Christians, and fires of hell shall burn--aho! I will see +you all go down, and hand of mine shall not be lifted for you!" + +He puffed out his cheeks, and his great eyes rolled so like fire-wheels. + +"You are a witness to this ceremony," said the chaplain. "And you shall +answer to your God, but you must speak the truth for this man and wife." + +"Man and wife?" laughed Gabord wildly. "May I die and be damned to--" + +Like a flash Alixe was beside him, and put to his lips most swiftly the +little wooden cross that Mathilde had given her. + +"Gabord, Gabord," she said in a sweet, sad voice, "when you may come to +die, a girl's prayers will be waiting at God's feet for you." + +He stopped, and stared at her. Her hand lay on his arm, and she +continued: "No night gives me sleep, Gabord, but I pray for the jailer +who has been kind to an ill-treated gentleman." + +"A juggling gentleman, that cheats Gabord before his eyes, and smuggles +in a mongrel priest!" he blustered. + +I waved my hand at the chaplain, or I think he would have put his Prayer +Book to rougher use than was its wont, and I was about to answer, but +Alixe spoke instead, and to greater purpose than I could have done. +Her whole mood changed, her face grew still and proud, her eyes flashed +bravely. + +"Gabord," she said, "vanity speaks in you there, not honesty. No +gentleman here is a juggler. No kindness you may have done warrants +insolence. You have the power to bring great misery on us, and you may +have the will, but, by God's help, both my husband and myself shall +be delivered from cruel hands. At any moment I may stand alone in the +world, friends, people, the Church, and all the land against me: if you +desire to haste that time, to bring me to disaster, because you would +injure my husband,"--how sweet the name sounded on her lips!--"then act, +but do not insult us. But no, no," she broke off softly, "you spoke in +temper, you meant it not, you were but vexed with us for the moment. +Dear Gabord," she added, "did we not know that if we had asked you +first, you would have refused us? You care so much for me, you would +have feared my linking my life and fate with one--" + +"With one the death-man has in hand, to pay price for wicked deed," he +interrupted. + +"With one innocent of all dishonour, a gentleman wronged every way. +Gabord, you know it so, for you have guarded him and fought with him, +and you are an honourable gentleman," she added gently. + +"No gentleman I," he burst forth, "but jailer base, and soldier born +upon a truss of hay. But honour is an apple any man may eat since Adam +walked in garden.... 'Tis honest foe, here," he continued magnanimously, +and nodded towards me. + +"We would have told you all," she said, "but how dare we involve you, or +how dare we tempt you, or how dare we risk your refusal? It was love +and truth drove us to this; and God will bless this mating as the birds +mate, even as He gives honour to Gabord who was born upon a truss of +hay." + +"Poom!" said Gabord, puffing out his cheeks, and smiling on her with a +look half sour, and yet with a doglike fondness, "Gabord's mouth is shut +till 's head is off, and then to tell the tale to Twelve Apostles!" + +Through his wayward, illusive speech we found his meaning. He would keep +faith with us, and be best proof of this marriage, at risk of his head +even. + +As we spoke, the chaplain was writing in the blank fore-pages of the +Prayer Book. Presently he said to me, handing me the pen, which he had +picked from a table, "Inscribe your names here. It is a rough record of +the ceremony, but it will suffice before all men, when to-morrow I have +given Mistress Moray another record." + +We wrote our names, and then the pen was handed to Gabord. He took it, +and at last, with many flourishes and ahos, and by dint of puffings and +rolling eyes, he wrote his name so large that it filled as much space +as the other names and all the writing, and was indeed like a huge +indorsement across the record. + +When this was done, Alixe held out her hand to him. "Will you kiss me, +Gabord?" she said. + +The great soldier was all taken back. He flushed like a schoolboy, yet a +big humour and pride looked out of his eyes. + +"I owe you for the sables, too," she said. "But kiss me--not on my ears, +as the Russian count kissed Gabord, but on both cheek." + +This won him to our cause utterly, and I never think of Gabord, as I saw +him last in the sway and carnage of battle, fighting with wild uproar +and covered with wounds, but the memory of that moment, when he kissed +my young wife, comes back to me. + +At that he turned to leave. "I'll hold the door for ten minutes," he +added; and bowed to the chaplain, who blessed us then with tears in his +eyes, and smiled a little to my thanks and praises and purse of +gold, and to Alixe's sweet gratitude. With lifting chin--good honest +gentleman, who afterwards proved his fidelity and truth--he said that +he would die to uphold this sacred ceremony. And so he made a little +speech, as if he had a pulpit round him, and he wound up with a +benediction which sent my dear girl to tears and soft trembling: + +"The Lord bless you and keep you: the Lord make his face to shine upon +you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace now +and for evermore." + +A moment afterwards the door closed, and for ten minutes I looked into +my wife's face, and told her my plans for escape. When Gabord opened the +door upon us, we had passed through years of understanding and resolve. +Our parting was brave--a bravery on her side that I do not think any +other woman could match. She was quivering with the new life come upon +her, yet she was self-controlled; she moved as in a dream, yet I knew +her mind was alert, vigilant, and strong; she was aching with thought +of this separation, with the peril that faced us both, yet she carried a +quiet joy in her face, a tranquil gravity of bearing. + +"Whom God hath joined--" said I gravely at the last. + +"Let no man put asunder," she answered softly and solemnly. + +"Aho!" said Gabord, and turned his head away. + +Then the door shut upon me, and though I am no Catholic, I have no shame +in saying that I kissed the feet on the crucifix which her lips had +blessed. + + + + +XXI. LA JONGLEUSE + + +At nine o'clock I was waiting by the window, and even as a bugle sounded +"lights out" in the barracks and change of guard, I let the string down. +Mr. Stevens shot round the corner of the chateau, just as the departing +sentinel disappeared, and attached a bundle to the string, and I drew it +up. + +"Is all well?" I called softly down. + +"All well," said Mr. Stevens, and, hugging the wall of the chateau, he +sped away. In another moment a new sentinel began pacing up and down, +and I shut the window and untied my bundle. All that I had asked for was +there. I hid the things away in the alcove and went to bed at once, for +I knew that I should have no sleep on the following night. + +I did not leave my bed till the morning was well advanced. Once or twice +during the day I brought my guards in with fear on their faces, the +large fat man more distorted than his fellow, by the lamentable sounds I +made with my willow toys. They crossed themselves again and again, and +I myself appeared devout and troubled. When we walked abroad during +the afternoon, I chose to saunter by the river rather than walk, for I +wished to conserve my strength, which was now vastly increased, though, +to mislead my watchers and the authorities, I assumed the delicacy of an +invalid, and appeared unfit for any enterprise--no hard task, for I was +still very thin and worn. + +So I sat upon a favourite seat on the cliff, set against a solitary +tree, fixed in the rocks. I gazed long on the river, and my guards, +stoutly armed, stood near, watching me, and talking in low tones. Eager +to hear their gossip, I appeared to sleep. They came nearer, and, facing +me, sat upon a large stone, and gossiped freely concerning the strange +sounds heard in my room at the chateau. + +"See you, my Bamboir," said the lean to the fat soldier, "the British +captain, he is to be carried off in burning flames by that La Jongleuse. +We shall come in one morning and find a smell of sulphur only, and a +circle of red on the floor where the imps danced before La Jongleuse +said to them, 'Up with him, darlings, and away!'" + +At this Bamboir shook his head, and answered, "To-morrow I'll to the +Governor, and tell him what's coming. My wife, she falls upon my neck +this morning. 'Argose,' she says, ''twill need the bishop and his +college to drive La Jongleuse out of the grand chateau.'" + +"No less," replied the other. "A deacon and sacred palm and sprinkle +of holy water would do for a cottage, or even for a little manor house, +with twelve candles burning, and a hymn to the Virgin. But in a king's +house--" + +"It's not the King's house." + +"But yes, it is the King's house, though his Most Christian Majesty +lives in France. The Marquis de Vaudreuil stands for the King, and we +are sentinels in the King's house. But, my faith, I'd rather be +fighting against Frederick, the Prussian boar, than watching this mad +Englishman." + +"But see you, my brother, that Englishman's a devil. Else how has he not +been hanged long ago? He has vile arts to blind all, or he would not be +sitting there. It is well known that M'sieu' Doltaire, even the King's +son--his mother worked in the fields like your Nanette, Bamboir--" + +"Or your Lablanche, my friend. She has hard hands, with warts, and red +knuckles therefrom--" + +"Or your Nanette, Bamboir, with nose that blisters in the summer, as she +goes swingeing flax, and swelling feet that sweat in sabots, and chin +thrust out from carrying pails upon her head--" + +"Ay, like Nanette and like Lablanche, this peasant mother of M'sieu' +Doltaire, and maybe no such firm breasts like Nanette--" + +"Nor such an eye as has Lablanche. Well, M'sieu' Doltaire, who could +override them all, he could not kill this barbarian. And Gabord--you +know well how they fought, and the black horse and his rider came and +carried him away. Why, the young M'sieu' Duvarney had him on his knees, +the blade at his throat, and a sword flashed out from the dark--they say +it was the devil's--and took him in the ribs and well-nigh killed him." + +"But what say you to Ma'm'selle Duvarney coming to him that day, and +again yesterday with Gabord?" + +"Well, well, who knows, Bamboir? This morning I said to Nanette, 'Why +is't, all in one moment, you send me to the devil, and pray to meet me +in Abraham's bosom too?' What think you she answered me? Why, this, my +Bamboir: 'Why is't Adam loved his wife and swore her down before the +Lord also, all in one moment?' Why Ma'm'selle Duvarney does this or +that is not for muddy brains like ours. It is some whimsy. They say that +women are more curious about the devil than about St. Jean Baptiste. +Perhaps she got of him a magic book." + +"No, no! If he had the magic Petit Albert, he would have turned us into +dogs long ago. But I do not like him. He is but thirty years, they say, +and yet his hair is white as a pigeon's wing. It is not natural. Nor did +he ever, says Gabord, do aught but laugh at everything they did to him. +The chains they put would not stay, and when he was set against the wall +to be shot, the watches stopped--the minute of his shooting passed. Then +M'sieu' Doltaire came, and said a man that could do a trick like that +should live to do another. And he did it, for M'sieu' Doltaire is gone +to the Bastile. Voyez, this Englishman is a damned heretic, and has the +wicked arts." + +"But see, Bamboir, do you think he can cast spells?" + +"What mean those sounds from his room?" + +"So, so. But if he be a friend of the devil, La Jongleuse would not come +for him, but--" + +Startled and excited, they grasped each other's arms. "But for us--for +us!" + +"It would be a work of God to send him to the devil," said Bamboir in a +loud whisper. "He has given us trouble enough. Who can tell what comes +next? Those damned noises in his room, eh--eh?" + +Then they whispered together, and presently I caught a fragment, by +which I understood that, as we walked near the edge of the cliff, I +should be pushed over, and they would make it appear that I had drowned +myself. + +They talked in low tones again, but soon got louder, and presently +I knew that they were speaking of La Jongleuse; and Bamboir--the fat +Bamboir, who the surgeon had said would some day die of apoplexy--was +rash enough to say that he had seen her. He described her accurately, +with the spirit of the born raconteur: + +"Hair so black as the feather in the Governor's hat, and green eyes +that flash fire, and a brown face with skin all scales. Oh, my saints of +Heaven, when she pass I hide my head, and I go cold like stone. She is +all covered with long reeds and lilies about her head and shoulders, and +blue-red sparks fly up at every step. Flames go round her, and she burns +not her robe--not at all. And as she go, I hear cries that make me sick, +for it is, I said, some poor man in torture, and I think, perhaps it is +Jacques Villon, perhaps Jean Rivas, perhaps Angele Damgoche. But no, it +is a young priest of St. Clair, for he is never seen again--never!" + +In my mind I commended this fat Bamboir as an excellent story-teller, +and thanked him for his true picture of La Jongleuse, whom, to my +regret, I had never seen. I would not forget his stirring description, +as he should see. I gave point to the tale by squeezing an inflated toy +in my pocket, with my arm, while my hands remained folded in front of +me; and it was as good as a play to see the faces of these soldiers, as +they sprang to their feet, staring round in dismay. I myself seemed to +wake with a start, and, rising to my feet, I asked what meant the noise +and their amazement. We were in a spot where we could not easily be seen +from any distance, and no one was in sight, nor were we to be remarked +from the fort. They exchanged looks, as I started back towards the +chateau, walking very near the edge of the cliff. A spirit of bravado +came on me, and I said musingly to them as we walked: + +"It would be easy to throw you both over the cliff, but I love you too +well. I have proved that by making toys for your children." + +It was as cordial to me to watch their faces. They both drew away from +the cliff, and grasped their firearms apprehensively. + +"My God," said Bamboir, "those toys shall be burned to-night. Alphonse +has the smallpox and Susanne the croup--damned devil!" he added +furiously, stepping forward to me with gun raised, "I'll--" + +I believe he would have shot me, but that I said quickly, "If you did +harm to me you'd come to the rope. The Governor would rather lose a hand +than my life." + +I pushed his musket down. "Why should you fret? I am leaving the +chateau to-morrow for another prison. You fools, d'ye think I'd harm the +children? I know as little of the devil or La Jongleuse as do you. We'll +solve the witcheries of these sounds, you and I, to-night. If they come, +we'll say the Lord's Prayer, and make the sacred gesture, and if it goes +not, we will have one of your good priests to drive out this whining +spirit." + +This quieted them much, and I was glad of it, for they had looked +bloodthirsty enough, and though I had a weapon on me, there was little +use in seeking fighting or flight till the auspicious moment. They were +not satisfied, however, and they watched me diligently as we came on to +the chateau. + +I could not bear that they should be frightened about their children, so +I said: + +"Make for me a sacred oath, and I will swear by it that those toys will +do your children no harm." + +I drew out the little wooden cross that Mathilde had given me, and held +it up. They looked at me astonished. What should I, a heretic and a +Protestant, do with this sacred emblem? "This never leaves me," said I; +"it was a pious gift." + +I raised the cross to my lips, and kissed it. + +"That's well," said Bamboir to his comrade. "If otherwise, he should +have been struck down by the Avenging Angel." + +We got back to the chateau without more talk, and I was locked in, while +my guards retired. As soon as they had gone I got to work, for my great +enterprise was at hand. + +At ten o'clock I was ready for the venture. When the critical moment +came, I was so arrayed that my dearest friend would not have known me. +My object was to come out upon my guards as La Jongleuse, and, in the +fright and confusion which should follow, make my escape through the +corridors and to the entrance doors, past the sentinels, and so on out. +It may be seen now why I got the woman's garb, the sheet, the horsehair, +the phosphorus, the reeds, and such things; why I secured the knife and +pistol may be guessed likewise. Upon the lid of a small stove in the +room I placed my saltpetre, and I rubbed the horsehair on my head with +phosphorus, also on my hands, and face, and feet, and on many objects +in the room. The knife and pistol were at my hand, and when the clock +struck ten, I set my toys to wailing. + +Then I knocked upon the door with solemn taps, hurried back to the +stove, and waited for the door to open before I applied the match. I +heard a fumbling at the lock, then the door was thrown wide open. All +was darkness in the hall without, save for a spluttering candle which +Bamboir held over his head, as he and his fellow, deadly pale, stood +peering forward. Suddenly they gave a cry, for I threw the sheet from my +face and shoulders, and to their excited imagination La Jongleuse stood +before them, all in flames. As I started down on them, the coloured fire +flew up, making the room all blue and scarlet for a moment, in which I +must have looked devilish indeed, with staring eyes, and outstretched +chalky hands, and wailing cries coming from my robe. + +I moved swiftly, and Bamboir, without a cry, dropped like a log (poor +fellow, he never rose again! the apoplexy which the surgeon promised had +come), his comrade gave a cry, and sank in a heap in a corner, mumbling +a prayer, and making the sign of the cross, his face stark with terror. + +I passed him, came along the corridor and down one staircase, without +seeing any one; then two soldiers appeared in the half-lighted hallway. +Presently also a door opened behind me, and some one came out. By now +the phosphorus light diminished a little, but still I was a villainous +picture, for in one hand I held a small cup from which suddenly sprang +red and blue fires. The men fell back, and I sailed past them, but I had +not gone far down the lower staircase when a shot rang after me, and a +bullet passed by my head. Now I came rapidly to the outer door, where +two more sentinels stood. They shrank back, and suddenly one threw down +his musket and ran; the other, terrified, stood stock-still. I passed +him, opened the door, and came out upon the Intendant, who was just +alighting from his carriage. + +The horses sprang away, frightened at sight of me, and nearly threw +Bigot to the ground. I tossed the tin cup with its chemical fires full +in his face, as he made a dash for me. He called out, and drew his +sword. I wished not to fight, and I sprang aside; but he made a pass at +me, and I drew my pistol and was about to fire, when another shot came +from the hallway and struck him. He fell, almost at my feet, and I +dashed away into the darkness. Fifty feet ahead I cast one glance hack, +and saw Monsieur Cournal standing in the doorway. I was sure that his +second shot had not been meant for me, but for the Intendant--a wild +attempt at a revenge, long delayed, for the worst of wrongs. + +I ran on, and presently came full upon five soldiers, two of whom drew +their pistols, fired, and missed. Their comrades ran away howling. They +barred my path, and now I fired, too, and brought one down; then came a +shot from behind them, and another fell. The last one took to his heels, +and a moment later I had my hand in that of Mr. Stevens. It was he who +had fired the opportune shot that rid me of one foe. We came quickly +along the river brink, and, skirting the citadel, got clear of it +without discovery, though we could see soldiers hurrying past, roused by +the firing at the chateau. + +In about half an hour of steady running, with a few bad stumbles and +falls, we reached the old windmill above the Anse du Foulon at Sillery, +and came plump upon our waiting comrades. I had stripped myself of my +disguise, and rubbed the phosphorus from my person as we came along, but +enough remained to make me an uncanny figure. It had been kept secret +from these people that I was to go with them, and they sullenly kept +their muskets raised and cocked; but when Mr. Stevens told them who +I was, they were agreeably surprised. I at once took command of the +enterprise, saying firmly at the same time that I would shoot the first +man who disobeyed my orders. I was sure that I could bring them to +safety, but my will must be law. They took my terms like men, and swore +to stand by me. + + + + +XXII. THE LORD OF KAMARSKA + + +We were five altogether--Mr. Stevens, Clark, the two Boston soldiers, +and myself; and presently we came down the steep passage in the cliff to +where our craft lay, secured by my dear wife--a birch canoe, well laden +with necessaries. Our craft was none too large for our party, but she +must do; and safely in, we pushed out upon the current, which was in +our favour, for the tide was going out. My object was to cross the river +softly, skirt the Levis shore, pass the Isle of Orleans, and so steal +down the river. There was excitement in the town, as we could tell from +the lights flashing along the shore, and boats soon began to patrol the +banks, going swiftly up and down, and extending a line round to the St. +Charles River towards Beauport. + +It was well for us the night was dark, else we had run that gantlet. +But we were lucky enough, by hard paddling, to get past the town on +the Levis side. Never were better boatmen. The paddles dropped with +agreeable precision, and no boatswain's rattan was needed to keep my +fellows to their task. I, whose sight was long trained to darkness, +could see a great distance round us, and so could prevent a trap, though +once or twice we let our canoe drift with the tide, lest our paddles +should be heard. I could not paddle long, I had so little strength. +After the Isle of Orleans was passed, I drew a breath of relief, and +played the part of captain and boatswain merely. + +Yet when I looked back at the town on those strong heights, and saw +the bonfires burn to warn the settlers of our escape, saw the lights +sparkling in many homes, and even fancied I could make out the light +shining in my dear wife's window, I had a strange feeling of loneliness. +There in the shadow of my prison walls, was the dearest thing on earth +to me. Ought she not to be with me? She had begged to come, to share +with me these dangers and hardships; but that I could not, would not +grant. She would be safer with her people. As for us desperate men bent +on escape, we must face hourly peril. + +Thank God, there was work to do. Hour after hour the swing and dip of +the paddles went on. No one showed weariness, and when the dawn broke +slow and soft over the eastern hills, I motioned my good boatmen towards +the shore, and landed safely. We lifted our frigate up, and carried her +into a thicket, there to rest with us till night, when we would sally +forth again into the friendly darkness. We were in no distress all that +day, for the weather was fine, and we had enough to eat; and in such +case were we for ten days and nights, though indeed some of the nights +were dreary and very cold, for it was yet but the beginning of May. + +It might thus seem that we were leaving danger well behind, after having +travelled so many heavy leagues, but it was yet several hundred miles to +Louisburg, our destination; and we had escaped only immediate danger. We +passed Isle aux Coudres and the Isles of Kamaraska, and now we ventured +by day to ramble the woods in search of game, which was most plentiful. +In this good outdoor life my health came slowly back, and I should soon +be able to bear equal tasks with any of my faithful comrades. Never man +led better friends, though I have seen adventurous service near and far +since that time. Even the genial ruffian Clark was amenable, and took +sharp reprimand without revolt. + +On the eleventh night after our escape, our first real trial came. We +were keeping the middle of the great river, as safest from detection, +and when the tide was with us we could thus move more rapidly. We had +had a constant favouring wind, but now suddenly, though we were running +with the tide, the wind turned easterly, and blew up the river against +the ebb. Soon it became a gale, to which was added snow and sleet, and a +rough, choppy sea followed. + +I saw it would be no easy task to fetch our craft to the land. The waves +broke in upon us, and presently, while half of us were paddling with +laboured and desperate stroke, the other half were bailing. Lifted on +a crest, our canoe, heavily laden, dropped at both ends; and again, +sinking into the hollows between the short, brutal waves, her gunwales +yielded outward, and her waist gaped in a dismal way. We looked to +see her with a broken back at any moment. To add to our ill fortune, +a violent current set in from the shore, and it was vain to attempt a +landing. Spirits and bodies flagged, and it needed all my cheerfulness +to keep my good fellows to their tasks. + +At last, the ebb of tide being almost spent, the waves began to +fall, the wind shifted a little to the northward, and a piercing cold +instantly froze our drenched clothes on our backs. But with the current +changed there was a good chance of reaching the shore. As daylight came +we passed into a little sheltered cove, and sank with exhaustion on the +shore. Our frozen clothes rattled like tin, and we could scarce lift a +leg. But we gathered a fine heap of wood, flint and steel were ready, +and the tinder was sought; which, when found, was soaking. Not a dry +stitch or stick could we find anywhere, till at last, within a leather +belt, Mr. Stevens found a handkerchief, which was, indeed, as he told me +afterwards, the gift and pledge of a lady to him; and his returning to +her with out it nearly lost him another and better gift and pledge, for +this went to light our fire. We had had enough danger and work in one +night to give us relish for some days of rest, and we piously took them. + +The evening of the second day we set off again, and had a good night's +run, and in the dawn, spying a snug little bay, we stood in, and went +ashore. I sent my two Provincials foraging with their guns, and we who +remained set about to fix our camp for the day and prepare breakfast. +A few minutes only passed, and the two hunters came running back with +rueful faces to say they had seen two Indians near, armed with muskets +and knives. My plans were made at once. We needed their muskets, and the +Indians must pay the price of their presence here, for our safety should +be had at any cost. + +I urged my men to utter no word at all, for none but Clark could speak +French, and he but poorly. For myself, my accent would pass after these +six years of practice. We came to a little river, beyond which we could +observe the Indians standing on guard. We could only cross by wading, +which we did; but one of my Provincials came down, wetting his musket +and himself thoroughly. Reaching the shore, we marched together, I +singing the refrain of an old French song as we went, + + En roulant, ma boule roulant, + En roulant, ma boule + +so attracting the attention of the Indians. The better to deceive, we +all were now dressed in the costume of the French peasant--I had taken +pains to have Mr. Stevens secure these for us before starting; a pair +of homespun trousers, a coarse brown jacket, with thrums like waving +tassels, a silk handkerchief about the neck, and a strong thick worsted +wig on the head; no smart toupet, nor buckle; nor combed, nor powdered; +and all crowned by a dull black cap. I myself was, as became my purpose, +most like a small captain of militia, doing wood service, and in the +braver costume of the coureur de bois. + +I signalled to the Indians, and, coming near, addressed them in French. +They were deceived, and presently, abreast of them, in the midst of +apparent ceremony, their firelocks were seized, and Mr. Stevens and +Clark had them safe. I said we must be satisfied as to who they were, +for English prisoners escaped from Quebec were abroad, and no man could +go unchallenged. They must at once lead me to their camp. So they did, +and at their bark wigwam they said they had seen no Englishman. They +were guardians of the fire; that is, it was their duty to light a fire +on the shore when a hostile fleet should appear; and from another point +farther up, other guardians, seeing, would do the same, until beacons +would be shining even to Quebec, three hundred leagues away. + +While I was questioning them, Clark rifled the wigwam; and presently, +the excitable fellow, finding some excellent stores of skins, tea, maple +sugar, coffee, and other things, broke out into English expletives. +Instantly the Indians saw they had been trapped, and he whom Mr. Stevens +held made a great spring from him, caught up a gun, and gave a wild yell +which echoed far and near. Mr. Stevens, with great rapidity, leveled his +pistol and shot him in the heart, while I, in a close struggle with +my captive, was glad--for I was not yet strong--that Clark finished my +assailant: and so both lay there dead, two foes less of our good King. + +Not far from where we stood was a pool of water, black and deep, and +we sank the bodies there; but I did not know till long afterwards that +Clark, with a barbarous and disgusting spirit, carried away their scalps +to sell them in New York, where they would bring, as he confided to one +of the Provincials, twelve pounds each. Before we left, we shot a poor +howling dog that mourned for his masters, and sank him also in the dark +pool. + +We had but got back to our camp, when, looking out, we saw a well-manned +four-oared boat making for the shore. My men were in dismay until I told +them that, having begun the game of war, I would carry it on to the ripe +end. This boat and all therein should be mine. Safely hidden, we watched +the rowers draw in to shore, with brisk strokes, singing a quaint +farewell song of the voyageurs, called La Pauvre Mere, of which the +refrain is: + + "And his mother says, 'My dear, + For your absence I shall grieve; + Come you home within the year.'" + +They had evidently been upon a long voyage, and by their toiling we +could see their boat was deep loaded; but they drove on, like a horse +that, at the close of day, sees ahead the inn where he is to bait and +refresh, and, rousing to the spur, comes cheerily home. The figure of +a reverend old man was in the stern, and he sent them in to shore with +brisk words. Bump came the big shallop on the beach, and at that moment +I ordered my men to fire, but to aim wide, for I had another end in view +than killing. + +We were exactly matched as to numbers, so that a fight would be fair +enough, but I hoped for peaceful conquest. As we fired I stepped out +of the thicket, and behind me could be seen the shining barrels of our +threatening muskets. The old gentleman stood up while his men cried for +quarter. He waved them down with an impatient gesture, and stepped out +on the beach. Then I recognized him. It was the Chevalier de la Darante. +I stepped towards him, my sword drawn. + +"Monsieur the Chevalier de la Darante, you are my prisoner," said I. + +He started, then recognized me. "Now, by the blood of man! now, by the +blood of man!" he said, and paused, dumfounded. + +"You forget me, monsieur?" asked I. + +"Forget you, monsieur?" said he. "As soon forget the devil at mass! But +I thought you dead by now, and--" + +"If you are disappointed," said I, "there is a way"; and I waved towards +his men, then to Mr. Stevens and my own ambushed fellows. + +He smiled an acid smile, and took a pinch of snuff. "It is not so +fiery-edged as that," he answered; "I can endure it." + +"You shall have time too for reverie," answered I. + +He looked puzzled. "What is't you wish?" he asked. + +"Your surrender first," said I, "and then your company at breakfast." + +"The latter has meaning and compliment," he responded, "the former is +beyond me. What would you do with me?" + +"Detain you and your shallop for the services of my master, the King of +England, soon to be the master of your master, if the signs are right." + +"All signs fail with the blind, monsieur." + +"I will give you good reading of those signs in due course," retorted I. + +"Monsieur," he added, with great, almost too great dignity, "I am of the +family of the Duc de Mirepoix. The whole Kamaraska Isles are mine, and +the best gentlemen in this province do me vassalage. I make war on none, +I have stepped aside from all affairs of state, I am a simple gentleman. +I have been a great way down this river, at large expense and toil, to +purchase wheat, for all the corn of these counties goes to Quebec to +store the King's magazine, the adored La Friponne. I know not your +purposes, but I trust you will not push your advantage"--he waved +towards our muskets--"against a private gentleman." + +"You forget, Chevalier," said I, "that you gave verdict for my death." + +"Upon the evidence," he replied. "And I have no doubt you deserve +hanging a thousand times." + +I almost loved him for his boldness. I remembered also that he had no +wish to be one of my judges, and that he spoke for me in the presence of +the Governor. But he was not the man to make a point of that. + +"Chevalier," said I, "I have been foully used in yonder town; by the +fortune of war you shall help me to compensation. We have come a long, +hard journey; we are all much overworked; we need rest, a better +boat, and good sailors. You and your men, Chevalier, shall row us to +Louisburg. When we are attacked, you shall be in the van; when we are at +peace, you shall industriously serve under King George's flag. Now will +you give up your men, and join me at breakfast?" + +For a moment the excellent gentleman was mute, and my heart almost fell +before his venerable white hair and his proud bearing; but something a +little overdone in his pride, a little ludicrous in the situation, set +me smiling; there came back on me the remembrance of all I had suffered, +and I let no sentiment stand between me and my purposes. + +"I am the Chevalier de la--" he began. + +"If you were King Louis himself, and every man there in your boat a peer +of his realm, you should row a British subject now," said I; "or, if +you choose, you shall have fighting instead." I meant there should be +nothing uncertain in my words. + +"I surrender," said he; "and if you are bent on shaming me, let us have +it over soon." + +"You shall have better treatment than I had in Quebec," answered I. + +A moment afterwards, his men were duly surrendered, disarmed, and +guarded, and the Chevalier breakfasted with me, now and again asking me +news of Quebec. He was much amazed to hear that Bigot had been shot, and +distressed that I could not say whether fatally or not. + +I fixed on a new plan. We would now proceed by day as well as by night, +for the shallop could not leave the river, and, besides, I did not care +to trust my prisoners on shore. I threw from the shallop into the stream +enough wheat to lighten her, and now, well stored and trimmed, we pushed +away upon our course, the Chevalier and his men rowing, while my men +rested and tended the sail, which was now set. I was much loath to cut +our good canoe adrift, but she stopped the shallop's way, and she was +left behind. + +After a time, our prisoners were in part relieved, and I made the +Chevalier rest also, for he had taken his task in good part, and had +ordered his men to submit cheerfully. In the late afternoon, after an +excellent journey, we saw a high and shaggy point of land, far ahead, +which shut off our view. I was anxious to see beyond it, for ships of +war might appear at any moment. A good breeze brought up this land, +and when we were abreast of it a lofty frigate was disclosed to view--a +convoy (so the Chevalier said) to a fleet of transports which that +morning had gone up the river. I resolved instantly, since fight was +useless, to make a run for it. Seating myself at the tiller, I declared +solemnly that I would shoot the first man who dared to stop the +shallop's way, to make sign, or speak a word. So, as the frigate stood +across the river, I had all sail set, roused the men at the oars, and we +came running by her stern. Our prisoners were keen enough to get by in +safety, for they were between two fires, and the excellent Chevalier was +as alert and laborious as the rest. They signalled us from the frigate +by a shot to bring to, but we came on gallantly. Another shot whizzed +by at a distance, but we did not change our course, and then balls came +flying over our heads, dropping round us, cooling their hot protests in +the river. But none struck us, and presently all fell short. + +We durst not slacken pace that night, and by morning, much exhausted, +we deemed ourselves safe, and rested for a while, making a hearty +breakfast, though a sombre shadow had settled on the face of the +good Chevalier. Once more he ventured to protest, but I told him my +resolution was fixed, and that I would at all costs secure escape from +my six years' misery. He must abide the fortune of this war. + +For several days we fared on, without more mishap. At last, one morning, +we hugged the shore, I saw a large boat lying on the beach. On landing +we found the boat of excellent size, and made for swift going, and +presently Clark discovered the oars. Then I turned to the Chevalier, +who was watching me curiously, yet hiding anxiety, for he had upheld his +dignity with some accent since he had come into my service: + +"Chevalier," said I, "you shall find me more humane than my persecutors +at Quebec. I will not hinder your going, if you will engage on your +honour--as would, for instance, the Duc de Mirepoix!"--he bowed to my +veiled irony--"that you will not divulge what brought you back thus far, +till you shall reach your Kamaraska Isles; and you must undertake the +same for your fellows here." + +He consented, and I admired the fine, vain old man, and lamented that I +had had to use him so. + +"Then," said I, "you may depart with your shallop. Your mast and sail, +however, must be ours; and for these I will pay. I will also pay for the +wheat which was thrown into the river, and you shall have a share of our +provisions, got from the Indians." + +"Monsieur," said he, "I shall remember with pride that I have dealt with +so fair a foe. I can not regret the pleasure of your acquaintance, even +at the price. And see, monsieur, I do not think you the criminal they +have made you out, and so I will tell a lady--" + +I raised my hand at him, for I saw that he knew something, and Mr. +Stevens was near us at the time. + +"Chevalier," said I, drawing him aside, "if, as you say, you think I +have used you honourably, then, if trouble falls upon my wife before I +see her again, I beg you to stand her friend. In the sad fortunes of war +and hate of me, she may need a friend--even against her own people, on +her own hearthstone." + +I never saw a man so amazed; and to his rapid questionings I gave the +one reply, that Alixe was my wife. His lip trembled. + +"Poor child! poor child!" he said; "they will put her in a nunnery. You +did wrong, monsieur." + +"Chevalier," said I, "did you ever love a woman?" + +He made a motion of the hand, as if I had touched upon a tender point, +and said, "So young, so young!" + +"But you will stand by her," I urged, "by the memory of some good woman +you have known!" + +He put out his hand again with a chafing sort of motion. "There, there," +said he, "the poor child shall never want a friend. If I can help it, +she shall not be made a victim of the Church or of the State, nor yet of +family pride--good God, no!" + +Presently we parted, and soon we lost our grateful foes in the distance. +All night we jogged along with easy sail, but just at dawn, in a sudden +opening of the land, we saw a sloop at anchor near a wooded point, her +pennant flying. We pushed along, unheeding its fiery signal to bring +to; and declining, she let fly a swivel loaded with grape, and again +another, riddling our sail; but we were travelling with wind and tide, +and we soon left the indignant patrol behind. Towards evening came a +freshening wind and a cobbling sea, and I thought it best to make for +shore. So, easing the sail, we brought our shallop before the wind. It +was very dark, and there was a heavy surf running; but we had to take +our fortune as it came, and we let drive for the unknown shore, for it +was all alike to us. Presently, as we ran close in, our boat came hard +upon a rock, which bulged her bows open. Taking what provisions we +could, we left our poor craft upon the rocks, and fought our way to +safety. + +We had little joy that night in thinking of our shallop breaking on the +reefs, and we discussed the chances of crossing overland to Louisburg; +but we soon gave up that wild dream: this river was the only way. When +daylight came, we found our boat, though badly wrecked, still held +together. Now Clark rose to the great necessity, and said that he would +patch her up to carry us on, or never lift a hammer more. With labour +past reckoning we dragged her to shore, and got her on the stocks, and +then set about to find materials to mend her. Tools were all too few--a +hammer, a saw, and an adze were all we had. A piece of board or a nail +were treasures then, and when the timbers of the craft were covered, +for oakum we had resort to tree-gum. For caulking, one spared a +handkerchief, another a stocking, and another a piece of shirt, till she +was stuffed in all her fissures. In this labour we passed eight days, +and then were ready for the launch again. + +On the very afternoon fixed for starting, we saw two sails standing down +the river, and edging towards our shore. One of them let anchor go right +off the place where our patched boat lay. We had prudently carried on +our work behind rocks and trees, so that we could not be seen, unless +our foes came ashore. Our case seemed desperate enough, but all at once +I determined on a daring enterprise. + +The two vessels--convoys, I felt sure--had anchored some distance from +each other, and from their mean appearance I did not think that they +would have a large freight of men and arms; for they seemed not ships +from France, but vessels of the country. If I could divide the force +of either vessel, and quietly, under cover of night, steal on her by +surprise, then I would trust our desperate courage, and open the war +which soon General Wolfe and Admiral Saunders were to wage up and down +this river. + +I had brave fellows with me, and if we got our will it would be a thing +worth remembrance. So I disclosed my plan to Mr. Stevens and the others, +and, as I looked for, they had a fine relish for the enterprise. I +agreed upon a signal with them, bade them to lie close along the ground, +picked out the nearer (which was the smaller) ship for my purpose, and +at sunset, tying a white handkerchief to a stick, came marching out of +the woods, upon the shore, firing a gun at the same time. Presently +a boat was put out from the sloop, and two men and a boy came rowing +towards me. Standing off a little distance from the shore, they asked +what was wanted. + +"The King's errand," was my reply in French, and I must be carried down +the river by them, for which I would pay generously. Then, with idle +gesture, I said that if they wished some drink, there was a bottle of +rum near my fire, above me, to which they were welcome; also some game, +which they might take as a gift to their captain and his crew. + +This drew them like a magnet, and, as I lit my pipe, their boat scraped +the sand, and, getting out, they hauled her up and came towards me. I +met them, and, pointing towards my fire, as it might appear, led them +up behind the rocks, when, at a sign, my men sprang up, the fellows +were seized, and were forbidden to cry out on peril of their lives. I +compelled them to tell what hands and what arms were left on board. The +sloop from which they came, and the schooner, its consort, were bound +for Gaspe, to bring provisions for several hundred Indians assembled +at Miramichi and Aristiguish, who were to go by these same vessels to +re-enforce the garrison of Quebec. + +The sloop, they said, had six guns and a crew of twenty men; but the +schooner, which was much larger, had no arms save muskets, and a crew +and guard of thirty men. + +In this country there is no twilight, and with sunset came instantly the +dusk. Already silence and dark inclosed the sloop. I had the men bound +to a tree, and gagged also, engaging to return and bring them away +safe and unhurt when our task was over. I chose for pilot the boy, +and presently, with great care, launching our patched shallop from the +stocks--for the ship-boat was too small to carry six safely--we got +quietly away. Rowing with silent stroke, we came alongside the sloop. No +light burned save that in the binnacle, and all hands, except the watch, +were below at supper and at cards. + +I could see the watch forward as we dropped silently alongside the +stern. My object was to catch this fellow as he came by. This I would +trust to no one but myself; for now, grown stronger, I had the old +spring in my blood, and I had also a good wish that my plans should +not go wrong through the bungling of others. I motioned my men to sit +silent, and then, when the fellow's back was toward me, coming softly up +the side, I slid over quietly, and drew into the shadow of a boat that +hung near. + +He came on lazily, and when just past me I suddenly threw my arms about +him, clapping my hand upon his mouth. He was stoutly built, and he began +at once to struggle. He was no coward, and feeling for his knife, he +drew it, and would have had it in me but that I was quicker, and, with +a desperate wrench, my hand still over his mouth, half swung him round, +and drove my dagger home. + +He sank in my arms with a heaving sigh, and I laid him down, still and +dead, upon the deck. Then I whispered up my comrades, the boy leading. +As the last man came over, his pistol, stuck in his belt, caught the +ratlings of the shrouds, and it dropped upon the deck. This gave the +alarm, but I was at the companion-door on the instant, as the first +master came bounding up, sword showing, and calling to his men, who +swarmed after him. I fired; the bullet travelled his spine, and he fell +back stunned. + +A dozen others came on. Some reached the deck and grappled with my +men. I never shall forget with what fiendish joy Clark fought that +night--those five terrible minutes. He was like some mad devil, and by +his imprecations I knew that he was avenging the brutal death of his +infant daughter some years before. He was armed with a long knife, and +I saw four men fall beneath it, while he himself got but one bad cut. Of +the Provincials, one fell wounded, and the other brought down his man. +Mr. Stevens and myself held the companion-way, driving the crew back, +not without hurt, for my wrist was slashed by a cutlass, and Mr. Stevens +had a bullet in his thigh. But presently we had the joy of having those +below cry quarter. + +We were masters of the sloop. Quickly battening down the prisoners, I +had the sails spread, the windlass going, and the anchor apeak quickly, +and we soon were moving down upon the schooner, which was now all +confusion, commands ringing out on the quiet air. But when, laying +alongside, we gave her a dose, and then another, from all our swivels +at once, sweeping her decks, the timid fellows cried quarter, and +we boarded her. With my men's muskets cocked, I ordered her crew and +soldiers below, till they were all, save two lusty youths, stowed away. +Then I had everything of value brought from the sloop, together with +the swivels, which we fastened to the schooner's side; and when all was +done, we set fire to the sloop, and I stood and watched her burn with a +proud--too proud--spirit. + +Having brought our prisoners from the shore, we placed them with +the rest below. At dawn I called a council with Mr. Stevens and the +others--our one wounded Provincial was not omitted--and we all agreed +that some of the prisoners should be sent off in the long boat, and a +portion of the rest be used to work the ship. So we had half the fellows +up, and giving them fishing-lines, rum, and provisions, with a couple of +muskets and ammunition, we sent them off to shift for themselves, and, +raising anchor, got on our way down the broad river, in perfect weather. + +The days that followed are like a good dream to me, for we came on all +the way without challenge and with no adventure, even round Gaspe, to +Louisburg, thirty-eight days after my escape from the fortress. + + + + +XXIII. WITH WOLFE AT MONTMORENCI. +At Louisburg we found that Admiral Saunders and General Wolfe were gone +to Quebec. They had passed us as we came down, for we had sailed inside +some islands of the coast, getting shelter and better passage, and the +fleet had, no doubt, passed outside. This was a blow to me, for I +had hoped to be in time to join General Wolfe and proceed with him to +Quebec, where my knowledge of the place should be of service to him. It +was, however, no time for lament, and I set about to find my way +back again. Our prisoners I handed over to the authorities. The two +Provincials decided to remain and take service under General Amherst; +Mr. Stevens would join his own Rangers at once, but Clark would go back +with me to have his hour with his hated foes. + +I paid Mr. Stevens and the two Provincials for their shares in the +schooner, and Clark and I manned her afresh, and prepared to return +instantly to Quebec. From General Amherst I received correspondence to +carry to General Wolfe and Admiral Saunders. Before I started back, +I sent letters to Governor Dinwiddie and to Mr. (now Colonel) George +Washington, but I had no sooner done so than I received others from them +through General Amherst. They had been sent to him to convey to General +Wolfe at Quebec, who was, in turn, to hand them to me, when, as was +hoped, I should be released from captivity, if not already beyond the +power of men to free me. + +The letters from these friends almost atoned for my past sufferings, +and I was ashamed that ever I had thought my countrymen forgot me in +my worst misery; for this was the first matter I saw when I opened the +Governor's letter: + + By the House of Burgesses. + +Resolved, That the sum of three hundred pounds be paid to Captain Robert +Moray, in consideration of his services to the country, and his singular +sufferings in his confinement, as a hostage, in Quebec. + +This, I learned, was one of three such resolutions. + +But there were other matters in his letter which much amazed me. An +attempt, he said, had been made one dark night upon his strong-room, +which would have succeeded but for the great bravery and loyalty of an +old retainer. Two men were engaged in the attempt, one of whom was +a Frenchman. Both men were masked, and, when set upon, fought with +consummate bravery, and escaped. It was found the next day that the safe +of my partner had also been rifled and all my papers stolen. There +was no doubt in my mind what this meant. Doltaire, with some renegade +Virginian who knew Williamsburg and myself, had made essay to get +my papers. But they had failed in their designs, for all my valuable +documents--and those desired by Doltaire among them--remained safe in +the Governor's strong-room. + +I got away again for Quebec five days after reaching Louisburg. We came +along with good winds, having no check, though twice we sighted French +sloops, which, however, seemed most concerned to leave us to ourselves. +At last, with colours flying, we sighted Kamaraska Isles, which I +saluted, remembering the Chevalier de la Darante; then Isle aux Coudres, +below which we poor fugitives came so near disaster. Here we all felt +new fervour, for the British flag flew from a staff on a lofty point, +tents were pitched thereon in a pretty cluster, and, rounding a point, +we came plump upon Admiral Durell's little fleet, which was here to bar +advance of French ships and to waylay stragglers. + +On a blithe summer day we sighted, far off, the Island of Orleans and +the tall masts of two patrol ships of war, which in due time we passed, +saluting, and ran abreast of the island in the North Channel. Coming up +this passage, I could see on an eminence, far distant, the tower of the +Chateau Alixe. + +Presently there opened on our sight the great bluff at the Falls of +Montmorenci, and, crowning it, tents and batteries, the camp of General +Wolfe himself, with the good ship Centurion standing off like a sentinel +at a point where the Basin, the River Montmorenci, and the North Channel +seem to meet. To our left, across the shoals, was Major Hardy's post, on +the extreme eastern point of the Isle Orleans; and again beyond that, in +a straight line, Point Levis on the south shore, where Brigadier-General +Monckton's camp was pitched; and farther on his batteries, from which +shell and shot were poured into the town. How all had changed in the two +months since I left there! Around the Seigneur Duvarney's manor, in the +sweet village of Beauport, was encamped the French army, and redoubts +and batteries were ranged where Alixe and I and her brother Juste had +many a time walked in a sylvan quiet. Here, as it were, round the bent +and broken sides of a bowl, war raged, and the centre was like some +caldron out of which imps of ships sprang and sailed to hand up fires of +hell to the battalions on the ledges. Here swung Admiral Saunders's and +Admiral Holmes's divisions, out of reach of the French batteries, yet +able to menace and destroy, and to feed the British camps with men and +munitions. There was no French ship in sight--only two old hulks with +guns in the mouth of the St. Charles River, to protect the road to the +palace gate--that is, at the Intendance. + +It was all there before me, the investment of Quebec, for which I had +prayed and waited seven long years. + +All at once, on a lull in the fighting which had lasted twenty-four +hours, the heavy batteries from the Levis shore opened upon the town, +emptying therein the fatal fuel. Mixed feelings possessed me. I had at +first listened to Clark's delighted imprecations and devilish praises +with a feeling of brag almost akin to his own--that was the soldier and +the Briton in me. But all at once the man, the lover, and the husband +spoke: my wife was in that beleaguered town under that monstrous shower! +She had said that she would never leave it till I came to fetch her. +For I knew well that our marriage must become known after I had escaped; +that she would not, for her own good pride and womanhood, keep it secret +then; that it would be proclaimed while yet Gabord and the excellent +chaplain were alive to attest all. + +Summoned by the Centurion, we were passed on beyond the eastern point of +the Isle of Orleans to the admiral's ship, which lay in the channel off +the point, with battleships in front and rear, and a line of frigates +curving towards the rocky peninsula of Quebec. Then came a line of buoys +beyond these, with manned boats moored alongside to protect the fleet +from fire rafts, which once already the enemy had unavailingly sent down +to ruin and burn our fleet. + +Admiral Saunders received me with great cordiality, thanked me for the +dispatches, heard with applause of my adventures with the convoy, and +at once, with dry humour, said he would be glad, if General Wolfe +consented, to make my captured schooner one of his fleet. Later, when +her history and doings became known in the fleet, she was at once called +the Terror of France; for she did a wild thing or two before Quebec +fell, though from first to last she had but her six swivel guns, which I +had taken from the burnt sloop. Clark had command of her. + +From Admiral Saunders I learned that Bigot had recovered from his hurt, +which had not been severe, and of the death of Monsieur Cournal, who had +ridden his horse over the cliff in the dark. From the Admiral I came to +General Wolfe at Montmorenci. + +I shall never forget my first look at my hero, my General, that flaming, +exhaustless spirit, in a body so gauche and so unshapely. When I was +brought to him, he was standing on a knoll alone, looking through a +glass towards the batteries of Levis. The first thing that struck me, as +he lowered the glass and leaned against a gun, was the melancholy in the +lines of his figure. I never forget that, for it seemed to me even then +that, whatever glory there was for British arms ahead, there was tragedy +for him. Yet, as he turned at the sound of our footsteps, I almost +laughed; for his straight red hair, his face defying all regularity, +with the nose thrust out like a wedge and the chin falling back from +an affectionate sort of mouth, his tall straggling frame and far from +athletic shoulders, challenged contrast with the compact, handsome, +graciously shaped Montcalm. In Montcalm was all manner of things to +charm--all save that which presently filled me with awe, and showed me +wherein this sallow-featured, pain-racked Briton was greater than his +rival beyond measure: in that searching, burning eye, which carried all +the distinction and greatness denied him elsewhere. There resolution, +courage, endurance, deep design, clear vision, dogged will, and heroism, +lived: a bright furnace of daring resolves and hopes, which gave England +her sound desire. + +An officer of his staff presented me. He looked at me with piercing +intelligence, and then, presently, his long hand made a swift motion of +knowledge and greeting, and he said: + +"Yes, yes, and you are welcome, Captain Moray. I have heard of you, of +much to your credit. You were for years in durance there." + +He pointed towards the town, where we could see the dome of the +cathedral shine, and the leaping smoke and flame of the roaring +batteries. + +"Six years, your Excellency," said I. + +"Papers of yours fell into General Braddock's hands, and they tried you +for a spy--a curious case--a curious case! Wherein were they wrong and +you justified, and why was all exchange refused?" + +I told him the main, the bare facts, and how, to force certain papers +from me, I had been hounded to the edge of the grave. He nodded, +and seemed lost in study of the mud-flats at the Beauport shore, and +presently took to beating his foot upon the ground. After a minute, +as if he had come back from a distance, he said: "Yes, yes, broken +articles. Few women have a sense of national honour, such as La +Pompadour none! An interesting matter." + +Then, after a moment: "You shall talk with our chief engineer; you know +the town you should be useful to me, Captain Moray. What do you suggest +concerning this siege of ours?" + +"Has any attack been made from above the town, your Excellency?" + +He lifted his eyebrows. "Is it vulnerable from there? From Cap Rouge, +you mean?" + +"They have you at advantage everywhere, sir," I said. "A thousand men +could keep the town, so long as this river, those mud-flats, and those +high cliffs are there." + +"But above the town--" + +"Above the citadel there is a way--the only way: a feint from the basin +here, a sham menace and attack, and the real action at the other door of +the town." + +"They will, of course, throw fresh strength and vigilance above, if our +fleet run their batteries and attack there; the river at Cap Rouge is +like this Montmorenci for defense." He shook his head. "There is no way, +I fear." + +"General," said I, "if you will take me into your service, and then give +me leave to handle my little schooner in this basin and in the river +above, I will prove that you may take your army into Quebec by entering +it myself, and returning with something as precious to me as the taking +of Quebec to you." + +He looked at me piercingly for a minute, then a sour sort of smile +played at his lips. "A woman!" he said. "Well, it were not the first +time the love of a wench opened the gates to a nation's victory." + +"Love of a wife, sir, should carry a man farther." + +He turned on me a commanding look. "Speak plainly," said he. "If we are +to use you, let us know you in all." + +He waved farther back the officers with him. + +"I have no other wish, your Excellency," I answered him. Then I told him +briefly of the Seigneur Duvarney, Alixe, and of Doltaire. + +"Duvarney! Duvarney!" he said, and a light came into his look. Then he +called an officer. "Was it not one Seigneur Duvarney who this morning +prayed protection for his chateau on the Isle of Orleans?" he asked. + +"Even so, your Excellency," was the reply; "and he said that if Captain +Moray was with us, he would surely speak for the humanity and kindness +he and his household had shown to British prisoners." + +"You speak, then, for this gentleman?" he asked, with a dry sort of +smile. + +"With all my heart," I answered. "But why asks he protection at this +late day?" + +"New orders are issued to lay waste the country; hitherto all property +was safe," was the General's reply. "See that the Seigneur Duvarney's +suit is granted," he added to his officer, "and say it is by Captain +Moray's intervention.--There is another matter of this kind to be +arranged this noon," he continued: "an exchange of prisoners, among +whom are some ladies of birth and breeding, captured but two days ago. A +gentleman comes from General Montcalm directly upon the point. You might +be useful herein," he added, "if you will come to my tent in an hour." +He turned to go. + +"And my ship, and permission to enter the town, your Excellency?" I +asked. + +"What do you call your--ship?" he asked a little grimly. + +I told him how the sailors had already christened her. He smiled. "Then +let her prove her title to Terror of France," he said, "by being pilot +to the rest of our fleet, up the river, and you, Captain Moray, be guide +to a footing on those heights"--he pointed to the town. "Then this army +and its General, and all England, please God, will thank you. Your craft +shall have commission as a rover--but if she gets into trouble?" + +"She will do as her owner has done these six years, your Excellency: she +will fight her way out alone." + +He gazed long at the town and at the Levis shore. "From above, then, +there is a way?" + +"For proof, if I come back alive--" + +"For proof that you have been--" he answered meaningly, with an amused +flash of his eyes, though at the very moment a spasm of pain crossed his +face, for he was suffering from incurable disease, and went about his +great task in daily misery, yet cheerful and inspiring. + +"For proof, my wife, sir," said I. + +He nodded, but his thoughts were diverted instantly, and he went from +me at once abstracted. But again he came back. "If you return," said he, +"you shall serve upon my staff. You will care to view our operations," +he added, motioning towards the intrenchments at the river. Then he +stepped quickly away, and I was taken by an officer to the river, and +though my heart warmed within me to hear that an attack was presently to +be made from the shore not far distant from the falls, I felt that the +attempt could not succeed: the French were too well intrenched. + +At the close of an hour I returned to the General's tent. It was +luncheon-time, and they were about to sit as I was announced. The +General motioned me to a seat, and then again, as if on second thought, +made as though to introduce me to some one who stood beside him. My +amazement was unbounded when I saw, smiling cynically at me, Monsieur +Doltaire. + +He was the envoy from Quebec. I looked him in the eyes steadily for a +moment, into malicious, unswerving eyes, as maliciously and unswervingly +myself, and then we both bowed. + +"Captain Moray and I have sat at meat together before," he said, with +mannered coolness. "We have played host and guest also: but that was ere +he won our hearts by bold, romantic feats. Still, I dared scarcely hope +to meet him at this table." + +"Which is sacred to good manners," said I meaningly and coolly, for my +anger and surprise were too deep for excitement. + +I saw the General look at both of us keenly, then his marvellous eyes +flashed intelligence, and a grim smile played at his lips a moment. +After a little general conversation Doltaire addressed me: + +"We are not yet so overwhelmed with war but your being here again will +give a fillip to our gossip. It must seem sad to you--you were so long +with us--you have broken bread with so many of us--to see us pelted so. +Sometimes a dinner-table is disordered by a riotous shell." + +He bent on torturing me. And it was not hard to do that, for how knew +I what had happened? How came he back so soon from the Bastile? It was +incredible. Perhaps he had never gone, in spite of all. After luncheon, +the matter of exchange of prisoners was gone into, and one by one +the names of the French prisoners in our hands--ladies and gentlemen +apprehended at the chateau were ticked off, and I knew them all save +two. The General deferred to me several times as to the persons and +positions of the captives, and asked my suggestions. Immediately I +proposed Mr. Wainfleet, the chaplain, in exchange for a prisoner, though +his name was not on the list, but Doltaire shook his head in a blank +sort of way. + +"Mr. Wainfleet! Mr. Wainfleet! There was no such prisoner in the town," +he said. + +I insisted, but he stared at me inscrutably, and said that he had no +record of the man. Then I spoke most forcibly to the General, and said +that Mr. Wainfleet should be produced, or an account of him be given by +the French Governor. Doltaire then said: + +"I am only responsible for these names recorded. Our General trusts to +your honour, and you to ours, Monsieur le General." + +There was nothing more to say, and presently the exchanges were +arranged, and, after compliments, Doltaire took his leave. I left the +Governor also, and followed Doltaire. He turned to meet me. + +"Captain Moray and I," he remarked to the officers near, "are +old--enemies; and there is a sad sweetness in meetings like these. May +I--" + +The officers drew away at a little distance at once before the +suggestion was made, and we were left alone. I was in a white heat, but +yet in fair control. + +"You are surprised to see me here," he said. "Did you think the Bastile +was for me? Tut! I had not got out of the country when we a packet came, +bearing fresh commands. La Pompadour forgave me, and in the King's +name bade me return to New France, and in her own she bade me get your +papers, or hang you straight. And--you will think it singular--if need +be, I was to relieve the Governor and Bigot also, and work to save New +France with the excellent Marquis de Montcalm." He laughed. "You can see +how absurd that is. I have held my peace, and I keep my commission in my +pocket." + +I looked at him amazed that he should tell me this. He read my look, and +said: + +"Yes, you are my confidant in this. I do not fear you. Your enemy +is bound in honour, your friend may seek to serve himself." Again he +laughed. "As if I, Tinoir Doltaire--note the agreeable combination of +peasant and gentleman in my name--who held his hand from ambition for +large things in France, should stake a lifetime on this foolish hazard! +When I play, Captain Moray, it is for things large and vital. Else I +remain the idler, the courtier--the son of the King." + +"Yet you lend your vast talent, the genius of those unknown +possibilities, to this, monsieur--this little business of exchange of +prisoners," I retorted ironically. + +"That is my whim--a social courtesy." + +"You said you knew nothing of the chaplain," I broke out. + +"Not so. I said he was on no record given me. Officially I know nothing +of him." + +"Come," said I, "you know well how I am concerned for him. You quibble; +you lied to our General." + +A wicked light shone in his eyes. "I choose to pass that by, for the +moment," said he. "I am sorry you forget yourself; it were better for +you and me to be courteous till our hour of reckoning, Shall we not meet +some day?" he said, with a sweet hatred in his tone. + +"With all my heart." + +"But where?" + +"In yonder town," said I, pointing. + +He laughed provokingly. "You are melodramatic," he rejoined. "I could +hold that town with one thousand men against all your army and five +times your fleet." + +"You have ever talked and nothing done," said I. "Will you tell me the +truth of the chaplain?" + +"Yes, in private the truth you shall hear," he said. "The man is dead." + +"If you speak true, he was murdered," I broke out. "You know well why." + +"No, no," he answered. "He was put in prison, escaped, made for the +river, was pursued, fought, and was killed. So much for serving you." + +"Will you answer me one question?" said I. "Is my wife well? Is she +safe? She is there set among villainies." + +"Your wife?" he answered, sneering. "If you mean Mademoiselle Duvarney, +she is not there." Then he added solemnly and slowly: "She is in no fear +of your batteries now--she is beyond them. When she was there, she was +not child enough to think that foolish game with the vanished chaplain +was a marriage. Did you think to gull a lady so beyond the minute's +wildness? She is not there," he added again in a low voice. + +"She is dead?" I gasped. "My wife is dead?" + +"Enough of that," he answered with cold fierceness. "The lady saw the +folly of it all, before she had done with the world. You--you, monsieur! +It was but the pity of her gentle heart, of a romantic nature. You--you +blundering alien, spy, and seducer!" + +With a gasp of anger I struck him in the face, and whipped out my sword. +But the officers near came instantly between us, and I could see that +they thought me gross, ill-mannered, and wild, to do this thing before +the General's tent, and to an envoy. + +Doltaire stood still a moment. Then presently wiped a little blood from +his mouth, and said: + +"Messieurs, Captain Moray's anger was justified; and for the blow he +will justify that in some happier time--for me. He said that I had lied, +and I proved him wrong. I called him a spy and a seducer--he sought +to shame, he covered with sorrow, one of the noblest families of New +France--and he has yet to prove me wrong. As envoy I may not fight him +now, but I may tell you that I have every cue to send him to hell one +day. He will do me the credit to say that it is not cowardice that stays +me." + +"If no coward in the way of fighting, coward in all other things," I +retorted instantly. + +"Well, well, as you may think." He turned to go. "We will meet there, +then?" he said, pointing to the town. "And when?" + +"To-morrow," said I. + +He shrugged his shoulder as to a boyish petulance, for he thought it an +idle boast. "To-morrow? Then come and pray with me in the cathedral, +and after that we will cast up accounts--to-morrow," he said, with a +poignant and exultant malice. A moment afterwards he was gone, and I was +left alone. + +Presently I saw a boat shoot out from the shore below, and he was in it. +Seeing me, he waved a hand in an ironical way. I paced up and down, sick +and distracted, for half an hour or more. I knew not whether he lied +concerning Alixe, but my heart was wrung with misery, for indeed he +spoke with an air of truth. + +Dead! dead! dead! "In no fear of your batteries now," he had said. "Done +with the world!" he had said. What else could it mean? Yet the more I +thought, there came a feeling that somehow I had been tricked. "Done +with the world!" Ay, a nunnery--was that it? But then, "In no fear of +your batteries now"--that, what did that mean but death? + +At this distressful moment a message came from the General, and I went +to his tent, trying to calm myself, but overcome with apprehension. +I was kept another half hour waiting, and then, coming in to him, he +questioned me closely for a little about Doltaire, and I told him the +whole story briefly. Presently his secretary brought me the commission +for my appointment to special service on the General's own staff. + +"Your first duty," said his Excellency, "will be to--reconnoitre; and if +you come back safe, we will talk further." + +While he was speaking I kept looking at the list of prisoners which +still lay upon his table. It ran thus: + + Monsieur and Madame Joubert. + Monsieur and Madame Carcanal. + Madame Rousillon. + Madame Champigny. + Monsieur Pipon. + Mademoiselle La Rose. + L'Abbe Durand. + Monsieur Halboir. + La Soeur Angelique. + La Soeur Seraphine. + +I know not why it was, but the last three names held my eyes. Each of +the other names I knew, and their owners also. When I looked close, +I saw that where "La Soeur Angelique" now was another name had been +written and then erased. I saw also that the writing was recent. Again, +where "Halboir" was written there had been another name, and the same +process of erasure and substitution had been made. It was not so with +"La Soeur Seraphine." I said to the General at once, "Your excellency, +it is possible you have been tricked." Then I pointed out what I had +discovered. He nodded. + +"Will you let me go, sir?" said I. "Will you let me see this exchange?" + +"I fear you will be too late," he answered. "It is not a vital matter, I +fancy." + +"Perhaps to me most vital," said I, and I explained my fears. + +"Then go, go," he said kindly. He quickly gave directions to have +me carried to Admiral Saunders's ship, where the exchange was to be +effected, and at the same time a general passport. + +In a few moments we were hard on our way. Now the batteries were silent. +By the General's orders, the bombardment ceased while the exchange +was being effected, and the French batteries also were still. A sudden +quietness seemed to settle on land and sea, and there was only heard, +now and then, the note of a bugle from a ship of war. The water in the +basin was moveless, and the air was calm and quiet. This heraldry of war +was all unnatural in the golden weather and sweet-smelling land. + +I urged the rowers to their task, and we flew on. We passed another boat +loaded with men, singing boisterously a disorderly sort of song, called +"Hot Stuff," set to the air "Lilies of France." It was out of touch with +the general quiet: + + "When the gay Forty-Seventh is dashing ashore, + While bullets are whistling and cannons do roar, + Says Montcalm, 'Those are Shirleys--I know the lapels.' + 'You lie,' says Ned Botwood, 'we swipe for Lascelles! + Though our clothing is changed, and we scout powder-puff, + Here's at you, ye swabs--here's give you Hot Stuff!'" + +While yet we were about two miles away, I saw a boat put out from the +admiral's ship, then, at the same moment, one from the Lower Town, and +they drew towards each other. I urged my men to their task, and as we +were passing some of Admiral Saunders's ships, their sailors cheered us. +Then came a silence, and it seemed to me that all our army and fleet, +and that at Beauport, and the garrison of Quebec, were watching us; +for the ramparts and shore were crowded. We drove on at an angle, to +intercept the boat that left the admiral's ship before it reached the +town. + +War leaned upon its arms and watched a strange duel. There was no +authority in any one's hands save my own to stop the boat, and the two +armies must avoid firing, for the people of both nations were here in +this space between--ladies and gentlemen in the French boat going to the +town, Englishmen and a poor woman or two coming to our own fleet. + +My men strained every muscle, but the pace was impossible--it could not +last; and the rowers in the French boat hung over their oars also +with enthusiasm. With the glass of the officer near me--Kingdon of +Anstruther's Regiment--I could now see Doltaire standing erect in the +boat, urging the boatmen on. + +All round that basin, on shore and cliff and mountains, thousands of +veteran fighters--Fraser's, Otway's, Townsend's, Murray's; and on the +other side the splendid soldiers of La Sarre, Languedoc, Bearn, and +Guienne--watched in silence. Well they might, for in this entr'acte +was the little weapon forged which opened the door of New France to +England's glory. So may the little talent or opportunity make possible +the genius of the great. + +The pain of this suspense grew so, that I longed for some sound to break +the stillness; but there was nothing for minute after minute. Then, at +last, on the halcyon air of that summer day floated the Angelus from the +cathedral tower. Only a moment, in which one could feel, and see also, +the French army praying, then came from the ramparts the sharp inspiring +roll of a drum, and presently all was still again. Nearer and nearer the +boat of prisoners approached the stone steps of the landing, and we were +several hundred yards behind. + +I motioned to Doltaire to stop, but he made no sign. I saw the cloaked +figures of the nuns near him, and I strained my eyes, but I could not +note their faces. My men worked on ardently, and presently we gained. +But I saw that it was impossible to reach them before they set foot on +shore. Now their boat came to the steps, and one by one they hastily got +out. Then I called twice to Doltaire to stop. The air was still, and +my voice carried distinctly. Suddenly one of the cloaked figures sprang +towards the steps with arms outstretched, calling aloud, "Robert! +Robert!" After a moment, "Robert, my husband!" rang out again, and then +a young officer and the other nun took her by the arm to force her +away. At the sharp instigation of Doltaire, instantly some companies +of marines filed in upon the place where they had stood, leveled their +muskets on us, and hid my beloved wife from my view. I recognized the +young officer who had put a hand upon Alixe. It was her brother Juste. + +"Alixe! Alixe!" I called, as my boat still came on. + +"Save me, Robert!" came the anguished reply, a faint but searching +sound, and then no more. + +Misery and mystery were in my heart all at once. Doltaire had tricked +me. "Those batteries can not harm her now!" Yes, yes, they could not +while she was a prisoner in our camp. "Done with the world!" Truly, when +wearing the garb of the Sister Angelique. But why that garb? I swore +that I would be within that town by the morrow, that I would fetch my +wife into safety, out from the damnable arts and devices of Master Devil +Doltaire, as Gabord had called him. + +The captain of the marines called to us that another boat's length would +fetch upon us the fire of his men. There was nothing to do, but to turn +back, while from the shore I was reviled by soldiers and by the rabble. +My marriage with Alixe had been made a national matter--of race and +religion. So, as my men rowed back towards our fleet, I faced my +enemies, and looked towards them without moving. I was grim enough +that moment, God knows; I felt turned to stone. I did not stir +when--ineffaceable brutality--the batteries on the heights began to +play upon us, the shot falling round us, and passing over our heads, and +musket-firing followed. + +"Damned villains! Faithless brutes!" cried Kingdon beside me. I did not +speak a word, but stood there defiant, as when we first had turned back. +Now, sharply, angrily, from all our batteries, there came reply to the +French; and as we came on with only one man wounded and one oar broken, +the whole fleet cheered us. I steered straight for the Terror of France, +and there Clark and I, he swearing violently, laid plans. + + + + +XXIV. THE SACRED COUNTERSIGN + + +That night, at nine o'clock, the Terror of France, catching the flow of +the tide, with one sail set and a gentle wind, left the fleet, and came +slowly up the river, under the batteries of the town. In the gloom we +passed lazily on with the flow of the tide, unquestioned, soon leaving +the citadel behind, and ere long came softly to that point called +Anse du Foulon, above which Sillery stood. The shore could not be seen +distinctly, but I knew by a perfect instinct the cleft in the hillside +where was the path leading up the mountain. I bade Clark come up the +river again two nights hence to watch for my signal, which was there +agreed upon. If I did not come, then, with General Wolfe's consent, +he must show the General this path up the mountain. He swore that all +should be as I wished; and indeed you would have thought that he and his +Terror of France were to level Quebec to the water's edge. + +I stole softly to the shore in a boat, which I drew up among the bushes, +hiding it as well as I could in the dark, and then, feeling for my +pistols and my knife, I crept upwards, coming presently to the passage +in the mountain. I toiled on to the summit without a sound of alarm from +above. Pushing forward, a light flashed from the windmill, and a man, +and then two men, appeared in the open door. One of them was Captain +Lancy, whom I had very good reason to remember. The last time I saw +him was that famous morning when he would have had me shot five minutes +before the appointed hour, rather than endure the cold and be kept from +his breakfast. I itched to call him to account then and there, but that +would have been foolish play. I was outside of the belt of light falling +from the door, and stealing round I came near to the windmill on the +town side. I was not surprised to see such poor watch kept. Above the +town, up to this time, the guard was of a perfunctory sort, for the +great cliffs were thought impregnable; and even if surmounted, there was +still the walled town to take, surrounded by the St. Lawrence, the St. +Charles, and these massive bulwarks. + +Presently Lancy stepped out into the light, and said, with a hoarse +laugh, "Blood of Peter, it was a sight to-day! She has a constant fancy +for the English filibuster. 'Robert! my husband!' she bleated like a +pretty lamb, and Doltaire grinned at her." + +"But Doltaire will have her yet." + +"He has her pinched like a mouse in a weasel's teeth." + +"My faith, mademoiselle has no sweet road to travel since her mother +died," was the careless reply. + +I almost cried out. Here was a blow which staggered me. Her mother dead! + +Presently the scoffer continued: "The Duvarneys would remain in the +city, and on that very night, as they sit at dinner, a shell disturbs +them, a splinter strikes Madame, and two days after she is carried to +her grave." + +They linked arms and walked on. + +It was a dangerous business I was set on, for I was sure that I would +be hung without shrift if captured. As it proved afterwards, I had been +proclaimed, and it was enjoined on all Frenchmen and true Catholics to +kill me if the chance showed. + +Only two things could I depend on: Voban and my disguise, which was +very good. From the Terror of France I had got a peasant's dress, and by +rubbing my hands and face with the stain of butternut, cutting again +my new-grown beard, and wearing a wig, I was well guarded against +discovery. + +How to get into the city was the question. By the St. Charles River and +the Palace Gate, and by the St. Louis Gate, not far from the citadel, +were the only ways, and both were difficult. I had, however, two or +three plans, and these I chewed as I went across Maitre Abraham's +fields, and came to the main road from Sillery to the town. + +Soon I heard the noise of clattering hoofs, and jointly with this I +saw a figure rise up not far ahead of me, as if waiting for the coming +horseman. I drew back. The horseman passed me, and, as he came on +slowly, I saw the figure spring suddenly from the roadside and make a +stroke at the horseman. In a moment they were a rolling mass upon the +ground, while the horse trotted down the road a little, and stood still. +I never knew the cause of that encounter--robbery, or private hate, or +paid assault; but there was scarcely a sound as the two men struggled. +Presently, there was groaning, and both lay still. I hurried to them, +and found one dead, and the other dying, and dagger wounds in both, for +the assault had been at such close quarters that the horseman had had no +chance to use a pistol. + +My plans were changed on the instant. I drew the military coat, boots, +and cap off the horseman, and put them on myself; and thrusting my hand +into his waistcoat--for he looked like a courier--I found a packet. This +I put into my pocket, and then, making for the horse which stood quiet +in the road, I mounted it and rode on towards the town. Striking a +light, I found that the packet was addressed to the Governor. A serious +thought disturbed me: I could not get into the town through the gates +without the countersign. I rode on, anxious and perplexed. + +Presently a thought pulled me up. The courier was insensible when I +left him, and he was the only one who could help me in this. I greatly +reproached myself for leaving him while he was still alive. "Poor +devil," thought I to myself, "there is some one whom his death will +hurt. He must not die alone. He was no enemy of mine." I went back, and, +getting from the horse, stooped to him, lifted up his head, and found +that he was not dead. I spoke in his ear. He moaned, and his eyes +opened. + +"What is your name?" said I. + +"Jean--Labrouk," he whispered. + +Now I remembered him. He was the soldier whom Gabord had sent as +messenger to Voban the night I was first taken to the citadel. + +"Shall I carry word for you to any one?" asked I. + +There was a slight pause; then he said, "Tell my--Babette--Jacques +Dobrotte owes me ten francs--and--a leg--of mutton. Tell--my Babette--to +give my coat of beaver fur to Gabord the soldier. Tell"...he sank back, +but raised himself, and continued: "Tell my Babette I weep with her.... +Ah, mon grand homme de Calvaire--bon soir!" He sank back again, but +I roused him with one question more, vital to me. I must have the +countersign. + +"Labrouk! Labrouk!" said I sharply. + +He opened his dull, glazed eyes. + +"Qui va la?" said I, and I waited anxiously. + +Thought seemed to rally in him, and, staring--alas! how helpless and +how sad: that look of a man brought back for an instant from the +Shadows!--his lips moved. + +"France," was the whispered reply. + +"Advance and give the countersign!" I urged. + +"Jesu--" he murmured faintly. I drew from my breast the cross that +Mathilde had given me, and pressed it to his lips. He sighed softly, +lifted his hand to it, and then fell back, never to speak again. + +After covering his face and decently laying the body out, I mounted the +horse again. Glancing up, I saw that this bad business had befallen not +twenty feet from a high Calvary at the roadside. + +I was in a painful quandary. Did Labrouk mean that the countersign was +"Jesu," or was that word the broken prayer of his soul as it hurried +forth? So strange a countersign I had never heard, and yet it might be +used in this Catholic country. This day might be some great feast of the +Church--possibly that of the naming of Christ (which was the case, as +I afterwards knew). I rode on, tossed about in my mind. So much hung on +this. If I could not give the countersign, I should have to fight my +way back again the road I came. But I must try my luck. So I went on, +beating up my heart to confidence; and now I came to the St. Louis Gate. +A tiny fire was burning near, and two sentinels stepped forward as I +rode boldly on the entrance. + +"Qui va la?" was the sharp call. + +"France," was my reply, in a voice as like the peasant's as possible. + +"Advance and give the countersign," came the demand. + +Another voice called from the darkness of the wall: "Come and drink, +comrade; I've a brother with Bougainville." + +"Jesu," said I to the sentinel, answering his demand for the +countersign, and I spurred on my horse idly, though my heart was +thumping hard, for there were several sturdy fellows lying beyond the +dull handful of fire. + +Instantly the sentinel's hand came to my bridle-rein. "Halt!" roared he. + +Surely some good spirit was with me then to prompt me, for, with a +careless laugh, as though I had not before finished the countersign, +"Christ," I added--"Jesu Christ!" + +With an oath the soldier let go the bridle-rein, the other opened the +gates, and I passed through. I heard the first fellow swearing roundly +to the others that he would "send yon courier to fires of hell, if he +played with him again so." + +The gates closed behind me, and I was in the town which had seen the +worst days and best moments of my life. I rode along at a trot, and once +again beyond the citadel was summoned by a sentinel. Safely passed on, +I came down towards the Chateau St. Louis. I rode boldly up to the great +entrance door, and handed the packet to the sentinel. + +"From whom?" he asked. + +"Look in the corner," said I. "And what business is't of yours?" + +"There is no word in the corner," answered he doggedly. "Is't from +Monsieur le General at Cap Rouge?" + +"Bah! Did you think it was from an English wolf?" I asked. + +His dull face broke a little. "Is Jean Labrouk with Bougainville yet?" + +"He's done with Bougainville; he's dead," I answered. + +"Dead! dead!" said he, a sort of grin playing on his face. + +I made a shot at a venture. "But you're to pay his wife Babette the ten +francs and the leg of mutton in twenty-four hours, or his ghost will +follow you. Swallow that, pudding-head! And see you pay it, or every man +in our company swears to break a score of shingles on your bare back." + +"I'll pay, I'll pay," he said, and he took to trembling. + +"Where shall I find Babette?" asked I. "I come from Isle aux Coudres; I +know not this rambling town." + +"A little house hugging the cathedral rear," he explained. "Babette +sweeps out the vestry, and fetches water for the priests." + +"Good," said I. "Take that to the Governor at once, and send the +corporal of the guard to have this horse fed and cared for, and he's +to carry back the Governor's messenger. I've further business for the +General in the town. And tell your captain of the guard to send and pick +up two dead men in the highway, just against the first Calvary beyond +the town." + +He did my bidding, and I dismounted, and was about to get away, when I +saw the Chevalier de la Darante and the Intendant appear at the door. +They paused upon the steps. The Chevalier was speaking most earnestly: + +"To a nunnery--a piteous shame! it should not be, your Excellency." + +"To decline upon Monsieur Doltaire, then?" asked Bigot, with a sneer. + +"Your Excellency believes in no woman," responded the Chevalier stiffly. + +"Ah yes, in one!" was the cynical reply. + +"Is it possible? And she remains a friend of your Excellency?" came back +in irony. + +"The very best; she finds me unendurable." + +"Philosophy shirks the solving of that problem, your Excellency," was +the cold reply. + +"No, it is easy. The woman to be trusted is she who never trusts." + +"The paragon--or prodigy--who is she?" + +"Even Madame Jamond." + +"She danced for you once, your Excellency, they tell me." + +"She was a devil that night; she drove us mad." + +So Doltaire had not given up the secret of that affair! There was +silence for a moment, and then the Chevalier said, "Her father will not +let her go to a nunnery--no, no. Why should he yield to the Church in +this?" + +Bigot shrugged a shoulder. "Not even to hide--shame?" + +"Liar--ruffian!" said I through my teeth. The Chevalier answered for me: + +"I would stake my life on her truth and purity." + +"You forget the mock marriage, dear Chevalier." + +"It was after the manner of his creed and people." + +"It was after a manner we all have used at times." + +"Speak for yourself, your Excellency," was the austere reply. +Nevertheless, I could see that the Chevalier was much troubled. + +"She forgot race, religion, people--all, to spend still hours with a +foreign spy in prison," urged Bigot, with damnable point and suggestion. + +"Hush, sir!" said the Chevalier. "She is a girl once much beloved and +ever admired among us. Let not your rancour against the man be spent +upon the maid. Nay, more, why should you hate the man so? It is said, +your Excellency, that this Moray did not fire the shot that wounded you, +but one who has less reason to love you." + +Bigot smiled wickedly, but said nothing. + +The Chevalier laid a hand on Bigot's arm. "Will you not oppose the +Governor and the bishop? Her fate is sad enough." + +"I will not lift a finger. There are weightier matters. Let Doltaire, +the idler, the Don Amato, the hunter of that fawn, save her from the +holy ambush. Tut, tut, Chevalier. Let her go. Your nephew is to marry +her sister; let her be swallowed up--a shame behind the veil, the sweet +litany of the cloister." + +The Chevalier's voice set hard as he said in quick reply, "My family +honour, Francois Bigot, needs no screen. And if you doubt that, I will +give you argument at your pleasure;" so saying, he turned and went back +into the chateau. + +Thus the honest Chevalier kept his word, given to me when I released him +from serving me on the St. Lawrence. + +Bigot came down the steps, smiling detestably, and passed me with no +more than a quick look. I made my way cautiously through the streets +towards the cathedral, for I owed a duty to the poor soldier who had +died in my arms, through whose death I had been able to enter the town. + +Disarray and ruin met my sight at every hand. Shot and shell had made +wicked havoc. Houses where, as a hostage, I had dined, were battered +and broken; public buildings were shapeless masses, and dogs and thieves +prowled among the ruins. Drunken soldiers staggered past me; hags +begged for sous or bread at corners; and devoted priests and long-robed +Recollet monks, cowled and alert, hurried past, silent, and worn with +labours, watchings, and prayers. A number of officers in white uniforms +rode by, going towards the chateau, and a company of coureurs de bois +came up from Mountain Street, singing: + + "Giron, giran! le canon grand-- + Commencez-vous, commencez-vous!" + +Here and there were fires lighted in the streets, though it was not +cold, and beside them peasants and soldiers drank and quarreled over +food--for starvation was abroad in the land. + +By one of these fires, in a secluded street--for I had come a roundabout +way--were a number of soldiers of Languedoc's regiment (I knew them by +their trick of headgear and their stoutness), and with them reckless +girls, who, in their abandonment, seemed to me like those revellers in +Herculaneum, who danced their way into the Cimmerian darkness. I had no +thought of staying there to moralize upon the theme; but, as I looked, a +figure came out of the dusk ahead, and moved swiftly towards me. + +It was Mathilde. She seemed bent on some errand, but the revellers at +the fire caught her attention, and she suddenly swerved towards +them, and came into the dull glow, her great black eyes shining with +bewildered brilliancy and vague keenness, her long fingers reaching +out with a sort of chafing motion. She did not speak till she was among +them. I drew into the shade of a broken wall, and watched. She looked +all round the circle, and then, without a word, took an iron crucifix +which hung upon her breast, and silently lifted it above their heads +for a moment. I myself felt a kind of thrill go through me, for her wild +beauty was almost tragical. Her madness was not grotesque, but +solemn and dramatic. There was something terribly deliberate in her +strangeness; it was full of awe to the beholder, more searching and +painfully pitiful than melancholy. + +Coarse hands fell away from wanton waists; ribaldry hesitated; hot faces +drew apart; and all at once a girl with a crackling laugh threw a tin +cup of liquor into the fire. Even as she did it, a wretched dwarf +sprang into the circle without a word, and, snatching the cup out of +the flames, jumped back again into the darkness, peering into it with +a hollow laugh. As he did so a soldier raised a heavy stick to throw +at him; but the girl caught him by the arms, and said, with a hoarse +pathos, "My God, no, Alphonse! It is my brother!" + +Here Mathilde, still holding out the cross, said in a loud whisper, +"'Sh, 'sh! My children, go not to the palace, for there is Francois +Bigot, and he has a devil. But if you have no cottage, I will give you +a home. I know the way to it up in the hills. Poor children, see, I will +make you happy." + +She took a dozen little wooden crosses from her girdle, and, stepping +round the circle, gave each person one. No man refused, save a young +militiaman; and when, with a sneering laugh, he threw his into the fire, +she stooped over him and said, "Poor boy! poor boy!" + +She put her fingers on her lips, and whispered, "Beati +immaculati--miserere mei, Deus," stray phrases gathered from the +liturgy, pregnant to her brain, order and truth flashing out of +wandering and fantasy. No one of the girls refused, but sat there, +some laughing nervously, some silent; for this mad maid had come to +be surrounded with a superstitious reverence in the eyes of the common +people. It was said she had a home in the hills somewhere, to which she +disappeared for days and weeks, and came back hung about the girdle with +crosses; and it was also said that her red robe never became frayed, +shabby, or disordered. + +Suddenly she turned and left them. I let her pass, unchecked, and went +on towards the cathedral, humming an old French chanson. I did this +because now and then I met soldiers and patrols, and my free and +careless manner disarmed notice. Once or twice drunken soldiers stopped +me and threw their arms about me, saluting me on the cheeks a la mode, +asking themselves to drink with me. Getting free of them, I came on my +way, and was glad to reach the cathedral unchallenged. Here and there a +broken buttress or a splintered wall told where our guns had played +upon it, but inside I could hear an organ playing and a Miserere being +chanted. I went round to its rear, and there I saw the little house +described by the sentinel at the chateau. Coming to the door, I knocked, +and it was opened at once by a warm-faced, woman of thirty or so, +who instantly brightened on seeing me. "Ah, you come from Cap Rouge, +m'sieu'," she said, looking at my clothes--her own husband's, though she +knew it not. + +"I come from Jean," said I, and stepped inside. + +She shut the door, and then I saw, sitting in a corner, by a lighted +table, an old man, bowed and shrunken, white hair and white beard +falling all about him, and nothing of his features to be seen save high +cheek-bones and two hawklike eyes which peered up at me. + +"So, so, from Jean," he said in a high, piping voice. "Jean's a pretty +boy--ay, ay, Jean's like his father, but neither with a foot like +mine--a foot for the Court, said Frotenac to me--yes, yes, I knew the +great Frotenac--" + +The wife interrupted his gossip. "What news from Jean?" said she. "He +hoped to come one day this week." + +"He says," responded I gently, "that Jacques Dobrotte owes you ten +francs and a leg of mutton, and that you are to give his great beaver +coat to Gabord the soldier." + +"Ay, ay, Gabord the soldier, he that the English spy near sent to +heaven." quavered the old man. + +The bitter truth was slowly dawning upon the wife. She was repeating my +words in a whisper, as if to grasp their full meaning. + +"He said also," I continued, "'Tell Babette I weep with her.'" + +She was very still and dazed; her fingers went to her white lips, and +stayed there for a moment. I never saw such a numb misery in any face. + +"And last of all, he said, 'Ah, mon grand homme de Calvaire--bon soir!'" + +She turned round, and went and sat down beside the old man, looked into +his face for a minute silently, and then said, "Grandfather, Jean is +dead; our Jean is dead." + +The old man peered at her for a moment, then broke into a strange laugh, +which had in it the reflection of a distant misery, and said, "Our +little Jean, our little Jean Labrouk! Ha! ha! There was Villon, Marmon, +Gabriel, and Gouloir, and all their sons; and they all said the same +at the last, 'Mon grand homme--de Calvaire--bon soir!' Then there was +little Jean, the pretty little Jean. He could not row a boat, but he +could ride a horse, and he had an eye like me. Ha, ha! I have seen them +all say good-night. Good-morning, my children, I will say one day, and I +will give them all the news, and I will tell them all I have done these +hundred years. Ha, ha, ha--" + +The wife put her fingers on his lips, and, turning to me, said with a +peculiar sorrow, "Will they fetch him to me?" + +I assured her that they would. + +The old man fixed his eyes on me most strangely, and then, stretching +out his finger and leaning forward, he said, with a voice of senile +wildness, "Ah, ah, the coat of our little Jean!" + +I stood there like any criminal caught in his shameful act. Though I had +not forgotten that I wore the dead man's clothes, I could not think +that they would be recognized, for they seemed like others of the French +army--white, with violet facings. I can not tell to this day what it was +that enabled them to detect the coat; but there I stood condemned before +them. + +The wife sprang to her feet, came to me with a set face, and stared +stonily at the coat for an instant. Then, with a cry of alarm, she made +for the door; but I stepped quickly before her, and bade her wait till +she heard what I had to say. Like lightning it all went through my +brain. I was ruined if she gave an alarm: all Quebec would be at my +heels, and my purposes would be defeated. There was but one thing to +do--tell her the whole truth, and trust her; for I had at least done +fairly by her and by the dead man. + +So I told them how Jean Labrouk had met his death; told them who I was, +and why I was in Quebec--how Jean died in my arms; and, taking from my +breast the cross that Mathilde had given me, I swore by it that every +word which I said was true. The wife scarcely stirred while I spoke, but +with wide dry eyes and hands clasping and unclasping heard me through. I +told her how I might have left Jean to die without a sign or message to +them, how I had put the cross to his lips as he went forth, and how by +coming here at all I placed my safety in her hands, and now, by telling +my story, my life itself. + +It was a daring and a difficult task. When I had finished, both sat +silent for a moment, and then the old man said, "Ay, ay, Jean's father +and his uncle Marmon were killed a-horseback, and by the knife. Ay, +ay, it is our way. Jean was good company--none better, mass over, on +a Sunday. Come, we will light candles for Jean, and comb his hair back +sweet, and masses shall be said, and--" + +Again the woman interrupted, quieting him. Then she turned to me, and I +awaited her words with a desperate sort of courage. + +"I believe you," she said. "I remember you now. My sister was the wife +of your keeper at the common jail. You shall be safe. Alas! my Jean +might have died without a word to me all alone in the night. Merci mille +fois, monsieur!" Then she rocked a little to and fro, and the old man +looked at her like a curious child. At last, "I must go to him," she +said. "My poor Jean must be brought home." + +I told her I had already left word concerning the body at headquarters. +She thanked me again. Overcome as she was, she went and brought me a +peasant's hat and coat. Such trust and kindness touched me. Trembling, +she took from me the coat and hat I had worn, and she put her hands +before her eyes when she saw a little spot of blood upon the flap of +a pocket. The old man reached out his hands, and, taking them, he held +them on his knees, whispering to himself. + +"You will be safe here," the wife said to me. "The loft above is small, +but it will hide you, if you have no better place." + +I was thankful that I had told her all the truth. I should be snug here, +awaiting the affair in the cathedral on the morrow. There was Voban, but +I knew not of him, or whether he was open to aid or shelter me. His +own safety had been long in peril; he might be dead, for all I knew. I +thanked the poor woman warmly, and then asked her if the old man might +not betray me to strangers. She bade me leave all that to her--that I +should be safe for a while, at least. + +Soon afterwards I went abroad, and made my way by a devious route to +Voban's house. As I did so, I could see the lights of our fleet in +the Basin, and the camp-fires of our army on the Levis shore, on Isle +Orleans, and even at Montmorenci, and the myriad lights in the French +encampment at Beauport. How impossible it all looked--to unseat from +this high rock the Empire of France! Ay, and how hard it would be to get +out of this same city with Alixe! + +Voban's house stood amid a mass of ruins, itself broken a little, but +still sound enough to live in. There was no light. I clambered over +debris, made my way to his bedroom window, and tapped on the shutter. +There was no response. I tried to open it, but it would not stir. So +I thrust beneath it, on the chance of his finding it if he opened the +casement in the morning, a little piece of paper, with one word upon +it--the name of his brother. He knew my handwriting, and he would guess +where to-morrow would find me, for I had also hastily drawn upon the +paper the entrance of the cathedral. + +I went back to the little house by the cathedral, and was admitted by +the stricken wife. The old man was abed. I climbed up to the small loft, +and lay there wide-awake for hours. At last came the sounds that I +had waited for, and presently I knew by the tramp beneath, and by low +laments floating up, that a wife was mourning over the dead body of her +husband. I lay long and listened to the varying sounds, but at last all +became still, and I fell asleep. + + + + +XXV. IN THE CATHEDRAL. +I awoke with the dawn, and, dressing, looked out of the window, seeing +the brindled light spread over the battered roofs and ruins of the Lower +Town. A bell was calling to prayers in the Jesuit College not far away, +and bugle-calls told of the stirring garrison. Soldiers and stragglers +passed down the street near by, and a few starved peasants crept about +the cathedral with downcast eyes, eager for crumbs that a well-fed +soldier might cast aside. Yet I knew that in the Intendant's Palace and +among the officers of the army there was abundance, with revelry and +dissipation. + +Presently I drew to the trap-door of my loft, and, raising it gently, +came down the ladder to the little hallway, and softly opened the door +of the room where Labrouk's body lay. Candles were burning at his head +and his feet, and two peasants sat dozing in chairs near by. I could see +Labrouk's face plainly in the flickering light: a rough, wholesome face +it was, refined by death, yet unshaven and unkempt, too. Here was work +for Voban's shears and razor. Presently there was a footstep behind me, +and, turning, I saw in the half-light the widowed wife. + +"Madame," said I in a whisper, "I too weep with you. I pray for as true +an end for myself." + +"He was of the true faith, thank the good God," she said sincerely. She +passed into the room, and the two watchers, after taking refreshment, +left the house. Suddenly she hastened to the door, called one back, and, +pointing to the body, whispered something. The peasant nodded and turned +away. She came back into the room, stood looking at the face of the dead +man for a moment, and bent over and kissed the crucifix clasped in the +cold hands. Then she stepped about the room, moving a chair and sweeping +up a speck of dust in a mechanical way. Presently, as if she again +remembered me, she asked me to enter the room. Then she bolted the outer +door of the house. I stood looking at the body of her husband, and said, +"Were it not well to have Voban the barber?" + +"I have sent for him and for Gabord," she replied. "Gabord was Jean's +good friend. He is with General Montcalm. The Governor put him in prison +because of the marriage of Mademoiselle Duvarney, but Monsieur Doltaire +set him free, and now he serves General Montcalm. + +"I have work in the cathedral," continued the poor woman, "and I shall +go to it this morning as I have always gone. There is a little unused +closet in a gallery where you may hide, and still see all that happens. +It is your last look at the lady, and I will give it to you, as you gave +me to know of my Jean." + +"My last look?" I asked eagerly. + +"She goes into the nunnery to-morrow, they say," was the reply. "Her +marriage is to be set aside by the bishop to-day--in the cathedral. This +is her last night to live as such as I--but no, she will be happier so." + +"Madame," said I, "I am a heretic, but I listened when your husband +said, 'Mon grand homme de Calvaire, bon soir!' Was the cross less +a cross because a heretic put it to his lips? Is a marriage less a +marriage because a heretic is the husband? Madame, you loved your Jean; +if he were living now, what would you do to keep him. Think, madame, is +not love more than all?" + +She turned to the dead body. "Mon petit Jean!" she murmured, but made +no reply to me, and for many minutes the room was silent. At last she +turned, and said, "You must come at once, for soon the priests will be +at the church. A little later I will bring you some breakfast, and you +must not stir from there till I come to fetch you--no." + +"I wish to see Voban," said I. + +She thought a moment. "I will try to fetch him to you by-and-bye," she +said. She did not speak further, but finished the sentence by pointing +to the body. + +Presently, hearing footsteps, she drew me into another little room. "It +is the grandfather," she said. "He has forgotten you already, and he +must not see you again." + +We saw the old man hobble into the room we had left, carrying in one arm +Jean's coat and hat. He stood still, and nodded at the body and mumbled +to himself; then he went over and touched the hands and forehead, +nodding wisely; after which he came to his armchair, and, sitting down, +spread the coat over his knees, put the cap on it, and gossiped with +himself: + + "In eild our idle fancies all return, + The mind's eye cradled by the open grave." + +A moment later, the woman passed from the rear of the house to the +vestry door of the cathedral. After a minute, seeing no one near, I +followed, came to the front door, entered, and passed up a side aisle +towards the choir. There was no one to be seen, but soon the woman came +out of the vestry and beckoned to me nervously. I followed her quick +movements, and was soon in a narrow stairway, coming, after fifty +steps or so, to a sort of cloister, from which we went into a little +cubiculum, or cell, with a wooden lattice door which opened on a small +gallery. Through the lattices the nave amid choir could be viewed +distinctly. + +Without a word the woman turned and left me, and I sat down on a little +stone bench and waited. I saw the acolytes come and go, and priests move +back and forth before the altar; I smelt the grateful incense as it rose +when mass was said; I watched the people gather in little clusters at +the different shrines, or seek the confessional, or kneel to receive the +blessed sacrament. Many who came were familiar--among them Mademoiselle +Lucie Lotbiniere. Lucie prayed long before a shrine of the Virgin, and +when she rose at last her face bore signs of weeping. Also I noticed her +suddenly start as she moved down the aisle, for a figure came forward +from seclusion and touched her arm. As he half turned I saw that it was +Juste Duvarney. The girl drew back from him, raising her hand as if in +protest, and it struck me that her grief and her repulse of him had to +do with putting Alixe away into a nunnery. + +I sat hungry and thirsty for quite three hours, and then the church +became empty, and only an old verger kept a seat by the door, half +asleep, though the artillery of both armies was at work, and the air +was laden with the smell of powder. (Until this time our batteries had +avoided firing on the churches.) At last I heard footsteps near me in +the dark stairway, and I felt for my pistols, for the feet were not +those of Labrouk's wife. I waited anxiously, and was overjoyed to see +Voban enter my hiding-place, bearing some food. I greeted him warmly, +but he made little demonstration. He was like one who, occupied with +some great matter, passed through the usual affairs of life with a +distant eye. Immediately he handed me a letter, saying: + +"M'sieu', I give my word to hand you this--in a day or a year, as I am +able. I get your message to me this morning, and then I come to care for +Jean Labrouk, and so I find you here, and I give the letter. It come to +me last night." + +The letter was from Alixe. I opened it with haste, and, in the dim +light, read: + +MY BELOVED HUSBAND: Oh, was there no power in earth or heaven to bring +me to your arms to-day? + +To-morow they come to see my marriage annulled by the Church. And every +one will say it is annulled--every one but me. I, in God's name, will +say no, though it break my heart to oppose myself to them all. + +Why did my brother come back? He has been hard--O, Robert, he has been +hard upon me, and yet I was ever kind to him! My father, too, he listens +to the Church, and, though he likes not Monsieur Doltaire, he works for +him in a hundred ways without seeing it. I, alas! see it too well, +and my brother is as wax in monsieur's hands. Juste loves Lucie +Lotbiniere--that should make him kind. She, sweet friend, does not +desert me, but is kept from me. She says she will not yield to Juste's +suit until he yields to me. If--oh, if Madame Jamond had not gone to +Montreal! + +... As I was writing the foregoing sentence, my father asked to see me, +and we have had a talk--ah, a most bitter talk! + +"Alixe," said he, "this is our last evening together, and I would have +it peaceful." + +"My father," said I, "it is not my will that this evening be our last; +and for peace, I long for it with all my heart." + +He frowned, and answered, "You have brought me trouble and sorrow. +Mother of God! was it not possible for you to be as your sister +Georgette? I gave her less love, yet she honours me more." + +"She honours you, my father, by a sweet, good life, and by marriage into +an honourable family, and at your word she gives her hand to Monsieur +Auguste de la Darante. She marries to your pleasure, therefore she +has peace and your love. I marry a man of my own choosing, a bitterly +wronged gentleman, and you treat me as some wicked thing. Is that like a +father who loves his child?" + +"The wronged gentleman, as you call him, invaded that which is the pride +of every honest gentleman," he said. + +"And what is that?" asked I quietly, though I felt the blood beating at +my temples. + +"My family honour, the good name and virtue of my daughter." + +I got to my feet, and looked my father in the eyes with an anger and a +coldness that hurts me now when I think of it, and I said, "I will not +let you speak so to me. Friendless though I be, you shall not. You have +the power to oppress me, but you shall not slander me to my face. Can +not you leave insults to my enemies?" + +"I will never leave you to the insults of this mock marriage," answered +he, angrily also. "Two days hence I take command of five thousand +burghers, and your brother Juste serves with General Montcalm. There is +to be last fighting soon between us and the English. I do not doubt +of the result, but I may fall, and your brother also, and, should +the English win, I will not leave you to him you call your husband. +Therefore you shall be kept safe where no alien hands may reach you. The +Church will hold you close." + +I calmed myself again while listening to him, and I asked, "Is there no +other way?" + +He shook his head. + +"Is there no Monsieur Doltaire?" said I. "He has a king's blood in his +veins!" + +He looked sharply at me. "You are mocking," he replied. "No, no, that is +no way, either. Monsieur Doltaire must never mate with daughter of mine. +I will take care of that; the Church is a perfect if gentle jailer." + +I could bear it no longer. I knelt to him. I begged him to have pity on +me. I pleaded with him; I recalled the days when, as a child, I sat upon +his knee and listened to the wonderful tales he told; I begged him, by +the memory of all the years when he and I were such true friends to +be kind to me now, to be merciful--even though he thought I had done +wrong--to be merciful. I asked him to remember that I was a motherless +girl, and that if I had missed the way to happiness he ought not to make +my path bitter to the end. I begged him to give me back his love and +confidence, and, if I must for evermore be parted from you, to let me be +with him, not to put me away into a convent. + +Oh, how my heart leaped when I saw his face soften! "Well, well," he +said, "if I live, you shall be taken from the convent; but for the +present, till this fighting is over, it is the only safe place. There, +too, you shall be safe from Monsieur Doltaire." + +It was poor comfort. "But should you be killed, and the English take +Quebec?" said I. + +"When I am dead," he answered, "when I am dead, then there is your +brother." + +"And if he speaks for Monsieur Doltaire?" asked I. + +"There is the Church and God always," he answered. + +"And my own husband, the man who saved your life, my father," I urged +gently; and when he would have spoken I threw myself into his arms--the +first time in such long, long weeks!--and, stopping his lips with my +fingers, burst into tears on his breast. I think much of his anger +against me passed, yet before he left he said he could not now prevent +the annulment of the marriage, even if he would, for other powers were +at work; which powers I supposed to be the Governor, for certain reasons +of enmity to my father and me--alas! how changed is he, the vain old +man!--and Monsieur Doltaire, whose ends I knew so well. So they will +unwed us to-morrow, Robert; but be sure that I shall never be unwed in +my own eyes, and that I will wait till I die, hoping you will come and +take me--oh, Robert, my husband--take me home. + +If I had one hundred men, I would fight my way out of this city, and to +you; but, dear, I have none, not even Gabord, who is not let come near +me. There is but Voban. Yet he will bear you this, if it be possible, +for he comes to-night to adorn my fashionable brother. The poor Mathilde +I have not seen of late. She has vanished. When they began to keep +me close, and carried me off at last into the country, where we were +captured by the English, I could not see her, and my heart aches for +her. + +God bless you, Robert, and farewell. How we shall smile, when all this +misery is done! Oh, say we shall, say we shall smile, and all this +misery cease. Will you not take me home? Do you still love thy wife, thy + +ALIXE? + +I bade Voban come to me at the little house behind the church that night +at ten o'clock, and by then I should have arranged some plan of action. +I knew not whether to trust Gabord or no. I was sorry now that I had +not tried to bring Clark with me. He was fearless, and he knew the town +well; but he lacked discretion, and that was vital. + +Two hours of waiting, then came a scene which is burned into my brain. +I looked down upon a mass of people, soldiers, couriers of the woods, +beggars, priests, camp followers, and anxious gentlefolk, come from +seclusion, or hiding, or vigils of war, to see a host of powers torture +a young girl who by suffering had been made a woman long before her +time. Out in the streets was the tramping of armed men, together with +the call of bugles and the sharp rattle of drums. Presently I heard the +hoofs of many horses, and soon afterwards there entered the door, and +way was made for him up the nave, the Marquis de Vaudreuil and his +suite, with the Chevalier de la Darante, the Intendant, and--to my +indignation--Juste Duvarney. + +They had no sooner taken their places than, from a little side door near +the vestry, there entered the Seigneur Duvarney and Alixe, who, coming +down slowly, took places very near the chancel steps. The Seigneur was +pale and stern, and carried himself with great dignity. His glance never +shifted from the choir, where the priests slowly entered and took their +places, the aged and feeble bishop going falteringly to his throne. +Alixe's face was pale and sorrowful, and yet it had a dignity and +self-reliance that gave it a kind of grandeur. A buzz passed through the +building, yet I noted, too, with gladness that there were tears on many +faces. + +A figure stole in beside Alixe. It was Mademoiselle Lotbiniere, who +immediately was followed by her mother. I leaned forward, perfectly +hidden, and listened to the singsong voices of the priests, the musical +note of the responses, heard the Kyrie Eleison, the clanging of the +belfry bell as the host was raised by the trembling bishop. The silence +which followed the mournful voluntary played by the organ was most +painful to me. + +At that moment a figure stepped from behind a pillar, and gave Alixe a +deep, scrutinizing look. It was Doltaire. He was graver than I had ever +seen him, and was dressed scrupulously in black, with a little white +lace showing at the wrists and neck. A handsomer figure it would be hard +to see; and I hated him for it, and wondered what new devilry was in his +mind. He seemed to sweep the church with a glance. Nothing could have +escaped that swift, searching look. His eyes were even raised to where +I was, so that I involuntarily drew back, though I knew he could not see +me. + +I was arrested suddenly by a curious disdainful, even sneering smile +which played upon his face as he looked at Vaudreuil and Bigot. There +was in it more scorn than malice, more triumph than active hatred. All +at once I remembered what he had said to me the day before: that he had +commission from the King through La Pompadour to take over the reins of +government from the two confederates, and send them to France to answer +the charges made against them. + +At last the bishop came forward, and read from a paper as follows: + +"Forasmuch as a well-beloved child of our Holy Church, Mademoiselle +Alixe Duvarney, of the parish of Beauport and of this cathedral parish, +in this province of New France, forgetting her manifest duty and our +sacred teaching, did illegally and in sinful error make feigned contract +of marriage with one Robert Moray, captain in a Virginian regiment, a +heretic, a spy, and an enemy to our country; and forasmuch as this was +done in violence of all nice habit and commendable obedience to Mother +Church and our national uses, we do hereby declare and make void this +alliance until such time as the Holy Father at Rome shall finally +approve our action and proclaiming. And it is enjoined upon Mademoiselle +Alixe Duvarney, on peril of her soul's salvation, to obey us in this +matter, and neither by word or deed or thought have commerce more +with this notorious and evil heretic and foe of our Church and of our +country. It is also the plain duty of the faithful children of our Holy +Church to regard this Captain Moray with a pious hatred, and to destroy +him without pity; and any good cunning or enticement which should +lure him to the punishment he so much deserves shall be approved. +Furthermore, Mademoiselle Alixe Duvarney shall, until such times as +there shall be peace in this land, and the molesting English are driven +back with slaughter--and for all time, if the heart of our sister +incline to penitence and love of Christ--be confined within the Convent +of the Ursulines, and cared for with great tenderness." + +He left off reading, and began to address himself to Alixe directly; +but she rose in her place, and while surprise and awe seized the +congregation, she said: + +"Monseigneur, I must needs, at my father's bidding, hear the annulment +of my marriage, but I will not hear this public exhortation. I am but a +poor girl, unlearned in the law, and I must needs submit to your power, +for I have no one here to speak for me. But my soul and my conscience I +carry to my Saviour, and I have no fear to answer Him. I am sorry that +I have offended against my people and my country and Holy Church, but +I repent not that I love and hold to my husband. You must do with me as +you will, but in this I shall never willingly yield." + +She turned to her father, and all the people breathed hard; for it +passed their understanding, and seemed most scandalous that a girl could +thus defy the Church, and answer the bishop in his own cathedral. Her +father rose, and then I saw her sway with faintness. I know not what +might have occurred, for the bishop stood with hand upraised and a +great indignation in his face, about to speak, when out of the desultory +firing from our batteries there came a shell, which burst even at the +cathedral entrance, tore away a portion of the wall, and killed and +wounded a number of people. + +Then followed a panic which the priests in vain tried to quell. The +people swarmed into the choir and through the vestry. I saw Doltaire +with Juste Duvarney spring swiftly to the side of Alixe, and, with her +father, put her and Mademoiselle Lotbiniere into the pulpit, forming +a ring round it, and preventing the crowd from trampling on them, as, +suddenly gone mad, they swarmed past. The Governor, the Intendant, and +the Chevalier de la Darante did as much also for Madame Lotbiniere; +and as soon as the crush had in a little subsided, a number of soldiers +cleared the way, and I saw my wife led from the church. I longed to leap +down there among them and claim her, but that thought was madness, for I +should have been food for worms in a trice, so I kept my place. + + + + +XXVI. THE SECRET OF THE TAPESTRY + + +That evening, at eight o'clock, Jean Labrouk was buried. A shell had +burst not a dozen paces from his own door, within the consecrated +ground of the cathedral, and in a hole it had made he was laid, the only +mourners his wife and his grandfather, and two soldiers of his company +sent by General Bougainville to bury him. I watched the ceremony from +my loft, which had one small dormer window. It was dark, but burning +buildings in the Lower Town made all light about the place. I could hear +the grandfather mumbling and talking to the body as it was lowered into +the ground. While yet the priest was hastily reading prayers, a dusty +horseman came riding to the grave, and dismounted. + +"Jean," he said, looking at the grave, "Jean Labrouk, a man dies well +that dies with his gaiters on, aho!... What have you said for Jean +Labrouk, m'sieu'?" he added to the priest. + +The priest stared at him, as though he had presumed. + +"Well?" said Gabord. "Well?" + +The priest answered nothing, but prepared to go, whispering a word of +comfort to the poor wife. Gabord looked at the soldiers, looked at the +wife, at the priest, then spread out his legs and stuck his hands down +into his pockets, while his horse rubbed its nose against his shoulder. +He fixed his eyes on the grave, and nodded once or twice musingly. + +"Well," he said at last, as if he had found a perfect virtue, and the +one or only thing that could be said, "well, he never eat his words, +that Jean." + +A moment afterwards he came into the house with Babette, leaving one of +the soldiers holding his horse. After the old man had gone, I heard him +say, "Were you at mass to-day? And did you see all?" + +And when she had answered yes, he continued: "It was a mating as birds +mate, but mating was it, and holy fathers and Master Devil Doltaire +can't change it till cock-pheasant Moray come rocketing to 's grave. +They would have hanged me for my part in it, but I repent not, for they +have wickedly hunted this little lady." + +"I weep with her," said Jean's wife. + +"Ay, ay, weep on, Babette," he answered. + +"Has she asked help of you?" said the wife. + +"Truly; but I know not what says she, for I read not, but I know her +pecking. Here it is. But you must be secret." + +Looking through a crack in the floor, I could plainly see them. She took +the letter from him and read aloud: + +"If Gabord the soldier have a good heart still, as ever he had in the +past, he will again help a poor friendless woman. She needs him, for all +are against her. Will he leave her alone among her enemies? Will he not +aid her to fly? At eight o'clock to-morrow night she will be taken to +the Convent of the Ursulines, to be there shut in. Will he not come to +her before that time?" + +For a moment after the reading there was silence, and I could see the +woman looking at him curiously. "What will you do?" she asked. + +"My faith, there's nut to crack, for I have little time. This letter but +reached me with the news of Jean, two hours ago, and I know not what to +do, but, scratching my head, here comes word from General Montcalm that +I must ride to Master Devil Doltaire with a letter, and I must find him +wherever he may be, and give it straight. So forth I come; and I must be +at my post again by morn, said the General." + +"It is now nine o'clock, and she will be in the convent," said the woman +tentatively. + +"Aho!" he answered, "and none can enter there but Governor, if holy +Mother say no. So now goes Master Devil there? 'Gabord,' quoth he, 'you +shall come with me to the convent at ten o'clock, bringing three stout +soldiers of the garrison. Here's an order on Monsieur Ramesay, the +Commandant. Choose you the men, and fail me not, or you shall swing +aloft, dear Gabord.' Sweet lovers of hell, but Master Devil shall have +swinging too one day." He put his thumb to his nose, and spread his +fingers out. + +Presently he seemed to note something in the woman's eyes, for he spoke +almost sharply to her: "Jean Labrouk was honest man, and kept faith with +comrades." + +"And I keep faith too, comrade," was the answer. + +"Gabord's a brute to doubt you," he rejoined quickly, and he drew +from his pocket a piece of gold, and made her take it, though she much +resisted. + +Meanwhile my mind was made up. I saw, I thought, through "Master +Devil's" plan, and I felt, too, that Gabord would not betray me. In any +case, Gabord and I could fight it out. If he opposed me, it was his life +or mine, for too much was at stake, and all my plans were now changed +by his astounding news. At that moment Voban entered the room without +knocking. Here was my cue, and so, to prevent explanations, I crept +quickly down, opened the door, came in on them. + +They wheeled at my footsteps; the woman gave a little cry, and Gabord's +hand went to his pistol. There was a wild sort of look in his face, as +though he could not trust his eyes. I took no notice of the menacing +pistol, but went straight to him and held out my hand. + +"Gabord," said I, "you are not my jailer now." + +"I'll be your guard to citadel," said he, after a moment's dumb +surprise, refusing my outstretched hand. + +"Neither guard nor jailer any more, Gabord," said I seriously. "We've +had enough of that, my friend." + +The soldier and the jailer had been working in him, and his fingers +trifled with the trigger. In all things he was the foeman first. But now +something else was working in him. I saw this, and added pointedly, "No +more cage, Gabord, not even for reward of twenty thousand livres and at +command of Holy Church." + +He smiled grimly, too grimly, I thought, and turned inquiringly to +Babette. In a few words she told him all, tears dropping from her eyes. + +"If you take him, you betray me," she said; "and what would Jean say, if +he knew?" + +"Gabord," said I, "I come not as a spy; I come to seek my wife, and she +counts you as her friend. Do harm to me, and you do harm to her. Serve +me, and you serve her. Gabord, you said to her once that I was an +honourable man." + +He put up his pistol. "Aho, you've put your head in the trap. Stir, and +click goes the spring." + +"I must have my wife," I continued. "Shall the nest you helped to make +go empty?" + +I worked upon him to such purpose that, all bristling with war at first, +he was shortly won over to my scheme, which I disclosed to him while the +wife made us a cup of coffee. Through all our talk Voban had sat eying +us with a covert interest, yet showing no excitement. He had been unable +to reach Alixe. She had been taken to the convent, and immediately +afterwards her father and brother had gone their ways--Juste to General +Montcalm, and the Seigneur to the French camp. Thus Alixe did not know +that I was in Quebec. + +An hour after this I was marching, with two other men and Gabord, to the +Convent of the Ursulines, dressed in the ordinary costume of a French +soldier, got from the wife of Jean Labrouk. In manner and speech though +I was somewhat dull, my fellows thought, I was enough like a peasant +soldier to deceive them, and my French was more fluent than their own. I +was playing a desperate game; yet I liked it, for it had a fine spice of +adventure apart from the great matter at stake. If I could but carry it +off, I should have sufficient compensation for all my miseries, in spite +of their twenty thousand livres and Holy Church. + +In a few minutes we came to the convent, and halted outside, waiting for +Doltaire. Presently he came, and, looking sharply at us all, he ordered +two to wait outside, and Gabord and myself to come with him. Then he +stood looking at the building curiously for a moment. A shell had broken +one wing of it, and this portion had been abandoned; but the faithful +Sisters clung still to their home, though urged constantly by the +Governor to retire to the Hotel Dieu, which was outside the reach of +shot and shell. This it was their intention soon to do, for within the +past day or so our batteries had not sought to spare the convent. As +Doltaire looked he laughed to himself, and then said, "Too quiet for gay +spirits, this hearse. Come, Gabord, and fetch this slouching fellow," +nodding towards me. + +Then he knocked loudly. No one came, and he knocked again and again. At +last the door was opened by the Mother Superior, who was attended by two +others. She started at seeing Doltaire. + +"What do you wish, monsieur?" she asked. + +"I come on business of the King, good Mother," he replied seriously, and +stepped inside. + +"It is a strange hour for business," she said severely. + +"The King may come at all hours," he answered soothingly: "is it not so? +By the law he may enter when he wills." + +"You are not the King, monsieur," she objected, with her head held up +sedately. + +"Or the Governor may come, good Mother?" + +"You are not the Governor, Monsieur Doltaire," she said, more sharply +still. + +"But a Governor may demand admittance to this convent, and by the order +of his Most Christian Majesty he may not be refused: is it not so?" + +"Must I answer the catechism of Monsieur Doltaire?" + +"But is it not so?" he asked again urbanely. + +"It is so, yet how does that concern you, monsieur?" + +"In every way," and he smiled. + +"This is unseemly, monsieur. What is your business?" + +"The Governor's business, good Mother." + +"Then let the Governor's messenger give his message and depart in +peace," she answered, her hand upon the door. + +"Not the Governor's messenger, but the Governor himself," he rejoined +gravely. + +He turned and was about to shut the door, but she stopped him. "This is +no house for jesting, monsieur," she said. "I will arouse the town if +you persist.--Sister," she added to one standing near, "the bell!" + +"You fill your office with great dignity and merit, Mere St. George," he +said, as he put out his hand and stayed the Sister. "I commend you for +your discretion. Read this," he continued, handing her a paper. + +A Sister held a light, and the Mother read it. As she did so Doltaire +made a motion to Gabord, and he shut the door quickly on us. Mere St. +George looked up from the paper, startled and frightened too. + +"Your Excellency!" she exclaimed. + +"You are the first to call me so," he replied. "I thought to leave +untouched this good gift of the King, and to let the Marquis de +Vaudreuil and the admirable Bigot untwist the coil they have made. But +no. After some too generous misgivings, I now claim my own. I could not +enter here, to speak with a certain lady, save as the Governor, but +as the Governor I now ask speech with Mademoiselle Duvarney. Do you +hesitate?" he added. "Do you doubt that signature of his Majesty? +Then see this. Here is a line from the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the late +Governor. It is not dignified, one might say it is craven, but it is +genuine." + +Again the distressed lady read, and again she said, "Your Excellency!" +Then, "You wish to see her in my presence, your Excellency?" + +"Alone, good Mother," he softly answered. + +"Your Excellency, will you, the first officer in the land, defy our holy +rules, and rob us of our privilege to protect and comfort and save?" + +"I defy nothing," he replied. "The lady is here against her will, a +prisoner. She desires not your governance and care. In any case, I +must speak with her; and be assured, I honour you the more for your +solicitude, and will ask your counsel when I have finished talk with +her." + +Was ever man so crafty? After a moment's thought she turned, dismissed +the others, and led the way, and Gabord and I followed. We were bidden +to wait outside a room, well lighted but bare, as I could see through +the open door. Doltaire entered, smiling, and then bowed the nun on her +way to summon Alixe. Gabord and I stood there, not speaking, for both +were thinking of the dangerous game now playing. In a few minutes the +Mother returned, bringing Alixe. The light from the open door shone upon +her face. My heart leaped, for there was in her look such a deep sorrow. +She was calm, save for those shining yet steady eyes; they were like +furnaces, burning up the colour of her cheeks. She wore a soft black +gown, with no sign of ornament, and her gold-brown hair was bound with a +piece of black velvet ribbon. Her beauty was deeper than I had ever seen +it; a peculiar gravity seemed to have added years to her life. As she +passed me her sleeve brushed my arm, as it did that day I was arrested +in her father's house. She started, as though I had touched her fingers, +but only half turned toward me, for her mind was wholly occupied with +the room where Doltaire was. + +At that moment Gabord coughed slightly, and she turned quickly to him. +Her eyes flashed intelligence, and presently, as she passed in, a +sort of hope seemed to have come on her face to lighten its painful +pensiveness. The Mother Superior entered with her, the door closed, and +then, after a little, the Mother came out again. As she did so I saw a +look of immediate purpose in her face, and her hurrying step persuaded +me she was bent on some project of espial. So I made a sign to Gabord +and followed her. As she turned the corner of the hallway just beyond, +I stepped forward silently and watched her enter a room that would, I +knew, be next to this we guarded. + +Listening at the door for a moment, I suddenly and softly turned the +handle and entered, to see the good Mother with a panel drawn in the +wall before her, and her face set to it. She stepped back as I shut the +door and turned the key in the lock. I put my finger to my lips, for she +seemed about to cry out. + +"Hush!" said I. "I watch for those who love her. I am here to serve +her--and you." + +"You are a servant of the Seigneur's?" she said, the alarm passing out +of her face. + +"I served the Seigneur, good Mother," I answered, "and I would lay down +my life for ma'm'selle." + +"You would hear?" she asked, pointing to the panel. + +I nodded. + +"You speak French not like a Breton or Norman," she added. "What is your +province?" + +"I am an Auvergnian." + +She said no more, but motioned to me, enjoining silence also by a sign, +and I stood with her beside the panel. Before it was a piece of tapestry +which was mere gauze in one place, and I could see through and hear +perfectly. The room we were in was at least four feet higher than the +other, and we looked down on its occupants. + +"Presently, holy Mother," said I, "all shall be told true to you, if you +wish it. It is not your will to watch and hear; it is because you +love the lady. But I love her, too, and I am to be trusted. It is not +business for such as you." + +She saw my implied rebuke, and said, as I thought a little abashed, "You +will tell me all? And if he would take her forth, give me alarm in the +room opposite yonder door, and stay them, and--" + +"Stay them, holy Mother, at the price of my life. I have the honour of +her family in my hands." + +She looked at me gravely, and I assumed a peasant openness of look and +honesty. She was deceived completely, and, without further speech, she +stepped to the door like a ghost and was gone. I never saw a human being +so noiseless, so uncanny. Our talk had been carried on silently, and I +had closed the panel quietly, so that we could not be heard by Alixe +or Doltaire. Now I was alone, to see and hear my wife in speech with +my enemy, the man who had made a strong, and was yet to make a stronger +fight to unseat me in her affections. + +There was a moment's compunction, in which I hesitated to see this +meeting; but there was Alixe's safety to be thought on, and what might +he not here disclose of his intentions!--knowing which, I should act +with judgment, and not in the dark. I trusted Alixe, though I knew +well that this hour would see the great struggle in her between this +scoundrel and myself. I knew that he had ever had a sort of power over +her, even while she loathed his character; that he had a hundred graces +I had not, place which I had not, an intellect that ever delighted me, +and a will like iron when it was called into action. I thought for one +moment longer ere I moved the panel. My lips closed tight, and I felt a +pang at my heart. + +Suppose, in this conflict, this singular man, acting on a nature already +tried beyond reason, should bend it to his will, to which it was, in +some radical ways, inclined? Well, if that should be, then I would go +forth and never see her more. She must make her choice out of her own +heart and spirit, and fight this fight alone, and having fought, and +lost or won, the result should be final, should stand, though she was +my wife, and I was bound in honour to protect her from all that might +invade her loyalty, to cherish her through all temptation and distress. +But our case was a strange one, and it must be dealt with according +to its strangeness--our only guides our consciences. There were no +precedents to meet our needs; our way had to be hewn out of a noisome, +pathless wood. I made up my mind: I would hear and see all. So I slid +the panel softly, and put my eyes to the tapestry. How many times did I +see, in the next hour, my wife's eyes upraised to this very tapestry, +as if appealing to the Madonna upon it! How many times did her eyes look +into mine without knowing it! And more than once Doltaire followed her +glance, and a faint smile passed over his face, as if he saw and was +interested in the struggle in her, apart from his own passion and +desires. + +When first I looked in, she was standing near a tall high-backed chair, +in almost the same position as on the day when Doltaire told me of +Braddock's death, accused me of being a spy, and arrested me. It gave +me, too, a thrill to see her raise her handkerchief to her mouth as if +to stop a cry, as she had done then, the black sleeve falling away from +her perfect rounded arm, now looking almost like marble against the +lace. She held her handkerchief to her lips for quite a minute; and +indeed it covered more than a little of her face, so that the features +most showing were her eyes, gazing at Doltaire with a look hard to +interpret, for there seemed in it trouble, entreaty, wonder, resistance, +and a great sorrow--no fear, trepidation, or indirectness. + +His disturbing words were these: "To-night I am the Governor of this +country. You once doubted my power--that was when you would save your +lover from death. I proved it in that small thing--I saved him. Well, +when you saw me carried off to the Bastile--it looked like that--my +power seemed to vanish: is it not so? We have talked of this before, but +now is a time to review all things again. And once more I say I am the +Governor of New France. I have had the commission in my hands ever since +I came back. But I have spoken of it to no one--except your lover." + +"My husband!" she said steadily, crushing the handkerchief in her hand, +which now rested upon the chair-arm. + +"Well, well, your husband--after a fashion. I did not care to use this +as an argument. I chose to win you by personal means alone, to have you +give yourself to Tinoir Doltaire because you set him before any other +man. I am vain, you see; but then vanity is no sin when one has fine +aspirations, and I aspire to you!" + +She made a motion with her hand. "Oh, can you not spare me this to-day +of all days in my life--your Excellency?" + +"Let it be plain 'monsieur,'" he answered. "I can not spare you, for +this day decides all. As I said, I desired you. At first my wish was to +possess you at any cost: I was your hunter only. I am still your hunter, +but in a different way. I would rather have you in my arms than save New +France; and with Montcalm I could save it. Vaudreuil is a blunderer and +a fool; he has sold the country. But what ambition is that? New France +may come and go, and be forgotten, and you and I be none the worse. +There are other provinces to conquer. But for me there is only one +province, and I will lift my standard there, and build a grand chateau +of my happiness there. That is my hope, and that is why I come to +conquer it, and not the English. Let the English go--all save one, and +he must die. Already he is dead; he died to-day at the altar of the +cathedral--" + +"No, no, no!" broke in Alixe, her voice low and firm. + +"But yes," he said; "but yes, he is dead to you forever. The Church has +said so; the state says so; your people say so; race and all manner of +good custom say so; and I, who love you better--yes, a hundred times +better than he--say so." + +She made a hasty, deprecating gesture with her hand. "Oh, carry this old +song elsewhere," she said, "for I am sick of it." There were now both +scorn and weariness in her tone. + +He had a singular patience, and he resented nothing. "I understand," he +went on, "what it was sent your heart his way. He came to you when you +were yet a child, before you had learnt the first secret of life. He was +a captive, a prisoner, he had a wound got in fair fighting, and I will +do him the credit to say he was an honest man; he was no spy." + +She looked up at him with a slight flush, almost of gratitude. "I know +that well," she returned. "I knew there was other cause than spying at +the base of all ill treatment of him. I know that you, you alone, kept +him prisoner here five long years." + +"Not I; the Grande Marquise--for weighty reasons. You should not fret at +those five years, since it gave you what you have cherished so much, +a husband--after a fashion. But yet we will do him justice: he is an +honourable fighter, he has parts and graces of a rude order. But he will +never go far in life; he has no instincts and habits common with you; it +has been, so far, a compromise, founded upon the old-fashioned romance +of ill-used captive and soft-hearted maid; the compassion, too, of the +superior for the low, the free for the caged." + +"Compassion such as your Excellency feels for me, no doubt," she said, +with a slow pride. + +"You are caged, but you may be free," he rejoined meaningly. + +"Yes, in the same market open to him, and at the same price of honour," +she replied, with dignity. + +"Will you not sit down?" he now said, motioning her to a chair politely, +and taking one himself, thus pausing before he answered her. + +I was prepared to see him keep a decorous distance from her. I felt he +was acting upon deliberation; that he was trusting to the power of his +insinuating address, his sophistry, to break down barriers. It was as +if he felt himself at greater advantage, making no emotional +demonstrations, so allaying her fears, giving her time to think; for it +was clear he hoped to master her intelligence, so strong a part of her. + +She sat down in the high-backed chair, and I noted that our batteries +began to play upon the town--an unusual thing at night. It gave me a +strange feeling--the perfect stillness of the holy place, the quiet +movement of this tragedy before me, on which broke, with no modifying +noises or turmoil, the shouting cannonade. Nature, too, it would have +seemed, had forged a mood in keeping with the time, for there was no +air stirring when we came in, and a strange stillness had come upon the +landscape. In the pause, too, I heard a long, soft shuffling of feet in +the corridor--the evening procession from the chapel--and a slow chant: + +"I am set down in a wilderness, O Lord, I am alone. If a strange voice +call, O teach me what to say; if I languish, O give me Thy cup to drink; +O strengthen Thou my soul. Lord, I am like a sparrow far from home; O +bring me to Thine honourable house. Preserve my heart, encourage me, +according to Thy truth." + +The words came to us distinctly yet distantly, swelled softly, and +died away, leaving Alixe and Doltaire seated and looking at each other. +Alixe's hands were clasped in her lap. + +"Your honour is above all price," he said at last in reply to her. +"But what is honour in this case of yours, in which I throw the whole +interest of my life, stake all? For I am convinced that, losing, the +book of fate will close for me. Winning, I shall begin again, and play a +part in France which men shall speak of when I am done with all. I never +had ambition for myself; for you, Alixe Duvarney, a new spirit lives in +me.... I will be honest with you. At first I swore to cool my hot face +in your bosom; and I would have done that at any price, and yet I would +have stood by that same dishonour honourably to the end. Never in my +whole life did I put my whole heart in any--episode--of admiration: I +own it, for you to think what you will. There never was a woman whom, +loving to-day,"--he smiled--"I could not leave to-morrow with no more +than a pleasing kind of regret. Names that I ought to have recalled I +forgot; incidents were cloudy, like childish remembrances. I was not +proud of it; the peasant in me spoke against it sometimes. I even have +wished that I, half peasant, had been--" + +"If only you had been all peasant, this war, this misery of mine, had +never been," she interrupted. + +He nodded with an almost boyish candour. "Yes, yes, but I was half +prince also; I had been brought up, one foot in a cottage and another in +a palace. But for your misery: is it, then, misery? Need it be so? But +lift your finger and all will be well. Do you wish to save your country? +Would that be compensation? Then I will show you the way. We have three +times as many soldiers as the English, though of poorer stuff. We could +hold this place, could defeat them, if we were united and had but two +thousand men. We have fifteen thousand. As it is now, Vaudreuil balks +Montcalm, and that will ruin us in the end unless you make it otherwise. +You would be a patriot? Then shut out forever this English captain from +your heart, and open its doors to me. To-morrow I will take Vaudreuil's +place, put your father in Bigot's, your brother in Ramesay's--they are +both perfect and capable; I will strengthen the excellent Montcalm's +hands in every way, will inspire the people, and cause the English to +raise this siege. You and I will do this: the Church will bless us, the +State will thank us; your home and country will be safe and happy, your +father and brother honoured. This, and far, far greater things I will do +for your sake." + +He paused. He had spoken with a deep power, such as I knew he could use, +and I did not wonder that she paled a little, even trembled before it. + +"Will you not do it for France?" she said. + +"I will not do it for France," he answered. "I will do it for you alone. +Will you not be your country's friend? It is no virtue in me to plead +patriotism--it is a mere argument, a weapon that I use; but my heart +is behind it, and it is a means to that which you will thank me for +one day. I would not force you to anything, but I would persuade your +reason, question your foolish loyalty to a girl's mistake. Can you think +that you are right? You have no friend that commends your cause; the +whole country has upbraided you, the Church has cut you off from the +man. All is against reunion with him, and most of all your own honour. +Come with me, and be commended and blessed here, while over in France +homage shall be done you. For you I would take from his Majesty a +dukedom which he has offered me more than once." + +Suddenly, with a passionate tone, he continued: "Your own heart is +speaking for me. Have I not seen you tremble when I come near you?" + +He rose and came forward a step or two. "You thought it was fear of me. +It was fear, but fear of that in you which was pleading for me, while +you had sworn yourself away to him who knows not and can never know how +to love you, who has nothing kin with you in mind or heart--an alien of +poor fortune, and poorer birth and prospects." + +He fixed his eyes upon her, and went on, speaking with forceful +quietness: "Had there been cut away that mistaken sense of duty to him, +which I admire unspeakably--yes, though it is misplaced--you and I would +have come to each other's arms long ago. Here in your atmosphere I feel +myself possessed, endowed. I come close to you, and something new in me +cries out simply, 'I love you, Alixe, I love you!' See, all the damnable +part of me is burned up by the clear fire of your eyes; I stand upon the +ashes, and swear that I can not live without you. Come--come--" + +He stepped nearer still, and she rose like one who moves under some +fascination, and I almost cried out, for in that moment she was his, +his--I felt it; he possessed her like some spirit; and I understood it, +for the devilish golden beauty of his voice was like music, and he had +spoken with great skill. + +"Come," he said, "and know where all along your love has lain. That +other way is only darkness--the convent, which will keep you buried, +while you will never have heart for the piteous seclusion, till your +life is broken all to pieces; till you have no hope, no desire, no love, +and at last, under a cowl, you look out upon the world, and, with a dead +heart, see it as in a pale dream, and die at last: you, born to be a +wife, without a husband; endowed to be the perfect mother, without +a child; to be the admired of princes, a moving, powerful figure to +influence great men, with no salon but the little bare cell where you +pray. With me all that you should be you will be. You have had a bad, +dark dream; wake, and come into the sun with me. Once I wished for you +as the lover only; now, by every hope I ever might have had, I want you +for my wife." + +He held out his arms to her and smiled, and spoke one or two low words +which I could not hear. I had stood waiting death against the citadel +wall, with the chance of a reprieve hanging between uplifted muskets +and my breast; but that suspense was less than this, for I saw him, not +moving, but standing there waiting for her, the warmth of his devilish +eloquence about him, and she moving toward him. + +"My darling," I heard him say, "come, till death...us do part, and let +no man put asunder." + +She paused, and, waking from the dream, drew herself together, as though +something at her breast hurt her, and she repeated his words like one +dazed--"Let no man put asunder!" + +With a look that told of her great struggle, she moved to a shrine of +the Virgin in the corner, and, clasping her hands before her breast +for a moment, said something I could not hear, before she turned to +Doltaire, who had now taken another step towards her. By his look I +knew that he felt his spell was broken; that his auspicious moment had +passed; that now, if he won her, it must be by harsh means. + +For she said: "Monsieur Doltaire, you have defeated yourself. 'Let no +man put asunder' was my response to my husband's 'Whom God hath joined,' +when last I met him face to face. Nothing can alter that while he lives, +nor yet when he dies, for I have had such a sorrowful happiness in +him that if I were sure he were dead I would never leave this holy +place--never. But he lives, and I will keep my vow. Holy Church has +parted us, but yet we are not parted. You say that to think of him now +is wrong, reflects upon me. I tell you, monsieur, that if it were a +wrong a thousand times greater I would do it. To me there can be no +shame in following till I die the man who took me honourably for his +wife." + +He made an impatient gesture and smiled ironically. + +"Oh, I care not what you say or think," she went on. "I know not of +things canonical and legal; the way that I was married to him is valid +in his country and for his people. Bad Catholic you call me, alas! But +I am a true wife, who, if she sinned, sinned not knowingly, and deserves +not this tyranny and shame." + +"You are possessed with a sad infatuation," he replied persuasively. +"You are not the first who has suffered so. It will pass, and leave you +sane--leave you to me. For you are mine; what you felt a moment ago you +will feel again, when this romantic martyrdom of yours has wearied you." + +"Monsieur Doltaire," she said, with a successful effort at calmness, +though I could see her trembling too, "it is you who are mistaken, and +I will show you how. But first: You have said often that I have unusual +intelligence. You have flattered me in that, I doubt not, but still +here is a chance to prove yourself sincere. I shall pass by every wicked +means that you took first to ruin me, to divert me to a dishonest love +(though I knew not what you meant at the time), and, failing, to make +me your wife. I shall not refer to this base means to reach me in this +sacred place, using the King's commission for such a purpose." + +"I would use it again and do more, for the same ends," he rejoined, with +shameless candour. + +She waved her hand impatiently. "I pass all that by. You shall listen to +me as I have listened to you, remembering that what I say is honest, +if it has not your grace and eloquence. You say that I will yet come to +you, that I care for you and have cared for you always, and that--that +this other--is a sad infatuation. Monsieur, in part you are right." + +He came another step forward, for he thought he saw a foothold again; +but she drew back to the chair, and said, lifting her hand against him, +"No, no, wait till I have done. I say that you are right in part. I will +not deny that, against my will, you have always influenced me; that, try +as I would, your presence moved me, and I could never put you out of my +mind, out of my life. At first I did not understand it, for I knew how +bad you were. I was sure you did evil because you loved it; that to +gratify yourself you would spare no one: a man without pity--" + +"On the contrary," he interrupted, with a sour sort of smile, "pity is +almost a foible with me." + +"Not real pity," she answered. "Monsieur, I have lived long enough to +know what pity moves you. It is the moment's careless whim; a pensive +pleasure, a dramatic tenderness. Wholesome pity would make you hesitate +to harm others. You have no principles--" + +"Pardon me, many," he urged politely, as he eyed her with admiration. + +"Ah no, monsieur; habits, not principles. Your life has been one long +irresponsibility. In the very maturity of your powers, you use them +to win to yourself, to your empty heart, a girl who has tried to live +according to the teachings of her soul and conscience. Were there not +women elsewhere to whom it didn't matter--your abandoned purposes? Why +did you throw your shadow on my path? You are not, never were, worthy of +a good woman's love." + +He laughed with a sort of bitterness. "Your sinner stands between two +fires--" he said. She looked at him inquiringly, and he added, "the +punishment he deserves and the punishment he does not deserve. But it +is interesting to be thus picked out upon the stone, however harsh the +picture. You said I influenced you--well?" + +"Monsieur," she went on, "there were times when, listening to you, I +needed all my strength to resist. I have felt myself weak and shaking +when you came into the room. There was something in you that appealed to +me, I know not what; but I do know that it was not the best of me, that +it was emotional, some strange power of your personality--ah yes, I can +acknowledge all now. You had great cleverness, gifts that startled and +delighted; but yet I felt always, and that feeling grew and grew, +that there was nothing in you wholly honest, that by artifice you had +frittered away what once may have been good in you. Now all goodness in +you was an accident of sense and caprice, not true morality." + +"What has true morality to do with love of you?" he said. + +"You ask me hard questions," she replied. "This it has to do with it: We +go from morality to higher things, not from higher things to morality. +Pure love is a high thing; yours was not high. To have put my life in +your hands--ah no, no! And so I fought you. There was no question of +yourself and Robert Moray--none. Him I knew to possess fewer gifts, +but I knew him also to be what you could never be. I never measured him +against you. What was his was all of me worth the having, and was given +always; there was no change. What was yours was given only when in your +presence, and then with hatred of myself and you--given to some baleful +fascination in you. For a time, the more I struggled against it the more +it grew, for there was nothing that could influence a woman which you +did not do. Monsieur, if you had had Robert Moray's character and your +own gifts, I could--monsieur, I could have worshiped you!" + +Doltaire was in a kind of dream. He was sitting now in the high-backed +chair, his mouth and chin in his hand, his elbow resting on the +chair-arm. His left hand grasped the other arm, and he leaned forward +with brows bent and his eyes fixed on her intently. It was a figure +singularly absorbed, lost in study of some deep theme. Once his sword +clanged against the chair as it slipped a little from its position, and +he started almost violently, though the dull booming of a cannon in no +wise seemed to break the quietness of the scene. He was dressed, as +in the morning, in plain black, but now the star of Louis shone on +his breast. His face was pale, but his eyes, with their swift-shifting +lights, lived upon Alixe, devoured her. + +She paused for an instant. + +"Thou shalt not commit--idolatry," he remarked in a low, cynical tone, +which the repressed feeling in his face and the terrible new earnestness +of his look belied. + +She flushed a little, and continued: "Yet all the time I was true to +him, and what I felt concerning you he knew--I told him enough." + +Suddenly there came into Doltaire's looks and manner an astounding +change. Both hands caught the chair-arm, his lips parted with a sort of +snarl, and his white teeth showed maliciously. It seemed as if, all at +once, the courtier, the flaneur, the man of breeding, had gone, and you +had before you the peasant, in a moment's palsy from the intensity of +his fury. + +"A thousand hells for him!" he burst out in the rough patois of +Poictiers, and got to his feet. "You told him all, you confessed your +fluttering fears and desires to him, while you let me play upon those +ardent strings of feelings, that you might save him! You used me, +Tinoir Doltaire, son of a king, to further your amour with a bourgeois +Englishman! And he laughed in his sleeve, and soothed away those +dangerous influences of the magician. By the God of heaven, Robert Moray +and I have work to do! And you--you, with all the gifts of the perfect +courtesan--" + +"Oh, shame! shame!" she said, breaking in. + +"But I speak the truth. You berate me, but you used incomparable gifts +to hold me near you, and the same gifts to let me have no more of you +than would keep me. I thought you the most honest, the most heavenly of +women, and now--" + +"Alas!" she interrupted, "what else could I have done? To draw the line +between your constant attention and my own necessity! Ah, I was but a +young girl; I had no friend to help me; he was condemned to die; I loved +him; I did not believe in you, not in ever so little. If I had said, +'You must not speak to me again,' you would have guessed my secret, and +all my purposes would have been defeated. So I had to go on; nor did I +think that it ever would cause you aught but a shock to your vanity." + +He laughed hatefully. "My faith, but it has, shocked my vanity," he +answered. "And now take this for thinking on: Up to this point I +have pleaded with you, used persuasion, courted you with a humility +astonishing to myself. Now I will have you in spite of all. I will +break you, and soothe your hurt afterwards. I will, by the face of the +Madonna, I will feed where this Moray would pasture, I will gather this +ripe fruit!" + +With a devilish swiftness he caught her about the waist, and kissed her +again and again upon the mouth. + +The blood was pounding in my veins, and I would have rushed in then and +there, have ended the long strife, and have dug revenge for this outrage +from his heart, but that I saw Alixe did not move, nor make the least +resistance. This struck me with horror, till, all at once, he let her +go, and I saw her face. It was very white and still, smooth and cold as +marble. She seemed five years older in the minute. + +"Have you quite done, monsieur?" she said, with infinite quiet scorn. +"Do you, the son of a king, find joy in kissing lips that answer +nothing, a cheek from which the blood flows in affright and shame? Is it +an achievement to feed as cattle feed? Listen to me, Monsieur Doltaire. +No, do not try to speak till I have done, if your morality--of +manners--is not all dead. Through this cowardly act of yours, the last +vestige of your power over me is gone. I sometimes think that, with you, +in the past, I have remained true and virtuous at the expense of the +best of me; but now all that is over, and there is no temptation--I feel +beyond it: by this hour here, this hour of sore peril, you have freed +me. I was tempted--Heaven knows, a few minutes ago I was tempted, for +everything was with you; but God has been with me, and you and I are no +nearer than the poles." + +"You doubt that I love you?" he said in an altered voice. + +"I doubt that any man will so shame the woman he loves," she answered. + +"What is insult to-day may be a pride to-morrow," was his quick reply. +"I do not repent of it, I never will, for you and I shall go to-night +from here, and you shall be my wife; and one day, when this man is dead, +when you have forgotten your bad dream, you will love me as you can not +love him. I have that in me to make you love me. To you I can be loyal, +never drifting, never wavering. I tell you, I will not let you go. First +my wife you shall be, and after that I will win your love; in spite +of all, mine now, though it is shifted for the moment. Come, come, +Alixe"--he made as if to take her hand--"you and I will learn the +splendid secret--" + +She drew back to the shrine of the Virgin. + +"Mother of God! Mother of God!" I heard her whisper, and then she raised +her hand against him. "No, no, no," she said, with sharp anguish, "do +not try to force me to your wishes--do not; for I, at least, will never +live to see it. I have suffered more than I can bear I will end this +shame, I will--" + +I had heard enough. I stepped back quickly, closed the panel, and +went softly to the door and into the hall, determined to bring her out +against Doltaire, trusting to Gabord not to oppose me. + + + + +XXVII. A SIDE-WIND OF REVENGE + + +I knew it was Doltaire's life or mine, and I shrank from desecrating +this holy place; but our bitter case would warrant this, and more. As I +came quickly through the hall, and round the corner where stood Gabord, +I saw a soldier talking with the Mother Superior. + +"He is not dead?" I heard her say. + +"No, holy Mother," was the answer, "but sorely wounded. He was testing +the fire-organs for the rafts, and one exploded too soon." + +At that moment the Mother turned to me, and seemed startled by my look. +"What is it?" she whispered. + +"He would carry her off," I replied. + +"He shall never do so," was her quick answer. "Her father, the good +Seigneur, has been wounded, and she must go to him." + +"I will take her," said I at once, and I moved to open the door. At that +moment I caught Gabord's eye. There I read what caused me to pause. If +I declared myself now, Gabord's life would pay for his friendship to +me--even if I killed Doltaire; for the matter would be open to all then +just the same. That I could not do, for the man had done me kindnesses +dangerous to himself. Besides, he was a true soldier, and disgrace +itself would be to him as bad as the drum-head court-martial. I made up +my mind to another course even as the perturbed "aho" which followed our +glance fell from his puffing lips. + +"But no, holy Mother," said I, and I whispered in her ear. She opened +the door and went in, leaving it ajar. I could hear only a confused +murmur of voices, through which ran twice, "No, no, monsieur," in +Alixe's soft, clear voice. I could scarcely restrain myself, and I am +sure I should have gone in, in spite of all, had it not been for Gabord, +who withstood me. + +He was right, and as I turned away I heard Alixe cry, "My father, my +poor father!" + +Then came Doltaire's voice, cold and angry: "Good Mother, this is a +trick." + +"Your Excellency should be a better judge of trickery," she replied +quietly. "Will not your Excellency leave an unhappy lady to her trouble +and the Church's care?" + +"If the Seigneur is hurt, I will take mademoiselle to him," was his +instant reply. + +"It may not be, your Excellency," she said. "I will furnish her with +other escort." + +"And I, as Governor of this province, as commander-in-chief of the army, +say that only with my escort shall the lady reach her father." + +At this Alixe spoke: "Dear Mere St. George, do not fear for me; God will +protect me--" + +"And I also, mademoiselle, with my life," interposed Doltaire. + +"God will protect me," Alixe repeated; "I have no fear." + +"I will send two of our Sisters with mademoiselle to nurse the poor +Seigneur," said Mere St. George. + +I am sure Doltaire saw the move. "A great kindness, holy Mother," he +said politely, "and I will see they are well cared for. We will set +forth at once. The Seigneur shall be brought to the Intendance, and he +and his daughter shall have quarters there." + +He stepped towards the door where we were. I fell back into position +as he came. "Gabord," said he, "send your trusted fellow here to the +General's camp, and have him fetch to the Intendance the Seigneur +Duvarney, who has been wounded. Alive or dead, he must be brought," he +added in a lower voice. + +Then he turned back into the room. As he did so, Gabord looked at me +inquiringly. + +"If you go, you put your neck into the gin," said he; "some one in camp +will know you." + +"I will not leave my wife," I answered in a whisper. Thus were all plans +altered on the instant. Gabord went to the outer door and called another +soldier, to whom he gave this commission. + +A few moments afterwards, Alixe, Doltaire, and the Sisters of Mercy +were at the door ready to start. Doltaire turned and bowed with a +well-assumed reverence to the Mother Superior. "To-night's affairs here +are sacred to ourselves, Mere St. George," he said. + +She bowed, but made no reply. Alixe turned and kissed her hand. But as +we stepped forth, the Mother said suddenly, pointing to me, "Let the +soldier come back in an hour, and mademoiselle's luggage shall go to +her, your Excellency." + +Doltaire nodded, glancing at me. "Surely he shall attend you, Mere St. +George," he said, and then stepped on with Alixe, Gabord and the other +soldier ahead, the two Sisters behind, and myself beside these. Going +quietly through the disordered Upper Town, we came down Palace Street to +the Intendance. Here Doltaire had kept his quarters despite his growing +quarrel with Bigot. As we entered he inquired of the servant where +Bigot was, and was told he was gone to the Chateau St. Louis. Doltaire +shrugged a shoulder and smiled--he knew that Bigot had had news of his +deposition through the Governor. He gave orders for rooms to be prepared +for the Seigneur and for the Sisters; mademoiselle meanwhile to be taken +to hers, which had, it appeared, been made ready. Then I heard him +ask in an undertone if the bishop had come, and he was answered that +Monseigneur was at Charlesbourg, and could not be expected till the +morning. I was in a most dangerous position, for, though I had escaped +notice, any moment might betray me; Doltaire himself might see through +my disguise. + +We all accompanied Alixe to the door of her apartments, and there +Doltaire with courtesy took leave of her, saying that he would return in +a little time to see if she was comfortable, and to bring her any fresh +news of her father. The Sisters were given apartments next her own, and +they entered her room with her, at her own request. + +When the door closed, Doltaire turned to Gabord, and said, "You shall +come with me to bear letters to General Montcalm, and you shall send one +of these fellows also for me to General Bougainville at Cap Rouge." Then +he spoke directly to me, and said, "You shall guard this passage till +morning. No one but myself may pass into this room or out of it, save +the Sisters of Mercy, on pain of death." + +I saluted, but spoke no word. + +"You understand me?" he repeated. + +"Absolutely, monsieur," I answered in a rough peasantlike voice. + +He turned and walked in a leisurely way through the passage, and +disappeared, telling Gabord to join him in a moment. As he left, Gabord +said to me in a low voice, "Get back to General Wolfe, or wife and life +will both be lost." + +I caught his hand and pressed it, and a minute afterwards I was alone +before Alixe's door. + +An hour later, knowing Alixe to be alone, I tapped on her door and +entered. As I did so she rose from a priedieu where she had been +kneeling. Two candles were burning on the mantel, but the room was much +in shadow. + +"What is't you wish?" she asked, approaching. + +I had off my hat; I looked her direct in the eyes and put my fingers on +my lips. She stared painfully for a moment. + +"Alixe," said I. + +She gave a gasp, and stood transfixed, as though she had seen a ghost, +and then in an instant she was in my arms, sobs shaking her. "Oh, +Robert! oh my dear, dear husband!" she cried again and again. I calmed +her, and presently she broke into a whirl of questions. I told her of +all I had seen at the cathedral and at the convent, what my plans had +been, and then I waited for her answer. A new feeling took possession of +her. She knew that there was one question at my lips which I dared not +utter. She became very quiet, and a sweet, settled firmness came into +her face. + +"Robert," she said, "you must go back to your army without me. I can not +leave my father now. Save yourself alone, and if--and if you take the +city, and I am alive, then we shall be reunited. If you do not take the +city, then, whether father lives or dies, I will come to you. Of this be +sure, that I shall never live to be the wife of any other man--wife +or aught else. You know me. You know all, you trust me, and, my dear +husband, my own love, we must part once more. Go, go, and save yourself, +keep your life safe for my sake, and may God in heaven, may God--" + +Here she broke off and started back from my embrace, staring hard a +moment over my shoulder; then her face became deadly pale, and she fell +back unconscious. Supporting her, I turned round, and there, inside the +door, with his back to it, was Doltaire. There was a devilish smile on +his face, as wicked a look as I ever saw on any man. I laid Alixe down +on a sofa without a word, and faced him again. + +"As many coats as Joseph's coat had colours," he said. "And for once +disguised as an honest man--well, well!" + +"Beast" I hissed, and I whipped out my short sword. + +"Not here," he said, with a malicious laugh. "You forget your manners: +familiarity"--he glanced towards the couch--"has bred--" + +"Coward!" I cried. "I will kill you at her feet." + +"Come, then," he answered, and stepped away from the door, drawing his +sword, "since you will have it here. But if I kill you, as I intend--" + +He smiled detestably, and motioned towards the couch, then turned to the +door again as if to lock it. I stepped between, my sword at guard. At +that the door opened. A woman came in quickly, and closed it behind her. +She passed me, and faced Doltaire. + +It was Madame Cournal. She was most pale, and there was a peculiar +wildness in her eyes. + +"You have deposed Francois Bigot," she said. + +"Stand back, madame; I have business with this fellow," said Doltaire, +waving his hand. + +"My business comes first," she replied. "You--you dare to depose +Francois Bigot!" + +"It needs no daring," he said nonchalantly. + +"You shall put him back in his place." + +"Come to me to-morrow morning, dear madame." + +"I tell you he must be put back, Monsieur Doltaire." + +"Once you called me Tinoir," he said meaningly. + +Without a word she caught from her cloak a dagger and struck him in +the breast, though he threw up his hand and partly diverted the blow. +Without a cry he half swung round, and sank, face forward, against the +couch where Alixe lay. + +Raising himself feebly, blindly, he caught her hand and kissed it; then +he fell back. + +Stooping beside him, I felt his heart. He was alive. Madame Cournal now +knelt beside him, staring at him as in a kind of dream. I left the room +quickly, and met the Sisters of Mercy in the hall. They had heard the +noise, and were coming to Alixe. I bade them care for her. Passing +rapidly through the corridors, I told a servant of the household what +had occurred, bade him send for Bigot, and then made for my own safety. +Alixe was safe for a time, at least--perhaps forever, thank God!--from +the approaches of Monsieur Doltaire. As I sped through the streets, I +could not help but think of how he had kissed her hand as he fell, and I +knew by this act, at such a time, that in very truth he loved her after +his fashion. + +I came soon to the St. John's Gate, for I had the countersign from +Gabord, and, dressed as I was, I had no difficulty in passing. Outside I +saw a small cavalcade arriving from Beauport way. I drew back and let +it pass me, and then I saw that it was soldiers bearing the Seigneur +Duvarney to the Intendance. + +An hour afterwards, having passed the sentries, I stood on a lonely +point of the shore of Lower Town, and, seeing no one near, I slid into +the water. As I did so I heard a challenge behind me, and when I made +no answer there came a shot, another, and another; for it was thought, I +doubt not, that I was a deserter. I was wounded in the shoulder, and had +to swim with one arm; but though boats were put out, I managed to evade +them and to get within hail of our fleet. Challenged there, I answered +with my name. A boat shot out from among the ships, and soon I was +hauled into it by Clark himself; and that night I rested safe upon the +Terror of France. + + + + +XXVIII. "TO CHEAT THE DEVIL YET." + + +My hurt proved more serious than I had looked for, and the day after my +escape I was in a high fever. General Wolfe himself, having heard of my +return, sent to inquire after me. He also was ill, and our forces were +depressed in consequence; for he had a power to inspire them not given +to any other of our accomplished and admirable generals. He forbore to +question me concerning the state of the town and what I had seen; for +which I was glad. My adventure had been of a private nature, and such I +wished it to remain. The general desired me to come to him as soon as I +was able, that I might proceed with him above the town to reconnoitre. +But for many a day this was impossible, for my wound gave me much pain +and I was confined to my bed. + +Yet we on the Terror of France served our good general, too; for one +dark night, when the wind was fair, we piloted the remaining ships +of Admiral Holmes's division above the town. This move was made on my +constant assertion that there was a way by which Quebec might be taken +from above; and when General Wolfe made known my representations to his +general officers, they accepted it as a last resort; for otherwise what +hope had they? At Montmorenci our troops had been repulsed, the mud +flats of the Beauport shore and the St. Charles River were as good as +an army against us; the Upper Town and citadel were practically +impregnable; and for eight miles west of the town to the cove and river +at Cap Rouge there was one long precipice, broken in but one spot; but +just there, I was sure, men could come up with stiff climbing as I had +done. Bougainville came to Cap Rouge now with three thousand men, for +he thought that this was to be our point of attack. Along the shore from +Cap Rouge to Cape Diamond small batteries were posted, such as that of +Lancy's at Anse du Foulon; but they were careless, for no conjectures +might seem so wild as that of bringing an army up where I had climbed. + +"Tut, tut," said General Murray, when he came to me on the Terror of +France, after having, at my suggestion, gone to the south shore opposite +Anse du Foulon, and scanned the faint line that marked the narrow cleft +on the cliff side--"tut, tut, man," said he, "'tis the dream of a cat or +a damned mathematician." + +Once, after all was done, he said to me that cats and mathematicians +were the only generals. + +With a belligerent pride Clark showed the way up the river one evening, +the batteries of the town giving us plunging shots as we went, and ours +at Point Levis answering gallantly. To me it was a good if most anxious +time: good, in that I was having some sort of compensation for my own +sufferings in the town; anxious, because no single word came to me of +Alixe or her father, and all the time we were pouring death into the +place. + +But this we knew from deserters, that Vaudreuil was Governor and Bigot +Intendant still; by which it would seem that, on the momentous +night when Doltaire was wounded by Madame Cournal, he gave back the +governorship to Vaudreuil and reinstated Bigot. Presently, from an +officer who had been captured as he was setting free a fire-raft upon +the river to run among the boats of our fleet, I heard that Doltaire had +been confined in the Intendance from a wound given by a stupid sentry. +Thus the true story had been kept from the public. From him, too, +I learned that nothing was known of the Seigneur Duvarney and his +daughter; that they had suddenly disappeared from the Intendance, as if +the earth had swallowed them; and that even Juste Duvarney knew nothing +of them, and was, in consequence, much distressed. + +This officer also said that now, when it might seem as if both the +Seigneur and his daughter were dead, opinion had turned in Alixe's +favour, and the feeling had crept about, first among the common folk +and afterwards among the people of the garrison, that she had been used +harshly. This was due largely, he thought, to the constant advocacy +of the Chevalier de la Darante, whose nephew had married Mademoiselle +Georgette Duvarney. This piece of news, in spite of the uncertainty of +Alixe's fate, touched me, for the Chevalier had indeed kept his word to +me. + +At last all of Admiral Holmes's division was got above the town, with +very little damage, and I never saw a man so elated, so profoundly +elated as Clark over his share in the business. He was a daredevil, +too; for the day that the last of the division was taken up the river, +without my permission or the permission of the admiral or any one else, +he took the Terror of France almost up to Bougainville's earthworks in +the cove at Cap Rouge and insolently emptied his six swivels into them, +and then came out and stood down the river. When I asked what he was +doing--for I was now well enough to come on deck--he said he was going +to see how monkeys could throw nuts; when I pressed him, he said he had +a will to hear the cats in the eaves; and when I became severe, he added +that he would bring the Terror of France up past the batteries of the +town in broad daylight, swearing that they could no more hit him than +a woman could a bird on a flagstaff. I did not relish this foolish +bravado, and I forbade it; but presently I consented, on condition that +he take me to General Wolfe's camp at Montmorenci first; for now I felt +strong enough to be again on active service. + +Clark took the Terror of France up the river in midday, running +perilously close to the batteries; and though they pounded at him +petulantly, foolishly angry at his contemptuous defiance, he ran the +gauntlet safely, and coming to the flagship, the Sutherland, saluted +with his six swivels, to the laughter of the whole fleet and his own +profane joy. + +"Mr. Moray," said General Wolfe, when I saw him, racked with pain, +studying a chart of the river and town which his chief engineer had just +brought him, "show me here this passage in the hillside." + +I did so, tracing the plains of Maitre Abraham, which I assured him +would be good ground for a pitched battle. He nodded; then rose, and +walked up and down for a time, thinking. Suddenly he stopped, and fixed +his eyes upon me. + +"Mr. Moray," said he, "it would seem that you, angering La Pompadour, +brought down this war upon us." He paused, smiling in a dry way, as if +the thought amused him, as if indeed he doubted it; but for that I cared +not, it was an honour I could easily live without. + +I bowed to his words, and said, "Mine was the last straw, sir." + +Again he nodded, and replied, "Well, well, you got us into trouble; you +must show us the way out," and he looked at the passage I had traced +upon the chart. "You will remain with me until we meet our enemy on +these heights." He pointed to the plains of Maitre Abraham. Then he +turned away, and began walking up and down again. "It is the last +chance!" he said to himself in a tone despairing and yet heroic. "Please +God, please God!" he added. + +"You will speak nothing of these plans," he said to me at last, half +mechanically. "We must make feints of landing at Cap Rouge--feints +of landing everywhere save at the one possible place; confuse both +Bougainville and Montcalm; tire out their armies with watchings and want +of sleep; and then, on the auspicious night, make the great trial." + +I had remained respectfully standing at a little distance from him. Now +he suddenly came to me, and, pressing my hand, said quickly, "You have +trouble, Mr. Moray. I am sorry for you. But maybe it is for better +things to come." + +I thanked him stumblingly, and a moment later left him, to serve him +on the morrow, and so on through many days, till, in divers perils, the +camp at Montmorenci was abandoned, the troops were got aboard the ships, +and the general took up his quarters on the Sutherland; from which, +one notable day, I sallied forth with him to a point at the south shore +opposite the Anse du Foulon, where he saw the thin crack in the cliff +side. From that moment instant and final attack was his purpose. + +The great night came, starlit and serene. The camp-fires of two armies +spotted the shores of the wide river, and the ships lay like wild fowl +in convoys above the town from where the arrow of fate should be sped. +Darkness upon the river, and fireflies upon the shore. At Beauport, an +untiring general, who for a hundred days had snatched sleep, booted and +spurred, and in the ebb of a losing game, longed for his adored Candiac, +grieved for a beloved daughter's death, sent cheerful messages to his +aged mother and to his wife, and by the deeper protests of his love +foreshadowed his own doom. At Cap Rouge, a dying commander, unperturbed +and valiant, reached out a finger to trace the last movements in a +desperate campaign of life that opened in Flanders at sixteen; of which +the end began when he took from his bosom the portrait of his affianced +wife, and said to his old schoolfellow, "Give this to her, Jervis, for +we shall meet no more." + +Then, passing to the deck, silent and steady, no signs of pain upon his +face, so had the calm come to him, as to Nature and this beleaguered +city, before the whirlwind, he looked out upon the clustered groups +of boats filled with the flower of his army, settled in a menacing +tranquillity. There lay the Light Infantry, Bragg's, Kennedy's, +Lascelles's, Anstruther's Regiment, Fraser's Highlanders, and the +much-loved, much-blamed, and impetuous Louisburg Grenadiers. Steady, +indomitable, silent as cats, precise as mathematicians, he could trust +them, as they loved his awkward pain-twisted body and ugly red hair. +"Damme, Jack, didst thee ever take hell in tow before?" said a sailor +from the Terror of France to his fellow once, as the marines grappled +with a flotilla of French fire-ships, and dragged them, spitting +destruction, clear of the fleet, to the shore. "Nay, but I've been in +tow of Jimmy Wolfe's red head; that's hell-fire, lad!" was the reply. + +From boat to boat the General's eye passed, then shifted to the +ships--the Squirrel, the Leostaff, the Seahorse, and the rest--and +lastly to where the army of Bougainville lay. Then there came towards +him an officer, who said quietly, "The tide has turned, sir." For reply +the general made a swift motion towards the maintop shrouds, and almost +instantly lanterns showed in them. In response the crowded boats began +to cast away, and, immediately descending, the General passed into his +own boat, drew to the front, and drifted in the current ahead of his +gallant men, the ships following after. + +It was two by the clock when the boats began to move, and slowly we +ranged down the stream, silently steered, carried by the current. No +paddle, no creaking oarlock, broke the stillness. I was in the next boat +to the General's, for, with Clark and twenty-two other volunteers to the +forlorn hope, I was to show the way up the heights, and we were near +to his person for over two hours that night. No moon was shining, but I +could see the General plainly; and once, when our boats almost touched, +he saw me, and said graciously, "If they get up, Mr. Moray, you are free +to serve yourself." + +My heart was full of love of country then, and I answered, "I hope, sir, +to serve you till your flag is hoisted in the citadel." + +He turned to a young midshipman beside him, and said, "How old are you, +sir?" + +"Seventeen, sir," was the reply. + +"It is the most lasting passion," he said, musing. + +It seemed to me then, and I still think it, that the passion he meant +was love of country. A moment afterwards I heard him recite to the +officers about him, in a low clear tone, some verses by Mr. Gray, the +poet, which I had never then read, though I have prized them +since. Under those frowning heights, and the smell from our roaring +thirty-two-pounders in the air, I heard him say: + + "The curfew tolls, the knell of parting day; + The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea; + The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, + And leaves the world to darkness and to me." + +I have heard finer voices than his--it was as tin beside Doltaire's--but +something in it pierced me that night, and I felt the man, the perfect +hero, when he said: + + "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, + And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, + Await alike the inevitable hour-- + The paths of glory lead but to the grave." + +Soon afterwards we neared the end of our quest, the tide carrying us +in to shore; and down from the dark heights there came a challenge, +satisfied by an officer who said in French that we were provision-boats +for Montcalm: these, we knew, had been expected! Then came the batteries +of Samos. Again we passed with the same excuse, and we rounded a +headland, and the great work was begun. + +The boats of the Light Infantry swung in to shore. No sentry challenged, +but I knew that at the top Lancy's tents were set. When the Light +Infantry had landed, we twenty-four volunteers stood still for a moment, +and I pointed out the way. Before we started, we stooped beside a brook +that leaped lightly down the ravine, and drank a little rum and water. +Then I led the way, Clark at one side of me, and a soldier of the Light +Infantry at the other. It was hard climbing, but, following in our +careful steps as silently as they might, the good fellows came eagerly +after. Once a rock broke loose and came tumbling down, but plunged into +a thicket, where it stayed; else it might have done for us entirely. I +breathed freely when it stopped. Once, too, a branch cracked loudly, +and we lay still; but hearing nothing above, we pushed on, and, sweating +greatly, came close to the top. + +Here I drew back with Clark, for such honour as there might be in +gaining the heights first I wished to go to these soldiers who had +trusted their lives to my guidance. I let six go by and reach the +heights, and then I drew myself up. We did not stir till all twenty-four +were safe; then we made a dash for the tents of Lancy, which now showed +in the first gray light of morning. We made a dash for them, were +discovered, and shots greeted us; but we were on them instantly, and +in a moment I had the pleasure of putting a bullet in Lancy's heel, +and brought him down. Our cheers told the general the news, and soon +hundreds of soldiers were climbing the hard way that we had come. + +And now while an army climbed to the heights of Maitre Abraham, Admiral +Saunders in the gray dawn was bombarding Montcalm's encampment, and +boats filled with marines and soldiers drew to the Beauport flats, as +if to land there; while shots, bombs, shells, and carcasses were +hurled from Levis upon the town, deceiving Montcalm. At last, however, +suspecting, he rode towards the town at six o'clock, and saw our scarlet +ranks spread across the plains between him and Bougainville, and on the +crest, nearer to him, eying us in amazement, the white-coated battalion +of Guienne, which should the day before have occupied the very ground +held by Lancy. A slight rain falling added to their gloom, but cheered +us. It gave us a better light to fight by, for in the clear September +air, the bright sun shining in our faces, they would have had us at +advantage. + +In another hour the gates of St. John and St. Louis emptied out upon +this battlefield a warring flood of our foes. It was a handsome sight: +the white uniforms of the brave regiments, Roussillon, La Sarre, +Guienne, Languedoc, Bearn, mixed with the dark, excitable militia, the +sturdy burghers of the town, a band of coureurs de bois in their rough +hunter's costume, and whooping Indians, painted and furious, ready to +eat us. At last here was to be a test of fighting in open field, though +the French had in their whole army twice the number of our men, a walled +and provisioned city behind them, and field-pieces in great number to +bring against us. + +But there was bungling with them. Vaudreuil hung back or came tardily +from Beauport; Bougainville had not yet arrived; and when they might +have pitted twice our number against us, they had not many more than we. +With Bougainville behind us and Montcalm in front, we might have been +checked, though there was no man in all our army but believed that we +should win the day. I could plainly see Montcalm, mounted on a dark +horse, riding along the lines as they formed against us, waving his +sword, a truly gallant figure. He was answered by a roar of applause and +greeting. On the left their Indians and burghers overlapped our second +line, where Townsend with Amherst's and the Light Infantry, and Colonel +Burton with the Royal Americans and Light Infantry, guarded our flank, +prepared to meet Bougainville. In vain our foes tried to get between our +right flank and the river; Otway's Regiment, thrown out, defeated that. + +It was my hope that Doltaire was with Montcalm, and that we might meet +and end our quarrel. I came to know afterwards that it was he who had +induced Montcalm to send the battalion of Guienne to the heights above +the Anse du Foulon. The battalion had not been moved till twenty-four +hours after the order was given, or we should never have gained those +heights; stones rolled from the cliff would have destroyed an army. + +We waited, Clark and I, with the Louisburg Grenadiers while they formed. +We made no noise, but stood steady and still, the bagpipes of the +Highlanders shrilly challenging. At eight o'clock sharpshooters began +firing on us from the left, and skirmishers were thrown out to hold them +in check, or dislodge them and drive them from the houses where they +sheltered and galled Townsend's men. Their field-pieces opened on us, +too, and yet we did nothing, but at nine o'clock, being ordered, lay +down and waited still. There was no restlessness, no anxiety, no show of +doubt, for these men of ours were old fighters, and they trusted their +leaders. From bushes, trees, coverts, and fields of grain there came +that constant hail of fire, and there fell upon our ranks a doggedness, +a quiet anger, which grew into a grisly patience. The only pleasure we +had in two long hours was in watching our two brass six-pounders play +upon the irregular ranks of our foes, making confusion, and Townsend +drive back a detachment of cavalry from Cap Rouge, which sought to break +our left flank and reach Montcalm. + +We had seen the stars go down, the cold, mottled light of dawn break +over the battered city and the heights of Charlesbourg; we had watched +the sun come up, and then steal away behind slow-travelling clouds and +hanging mist; we had looked across over unreaped cornfields and the +dull, slovenly St. Charles, knowing that endless leagues of country, +north and south, east and west, lay in the balance for the last time. I +believed that this day would see the last of the strife between England +and France for dominion here; of La Pompadour's spite which I had roused +to action against my country; of the struggle between Doltaire and +myself. + +The public stake was worthy of our army--worthy of the dauntless +soldier, who had begged his physicians to patch him up long enough to +fight this fight, whereon he staked reputation, life, all that a man +loves in the world; the private stake was more than worthy of my long +sufferings. I thought that Montcalm would have waited for Vaudreuil, but +no. At ten o'clock his three columns moved down upon us briskly, making +a wild rattle; two columns moving upon our right and one upon our left, +firing obliquely and constantly as they marched. Then came the command +to rise, and we stood up and waited, our muskets loaded with an extra +ball. I could feel the stern malice in our ranks, as we stood there and +took, without returning a shot, that damnable fire. Minute after minute +passed; then came the sharp command to advance. We did so, and again +halted, and yet no shot came from us. We stood there, a long palisade of +red. + +At last I saw our general raise his sword, a command rang down the long +line of battle, and, like one terrible cannon-shot, our muskets sang +together with as perfect a precision as on a private field of exercise. +Then, waiting for the smoke to clear a little, another volley came with +almost the same precision; after which the firing came in choppy waves +of sound, and again in a persistent clattering. Then a light breeze +lifted the smoke and mist well away, and a wayward sunlight showed us +our foe, like a long white wave retreating from a rocky shore, bending, +crumpling, breaking, and, in a hundred little billows, fleeing seaward. + +Thus checked, confounded, the French army trembled and fell back. Then +I heard the order to charge, and from near four thousand throats there +came for the first time our exultant British cheer, and high over all +rang the slogan of Fraser's Highlanders. To my left I saw the flashing +broadswords of the clansmen, ahead of all the rest. Those sickles of +death clove through and broke the battalions of La Sarre, and Lascelles +scattered the good soldiers of Languedoc into flying columns. We on the +right, led by Wolfe, charged the desperate and valiant men of Roussillon +and Guienne and the impetuous sharpshooters of the militia. As we came +on, I observed the general sway and push forward again, and then I +lost sight of him, for I saw what gave the battle a new interest to +me: Doltaire, cool and deliberate, animating and encouraging the French +troops. + +I moved in a shaking hedge of bayonets, keeping my eye on him; and +presently there was a hand-to-hand melee, out of which I fought to reach +him. I was making for him, where he now sought to rally the retreating +columns, when I noticed, not far away, Gabord, mounted, and attacked by +three grenadiers. Looking back now, I see him, with his sabre cutting +right and left, as he drove his horse at one grenadier, who slipped and +fell on the slippery ground, while the horse rode on him, battering him. +Obliquely down swept the sabre, and drove through the cheek and chin of +one foe; another sweep, and the bayonet of the other was struck aside; +and another, which was turned aside as Gabord's horse came down, +bayoneted by the fallen grenadier. But Gabord was on his feet again, +roaring like a bull, with a wild grin on his face, as he partly struck +aside the bayonet of the last grenadier. It caught him in the flesh of +the left side. He grasped the musket-barrel, and swung his sabre with +fierce precision. The man's head dropped back like the lid of a pot, and +he tumbled into a heap of the faded golden-rod flower which spattered +the field. + +It was at this moment I saw Juste Duvarney making towards me, hatred and +deadly purpose in his eyes. I had will enough to meet him, and to kill +him too, yet I could not help but think of Alixe. Gabord saw him, also, +and, being nearer, made for me as well. For that act I cherish his +memory. The thought was worthy of a gentleman of breeding; he had the +true thing in his heart. He would save us--two brothers--from fighting, +by fighting me himself. + +He reached me first, and with an "Au diable!" made a stroke at me. It +was a matter of sword and sabre now. Clark met Juste Duvarney's rush; +and there we were, at as fine a game of cross-purposes as you can think: +Clark hungering for Gabord's life (Gabord had once been his jailer, +too), and Juste Duvarney for mine; the battle faring on ahead of us. +Soon the two were clean cut off from the French army, and must fight to +the death or surrender. + +Juste Duvarney spoke only once, and then it was but the rancorous word +"Renegade!" nor did I speak at all; but Clark was blasphemous, and +Gabord, bleeding, fought with a sputtering relish. + +"Fair fight and fowl for spitting," he cried. "Go home to heaven, +dickey-bird." + +Between phrases of this kind we cut and thrust for life, an odd sort of +fighting. I fought with a desperate alertness, and presently my sword +passed through his body, drew out, and he shivered--fell--where he +stood, collapsing suddenly like a bag. I knelt beside him, and lifted up +his head. His eyes were glazing fast. + +"Gabord! Gabord!" I called, grief-stricken, for that work was the worst +I ever did in this world. + +He started, stared, and fumbled at his waistcoat. I quickly put my hand +in, and drew out--one of Mathilde's wooden crosses. + +"To cheat--the devil--yet--aho!" he whispered, kissed the cross, and so +was done with life. + +When I turned from him, Clark stood beside me. Dazed as I was, I did not +at first grasp the significance of that fact. I looked towards the +town, and saw the French army hustling into the St. Louis Gate; saw the +Highlanders charging the bushes at the Cote Ste. Genevieve, where the +brave Canadians made their last stand; saw, not fifty feet away, the +noblest soldier of our time, even General Wolfe, dead in the arms of +Mr. Henderson, a volunteer in the Twenty-Second; and then, almost at my +feet, stretched out as I had seen him lie in the Palace courtyard two +years before, Juste Duvarney. + +But now he was beyond all friendship or reconciliation--forever. + + + + +XXIX. "MASTER DEVIL" DOLTAIRE + + +The bells of some shattered church were calling to vespers, the sun was +sinking behind the flaming autumn woods, as once more I entered the +St. Louis Gate, with the grenadiers and a detachment of artillery, the +British colours hoisted on a gun-carriage. Till this hour I had ever +entered and left this town a captive, a price set on my head, and in +the very street where now I walked I had gone with a rope round my +neck, abused and maltreated. I saw our flag replace the golden lilies +of France on the citadel where Doltaire had baited me, and at the top of +Mountain Street, near to the bishop's palace, our colours also flew. + +Every step I took was familiar, yet unfamiliar too. It was a disfigured +town, where a hungry, distracted people huddled among ruins, and begged +for mercy and for food, nor found time in the general overwhelming to +think of the gallant Montcalm, lying in his shell-made grave at the +chapel of the Ursulines, not fifty steps from where I had looked through +the tapestry on Alixe and Doltaire. The convent was almost deserted now, +and as I passed it, on my way to the cathedral, I took off my hat; for +how knew I but that she I loved best lay there, too, as truly a heroine +as the admirable Montcalm was hero! A solitary bell was clanging on +the chapel as I went by, and I saw three nuns steal past me with bowed +heads. I longed to stop them and ask them of Alixe, for I felt sure +that the Church knew where she was, living or dead, though none of all +I asked knew aught of her, not even the Chevalier de la Darante, who had +come to our camp the night before, accompanied by Monsieur Joannes, the +town major, with terms of surrender. + +I came to the church of the Recollets as I wandered; for now, for +a little time, I seemed bewildered and incapable, lost in a maze of +dreadful imaginings. I entered the door of the church, and stumbled upon +a body. Hearing footsteps ahead in the dusk, I passed up the aisle, and +came upon a pile of debris. Looking up, I could see the stars shining +through a hole in the roof, Hearing a noise beyond, I went on, and +there, seated on the high altar, was the dwarf who had snatched the cup +of rum out of the fire the night that Mathilde had given the crosses +to the revellers. He gave a low, wild laugh, and hugged a bottle to his +breast. Almost at his feet, half naked, with her face on the lowest +step of the altar, her feet touching the altar itself, was the girl--his +sister--who had kept her drunken lover from assaulting him. The girl was +dead--there was a knife-wound in her breast. Sick at the sight I left +the place, and went on, almost mechanically, to Voban's house. It was +level with the ground, a crumpled heap of ruins. I passed Lancy's house, +in front of which I had fought with Gabord; it too was broken to pieces. + +As I turned away I heard a loud noise, as of an explosion, and I +supposed it to be some magazine. I thought of it no more at the time. +Voban must be found; that was more important. I must know of Alixe +first, and I felt sure that if any one guessed her whereabouts it would +be he: she would have told him where she was going, if she had fled; +if she were dead, who so likely to know, this secret, elusive, vengeful +watcher? Of Doltaire I had heard nothing; I would seek him out when I +knew of Alixe. He could not escape me in this walled town. I passed on +for a time without direction, for I seemed not to know where I might +find the barber. Our sentries already patrolled the streets, and our +bugles were calling on the heights, with answering calls from the +fleet in the basin. Night came down quickly, the stars shone out in the +perfect blue, and, as I walked along, broken walls, shattered houses, +solitary pillars, looked mystically strange. It was painfully quiet, as +if a beaten people had crawled away into the holes our shot and shell +had made, to hide their misery. Now and again a gaunt face looked out +from a hiding-place, and drew back again in fear at sight of me. Once +a drunken woman spat at me and cursed me; once I was fired at; and +many times from dark corners I heard voices crying, "Sauvez-moi--ah, +sauvez-moi, bon Dieu!" Once I stood for many minutes and watched our +soldiers giving biscuits and their own share of rum to homeless French +peasants hovering round the smouldering ruins of a house which carcasses +had destroyed. + +And now my wits came back to me, my purposes, the power to act, which +for a couple of hours had seemed to be in abeyance. I hurried through +narrow streets to the cathedral. There it stood, a shattered mass, +its sides all broken, its roof gone, its tall octagonal tower alone +substantial and unchanged. Coming to its rear, I found Babette's little +house, with open door, and I went in. The old grandfather sat in his +corner, with a lighted candle on the table near him, across his knees +Jean's coat that I had worn. He only babbled nonsense to my questioning, +and, after calling aloud to Babette and getting no reply, I started for +the Intendance. + +I had scarcely left the house when I saw some French peasants coming +towards me with a litter. A woman, walking behind the litter, carried a +lantern, and one of our soldiers of artillery attended and directed. I +ran forward, and discovered Voban, mortally hurt. The woman gave a cry, +and spoke my name in a kind of surprise and relief; and the soldier, +recognizing me, saluted. I sent him for a surgeon, and came on with +the hurt man to the little house. Soon I was alone with him save for +Babette, and her I sent for a priest. As soon as I had seen Voban I +guessed what had happened: he had tried for his revenge at last. After a +little time he knew me, but at first he could not speak. + +"What has happened--the Palace?" said I. + +He nodded. + +"You blew it up--with Bigot?" I asked. + +His reply was a whisper, and his face twitched with pain: "Not--with +Bigot." + +I gave him some cordial, which he was inclined to refuse. It revived +him, but I saw he could live only a few hours. Presently he made an +effort. "I will tell you," he whispered. + +"Tell me first of my wife," said I. "Is she alive?--is she alive?" + +If a smile could have been upon his lips then, I saw one there--good +Voban! I put my ear down, and my heart almost stopped beating, until I +heard him say, "Find Mathilde." + +"Where?" asked I. + +"In the Valdoche Hills," he answered, "where the Gray Monk lives--by the +Tall Calvary." + +He gasped with pain. I let him rest awhile, and eased the bandages on +him, and at last he told his story: + + +"I am to be gone soon. For two years I have wait for the good time to +kill him--Bigot--to send him and his palace to hell. I can not tell you +how I work to do it. It is no matter--no. From an old cellar I mine, and +at last I get the powder lay beneath him--his palace. So. But he does +not come to the Palace much this many months, and Madame Cournal is +always with him, and it is hard to do the thing in other ways. But I +laugh when the English come in the town, and when I see Bigot fly to his +palace alone to get his treasure-chest I think it is my time. So I +ask the valet, and he say he is in the private room that lead to the +treasure-place. Then I come back quick to the secret spot and fire my +mine. In ten minutes all will be done. I go at once to his room again, +alone. I pass through the one room, and come to the other. It is a room +with one small barred window. If he is there, I will say a word to him +that I have wait long to say, then shut the door on us both--for I am +sick of life--and watch him and laugh at him till the end comes. If he +is in the other room, then I have another way as sure--" + +He paused, exhausted, and I waited till he could again go on. At last he +made a great effort, and continued: "I go back to the first room, and +he is not there. I pass soft, to the treasure-room, and I see him kneel +beside a chest, looking in. His back is to me. I hear him laugh to +himself. I shut the door, turn the key, go to the window and throw it +out, and look at him again. But now he stand and turn to me, and then I +see--I see it is not Bigot, but M'sieu' Doltaire! + +"I am sick when I see that, and at first I can not speak, my tongue +stick in my mouth so dry. 'Has Voban turn robber?' m'sieu' say. I put +out my hand and try to speak again--but no. 'What did you throw from the +window?' he ask. 'And what's the matter, my Voban?' 'My God,' I say at +him now, 'I thought you are Bigot!' I point to the floor. 'Powder!' I +whisper. + +"His eyes go like fire so terrible; he look to the window, take a quick +angry step to me, but stand still. Then he point to the window. 'The +key, Voban?' he say; and I answer, 'Yes.' He get pale; then he go and +try the door, look close at the walls, try them--quick, quick, stop, +feel for a panel, then try again, stand still, and lean against the +table. It is no use to call; no one can hear, for it is all roar +outside, and these walls are solid and very thick. + +"'How long?' he say, and take out his watch. 'Five minutes--maybe,' I +answer. He put his watch on the table, and sit down on a bench by it, +and for a little minute he do not speak, but look at me close, and not +angry, as you would think. 'Voban,' he say in a low voice, 'Bigot was +a thief.' He point to the chest. 'He stole from the King--my father. +He stole your Mathilde from you! He should have died. We have both been +blunderers, Voban, blunderers,' he say; 'things have gone wrong with us. +We have lost all.' There is little time. 'Tell me one thing,' he go on: +'Is Mademoiselle Duvarney safe--do you know?' I tell him yes, and he +smile, and take from his pocket something, and lay it against his lips, +and then put it back in his breast. + +"'You are not afraid to die, Voban?' he ask. I answer no. 'Shake hands +with me, my friend,' he speak, and I do so that. 'Ah, pardon, pardon, +m'sieu',' I say. 'No, no, Voban; it was to be,' he answer. 'We shall +meet again, comrade--eh, if we can?' he speak on, and he turn away from +me and look to the sky through the window. Then he look at his watch, +and get to his feet, and stand there still. I kiss my crucifix. He +reach out and touch it, and bring his fingers to his lips. 'Who can +tell--perhaps--perhaps!' he say. For a little minute--ah, it seem like +a year, and it is so still, so still he stand there, and then he put his +hand over the watch, lift it up, and shut his eyes, as if time is all +done. While you can count ten it is so, and then the great crash come." + +For a long time Voban lay silent again. I gave him more cordial, and he +revived and ended his tale. "I am a blunderer, as m'sieu' say," he went +on, "for he is killed, not Bigot and me, and only a little part of the +palace go to pieces. And so they fetch me here, and I wish--my God in +Heaven, I wish I go with M'sieu' Doltaire." But he followed him a little +later. + +Two hours afterwards I went to the Intendance, and there I found that +the body of my enemy had been placed in the room where I had last seen +him with Alixe. He lay on the same couch where she had lain. The flag +of France covered his broken body, but his face was untouched--as it +had been in life, haunting, fascinating, though the shifting lights were +gone, the fine eyes closed. A noble peace hid all that was sardonic; not +even Gabord would now have called him "Master Devil." I covered up his +face and left him there--peasant and prince--candles burning at his head +and feet, and the star of Louis on his shattered breast; and I saw him +no more. + +All that night I walked the ramparts, thinking, remembering, hoping, +waiting for the morning; and when I saw the light break over those far +eastern parishes, wasted by fire and sword, I set out on a journey to +the Valdoche Hills. + + + + +XXX. "WHERE ALL THE LOVERS CAN HIDE" + + +It was in the saffron light of early morning that I saw it, the Tall +Calvary of the Valdoche Hills. + +The night before I had come up through a long valley, overhung with +pines on one side and crimsoning maples on the other, and, travelling +till nearly midnight, had lain down in the hollow of a bank, and +listened to a little river leap over cascades, and, far below, go +prattling on to the greater river in the south. My eyes closed, but for +long I did not sleep. I heard a night-hawk go by on a lonely mission, a +beaver slide from a log into the water, and the delicate humming of +the pine needles was a drowsy music, through which broke by-and-bye the +strange crying of a loon from the water below. I was neither asleep nor +awake, but steeped in this wide awe of night, the sweet smell of earth +and running water in my nostrils. Once, too, in a slight breeze, the +scent of some wild animal's nest near by came past, and I found it good. +I lifted up a handful of loose earth and powdered leaves, and held it to +my nose--a good, brave smell--all in a sort of drowsing. + +While I mused, Doltaire's face passed before me as it was in life, and +I heard him say again of the peasants, "These shall save the earth some +day, for they are of it, and live close to it, and are kin to it." + +Suddenly there rushed before me that scene in the convent, when all +the devil in him broke loose upon the woman I loved. But, turning on my +homely bed, I looked up and saw the deep quiet of the skies, the stable +peace of the stars, and I was a son of the good Earth again, a sojourner +in the tents of Home. I did not doubt that Alixe was alive or that I +should find her. There was assurance in this benignant night. In that +thought, dreaming that her cheek lay close to mine, her arm around +my neck, I fell asleep. I waked to bear the squirrels stirring in the +trees, the whir of the partridge, and the first unvarying note of the +oriole. Turning on my dry, leafy bed, I looked down, and saw in the dark +haze of dawn the beavers at their house-building. + +I was at the beginning of a deep gorge or valley, on one side of which +was a steep sloping hill of grass and trees, and on the other a huge +escarpment of mossed and jagged rocks. Then, farther up, the valley +seemed to end in a huge promontory. On this great wedge grim shapes +loomed in the mist, uncouth and shadowy and unnatural--a lonely, +mysterious Brocken, impossible to human tenantry. Yet as I watched the +mist slowly rise, there grew in me the feeling that there lay the end +of my quest. I came down to the brook, bathed my face and hands, ate my +frugal breakfast of bread, with berries picked from the hillside, and, +as the yellow light of the rising sun broke over the promontory, I saw +the Tall Calvary upon a knoll, strange comrade to the huge rocks and +monoliths--as it were vast playthings of the Mighty Men, the fabled +ancestors of the Indian races of the land. + +I started up the valley, and presently all the earth grew blithe, and +the birds filled the woods and valleys with jocund noise. + +It was near noon before I knew that my pilgrimage was over. + +Coming round a point of rock, I saw the Gray Monk, of whom strange +legends had lately travelled to the city. I took off my hat to him +reverently; but all at once he threw back his cowl, and I saw--no monk, +but, much altered, the good chaplain who had married me to Alixe in the +Chateau St. Louis. He had been hurt when he was fired upon in the water; +had escaped, however, got to shore, and made his way into the woods. +There he had met Mathilde, who led him to her lonely home in this hill. +Seeing the Tall Calvary, he had conceived the idea of this disguise, and +Mathilde had brought him the robe for the purpose. + +In a secluded cave I found Alixe with her father, caring for him, for +he was not yet wholly recovered from his injuries. There was no waiting +now. The ban of Church did not hold my dear girl back, nor did her +father do aught but smile when she came laughing and weeping into my +arms. + +"Robert, O Robert, Robert!" she cried, and at first that was all she +could say. + +The good Seigneur put out his hand to me beseechingly. I took it, +clasped it. + +"The city?" he asked. + +"Is ours," I answered. + +"And my son--my son?" + +I told him how, the night that the city was taken, the Chevalier de la +Darante and I had gone a sad journey in a boat to the Isle of Orleans, +and there, in the chapel yard, near to his father's chateau, we had laid +a brave and honest gentleman who died fighting for his country. + +By-and-bye, when their grief had a little abated, I took them out into +the sunshine. A pleasant green valley lay to the north, and to the +south, far off, was the wall of rosy hills that hid the captured town. +Peace was upon it all, and upon us. + +As we stood there, a scarlet figure came winding in and out among the +giant stones, crosses hanging at her girdle. She approached us, and, +seeing me, she said: "Hush! I know a place where all the lovers can +hide." + +And she put a little wooden cross into my hands. + + + + + +APPENDIX. +The following is an excerpt from 'The Scot in New France' (1880) by J.M. +Lemoine. It is an account of Robert Stobo, the man whose life this text +is loosely based upon. + + +Five years previous to the battle of the Plains of Abraham, one comes +across three genuine Scots in the streets of Quebec--all however +prisoners of war, taken in the border raids--as such under close +surveillance. One, a youthful and handsome officer of Virginia riflemen, +aged 27 years, a friend of Governor Dinwiddie, had been allowed the +range of the fortress, on parole. His good looks, education, smartness +(we use the word advisedly) and misfortunes seem to have created much +sympathy for the captive, but canny Scot. He has a warm welcome in many +houses--the French ladies even plead his cause; le beau capitaine is +asked out; no entertainment at last is considered complete, without +Captain--later on Major Robert Stobo. The other two are: Lieutenant +Stevenson of Rogers' Rangers, another Virginia corps, and a Leith +carpenter of the name of Clarke. Stobo, after more attempts than one, +eluded the French sentries, and still more dangerous foes to the peace +of mind of a handsome bachelor--the ladies of Quebec. He will re-appear +on the scene, the advisor of General Wolfe, as to the best landing place +round Quebec. Doubtless you wish to hear more about the adventurous +Scot. + +A plan of escape between him, Stevenson and Clarke, was carried out on +1st May, 1759. Major Stobo met the fugitives under a wind-mill, probably +the old wind-mill on the grounds of the General Hospital Convent. +Having stolen a birch canoe, the party paddled it all night, and, after +incredible fatigue and danger, they passed Isle-aux-Coudres, Kamouraska, +and landed below this spot, shooting two Indians in self-defence, whom +Clarke buried after having scalped them, saying to the Major: "Good sir, +by your permission, these same two scalps, when I come to New York, will +sell for twenty-four good pounds: with this I'll be right merry, and my +wife right beau." They then murdered the Indians' faithful dog, because +he howled, and buried him with his masters. It was shortly after this +that they met the laird of the Kamouraska Isles, le Chevalier de la +Durantaye, who said that the best Canadian blood ran in his veins, and +that he was of kin with the mighty Duc de Mirapoix. Had the mighty Duke, +however, at that moment seen his Canadian cousin steering the four-oared +boat, loaded with wheat, he might have felt but a very qualified +admiration for the majesty of his stately demeanor and his nautical +savoir faire. Stobo took possession of the Chevalier's pinnace, and made +the haughty laird, nolens volens, row him with the rest of the crew, +telling him to row away, and that, had the Great Louis himself been in +the boat at that moment, it would be his fate to row a British +subject thus. "At these last mighty words," says the Memoirs, "a stern +resolution sat upon his countenance, which the Canadian beheld and with +reluctance temporized." After a series of adventures, and dangers of +every kind, the fugitives succeeded in capturing a French boat. Next, +they surprised a French sloop, and, after a most hazardous voyage, they +finally, in their prize, landed at Louisbourg, to the general amazement. +Stobo missed the English fleet; but took passage two days after in +a vessel leaving for Quebec, where he safely arrived to tender his +services to the immortal Wolfe, who gladly availed himself of them. +According to the Memoirs, Stobo used daily to set out to reconnoitre +with Wolfe on the deck of a frigate, opposite the Falls of Montmorency, +some French shots were nigh carrying away his "decorated" and gartered +legs. + +We next find the Major, on the 21st July, 1759, piloting the expedition +sent to Deschambault to seize, as prisoners, the Quebec ladies who +had taken refuge there during the bombardment--"Mesdames Duchesnay and +Decharnay; Mlle. Couillard; the Joly, Malhiot and Magnan families." +"Next day, in the afternoon, les belles captives, who had been treated +with every species of respect, were put on shore and released at Diamond +Harbour. The English admiral, full of gallantry, ordered the bombardment +of the city to be suspended, in order to afford the Quebec ladies time +to seek places of safety." The incident is thus referred to in a letter +communicated to the Literary and Historical Society by Capt. Colin +McKenzie. + +Stobo next points out the spot, at Sillery, where Wolfe landed, and +soon after was sent with despatches, via the St. Lawrence, to General +Amherst; but, during the trip, the vessel was overhauled and taken by a +French privateer, the despatches having been previously consigned to the +deep. Stobo might have swung at the yard-arm in this new predicament, +had his French valet divulged his identity with the spy of Fort du +Quesne; but fortune again stepped in to preserve the adventurous Scot. +There were already too many prisoners on board of the French privateer. +A day's provision is allowed the English vessel, which soon landed Stobo +at Halifax, from whence he joined General Amherst, "many a league across +the country." He served under Amherst on his Lake Champlain expedition, +and there he finished the campaign; which ended, he begs to go to +Williamsburg, the then capital of Virginia. + +It seems singular that no command of any importance appears to have been +given to the brave Scot; but, possibly, the part played by the Major +when under parole at Fort du Quesne, was weighed by the Imperial +authorities. There certainly seems to be a dash of the Benedict Arnold +in this transaction. However, Stobo was publicly thanked by a committee +of the Assembly of Virginia, and was allowed his arrears of pay for +the time of his captivity. On the 30th April, 1756, he had also been +presented by the Assembly of Virginia with 300 pounds, in consideration +of his services to the country and his sufferings in his confinement as +a hostage in Quebec. On the 19th November, 1759, he was presented with +1,000 pounds as "a reward for his zeal to his country and the recompense +for the great hardships he has suffered during his confinement in the +enemy's country." On the 18th February, 1760, Major Stobo embarked from +New York for England, on board the packet with Colonel West and +several other gentlemen. One would imagine that he had exhausted the +vicissitudes of fortune. But no. A French privateer boards them in the +midst of the English channel. The Major again consigns to the deep all +his letters, all except one which he forgot, in the pocket of his coat, +under the arm pit. This escaped the general catastrophe; and will again +restore him to notoriety; it is from General A. Monckton to Mr. Pitt. +The passengers of the packet were assessed 2,500 pounds to be allowed +their liberty, and Stobo had to pay 125 pounds towards the relief fund. +The despatch forgotten in his coat on delivery to the great Pitt brought +back a letter from Pitt to Amherst. With this testimonial, Stobo sailed +for New York, 24th April, 1760, to rejoin the army engaged in the +invasion of Canada; here end the Memoirs. + +Though Stobo's conduct at Fort du Quesne and at Quebec can never be +defended or palliated, all will agree that he exhibited, during his +eventful career, most indomitable fortitude, a boundless ingenuity, and +great devotion to his country--the whole crowned with final success. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seats Of The Mighty, Complete +by Gilbert Parker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY, COMPLETE *** + +***** This file should be named 6229.txt or 6229.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/2/6229/ + +Produced by Andrew Sly + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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