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diff --git a/old/8tcoj10.txt b/old/8tcoj10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..978df3a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8tcoj10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,26845 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Companions of Jehu, by Alexandre Dumas +#32 in our series by Alexandre Dumas + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Companions of Jehu + +Author: Alexandre Dumas + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7079] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 7, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMPANIONS OF JEHU *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Robert J. Hall + + + + + +THE COMPANIONS OF JEHU + +BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS + + + + +CONTENTS + + An Introductory Word to the Reader. + Prologue--The City of Avignon. + I. A Table d'Hôte. + II. An Italian Proverb. + III. The Englishman. + IV. The Duel. + V. Roland. + VI. Morgan. + VII. The Chartreuse of Seillon. + VIII. How the Money of the Directory was Used. + IX. Romeo and Juliet + X. The Family of Roland. + XI. Château des Noires-Fontaines. + XII. Provincial Pleasures. + XIII. The Wild-Boar. + XIV. An Unpleasant Commission. + XV. The Strong-Minded Man. + XVI. The Ghost. + XVII. Investigations. + XVIII. The Trial. + XIX. The Little House in the Rue de la Victoire. + XX. The Guests of General Bonaparte. + XXI. The Schedule of the Directory. + XXII. The Outline of a Decree. + XXIII. Alea Jacta Est. + XXIV. The Eighteenth Brumaire. + XXV. An Important Communication. + XXVI. The Ball of the Victims. + XXVII. The Bear's Skin. + XXVIII. Family Matters. + XXIX. The Geneva Diligence. + XXX. Citizen Fouché's Report. + XXXI. The Son of the Miller of Guerno. + XXXII. White and Blue. + XXXIII. The Law of Retaliation. + XXXIV. The Diplomacy of Georges Cadoudal. + XXXV. A Proposal of Marriage. + XXXVI. Sculpture and Painting. + XXXVII. The Ambassador. + XXXVIII. The Two Signals. + XXXIX. The Grotto of Ceyzeriat. + XL. A False Scent. + XLI. The Hôtel de la Poste. + XLII. The Chambéry Mail-Coach. + XLIII. Lord Grenville's Reply. + XLIV. Change of Residence. + XLV. The Follower of Trails. + XLVI. An Inspiration. + XLVII. A Reconnoissance. + XLVIII. In which Morgan's Presentiments are Verified. + XLIX. Roland's Revenge. + L. Cadoudal at the Tuileries. + LI. The Army of the Reserves. + LII. The Trial. + LIII. In which Amélie Keeps Her Word. + LIV. The Confession. + LV. Invulnerable. + LVI. Conclusion. + + + + +AN INTRODUCTORY WORD TO THE READER + +Just about a year ago my old friend, Jules Simon, author of "Devoir," +came to me with a request that I write a novel for the "Journal +pour Tous." I gave him the outline of a novel which I had in +mind. The subject pleased him, and the contract was signed on +the spot. + +The action occurred between 1791 and 1793, and the first chapter +opened at Varennes the evening of the king's arrest. + +Only, impatient as was the "Journal pour Tous," I demanded a +fortnight of Jules Simon before beginning my novel. I wished to +go to Varennes; I was not acquainted with the locality, and I +confess there is one thing I cannot do; I am unable to write a +novel or a drama about localities with which I am not familiar. + +In order to write "Christine" I went to Fontainebleau; in writing +"Henri III." I went to Blois; for "Les Trois Mousquetaires" I went +to Boulogne and Béthune; for "Monte-Cristo" I returned to the +Catalans and the Château d'If; for "Isaac Laquedem" I revisited +Rome; and I certainly spent more time studying Jerusalem and +Corinth from a distance than if I had gone there. + +This gives such a character of veracity to all that I write, that +the personages whom I create become eventually such integral parts +of the places in which I planted them that, as a consequence, +many end by believing in their actual existence. There are even +some people who claim to have known them. + +In this connection, dear readers, I am going to tell you something +in confidence--only do not repeat it. I do not wish to injure +honest fathers of families who live by this little industry, +but if you go to Marseilles you will be shown there the house +of Morel on the Cours, the house of Mercédès at the Catalans, +and the dungeons of Dantès and Faria at the Château d'If. + +When I staged "Monte-Cristo" at the Theâtre-Historique, I wrote +to Marseilles for a plan of the Château d'If, which was sent +to me. This drawing was for the use of the scene painter. The +artist to whom I had recourse forwarded me the desired plan. +He even did better than I would have dared ask of him; he wrote +beneath it: "View of the Château d'If, from the side where Dantès +was thrown into the sea." + +I have learned since that a worthy man, a guide attached to the +Château d'If, sells pens made of fish-bone by the Abbé Faria +himself. + +There is but one unfortunate circumstance concerning this; the +fact is, Dantès and the Abbé Faria have never existed save in my +imagination; consequently, Dantès could not have been precipitated +from the top to the bottom of the Château d'If, nor could the +Abbé Faria have made pens. But that is what comes from visiting +these localities in person. + +Therefore, I wished to visit Varennes before commencing my novel, +because the first chapter was to open in that city. Besides, +historically, Varennes worried me considerably; the more I perused +the historical accounts of Varennes, the less I was able to +understand, topographically, the king's arrest. + +I therefore proposed to my young friend, Paul Bocage, that he +accompany me to Varennes. I was sure in advance that he would +accept. To merely propose such a trip to his picturesque and +charming mind was to make him bound from his chair to the tram. +We took the railroad to Châlons. There we bargained with a +livery-stable keeper, who agreed, for a consideration of ten +francs a day, to furnish us with a horse and carriage. We were +seven days on the trip, three days to go from Châlons to Varennes, +one day to make the requisite local researches in the city, and +three days to return from Varennes to Châlons. + +I recognized with a degree of satisfaction which you will easily +comprehend, that not a single historian had been historical, +and with still greater satisfaction that M. Thiers had been the +least accurate of all these historians. I had already suspected +this, but was not certain. The only one who had been accurate, +with absolute accuracy, was Victor Hugo in his book called "The +Rhine." It is true that Victor Hugo is a poet and not a historian. +What historians these poets would make, if they would but consent +to become historians! + +One day Lamartine asked me to what I attributed the immense success +of his "Histoire des Girondins." + +"To this, because in it you rose to the level of a novel," I +answered him. He reflected for a while and ended, I believe, by +agreeing with me. + +I spent a day, therefore, at Varennes and visited all the localities +necessary for my novel, which was to be called "René d'Argonne." +Then I returned. My son was staying in the country at Sainte-Assise, +near Melun; my room awaited me, and I resolved to go there to +write my novel. + +I am acquainted with no two characters more dissimilar than +Alexandre's and mine, which nevertheless harmonize so well. It +is true we pass many enjoyable hours during our separations; +but none I think pleasanter than those we spend together. + +I had been installed there for three or four days endeavoring +to begin my "René d'Argonne," taking up my pen, then laying +it aside almost immediately. The thing would not go. I consoled +myself by telling stories. Chance willed that I should relate +one which Nodier had told me of four young men affiliated with +the Company of Jehu, who had been executed at Bourg in Bresse +amid the most dramatic circumstances. One of these four young +men, he who had found the greatest difficulty in dying, or rather +he whom they had the greatest difficulty in killing, was but +nineteen and a half years old. + +Alexandre listened to my story with much interest. When I had +finished: "Do you know," said he, "what I should do in your place?" + +"What?" + +"I should lay aside 'René d'Argonne,' which refuses to materialize, +and in its stead I should write 'The Companions of Jehu.'" + +"But just think, I have had that other novel in mind for a year +or two, and it is almost finished." + +"It never will be since it is not finished now." + +"Perhaps you are right, but I shall lose six months regaining +my present vantage-ground." + +"Good! In three days you will have written half a volume." + +"Then you will help me." + +"Yes, for I shall give you two characters." + +"Is that all?" + +"You are too exacting! The rest is your affair; I am busy with +my 'Question d'Argent.'" + +"Well, who are your two characters, then?" + +"An English gentleman and a French captain." + +"Introduce the Englishman first." + +"Very well." And Alexandre drew Lord Tanlay's portrait for me. + +"Your English gentleman pleases me," said I; "now let us see your +French captain." + +"My French captain is a mysterious character, who courts death +with all his might, without being able to accomplish his desire; +so that each time he rushes into mortal danger he performs some +brilliant feat which secures him promotion." + +"But why does he wish to get himself killed?" + +"Because he is disgusted with life." + +"Why is he disgusted with life?" + +"Ah! That will be the secret of the book." + +"It must be told in the end." + +"On the contrary, I, in your place, would not tell it." + +"The readers will demand it." + +"You will reply that they have only to search for it; you must +leave them something to do, these readers of yours." + +"Dear friend, I shall be overwhelmed with letters." + +"You need not answer them." + +"Yes, but for my personal gratification I, at least, must know +why my hero longs to die." + +"Oh, I do not refuse to tell you." + +"Let me hear, then." + +"Well, suppose, instead of being professor of dialectics, Abelard +had been a soldier." + +"Well?" + +"Well, let us suppose that a bullet--" + +"Excellent!" + +"You understand? Instead of withdrawing to Paraclet, he would +have courted death at every possible opportunity." + +"Hum! That will be difficult." + +"Difficult! In what way?" + +"To make the public swallow that." + +"But since you are not going to tell the public." + +"That is true. By my faith, I believe you are right. Wait." + +"I am waiting." + +"Have you Nodier's 'Souvenirs de la Révolution'? I believe he +wrote one or two pages about Guyon, Leprêtre, Amiet and Hyvert." + +"They will say, then, that you have plagiarized from Nodier." + +"Oh! He loved me well enough during his life not to refuse me +whatever I shall take from him after his death. Go fetch me the +'Souvenirs de la Révolution.'" + +Alexandre brought me the book. I opened it, turned over two or +three pages, and at last discovered what I was looking for. A +little of Nodier, dear readers, you will lose nothing by it. +It is he who is speaking: + + +The highwaymen who attacked the diligences, as mentioned in the +article on Amiet, which I quoted just now, were called Leprêtre, +Hyvert, Guyon and Amiet. + +Leprêtre was forty-eight years old. He was formerly a captain +of dragoons, a knight of St. Louis, of a noble countenance, +prepossessing carriage and much elegance of manner. Guyon and +Amiet have never been known by their real names. They owe that to +the accommodating spirit prevailing among the vendors of passports +of those days. Let the reader picture to himself two dare-devils +between twenty and thirty years of age, allied by some common +responsibility, the sequence, perhaps of some misdeed, or, by +a more delicate and generous interest, the fear of compromising +their family name. Then you will know of Guyon and Amiet all that +I can recall. The latter had a sinister countenance, to which, +perhaps, he owes the bad reputation with which all his biographers +have credited him. Hyvert was the son of a rich merchant of Lyons, +who had offered the sub-officer charged with his deportation +sixty thousand francs to permit his escape. He was at once the +Achilles and the Paris of the band. He was of medium height but +well formed, lithe, and of graceful and pleasing address. His +eyes were never without animation nor his lips without a smile. +His was one of those countenances which are never forgotten, and +which present an inexpressible blending of sweetness and strength, +tenderness and energy. When he yielded to the eloquent petulance +of his inspirations he soared to enthusiasm. His conversation +revealed the rudiments of an excellent early education and much +natural intelligence. That which was so terrifying in him was his +tone of heedless gayety, which contrasted so horribly with his +position. For the rest, he was unanimously conceded to be kind, +generous, humane, lenient toward the weak, while with the strong +he loved to display a vigor truly athletic which his somewhat +effeminate features were far from indicating. He boasted that he +had never been without money, and had no enemies. That was his +sole reply to the charges of theft and assassination. He was +twenty-two years old. + +To these four men was intrusted the attack upon a diligence conveying +forty thousand francs of government money. This deed was transacted +in broad daylight, with an exchange of mutual courtesy almost; +and the travellers, who were not disturbed by the attack, gave +little heed to it. But a child of only ten years of age, with +reckless bravado, seized the pistol of the conductor and fired +it into the midst of the assailants. As this peaceful weapon, +according to the custom, was only charged with powder, no one +was injured; but the occupants of the coach quite naturally +experienced a lively fear of reprisals. The little boy's mother +fell into violent hysterics. This new disturbance created a general +diversion which dominated all the preceding events and particularly +attracted the attention of the robbers. One of them flew to the +woman's side, reassuring her in the most affectionate manner, +while complimenting her upon her son's precocious courage, and +courteously pressed upon her the salts and perfumes with which +these gentlemen were ordinarily provided for their own use. She +regained consciousness. In the excitement of the moment her +travelling companions noticed that the highwayman's mask had fallen +off, but they did not see his face. + +The police of those days, restricted to mere impotent supervision, +were unable to cope with the depredations of these banditti, although +they did not lack the means to follow them up. Appointments were +made at the cafés, and narratives relating to deeds carrying +with them the penalty of death circulated freely through all +the billiard-halls in the land. Such was the importance which +the culprits and the public attached to the police. + +These men of blood and terror assembled in society in the evening, +and discussed their nocturnal expeditions as if they had been +mere pleasure-parties. + +Leprêtre, Hyvert, Amiet and Guyon were arraigned before the tribunal +of a neighboring department. No one save the Treasury had suffered +from their attack, and there was no one to identify them save the +lady who took very good care not to do so. They were therefore +acquitted unanimously. + +Nevertheless, the evidence against them so obviously called for +conviction, that the Ministry was forced to appeal from this +decision. The verdict was set aside; but such was the government's +vacillation, that it hesitated to punish excesses that might +on the morrow be regarded as virtues. The accused were cited +before the tribunal of Ain, in the city of Bourg, where dwelt a +majority of their friends, relatives, abettors and accomplices. +The Ministry sought to propitiate the one party by the return +of its victims, and the other by the almost inviolate safeguards +with which it surrounded the prisoners. The return to prison +indeed resembled nothing less than a triumph. + +The trial recommenced. It was at first attended by the same results +as the preceding one. The four accused were protected by an alibi, +patently false, but attested by a hundred signatures, and for +which they could easily have obtained ten thousand. All moral +convictions must fail in the presence of such authoritative +testimony. An acquittal seemed certain, when a question, perhaps +involuntarily insidious, from the president, changed the aspect +of the trial. + +"Madam," said he to the lady who had been so kindly assisted by +one of the highwaymen, "which of these men was it who tendered +you such thoughtful attention?" + +This unexpected form of interrogation confused her ideas. It +is probable that she believed the facts to be known, and saw +in this a means of modifying the fate of the man who interested +her. + +"It was that gentleman," said she, pointing to Leprêtre. The +four accused, who were included in a common alibi, fell by this +one admission under the executioner's axe. They rose and bowed +to her with a smile. + +"Faith!" said Hyvert, falling back upon his bench with a burst +of laughter, "that, Captain, will teach you to play the gallant." + +I have heard it said that the unhappy lady died shortly after +of chagrin. + +The customary appeal followed; but, this time, there was little +hope. The Republican party, which Napoleon annihilated a month +later, was in the ascendency. That of the Counter-Revolution was +compromised by its odious excesses. The people demanded examples, +and matters were arranged accordingly, as is ordinarily the custom +in strenuous times; for it is with governments as with men, the +weakest are always the most cruel. Nor had the Companies of Jehu +longer an organized existence. The heroes of these ferocious +bands, Debeauce, Hastier, Bary, Le Coq, Dabri, Delbourbe and +Storkenfeld, had either fallen on the scaffold or elsewhere. The +condemned could look for no further assistance from the daring +courage of these exhausted devotees, who, no longer capable of +protecting their own lives, coolly sacrificed them, as did Piard, +after a merry supper. Our brigands were doomed to die. + +Their appeal was rejected, but the municipal authorities were +not the first to learn of this. The condemned men were warned +by three shots fired beneath the walls of their dungeon. The +Commissioner of the Executive Directory, who had assumed the +rôle of Public Prosecutor at the trial, alarmed at this obvious +sign of connivance, requisitioned a squad of armed men of whom +my uncle was then commander. At six o'clock in the morning sixty +horsemen were drawn up before the iron gratings of the prison +yard. + +Although the jailers had observed all possible precautions in +entering the dungeon where these four unfortunate men were confined, +and whom they had left the preceding day tightly pinioned and +heavily loaded with chains, they were unable to offer them a +prolonged resistance. The prisoners were free and armed to the +teeth. They came forth without difficulty, leaving their guardians +under bolts and bars, and, supplied with the keys, they quickly +traversed the space that separated them from the prison yard. +Their appearance must have been terrifying to the populace awaiting +them before the iron gates. + +To assure perfect freedom of action, or perhaps to affect an +appearance of security more menacing even than the renown for +strength and intrepidity with which their names were associated, +or possibly even to conceal the flow of blood which reveals itself +so readily beneath white linen, and betrays the last agonies of +a mortally wounded man, their breasts were bared. Their braces +crossed upon the chest--their wide red belts bristling with +arms--their cry of attack and rage, all that must have given a +decidedly fantastic touch to the scene. Arrived in the square, +they perceived the gendarmerie drawn up in motionless ranks, +through which it would have been impossible to force a passage. +They halted an instant and seemed to consult together. Leprêtre, +who was, as I have said, their senior and their chief, saluted +the guard with his hand, saying with that noble grace of manner +peculiar to him: + +"Very well, gentlemen of the gendarmerie!" + +Then after a brief, energetic farewell to his comrades, he stepped +in front of them and blew out his brains. Guyon, Amiet and Hyvert +assumed a defensive position, their double-barrelled pistols +levelled upon their armed opponents. They did not fire; but the +latter, considering this demonstration as a sign of open hostility, +fired upon them. Guyon fell dead upon Leprêtre's body, which had +not moved. Amiet's hip was broken near the groin. The "Biographie +des Contemporains" says that he was executed. I have often heard +it said that he died at the foot of the scaffold. Hyvert was +left alone, his determined brow, his terrible eye, the pistol +in each practiced and vigorous hand threatening death to the +spectators. Perhaps it was involuntary admiration, in his desperate +plight, for this handsome young man with his waving locks, who +was known never to have shed blood, and from whom the law now +demanded the expiation of blood; or perhaps it was the sight of +those three corpses over which he sprang like a wolf overtaken +by his hunters, and the frightful novelty of the spectacle, which +for an instant restrained the fury of the troop. He perceived +this and temporized with them for a compromise. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "I go to my death! I die with all my heart! +But let no one approach me or I shall shoot him--except this +gentleman," he continued, pointing to the executioner. "This +is an affair that concerns us alone and merely needs a certain +understanding between us." + +This concession was readily accorded, for there was no one present +who was not suffering from the prolongation of this horrible +tragedy, and anxious to see it finished. Perceiving their assent, +he placed one of his pistols between his teeth, and drawing a +dagger from his belt, plunged it in his breast up to the hilt. +He still remained standing and seemed greatly surprised. There +was a movement toward him. + +"Very well, gentlemen!" cried he, covering the men who sought +to surround him with his pistols, which he had seized again, +while the blood spurted freely from the wound in which he had +left his poniard. "You know our agreement; either I die alone +or three of us will die together. Forward, march!" He walked +straight to the guillotine, turning the knife in his breast as +he did so. + +"Faith," said he, "my soul must be centred in my belly! I cannot +die. See if you can fetch it out." + +This last was addressed to his executioner. An instant later +his head fell. Be it accident or some peculiar phenomenon of +the vitality, it rebounded and rolled beyond the circle of the +scaffolding, and they will still tell you at Bourg, that Hyvert's +head spoke. + + +Before I had finished reading I had decided to abandon René d'Argonne +for the Companions of Jehu. On the morrow I came down with my +travelling bag under my arm. + +"You are leaving?" said Alexandre to me. + +"Yes." + +"Where are you going?" + +"To Bourg, in Bresse." + +"What are you going to do there?" + +"Study the neighborhood and consult with the inhabitants who saw +Leprêtre, Amiet, Guyon and Hyvert executed." + + * * * * * + +There are two roads to Bourg--from Paris, of course; one may +leave the train at Mâcon, and take stage from Mâcon to Bourg, +or, continuing as far as Lyons, take train again from Lyons to +Bourg. + +I was hesitating between these two roads when one of the travellers +who was temporarily occupying my compartment decided me. He was +going to Bourg, where he frequently had business. He was going +by way of Lyons; therefore, Lyons was the better way. + +I resolved to travel by the same route. I slept at Lyons, and +on the morrow by ten in the morning I was at Bourg. + +A paper published in the second capital of the kingdom met my +eye. It contained a spiteful article about me. Lyons has never +forgiven me since 1833, I believe, some twenty-four years ago, +for asserting that it was not a literary city. Alas! I have in +1857 the same opinion of Lyons as I had in 1833. I do not easily +change my opinion. There is another city in France that is almost +as bitter against me as Lyons, that is Rouen. Rouen has hissed +all my plays, including Count Hermann. + +One day a Neapolitan boasted to me that he had hissed Rossini +and Malibran, "The Barbiere" and "Desdemona." + +"That must be true," I answered him, "for Rossini and Malibran +on their side boast of having been hissed by Neapolitans." + +So I boast that the Rouenese have hissed me. Nevertheless, meeting +a full-blooded Rouenese one day I resolved to discover why I had +been hissed at Rouen. I like to understand these little things. + +My Rouenese informed me: "We hiss you because we are down on you." + +Why not? Rouen was down on Joan of Arc. Nevertheless it could +not be for the same reason. I asked my Rouenese why he and his +compatriots were ill-disposed to me; I had never said anything +evil of apple sugar, I had treated M. Barbet with respect during +his entire term as mayor, and, when a delegate from the Society +of Letters at the unveiling of the statue of the great Corneille, +I was the only one who thought to bow to him before beginning my +speech. There was nothing in that which could have reasonably +incurred the hatred of the Rouenese. + +Therefore to this haughty reply, "We hiss you because we have +a grudge against you," I asked humbly: + +"But, great Heavens! why are you down on me?" + +"Oh, you know very well," replied my Rouenese. + +"I?" I exclaimed. + +"Yes, you." + +"Well, never mind; pretend I do not know." + +"You remember the dinner the city gave you, in connection with +that statue of Corneille?" + +"Perfectly. Were they annoyed because I did not return it?" + +"No, it is not that." + +"What is it then?" + +"Well, at that dinner they said to you: 'M. Dumas, you ought to +write a play for Rouen based upon some subject taken from its +own history.'" + +"To which I replied: 'Nothing easier; I will come at your first +summons and spend a fortnight in Rouen. You can suggest the subject, +and during that fortnight I will write the play, the royalties +of which I shall devote to the poor.'" + +"That is true, you said that." + +"I see nothing sufficiently insulting in that to incur the hatred +of the Rouenese." + +"Yes, but they added: 'Will you write it in prose?' To which you +replied--Do you remember what you answered?" + +"My faith! no." + +"You replied: 'I will write it in verse; it is soonest done.'" + +"That sounds like me. Well, what then?" + +"Then! That was an insult to Corneille, M. Dumas; that is why +the Rouenese are down on you, and will be for a long time." + +Verbatim! + +Oh, worthy Rouenese! I trust that you will never serve me so ill +as to forgive and applaud me. + +The aforesaid paper observed that M. Dumas had doubtless spent +but one night in Lyons because a city of such slight literary +standing was not worthy of his longer sojourn. M. Dumas had not +thought about this at all. He had spent but one night at Lyons +because he was in a hurry to reach Bourg. And no sooner had M. +Dumas arrived at Bourg than he asked to be directed to the office +of its leading newspaper. + +I knew that it was under the management of a distinguished +archeologist, who was also the editor of my friend Baux's work +on the church of Brou. + +I asked for M. Milliet. M. Milliet appeared. We shook hands and +I explained the object of my visit. + +"I can fix you perfectly," said he to me. "I will take you to +one of our magistrates, who is at present engaged upon a history +of the department." + +"How far has he got in this history?" + +"1822." + +"Then that's all right. As the events I want to relate occurred +in 1799, and my heroes were executed in 1800, he will have covered +that epoch, and can furnish me with the desired information. +Let us go to your magistrate." + +On the road, M. Milliet told me that this same magisterial historian +was also a noted gourmet. Since Brillat-Savarin it has been the +fashion for magistrates to be epicures. Unfortunately, many are +content to be gourmands, which is not at all the same thing. + +We were ushered into the magistrate's study. I found a man with a +shiny face and a sneering smile. He greeted me with that protecting +air which historians deign to assume toward poets. + +"Well, sir," he said to me, "so you have come to our poor country +in search of material for your novel?" + +"No, sir; I have my material already. I have come simply to consult +your historical documents." + +"Good! I did not know that it was necessary to give one's self +so much trouble in order to write novels." + +"There you are in error, sir; at least in my instance. I am in +the habit of making exhaustive researches upon all the historical +events of which I treat." + +"You might at least have sent some one else." + +"Any person whom I might send, sir, not being so completely absorbed +in my subject, might have overlooked many important facts. Then, +too, I make use of many localities which I cannot describe unless +I see them." + +"Oh, then this is a novel which you intend writing yourself?" + +"Yes, certainly, sir. I allowed my valet to write my last; but +he had such immense success that the rogue asked so exorbitant +an increase of wages that, to my great regret, I was unable to +keep him." + +The magistrate bit his lips. Then, after a moment's silence, he +said: + +"Will you kindly tell me, sir, how I can assist you in this important +work?" + +"You can direct my researches, sir. As you have compiled the +history of the department, none of the important event which have +occurred in its capital can be unknown to you." + +"Truly, sir, I believe that in this respect I am tolerably well +informed." + +"Then, sir, in the first place, your department was the centre +of the operations of the Company of Jehu." + +"Sir, I have heard speak of the Companions of Jesus," replied +the magistrate with his jeering smile. + +"The Jesuits, you mean? That is not what I am seeking, sir." + +"Nor is it of them that I am speaking. I refer to the stage robbers +who infested the highroads from 1797 to 1800." + +"Then, sir, permit me to tell you they are precisely the ones I +have come to Bourg about, and that they were called the Companions +of Jehu, and not the Companions of Jesus." + +"What is the meaning of this title 'Companions of Jehu'? I like +to get at the bottom of everything." + +"So do I, sir; that is why I did not wish to confound these +highwaymen with the Apostles." + +"Truly, that would not have been very orthodox." + +"But it is what you would have done, nevertheless, sir, if I, +a poet, had not come here expressly to correct the mistake you, +as historian, have made." + +"I await your explanation, sir," resumed the magistrate, pursing +his lips. + +"It is short and simple. Elisha consecrated Jehu, King of Israel, +on condition that he exterminate the house of Ahab; Elisha was Louis +XVIII.; Jehu was Cadoudal; the house of Ahab, the Revolution. That +is why these pillagers of diligences, who filched the government +money to support the war in the Vendée, were called the Companions +of Jehu." + +"Sir, I am happy to learn something at my age." + +"Oh, sir! One can always learn, at all times and at all ages; +during life one learns man; in death one learns God." + +"But, after all," my interlocutor said to me with a gesture of +impatience, "may I know in what I can assist you?" + +"Thus, sir. Four of these young men, leaders of the Companions +of Jehu, were executed at Bourg, on the Place du Bastion." + +"In the first place, sir, in Bourg executions do not take place +at the Bastion; they execute on the Fair grounds." + +"Now, sir--these last fifteen or twenty years, it is true--since +Peytel. But before, especially during the Revolution, they executed +on the Place du Bastion." + +"That is possible." + +"It is so. These four young men were called Guyon, Leprêtre, Amiet, +and Hyvert." + +"This is the first time I have heard those names." + +"Yet their names made a certain noise at Bourg." + +"Are you sure, sir, that these men were executed here?" + +"I am positive." + +"From whom have you derived your information?" + +"From a man whose uncle, then in command of the gendarmerie, was +present at the execution." + +"Will you tell me this man's name?" + +"Charles Nodier." + +"Charles Nodier, the novelist, the poet?" + +"If he were a historian I would not be so insistent, sir. Recently, +during a trip to Varennes, I learned what dependence to place +upon historians. But precisely because he is a poet, a novelist, +I do insist." + +"You are at liberty to do so; but I know nothing of what you +desire to learn, and I dare even assert that, if you have come +to Bourg solely to obtain information concerning the execution +of--what did you call them?" + +"Guyon, Leprêtre, Amiet, and Hyvert." + +"You have undertaken a futile voyage. For these last twenty years, +sir, I have been searching the town archives, and I have never +seen anything relating to what you have just told me." + +"The town archives are not those of the registrar, sir; perhaps +at the record office I may be able to find what I am seeking." + +"Ah! sir, if you can find anything among those archives you will +be a very clever man! The record office is a chaos, a veritable +chaos. You would have to spend a month here, and then--then--" + +"I do not expect to stay here more than a day, sir; but if in +that day I should find what I am seeking will you permit me to +impart it to you?" + +"Yes, sir; yes, sir; and you will render me a great service by +doing so." + +"No greater than the one I asked of you. I shall merely give +you some information about a matter of which you were ignorant, +that is all." + +You can well understand that on leaving my magistrate, my honor +was piqued. I determined, cost what it might, to procure this +information about the Companions of Jehu. I went back to Milliet, +and cornered him. + +"Listen," he said. "My brother-in-law is a lawyer." + +"He's my man! Let's go find the brother-in-law." + +"He's in court at this hour." + +"Then let us go to court." + +"Your appearance will create a sensation, I warn you." + +"Then go alone--tell him what we want, and let him make a search. +I will visit the environs of the town to base my work on the +localities. We will meet at four o'clock at the Place du Bastion, +if you are agreed." + +"Perfectly." + +"It seems to me that I saw a forest, coming here." + +"The forest of Seillon." + +"Bravo!" + +"Do you need a forest?" + +"It is absolutely indispensable to me." + +"Then permit me--" + +"What?" + +"I am going to take you to a friend of mine, M. Leduc, a poet +who in his spare moments is an inspector." + +"Inspector of what?" + +"Of the forest." + +"Are there any ruins in the forest?" + +"The Chartreuse, which is not in the forest, but merely some hundred +feet from it." + +"And in the forest?" + +"There is a sort of hermitage which is called La Correrie, belonging +to the Chartreuse, with which it communicates by a subterranean +passage." + +"Good! Now, if you can provide me with a grotto you will overwhelm +me." + +"We have the grotto of Ceyzeriat, but that is on the other side +of the Reissouse." + +"I don't mind. If the grotto won't come to me, I will do like +Mahomet--I will go to the grotto. In the meantime let us go to +M. Leduc." + +Five minutes later we reached M. Leduc's house. He, on learning +what we wanted, placed himself, his horse, and his carriage at +my disposal. I accepted all. There are some men who offer their +services in such a way that they place you at once at your ease. + +We first visited the Chartreuse. Had I built it myself it could +not have suited me better. A deserted cloister, devastated garden, +inhabitants almost savages. Chance, I thank thee! + +From there we went to the Correrie; it was the supplement of +the Chartreuse. I did not yet know what I could do with it; but +evidently it might be useful to me. + +"Now, sir," I said to my obliging guide, "I need a pretty site, +rather gloomy, surrounded by tall trees, beside a river. Have +you anything like that in the neighborhood?" + +"What do you want to do with it?" + +"To build a château there." + +"What kind of a château?" + +"Zounds! of cards! I have a family to house, a model mother, +a melancholy young girl, a mischievous brother, and a poaching +gardener." + +"There is a place called Noires-Fontaines." + +"In the first place the name is charming." + +"But there is no château there." + +"So much the better, for I should have been obliged to demolish +it." + +"Let us go to Noires-Fontaines." + +We started; a quarter of an hour later we descended at the ranger's +lodge. + +"Shall we take this little path?" said M. Leduc; "it will take +us where you want to go." + +It led us, in fact, to a spot planted with tall trees which +overshadowed three or four rivulets. + +"We call this place Noires-Fontaines," M. Leduc explained. + +"And here Madame de Montrevel, Amélie and little Edouard will +dwell. Now what are those villages which I see in front of me?" + +"Here, close at hand, is Montagnac; yonder, on the mountain side, +Ceyzeriat." + +"Is that where the grotto is?" + +"Yes. But how did you know there was a grotto at Ceyzeriat?" + +"Never mind, go on. The name of those other villages, if you please." + +"Saint-Just, Tréconnas, Ramasse, Villereversure." + +"That will do." + +"Have you enough?" + +"Yes." + +I drew out my note-book, sketched a plan of the locality and +wrote about in their relative positions the names of the villages +which M. Leduc had just pointed out to me. + +"That's done!" said I. + +"Where shall we go now?" + +"Isn't the church of Brou near this road?" + +"Yes." + +"Then let us go to the church of Brou." + +"Do you need that in your novel?" + +"Yes, indeed; you don't imagine I am going to lay my scene in +a country which contains the architectural masterpiece of the +sixteenth century without utilizing that masterpiece, do you?" + +"Let us go to the church of Brou." + +A quarter of an hour later the sacristan showed us into this +granite jewel-case which contains the three marble gems called +the tombs of Marguerite of Austria, Marguerite or Bourbon, and +of Philibert le Beau." + +"How is it," I asked the sacristan, "that all these masterpieces +were not reduced to powder during the Revolution?" + +"Ah! sir, the municipality had an idea." + +"What was it?" + +"That of turning the church into a storage house for fodder." + +"Yes, and the hay saved the marble; you are right, my friend, +that _was_ an idea." + +"Does this idea of the municipality afford you another?" asked +M. Leduc. + +"Faith, yes, and I shall have poor luck if I don't make something +out of it." + +I looked at my watch. "Three o'clock! Now for the prison. I have +an appointment with M. Milliet at four on the Place du Bastion." + +"Wait; there is one thing more." + +"What is that?" + +"Have you noticed Marguerite of Austria's motto?" + +"No; where is it?" + +"Oh, all over. In the first place, look above her tomb." + +"'Fortune, infortune, fort'une.'" + +"Exactly." + +"Well, what does this play of words mean?" + +"Learned men translate it thus: 'Fate persecutes a woman much.'" + +"Explain that a little." + +"You must, in the first place, assume that it is derived from +the Latin." + +"True, that is probable." + +"Well, then: 'Fortuna infortunat--'" + +"Oh! Oh! 'Infortunat.'" + +"Bless me!" + +"That strongly resembles a solecism!" + +"What do you want?" + +"An explanation." + +"Explain it yourself." + +"Well; 'Fortuna, infortuna, forti una.' 'Fortune and misfortune +are alike to the strong.'" + +"Do you know, that may possibly be the correct translation?" + +"Zounds! See what it is not to be learned, my dear sir; we are +endowed with common-sense, and that sees clearer than science. +Have you anything else to tell me?" + +"No." + +"Then let us go to the prison." + +We got into the carriage and returned to the city, stopping only +at the gate of the prison. I glanced out of the window. + +"Oh!" I exclaimed, "they have spoiled it for me." + +"What! They've spoiled it for you?" + +"Certainly, it was not like this in my prisoners' time. Can I +speak to the jailer?" + +"Certainly." + +"Then let us consult him." + +We knocked at the door. A man about forty opened it. He recognized +M. Leduc. + +"My dear fellow," M. Leduc said to him, "this is one of my learned +friends--" + +"Come, come," I exclaimed, interrupting him, "no nonsense." + +"Who contends," continued M. Leduc, "that the prison is no longer +the same as it was in the last century?" + +"That is true, M. Leduc, it was torn down and rebuilt in 1816." + +"Then the interior arrangements are no longer the same?" + +"Oh! no, sir, everything was changed." + +"Could I see the old plan?" + +"M. Martin, the architect, might perhaps be able to find one for +you." + +"Is he any relation to M. Martin, the lawyer?" + +"His brother." + +"Very well, my friend, then I can get my plan." + +"Then we have nothing more to do here?" inquired M. Leduc. + +"Nothing." + +"Then I am free to go home?" + +"I shall be sorry to leave you, that is all." + +"Can you find your way to the Bastion without me?" + +"It is close by." + +"What are you going to do this evening?" + +"I will spend it with you, if you wish." + +"Very good! You will find a cup of tea waiting for you at nine." + +"I shall be on hand for it." + +I thanked M. Leduc. We shook hands and parted. + +I went down the Rue des Lisses (meaning Lists, from a combat +which took place in the square to which it leads), and skirting +the Montburon Garden, I reached the Place du Bastion. This is a +semicircle now used as the town marketplace. In the midst stands +the statue of Bichat by David d'Angers. Bichat, in a frockcoat--why +that exaggeration of realism?--stands with his hand upon the +heart of a child about nine or ten years old, perfectly nude--why +that excess of ideality? Extended at Bichat's feet lies a dead +body. It is Bichat's book "Of Life and of Death" translated into +bronze. I was studying this statue, which epitomizes the defects +and merits of David d'Angers, when I felt some one touch my +shoulder. I turned around; it was M. Milliet. He held a paper +in his hand. + +"Well?" I asked. + +"Well, victory!" + +"What is that you have there?" + +"The minutes of the trial and execution." + +"Of whom?" + +"Of your men." + +"Of Guyon, Leprêtre, Amiet--!" + +"And Hyvert." + +"Give it to me." + +"Here it is." + +I took it and read: + + REPORT OF THE DEATH AND EXECUTION OF LAURENT GUYON, ETIENNE + HYVERT, FRANÇOIS AMIET, ANTOINE LEPRÊTRE. Condemned the twentieth + Thermidor of the year VIII., and executed the twenty-third + Vendemiaire of the year IX. + + To-day, the twenty-third Vendemiaire of the year IX., the + government commissioner of the tribunal, who received at eleven + of the evening the budget of the Minister of Justice, containing + the minutes of the trial and the judgment which condemns to + death Laurent Guyon, Etienne Hyvert, François Amiet and Antoine + Leprêtre;--the decision of the Court of Appeals of the sixth + inst., rejecting the appeal against the sentence of the + twenty-first Thermidor of the year VIII., I did notify by letter, + between seven and eight of the morning, the four accused that + their sentence of death would take effect to-day at eleven o'clock. + In the interval which elapsed before eleven o'clock, the four + accused shot themselves with pistols and stabbed themselves with + blows from a poinard in prison. Leprêtre and Guyon, according + to public rumor, were dead; Hyvert fatally wounded and dying; + Amiet fatally wounded, but still conscious. All four, in this + state, were conveyed to the scaffold, and, living or dead, were + guillotined. At half after eleven, the sheriff, Colin, handed in + the report of their execution to the Municipality for registration + upon the death roll: + + The captain of gendarmerie remitted to the Justice of the Peace + a report of what had occurred in the prison, of which he was a + witness. I, who was not present, do certify to what I have learned + by hearsay only. + + (Signed) DUBOST, _Clerk_. + + Bourg, 23d Vendemiaire of the year IX. + +Ah! so it was the poet who was right and not the historian! The +captain of gendarmerie, who remitted the report of the proceedings +in the prison to the Justice of the Peace, at which he was present, +was Nodier's uncle. This report handed to the Justice of the +Peace was the story which, graven upon the young man's mind, saw +the light some forty years later unaltered, in that masterpiece +entitled "Souvenirs de la Révolution." The entire series of papers +was in the record office. M. Martin offered to have them copied +for me; inquiry, trial and judgment. + +I had a copy of Nodier's "Souvenirs of the Revolution" in my pocket. +In my hand I held the report of the execution which confirmed the +facts therein stated. + +"Now let us go to our magistrate," I said to M. Milliet. + +"Let us go to our magistrate," he repeated. + +The magistrate was confounded, and I left him convinced that poets +know history as well as historians--if not better. + +ALEX. DUMAS. + + + + +PROLOGUE + +THE CITY OF AVIGNON + +We do not know if the prologue we are going to present to our +readers' eyes be very useful, nevertheless we cannot resist the +desire to make of it, not the first chapter, but the preface +of this book. + +The more we advance in life, the more we advance in art, the +more convinced we become that nothing is abrupt and isolated; +that nature and society progress by evolution and not by chance, +and that the event, flower joyous or sad, perfumed or fetid, +beneficent or fatal, which unfolds itself to-day before our eyes, +was sown in the past, and had its roots sometimes in days anterior +to ours, even as it will bear its fruits in the future. + +Young, man accepts life as it comes, enamored of yestereen, careless +of the day, heeding little the morrow. Youth is the springtide +with its dewy dawns and its beautiful nights; if sometimes a +storm clouds the sky, it gathers, mutters and disperses, leaving +the sky bluer, the atmosphere purer, and Nature more smiling +than before. What use is there in reflecting on this storm that +passes swift as a caprice, ephemeral as a fancy? Before we have +discovered the secret of the meteorological enigma, the storm +will have disappeared. + +But it is not thus with the terrible phenomena, which at the +close of summer, threaten our harvests; or in the midst of autumn, +assail our vintages; we ask whither they go, we query whence +they come, we seek a means to prevent them. + +To the thinker, the historian, the poet, there is a far deeper +subject for reflection in revolutions, these tempests of the +social atmosphere which drench the earth with blood, and crush +an entire generation of men, than in those upheavals of nature +which deluge a harvest, or flay the vineyards with hail--that +is to say, the fruits of a single harvest, wreaking an injury, +which can at the worst be repaired the ensuing year; unless the +Lord be in His days of wrath. + +Thus, in other days, be it forgetfulness, heedlessness or ignorance +perhaps--(blessed he who is ignorant! a fool he who is wise!)--in +other days in relating the story which I am going to tell you +to-day I would, without pausing at the place where the first +scene of this book occurs, have accorded it but a superficial +mention, and traversing the Midi like any other province, have +named Avignon like any other city. + +But to-day it is no longer the same; I am no longer tossed by +the flurries of spring, but by the storms of summer, the tempests +of autumn. To-day when I name Avignon, I evoke a spectre; and, +like Antony displaying Cæsar's toga, say: + + "Look! in this place ran Cassius' dagger through; + See what a rent the envious Casca made; + Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed--" + +So, seeing the bloody shroud of the papal city, I say: "Behold +the blood of the Albigenses, and here the blood of the Cevennais; +behold the blood of the Republicans, and here the blood of the +Royalists; behold the blood of Lescuyer; behold the blood of +Maréchal Brune." + +And I feel myself seized with a profound sadness, and I begin to +write, but at the first lines I perceive that, without suspecting +it, the historian's chisel has superseded the novelist's pen in +my hand. + +Well, let us be both. Reader, grant me these ten, fifteen, twenty +pages to the historian; the novelist shall have the rest. + +Let us say, therefore, a few words about Avignon, the place where +the first scene of the new book which we are offering to the +public, opens. Perhaps, before reading what we have to say, it +would be well to cast a glance at what its native historian, +François Nouguier, says of it. + +"Avignon," he writes, "a town noble for its antiquity, pleasing +in its site, superb for its walls, smiling for the fertility +of its soil, charming for the gentleness of its inhabitants, +magnificent for its palace, beautiful in its broad streets, +marvellous in the construction of its bridge, rich because of +its commerce, and known to all the world." + +May the shade of François Nouguier pardon us if we do not at +first see his city with the same eyes as he does. To those who +know Avignon be it to say who has best described it, the historian +or the novelist. + +It is but just to assert in the first place that Avignon is a +town by itself, that is to say, a town of extreme passions. The +period of religious dissensions, which culminated for her in +political hatreds, dates from the twelfth century. After his +flight from Lyons, the valleys of Mont Ventoux sheltered Pierre +de Valdo and his Vaudois, the ancestors of those Protestants who, +under the name of the Albigenses, cost the Counts of Toulouse, +and transferred to the papacy, the seven châteaux which Raymond +VI. possessed in Languedoc. + +Avignon, a powerful republic governed by podestats, refused to +submit to the King of France. One morning Louis VIII., who thought +it easier to make a crusade against Avignon like Simon de Montfort, +than against Jerusalem like Philippe Auguste; one morning, we +say, Louis VIII. appeared before the gates of Avignon, demanding +admission with lances at rest, visor down, banners unfurled and +trumpets of war sounding. + +The bourgeois refused. They offered the King of France, as a +last concession, a peaceful entrance, lances erect, and the royal +banner alone unfurled. The King laid siege to the town, a siege +which lasted three months, during which, says the chronicler, +the bourgeois of Avignon returned the French soldiers arrow for +arrow, wound for wound, death for death. + +The city capitulated at length. Louis VIII. brought the Roman +Cardinal-Legate, Saint-Angelo, in his train. It was he who dictated +the terms, veritable priestly terms, hard and unconditional. +The Avignonese were commanded to demolish their ramparts, to +fill their moats, to raze three hundred towers, to sell their +vessels, and to burn their engines and machines of war. They +had moreover to pay an enormous impost, to abjure the Vaudois +heresy, and maintain thirty men fully armed and equipped, in +Palestine, to aid in delivering the tomb of Christ. And finally, +to watch over the fulfillment of these terms, of which the bull +is still extant in the city archives, a brotherhood of penitents +was founded which, reaching down through six centuries, still +exists in our days. + +In opposition to these penitents, known as the "White Penitents," +the order of the "Black Penitents" was founded, imbued with the +spirit of opposition of Raymond of Toulouse. + +From that day forth the religious hatreds developed into political +hatreds. It was not sufficient that Avignon should be the land +of heresy. She was destined to become the theatre of schisms. + +Permit us, in connection with this French Rome, a short historical +digression. Strictly speaking, it is not essential to the subject +of which we treat, and we were perhaps wiser to launch ourselves +immediately into the heart of the drama; but we trust that we +will be forgiven. We write more particularly for those who, in a +novel, like occasionally to meet with something more than fiction. + +In 1285 Philippe le Bel ascended the throne. + +It is a great historical date, this date of 1285. The papacy which, +in the person of Gregory VII., successfully opposed the Emperor +of Germany; the papacy which, vanquished in matters temporal by +Henry IV., yet vanquished him morally. This papacy was slapped +by a simple Sabine gentleman, and the steel gauntlet of Colonna +reddened the cheek of Boniface VIII. But the King of France, +whose hand had really dealt this blow, what happened to him under +the successor of Boniface VIII.? + +This successor was Benedict XI., a man of low origin, but who +might perhaps have developed into a man of genius, had they allowed +him the time. Too weak for an open struggle with Philippe le Bel, +he found a means which would have been the envy of the founder of +a celebrated order two hundred years later. He pardoned Colonna +openly. + +To pardon Colonna was to declare Colonna culpable, since culprits +alone have need of pardon. If Colonna were guilty, the King of +France was at least his accomplice. + +There was some danger in supporting such an argument; also Benedict +XI. was pope but eight months. One day a veiled woman, a pretended +lay-sister of Sainte-Petronille at Perugia, came to him while he +was at table, offering him a basket of figs. Did it conceal an +asp like Cleopatra's? The fact is that on the morrow the Holy +See was vacant. + +Then Philippe le Bel had a strange idea; so strange that it must, +at first, have seemed an hallucination. + +It was to withdraw the papacy from Rome, to install it in France, +to put it in jail, and force it to coin money for his profit. + +The reign of Philippe le Bel was the advent of gold. Gold! that +was the sole and unique god of this king who had slapped a pope. +Saint Louis had a priest, the worthy Abbé Suger, for minister; +Philippe le Bel had two bankers, two Florentines, Biscio and +Musiato. + +Do you expect, dear reader, that we are about to fall into the +philosophical commonplace of anathematizing gold? You are mistaken. + +In the thirteenth century gold meant progress. Until then nothing +was known but the soil. Gold was the soil converted into money, +the soil mobilized, exchangeable, transportable, divisible, +subtilized, spiritualized, as it were. + +So long as the soil was not represented by gold, man, like the +god Thermes, that landmark of the fields, had his feet imprisoned +by the earth. Formerly the earth bore man, to-day man bears the +earth. + +But this gold had to be abstracted from its hiding-place, and it +was hidden far otherwise than in the mines of Chile or Mexico. +All the gold was in the possession of the churches and the Jews. +To extract it from this double mine it needed more than a king; +it required a pope. + +And that is why Philippe le Bel, that great exploiter of gold, +resolved to have a pope of his own. Benedict XI. dead, a conclave +was held at Perugia; at this conclave the French cardinals were in +the majority. Philippe le Bel cast his eyes upon the Archbishop +of Bordeaux, Bertrand de Got, and to him he gave rendezvous in +a forest near Saint-Jean d'Angely. + +Bertrand de Got took heed not to miss that appointment. + +The King and the Archbishop heard mass there, and at the moment +when the Host was elevated, they bound themselves by this God +they glorified to absolute secrecy. Bertrand de Got was still +ignorant of the matter in question. Mass over, Philippe le Bel +said: + +"Archbishop, I have it in my power to make thee pope." + +Bertrand de Got listened no longer, but cast himself at the King's +feet, saying: + +"What must I do to obtain this?" + +"Accord me the six favors which I shall ask of thee," replied +Philippe le Bel. + +"It's for thee to command and for me to obey," said the future +Pope. + +The vow of servitude was taken. + +The King raised Bertrand de Got, and, kissing him on the mouth, +said: + +"The six favors which I demand of thee are these: First, thou +shalt reconcile me completely with the Church, and grant me pardon +for the misdeed that I committed toward Boniface VIII. Second, +thou shalt restore to me and mine the right of communion of which +the Court of Rome deprived me. Third, thou shalt grant me the +clergy's tithe in my kingdom for the next five years, to help +defray the expenses of the war in Flanders. Fourth, thou shalt +destroy and annul the memory of Pope Boniface VIII. Fifth, thou +shalt bestow the dignity of cardinal upon Messires Jacopo and +Pietro de Colonna. As to the sixth favor and promise, that I +shall reserve to speak to thee thereof in its time and place." + +Bertrand de Got swore to the promises and favors known, and to +the promise and favor unknown. This last, which the King had not +dared to mention in connection with the others, was the abolition +of the Knights Templar. Besides the promises made on the Corpus +Domini, Bertrand de Got gave as hostages his brother and two of +his nephews. The King swore on his side that he should be elected +pope. + +This scene, set in the deep shadows of a crossroad in the forest, +resembled rather an evocation between magician and demon than +an agreement entered upon between king and pope. + +Also the coronation of the King, which took place shortly afterward +at Lyons, and which began the Church's captivity, seemed but little +agreeable to God. Just as the royal procession was passing, a +wall crowded with spectators fell, wounding the King and killing +the Duc de Bretagne. The Pope was thrown to the ground, and his +tiara rolled in the mud. + +Bertrand de Got was elected pope under the name of Clement V. + +Clement V. paid all that Bertrand de Got had promised. Philippe +was absolved, Holy Communion restored to him and his, the purple +again descended upon the shoulders of the Colonna, the Church +was obliged to defray the expenses of the war in Flanders and +Philippe de Valois's crusade against the Greek Empire. The memory +of Pope Boniface VIII. was, if not destroyed and annulled, at +least besmirched; the walls of the Temple were razed, and the +Templars burned on the open space of the Pont Neuf. + +All these edicts--they were no longer called bulls from the moment +the temporal power dictated them--all these edicts were dated +at Avignon. + +Philippe le Bel was the richest of all the kings of the French +monarchy; he possessed an inexhaustible treasury, that is to +say, his pope. He had purchased him, he used him, he put him to +the press, and as cider flows from apples, so did this crushed +pope bleed gold. The pontificate, struck by the Colonna in the +person of Boniface VIII., abdicated the empire of the world in +the person of Clement V. + +We have related the advent of the king of blood and the pope of +gold. We know how they ended. Jacques de Molay, from his funeral +pyre, adjured them both to appear before God within the year. +_Ae to geron sithullia_, says Aristophanes. "Dying hoary +heads possess the souls of sibyls." + +Clement V. departed first. In a vision he saw his palace in flames. +"From that moment," says Baluze, "he became sad and lasted but +a short time." + +Seven months later it was Philippe's turn. Some say that he was +killed while bunting, overthrown by a wild boar. Dante is among their +number. "He," said he, "who was seen near the Seine falsifying the +coin of the realm shall die by the tusk of a boar." But Guillaume +de Nangis makes the royal counterfeiter die of a death quite +otherwise providential. + +"Undermined by a malady unknown to the physicians, Philippe expired," +said he, "to the great astonishment of everybody, without either +his pulse or his urine revealing the cause of his malady or the +imminence of the danger." + +The King of Debauchery, the King of Uproar, Louis X., called +the Hutin, succeeded his father, Philippe le Bel; John XXII. to +Clement V. + +Avignon then became in truth a second Rome. John XXII. and Clement +VI. anointed her queen of luxury. The manners and customs of the +times made her queen of debauchery and indulgence. In place of +her towers, razed by Romain de Saint-Angelo, Hernandez de Héredi, +grand master of Saint-Jean of Jerusalem, girdled her with a belt +of walls. She possessed dissolute monks, who transformed the +blessed precincts of her convents into places of debauchery and +licentiousness; her beautiful courtesans tore the diamonds from +the tiara to make of them bracelets and necklaces; and finally +she possessed the echoes of Vaucluse, which wafted the melodious +strains of Petrarch's songs to her. + +This lasted until King Charles V., who was a virtuous and pious +prince, having resolved to put an end to the scandal, sent the +Maréchal de Boucicaut to drive out the anti-pope, Benedict XIII., +from Avignon. But at sight of the soldiers of the King of France +the latter remembered that before being pope under the name of +Benedict XIII. he had been captain under the name of Pierre de +Luna. For five months he defended himself, pointing his engines +of war with his own hands from the heights of the château walls, +engines otherwise far more murderous than his pontifical bolts. At +last forced to flee, he left the city by a postern, after having +ruined a hundred houses and killed four thousand Avignonese, and +fled to Spain, where the King of Aragon offered him sanctuary. + +There each morning, from the summit of a tower, assisted by the +two priests who constituted his sacred college, he blessed the +whole world, which was none the better for it, and excommunicated +his enemies, who were none the worse for it. At last, feeling +himself nigh to death, and fearing lest the schism die with him, +he elected his two vicars cardinals on the condition that after +his death one of the two would elect the other pope. The election +was made. The new pope, supported by the cardinal who made him, +continued the schism for awhile. Finally both entered into +negotiations with Rome, made honorable amends, and returned to +the fold of Holy Church, one with the title of Arch bishop of +Seville, the other as Archbishop of Toledo. + +From this time until 1790 Avignon, widowed of her popes, was +governed by legates and vice-legates. Seven sovereign pontiffs +had resided within her walls some seven decades; she had seven +hospitals, seven fraternities of penitents, seven monasteries, +seven convents, seven parishes, and seven cemeteries. + +To those who know Avignon there was at that epoch--there is yet--two +cities within a city: the city of the priests, that is to say, +the Roman city, and the city of the merchants, that is to say, +the, French city. The city of the priests, with its papal palace, +its hundred churches, its innumerable bell-towers, ever ready +to sound the tocsin of conflagration, the knell of slaughter. +The town of the merchants, with its Rhone, its silk-workers, its +crossroads, extending north, east, south and west, from Lyons +to Marseilles, from Nimes to Turin. The French city, the accursed +city, longing for a king, jealous of its liberties, shuddering +beneath its yoke of vassalage, a vassalage of the priests with +the clergy for its lord. + +The clergy--not the pious clergy, tolerantly austere in the practice +of its duty and charity, living in the world to console and edify +it, without mingling in its joys and passions--but a clergy such +as intrigue, cupidity, and ambition had made it; that is to say, +the court abbés, rivalling the Roman priests, indolent, libertine, +elegant, impudent, kings of fashion, autocrats of the salon, +kissing the hands of those ladies of whom they boasted themselves +the paramours, giving their hands to kiss to the women of the +people whom they honored by making their mistresses. + +Do you want a type of those abbés? Take the Abbé Maury. Proud +as a duke, insolent as a lackey, the son of a shoemaker, more +aristocratic than the son of a great lord. + +One understands that these two categories of inhabitants, +representing the one heresy, the other orthodoxy; the one the +French party, the other the Roman party; the one the party of +absolute monarchy, the other that of progressive constitutionalism, +were not elements conducive to the peace and security of this +ancient pontifical city. One understands, we say, that at the +moment when the revolution broke out in Paris, and manifested +itself by the taking of the Bastille, that the two parties, hot +from the religious wars of Louis XIV., could not remain inert +in the presence of each other. + +We have said, Avignon, city of priests; let us add, city of hatreds. +Nowhere better than in convent towns does one learn to hate. The +heart of the child, everywhere else free from wicked passions, +was born there full of paternal hatreds, inherited from father to +son for the last eight hundred years, and after a life of hate, +bequeathed in its turn, a diabolical heritage, to his children. + +Therefore, at the first cry of liberty which rang through France +the French town rose full of joy and hope. The moment had come +at last for her to contest aloud that concession made by a young +queen, a minor, in expiation of her sins, of a city and a province, +and with it half a million souls. By what right had she sold +these souls in æternum to the hardest and most exacting of all +masters, the Roman Pontiff? + +All France was hastening to assemble in the fraternal embrace +of the Federation at the Champ de Mars. Was she not France? Her +sons ejected delegates to wait upon the legate and request him +respectfully to leave the city, giving him twenty-four hours +in which to do so. + +During the night the papists amused themselves by hanging from +a gibbet an effigy of straw wearing the tri-color cockade. + +The course of the Rhone has been controlled, the Durance canalled, +dikes have been built to restrain the fierce torrents, which, +at the melting of the snows, pour in liquid avalanches from the +summits of Mt. Ventoux. But this terrible flood, this living +flood, this human torrent that rushed leaping through the rapid +inclines of the streets of Avignon, once released, once flooding, +not even God Himself has yet sought to stay it. + +At sight of this manikin with the national colors, dancing at +the end of a cord, the French city rose upon its very foundations +with terrible cries of rage. Four papist, suspected of this +sacrilege, two marquises, one burgher, and a workman, were torn +from their homes and hung in the manikin's stead. This occurred +the eleventh of June, 1790. + +The whole French town wrote to the National Assembly that she +gave herself to France, and with her the Rhone, her commerce, +the Midi, and the half of Provence. + +The National Assembly was in one of its reactionary moods. It +did not wish to quarrel with the Pope; it dallied with the King, +and the matter was adjourned. From that moment the rising became a +revolt, and the Pope was free to do with Avignon what the court might +have done with Paris, if the Assembly had delayed its proclamation +of the Rights of Man. The Pope ordered the annulment of all that +had occurred at the Comtat Venaissin, the re-establishment of +the privileges of the nobles and clergy, and the reinstallation +of the Inquisition in all its rigor. The pontifical decrees were +affixed to the walls. + +One man, one only, in broad daylight dared to go straight to +the walls, in face of all, and tear down the decree. His name +was Lescuyer. He was not a young man; and therefore it was not +the fire of youth that impelled him. No, he was almost an old +man who did not even belong to the province. He was a Frenchman +from Picardy, ardent yet reflective, a former notary long since +established at Avignon. + +It was a crime that Roman Avignon remembered; a crime so great +that the Virgin wept! + +You see Avignon is another Italy. She must have her miracles, +and if God will not perform them, so surely will some one be +at hand to invent them. Still further, the miracle must be a +miracle pertaining to the Virgin. La Madonna! the mind, the heart, +the tongue of the Italians are full of these two words. + +It was in the Church of the Cordeliers that this miracle occurred. +The crowd rushed there. It was much that the Virgin should weep; +but a rumor spread at the same time that brought the excitement +to a climax. A large coffer, tightly sealed, had been carried +through the city; this chest had excited the curiosity of all +Avignon. What did it contain? Two hours later it was no longer +a coffer; but eighteen trunks had been seen going toward the +Rhone. As for their contents, a porter had revealed that; they +contained articles from the Mont-de-Piété that the French party +were taking with them into exile. Articles from the Mont-de-Piété, +that is to say, the spoils of the poor! The poorer the city the +richer its pawn-shops. Few could boast such wealth as those of +Avignon. It was no longer a factional affair, it was a theft, +an infamous theft. Whites and Reds rushed to the Church of the +Cordeliers, shouting that the municipality must render them an +accounting. + +Lescuyer was the secretary of the municipality. His name was thrown +to the crowd, not for having torn down the pontifical decrees--from +that moment he would have had defenders--but for having signed the +order to the keeper of the Mont-de-Piété permitting the removal of +the articles in pawn. + +Four men were sent to seize Lescuyer and bring him to the church. +They found him in the street on his way to the municipality. The +four men fell upon him and dragged him to the church with the +most ferocious cries. Once there, Lescuyer understood from the +flaming eyes that met his, from the clinched fists threatening +him, the shrieks demanding his death; Lescuyer understood that +instead of being in the house of the Lord he was in one of those +circles of hell forgotten by Dante. + +The only idea that occurred to him as to this hatred against +him was that he had caused it by tearing down the pontifical +decrees. He climbed into the pulpit, expecting to convert it into +a seat of justice, and in the voice of a man who not only does +not blame himself, but who is even ready to repeat his action, +he said: + +"Brothers, I consider the revolution necessary; consequently I +have done all in my power--" + +The fanatics understood that if Lescuyer explained, Lescuyer +was saved. That was not what they wanted. They flung themselves +upon him, tore him from the pulpit, and thrust him into the midst +of this howling mob, who dragged him to the altar with that sort +of terrible cry which combines the hiss of the serpent and the +roar of the tiger, the murderous zou! zou! peculiar to the people +of Avignon. + +Lescuyer recognized that fatal cry; he endeavored to gain refuge +at the foot of the altar. He found none; he fell there. + +A laborer, armed with a stick, dealt him such a blow on the head +that the stick broke in two pieces. Then the people hurled themselves +upon the poor body, and, with that mixture of gayety and ferocity +peculiar to Southern people, the men began to dance on his stomach, +singing, while the women, that he might better expiate his +blasphemies against the Pope, cut or rather scalloped his lips +with their scissors. + +And out of the midst of this frightful group came a cry, or rather +a groan; this death groan said: "In the name of Heaven! in the +name of the Virgin! in the name of humanity! kill me at once." + +This cry was heard, and by common consent the assassins stood +aside. They left the unfortunate man bleeding, disfigured, mangled, +to taste of his death agony. + +This lasted five hours, during which, amid shouts of laughter, +insults, and jeers from the crowd, this poor body lay palpitating +upon the steps of the altar. That is how they kill at Avignon. + +Stay! there is yet another way. A man of the French party conceived +the idea of going to the Mont-de-Piété for information. Everything +was in order there, not a fork or a spoon had been removed. It was +therefore not as an accomplice of theft that Lescuyer had just been +so cruelly murdered, it was for being a patriot. + +There was at that time in Avignon a man who controlled the populace. +All these terrible leaders of the Midi have acquired such fatal +celebrity that it suffices to name them for every one, even the +least educated, to know them. This man was Jourdan. Braggart and +liar, he had made the common people believe that it was he who had +cut off the head of the governor of the Bastille. So they called him +Jourdan, Coupe-tête. That was not his real name, which was Mathieu +Jouve. Neither was he a Provencal; he came from Puy-en-Velay. He had +formerly been a muleteer on those rugged heights which surround his +native town; then a soldier without going to war--war had perhaps +made him more human; after that he had kept a drink-shop in Paris. +In Avignon he had been a vendor of madder. + +He collected three hundred men, carried the gates of the town, +left half of his troop to guard them, and with the remainder +marched upon the Church of the Cordeliers, preceded by two pieces +of cannon. These he stationed in front of the church and fired them +into it at random. The assassins fled like a flock of frightened +birds, leaving some few dead upon the church steps. Jourdan and +his men trampled over the bodies and entered the holy precincts. +No one was there but the Virgin, and the wretched Lescuyer, still +breathing. Jourdan and his comrades took good care not to despatch +Lescuyer; his death agony was a supreme means of exciting the mob. +They picked up this remnant of a sentient being, three-quarters +dead, and carried it along, bleeding, quivering, gasping, with +them. + +Every one fled from the sight, closing doors and windows. At the +end of an hour, Jourdan and his three hundred men were masters +of the town. + +Lescuyer was dead, but what of that; they no longer needed his +agony. Jourdan profited by the terror he had inspired to arrest +or have arrested eighty people, murderers, or so-called murderers +of Lescuyer. Thirty, perhaps, had never even set foot within the +church. But when one has such a good opportunity to be rid of +one's enemies, one must profit by it; good opportunities are +rare. + +These eighty people were huddled into the Trouillas Tower. +Historically it is known as the Tower de la Glacière; but why +change this name of the Trouillas Tower? The name is unclean +and harmonizes well with the unclean deed which was now to be +perpetrated there. + +It had been the scene of the inquisitorial tortures. One can +still see on the walls the greasy soot which rose from the smoke +of the funeral pyre where human bodies were consumed. They still +show you to-day the instruments of torture which they have carefully +preserved--the caldron, the oven, the wooden horse, the chains, +the dungeons, and even the rotten bones. Nothing is wanting. + +It was in this tower, built by Clement V., that they now confined +the eighty prisoners. These eighty men, once arrested and locked +up in the Trouillas Tower, became most embarrassing. Who was +to judge them? There were no legally constituted courts except +those of the Pope. Could they kill these unfortunates as they +had killed Lescuyer? + +We have said that a third, perhaps half of them, had not only +taken no part in the murder, but had not even set foot in the +church. How should they kill them? The killing must be placed +upon the basis of reprisals. But the killing of these eighty +people required a certain number of executioners. + +A species of tribunal was improvised by Jourdan and held session +in one of the law-courts. It had a clerk named Raphel; a president, +half Italian, half French; an orator in the popular dialect named +Barbe Savournin de la Roua, and three or four other poor devils, +a baker, a pork butcher--their names are lost in the multitude +of events. + +These were the men who cried: "We must kill all! If one only escapes +he will be a witness against us." + +But, as we have said, executioners were wanting. There were barely +twenty men at hand in the courtyard, all belonging to the petty +tradesfolk of Avignon--a barber, a shoemaker, a cobbler, a mason, +and an upholsterer--all insufficiently armed at random, the one +with a sabre, the other with a bayonet, a third with an iron +bar, and a fourth with a bit of wood hardened by fire. All of +these people were chilled by a fine October rain. It would be +difficult to turn them into assassins. + +Pooh! Is anything too difficult for the devil? + +There comes an hour in such crises when God seems to abandon the +earth. Then the devil's chance comes. + +The devil in person entered this cold, muddy courtyard. Assuming +the features, form and face of an apothecary of the neighborhood +named Mendes, he prepared a table lighted by two lanterns, on +which he placed glasses, jugs, pitchers and bottles. + +What infernal beverage did these mysterious and curiously formed +receptacles contain? No one ever knew, but the result is well +known. All those who drank that diabolical liquor were suddenly +seized with a feverish rage, a lust of blood and murder. From +that moment it was only necessary to show them the door; they +hurtled madly into the dungeon. + +The massacre lasted all night; all night the cries, the sobs, +the groans of the dying sounded through the darkness. All were +killed, all slaughtered, men and women. It was long in doing; +the killers, we have said, were drunk and poorly armed. But they +succeeded. + +Among these butchers was a child remarked for his bestial cruelty, +his immoderate thirst for blood. It was Lescuyer's son. He killed +and then killed again; he boasted of having with his childish +hand alone killed ten men and four women. + +"It's all right! I can kill as I like," said he. "I am not yet +fifteen, so they can do nothing to me for it." + +As the killing progressed, they threw their victims, the living, +dead and wounded, into the Trouillas Tower, some sixty feet, +down into the pit. The men were thrown in first, and the women +later. The assassins wanted time to violate the bodies of those +who were young and pretty. At nine in the morning, after twelve +hours of massacre, a voice was still heard crying from the depths +of the sepulchre: + +"For pity's sake, come kill me! I cannot die." + +A man, the armorer Bouffier, bent over the pit and looked down. +The others did not dare. + +"Who was that crying?" they asked. + +"That was Lami," replied Bouffier. Then, when he had returned, +they asked him: + +"Well, what did you see at the bottom?" + +"A queer marmalade," said he. "Men and women, priests and pretty +girls, all helter-skelter. It's enough to make one die of laughter." + +"Decidedly man is a vile creature," said the Count of Monte-Cristo +to M. de Villefort. + +Well, it is in this town, still reeking with blood, still warm, +still stirred by these last massacres, that we now introduce +two of the principal personages of our story. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A TABLE D'HÔTE + +The 9th of October, 1799, on a beautiful day of that meridional +autumn which ripens the oranges of Hyères and the grapes of +Saint-Peray, at the two extremities of Provence, a travelling +chaise, drawn by three post horses, galloped at full speed over +the bridge that crosses the Durance, between Cavailhon and +Château-Renard, on its way to Avignon, the ancient papal city +which a decree, issued the 25th of May, 1791, eight years earlier, +had reunited to France--a reunion confirmed by the treaty signed +in 1797, at Tolentino, between General Bonaparte and Pope Pius +VI. + +The carriage entered by the gate of Aix and, without slackening +speed, traversed the entire length of the town, with its narrow, +winding streets, built to ward off both wind and sun, and halted at +fifty paces from the Porte d'Oulle, at the Hotel du Palais-Egalité, +which they were again beginning to quietly rename the Hotel du +Palais-Royal, a name which it bore formerly and still bears to-day. + +These few insignificant words about the name of the inn, before +which halted the post-chaise which we had in view, indicate +sufficiently well the state of France under the government of +the Thermidorian reaction, called the Directory. + +After the revolutionary struggle which had occurred between the +14th of July, 1789, and the 9th Thermidor, 1794; after the days +of the 5th and 6th of October, of the 21st of June, of the 10th +of August, of the 2d and 3d of September, of the 21st of May, of +the 29th Thermidor and the 1st Prairial; after seeing fall the +heads of the King and his judges, and the Queen and her accusers, +of the Girondins and the Cordeliers, the Moderates and the Jacobins, +France experienced that most frightful and most nauseous of all +lassitudes, the lassitude of blood! + +She had therefore returned, if not to a need of monarchy, at +least to a desire for a stable government, in which she might +place her confidence, upon which she might lean, which would act +for her, and which would permit her some repose while it acted. + +In the stead of this vaguely desired government, the country +obtained the feeble and irresolute Directory, composed for the +moment of the voluptuous Barrès, the intriguing Sièyes, the brave +Moulins, the insignificant Roger Ducos, and the honest but somewhat +too ingenuous Gohier. The result was a mediocre dignity before +the world at large and a very questionable tranquillity at home. + +It is true that at the moment of which we write our armies, so +glorious during those epic campaigns of 1796 and 1797, thrown +back for a time upon France by the incapacity of Scherer at Verona +and Cassano, and by the defeat and death of Joubert at Novi, were +beginning to resume the offensive. Moreau had defeated Souvarow +at Bassignano; Brune had defeated the Duke of York and General +Hermann at Bergen; Masséna had annihilated the Austro-Russians at +Zurich; Korsakof had escaped only with the greatest difficulty; +the Austrian, Hotz, with three other generals, were killed, and +five made prisoners. Masséna saved France at Zurich, as Villars, +ninety years earlier, had saved it at Denain. + +But in the interior, matters were not in so promising a state, +and the government of the Directory was, it must be confessed, +much embarrassed between the war in the Vendée and the brigandages +of the Midi, to which, according to custom, the population of +Avignon were far from remaining strangers. + +Beyond doubt the two travellers who descended from the carriage +at the door of the Hotel du Palais-Royal had reason to fear the +state of mind in which the always excitable papal town might be +at that time; for just before reaching Orgon, at a spot where +three crossroads stretched out before the traveller--one leading +to Nimes, the second to Carpentras, the third to Avignon--the +postilion had stopped his horses, and, turning round, asked: + +"Will the citizens go by way of Avignon or Carpentras?" + +"Which of the two roads is the shorter?" asked the elder of the +two travellers in a harsh, strident voice. Though visibly the +elder, he was scarcely thirty years of age. + +"Oh, the road to Avignon, citizen, by a good four miles at least." + +"Then," he had replied, "go by way of Avignon." + +And the carriage had started again at a gallop, which proclaimed +that the citizen travellers, as the postilion called them, although +the title of Monsieur was beginning to reappear in conversation, +paid a fee of at least thirty sous. + +The same desire to lose no time manifested itself at the hotel +entrance. There, as on the road, it was the elder of the two +travellers who spoke. He asked if they could dine at once, and the +way this demand was made indicated that he was ready to overlook +many gastronomical exigencies provided that the repast in question +be promptly served. + +"Citizens," replied the landlord, who, at the sound of carriage +wheels hastened, napkin in hand, to greet the travellers, "you +will be promptly and comfortably served in your room; but if +you will permit me to advise--" He hesitated. + +"Oh, go on! go on!" said the younger of the travellers, speaking +for the first time. + +"Well, it would be that you dine at the table d'hôte, like the +traveller for whom this coach, already harnessed, is waiting. +The dinner is excellent and all served." + +The host at the same time indicated a comfortably appointed carriage, +to which were harnessed two horses who were pawing the ground, +while the postilion sought patience in the bottle of Cahors wine +he was emptying near the window-ledge. The first movement of +him to whom this proposal was made was negative; nevertheless, +after a second's reflection, the elder of the two travellers, as +if he had reconsidered his first decision, made an interrogative +sign to his companion, who replied with a look which signified, +"You know that I am at your orders." + +"Very well, so be it," said the other, "we will dine at the table +d'hôte." Then, turning to the postilion, who, hat in hand, awaited +his order, he added, "Let the horses be ready in a half hour, +at the latest." + +And the landlord pointing out the way, they both entered the +dining-room, the elder of the two walking first, the other following +him. + +Everyone knows the impression generally produced at a table d'hôte +by new-comers. All eyes were bent upon them and the conversation, +which seemed to be quite animated, stopped. + +The guests consisted of the frequenters of the hotel, the traveller +whose carriage was waiting harnessed at the door, a wine merchant +from Bordeaux, sojourning temporarily at Avignon for reasons we +shall shortly relate, and a certain number of travellers going +from Marseilles to Lyons by diligence. + +The new arrivals greeted the company with a slight inclination of +the head, and sat down at the extreme end of the table, thereby +isolating themselves from the other guests by three or four empty +places. This seemingly aristocratic reserve redoubled the curiosity +of which they were the object; moreover, they were obviously +people of unquestionable distinction, although their garments +were simple in the extreme. Both wore hightop boots and breeches, +long-tailed coats, travelling overcoats and broad-brimmed hats, +the usual costume of the young men of that day. But that which +distinguished them from the fashionables of Paris, and even of the +provinces, was their long straight hair, and their black stocks +buckled round the neck, military fashion. The Muscadins--that +was the name then given to young dandies--the Muscadins wore +dogs' ears puffing at the temples, the rest of the hair combed +up tightly in a bag at the back, and an immense cravat with long +floating ends, in which the chin was completely buried. Some +had even extended this reaction to powder. + +As to the personality of the two young men, they presented two +diametrically opposite types. + +The elder of the two, he who, as we have already remarked, had +taken the initiative several times, and whose voice, even in +its most familiar intonations, denoted the habit of command, +was about thirty years of age. His black hair was parted in the +middle, falling straight from his temples to his shoulders. He +had the swarthy skin of a man who has travelled long in southern +climes, thin lips, a straight nose, white teeth, and those hawk-like +eyes which Dante gives to Cæsar. He was short rather than tall, +his hand was delicate, his foot slender and elegant. His manner +betrayed a certain awkwardness, suggesting that he was at the +moment wearing a costume to which he was not accustomed, and when +he spoke, his hearers, had they been beside the Loire instead +of the Rhone, would have detected a certain Italian accent in +his pronunciation. + +His companion seemed to be some three or four years younger than +he. He was a handsome young man with a rosy complexion, blond +hair and light blue eyes, a straight, firm nose and prominent +but almost beardless chin. He was perhaps a couple of inches +taller than his companion, and though his figure was somewhat +above medium height, he was so well proportioned, so admirably +free in his movements, that he was evidently if not extraordinarily +strong, at least uncommonly agile and dexterous. Although attired +in the same manner and apparently on a footing of equality, be +evinced remarkable deference to the dark young man, which, as it +could not result from age, was doubtless caused by some inferiority +of position. Moreover, he called his companion citizen, while +the other addressed him as Roland. + +These remarks which we make to initiate the reader more profoundly +into our story, were probably not made as extensively by the +guests at the table d'hôte; for after bestowing a few seconds +of attention upon the new-comers, they turned their eyes away, +and the conversation, interrupted for an instant, was resumed. +It must be confessed that it concerned a matter most interesting +to the travellers--that of the stoppage of a diligence bearing +a sum of sixty thousand francs belonging to the government. The +affair had occurred the day before on the road from Marseilles +to Avignon between Lambesc and Pont-Royal. + +At the first words referring to this event, the two young men +listened with unmistakable interest. It had taken place on the +same road which they had just followed, and the narrator, the +wine merchant of Bordeaux, had been one of the principal actors +in the scene on the highroad. Those who seemed the most curious +to hear the details were the travellers in the diligence which +had just arrived and was soon to depart. The other guests, who +belonged to the locality, seemed sufficiently conversant with +such catastrophes to furnish the details themselves instead of +listening to them. + +"So, citizen," said a stout gentleman against whom a tall woman, +very thin and haggard, was crowding in her terror. "You say that +the robbery took place on the very road by which we have just +come?" + +"Yes, citizen, between Lambesc and Pont-Royal. Did you notice +the spot where the road ascends between two high banks? There +are a great many rocks there." + +"Yes, yes, my friend," said the wife, pressing her husband's +arm, "I noticed it; I even said, as you must remember, 'Here is +a bad place; I would rather pass here by day than at night.'" + +"Oh! madame," said a young man whose voice affected to slur his +r's after the fashion of the day, and who probably assumed to +lead the conversation at the table d'hôte, on ordinary occasions, +"you know the Companions of Jehu know no day or night." + +"What! citizen," asked the lady still more alarmed, "were you +attacked in broad daylight?" + +"In broad daylight, citizeness, at ten o'clock in the morning." + +"And how many were there?" asked the stout gentleman. + +"Four, citizen." + +"Ambushed beside the road?" + +"No; they were on horseback, armed to the teeth and masked." + +"That's their custom," said the young frequenter of the table +d'hôte, "and they said, did they not: 'Do not defend yourself, +we will not harm you. We only want the government money.'" + +"Word for word, citizen." + +"Then," continued this well-informed young man, "two dismounted +from their horses, flinging their bridles to their comrades, +and commanded the conductor to deliver up the money." + +"Citizen," said the stout man astonished, "you describe the thing +as if you had seen it." + +"Monsieur was there, perhaps," said one of the travellers, half +in jest, half in earnest. + +"I do not know, citizen, whether in saying that you intend a +rudeness," carelessly observed the young man who had so pertinently +and obligingly come to the narrator's assistance, "but my political +opinions are such that I do not consider your suspicion an insult. +Had I had the misfortune to be among those attacked, or the honor +to be one of those who made the attack, I should admit it as +frankly in the one case as in the other. But yesterday at ten +o'clock, at precisely the moment when the diligence was stopped, +twelve miles from here, I was breakfasting quietly in this very +seat. And, by-the-bye, with the two citizens who now do me the +honor to sit beside me." + +"And," asked the younger of the two travellers who had lately +joined the table, whom his companion called Roland, "how many +men were you in the diligence?" + +"Let me think; we were--yes, that's it--we were seven men and +three women." + +"Seven men, not including the conductor?" repeated Roland. + +"Yes." + +"And you seven men allowed yourselves to be plundered by four +brigands? I congratulate you, gentlemen." + +"We knew with whom we had to deal," replied the wine merchant, +"and we took good care not to defend ourselves." + +"What! with whom you had to deal?" retorted the young man. "Why, +it seems to me, with thieves and bandits." + +"Not at all. They gave their names." + +"They gave their names?" + +"They said, 'Gentlemen, it is useless to defend yourselves; ladies, +do not be alarmed, we are not bandits, we are Companions of Jehu.'" + +"Yes," said the young man of the table d'hôte, "they warned you +that there might be no misunderstanding. That's their way." + +"Ah, indeed!" exclaimed Roland; "and who is this Jehu who has +such polite companions? Is he their captain?" + +"Sir," said a man whose dress betrayed somewhat the secularized +priest, and who seemed also to be, not only an habitual guest +at the table d'hôte, but also an initiate into the mysteries of +the honorable company whose merits were then under discussion, +"if you were better versed than you seem to be in the Holy +Scriptures, you would know that this Jehu died something like +two thousand six hundred years ago, and that consequently he +cannot at the present time stop coaches on the highways." + +"Monsieur l'Abbé," replied Roland, who had recognized an +ecclesiastic, "as, in spite of the sharp tone in which you speak, +you seem a man of learning, permit a poor ignoramus to ask you a +few details about this Jehu, dead these two thousand six hundred +years, who, nevertheless, is honored by followers bearing his +name." + +"Jehu!" replied the churchman, in the same sour tone, "was a +King of Israel anointed by Elisha, on condition that he punish +the crimes of the house of Ahab and Jezbel, and put to death +the priests of Baal." + +"Monsieur l'Abbé," replied the young man laughing, "I thank you +for the explanation. I don't doubt it is correct, and, above +all, very learned. But I must admit it doesn't tell me much." + +"What, citizen!" exclaimed the abbé, "don't you understand that +Jehu is his Majesty Louis XVIII., anointed on condition that he +punish the crimes of the Revolution and put to death all the +priests of Baal; that is to say, all those who had taken any part +whatsoever in the abominable state of things which, for these +last seven years, has been called the republic?" + +"Yes, indeed!" exclaimed the young man; "of course I understand. +But among those whom the Companions of Jehu are appointed to +fight, do you reckon the brave soldiers who have repulsed the +enemy along the frontiers of France, and the illustrious generals +who have commanded the armies of the Tyrol, the Sambre-and-Meuse, +and of Italy?" + +"Why, beyond doubt, those foremost and before all." + +The young man's eyes flashed lightning; his nostrils quivered +and his lips tightened. He rose from his chair, but his comrade +touched his coat and forced him to sit down again, while with a +single glance he silenced him. Then he who had thus given proof +of his power, speaking for the first time, addressed the young +man of the table d'hôte. + +"Citizen, excuse two travellers who are just arrived from the +end of the earth, from America, or India as it were. Absent from +France these last two years; we are completely ignorant of all +that has occurred here, and most desirous to obtain information." + +"Why, as to that," replied the young man, to whom these words +were addressed, "that is but fair, citizen. Question us and we +will answer you." + +"Well," continued the dark young man with the eagle eye, the +straight black hair, and the granite complexion, "now that I +know who Jehu is, and to what end his company was instituted, I +should like to know what his companions do with the money they +take." + +"Oh I that is very simple, citizen. You know there is much talk +of the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy?" + +"No, I did not know it," replied the dark young man, in a tone +which he vainly strove to render artless; "I am but just arrived, +as I told you, from the end of the earth." + +"What! you did not know that? Well, six months hence it will be +an accomplished fact." + +"Really!" + +"I have the honor to tell you so, citizen." + +The two soldier-like young men exchanged a glance and a smile, +though the young blond one was apparently chafing under the weight +of his extreme impatience. + +Their informant continued: "Lyons is the headquarters of the +conspiracy, if one can call conspiracy a plot which was organized +openly. 'The provisional government' would be a more suitable +word." + +"Well, then, citizen," said the dark young man with a politeness +not wholly exempt from satire, "let us call it 'provisional +government.'" + +"This provisional government has its staff and its armies." + +"Bah! its staff perhaps--but its armies--" + +"Its armies, I repeat." + +"Where are they?" + +"One is being organized in the mountains of Auvergne, under the +orders of M. de Chardon; another in the Jura Mountains, under M. +Teyssonnet; and, finally, a third is operating most successfully +at this time, in the Vendée, under the orders of Escarboville, +Achille Leblond and Cadoudal." + +"Truly, citizen, you render me a real service in telling me this. +I thought the Bourbons completely resigned to their exile. I +supposed the police so organized as to suppress both provisional +royalist committees in the large towns and bandits on the highways. +In fact, I believed the Vendée had been completely pacificated +by Hoche." + +The young man to whom this reply was addressed burst out laughing. + +"Why, where do you come from?" he exclaimed. + +"I told you, citizen, from the end of the earth." + +"So it seems." Then he continued: "You understand, the Bourbons +are not rich, the émigrés whose property was confiscated are +ruined. It is impossible to organize two armies and maintain a +third without money. The royalists faced an embarrassing problem; +the republic alone could pay for its enemies' troops and, it +being improbable that she would do so of her own volition, the +shady negotiation was abandoned, and it was adjudged quicker +to take the money without permission than to ask her for it." + +"Ah! I understand at last." + +"That's very fortunate." + +"Companions of Jehu then are the intermediaries between the Republic +and the Counter-Revolution, the tax-collectors of the royalist +generals?" + +"Yes. It is not robbery, but a military operation, rather a feat +of arms like any other. So there you are, citizen, and now you +are as well informed on this point as ourselves." + +"But," timidly hazarded the wine merchant of Bordeaux, "if the +Companions of Jehu--observe that I say nothing against them--want +the government money--" + +"The government money, no other. Individual plunder on their part +is unheard of." + +"How does it happen, then, that yesterday, in addition to the +government money, they carried off two hundred louis of mine?" + +"My dear sir," replied the young man of the table d'hôte, "I +have already told you that there is some mistake. As surely as +my name is Alfred de Barjols, this money will be returned to +you some day." + +The wine merchant heaved a sigh and shook his head, as if, in +spite of that assurance, he still retained some doubts. But at +this moment, as if the promise given by the young noble, who +had just revealed his social position by telling his name, had +stirred the delicacy of those whom he thus guaranteed, a horse +stopped at the entrance, steps were heard in the corridor, the +dining-room door opened, and a masked man, armed to the teeth, +appeared on the threshold. + +"Gentlemen," said he, in the profound silence occasioned by his +apparition, "is there a traveller here named Jean Picot, who +was in the diligence that was held up yesterday between Lambesc +and Pont-Royal?" + +"Yes," said the wine merchant, amazed. + +"Are you he?" asked the masked man. + +"I am." + +"Was anything taken from you?" + +"Oh, yes, two hundred louis, which I had intrusted to the conductor." + +"And I may add," said the young noble, "that the gentleman was +speaking of it at this very moment. He looked upon it as lost." + +"The gentleman was wrong," said the masked unknown, "we war upon +the government and not against individuals. We are partisans +and not robbers. Here are your two hundred Louis, sir, and if +a similar mistake should occur in the future, claim your loss, +mentioning the name of Morgan." + +So saying, the masked individual deposited a bag of gold beside +the wine merchant, bowed courteously to the other guests, and +went out, leaving some terrified and others bewildered by such +daring. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN ITALIAN PROVERB + +Although the two sentiments which we have just indicated were +the dominant ones, they did not manifest themselves to an equal +degree in all present. The shades were graduated according to +the sex, age, character, we may almost say, the social positions +of the hearers. The wine merchant, Jean Picot, the principal +personage in the late event, recognizing at first sight by his +dress, weapons, mask, one of the men who had stopped the coach +on the preceding day, was at first sight stupefied, then little +by little, as he grasped the purport of this mysterious brigand's +visit to him, he had passed from stupefaction to joy, through +the intermediate phases separating these two emotions. His bag +of gold was beside him, yet he seemingly dared not touch it; +perhaps he feared that the instant his hand went forth toward +it, it would melt like the dream-gold which vanishes during that +period of progressive lucidity which separates profound slumber +from thorough awakening. + +The stout gentleman of the diligence and his wife had displayed, +like their travelling companions, the most absolute and complete +terror. Seated to the left of Jean Picot, when the bandit approached +the wine merchant, the husband, in the vain hope of maintaining a +respectable distance between himself and the Companion of Jehu, +pushed his chair back against that of his wife, who, yielding to +the pressure, in turn endeavored to push back hers. But as the +next chair was occupied by citizen Alfred de Barjols, who had +no reason to fear these men whom he had just praised so highly, +the chair of the stout man's wife encountered an obstacle in the +immovability of the young noble; so, as at Marengo, eight or +nine months later, when the general in command judged it time +to resume the offensive, the retrograde movement was arrested. + +As for him--we are speaking of the citizen Alfred de Barjols--his +attitude, like that of the abbé who had given the Biblical +explanation about Jehu, King of Israel, and his mission from +Elisha, his attitude, we say, was that of a man who not only +experiences no fear, but who even expects the event in question, +however unexpected it may be. His lips wore a smile as he watched +the masked man, and had the guests not been so preoccupied with +the two principal actors in this scene, they might have remarked +the almost imperceptible sign exchanged between the eyes of the +bandit and the young noble, and transmitted instantly by the +latter to the abbé. + +The two travellers whom we introduced to the table d'hôte, and +who as we have said sat apart at the end of the table, preserved +an attitude conformable to their respective characters. The younger +of the two had instinctively put his hand to his side, as if to +seek an absent weapon, and had risen with a spring, as if to rush +at the masked man's throat, in which purpose he had certainly not +failed had he been alone; but the elder, who seemed to possess +not only the habit but the right of command, contented himself by +regrasping his coat, and saying, in an imperious, almost harsh +tone: "Sit down, Roland!" And the young man had resumed his seat. + +But one of the guests had remained, in appearance at least, the +most impassible during this scene. He was a man between thirty-three +and thirty-four years of age, with blond hair, red beard, a calm, +handsome face, with large blue eyes, a fair skin, refined and +intelligent lips, and very tall, whose foreign accent betrayed +one born in that island of which the government was at that time +waging bitter war against France. As far as could be judged by +the few words which had escaped him, he spoke the French language +with rare purity, despite the accent we have just mentioned. At +the first word he uttered, in which that English accent revealed +itself, the elder of the two travellers started. Turning to his +companion, he asked with a glance, to which the other seemed +accustomed, how it was that an Englishman should be in France +when the uncompromising war between the two nations had naturally +exiled all Englishmen from France, as it had all Frenchmen from +England. No doubt the explanation seemed impossible to Roland, +for he had replied with his eyes, and a shrug of the shoulders: "I +find it quite as extraordinary as you; but if you, mathematician +as you are, can't solve the problem, don't ask me!" + +It was evident to the two young men that the fair man with the +Anglo-Saxon accent was the traveller whose comfortable carriage +awaited him harnessed in the courtyard, and that this traveller +hailed from London, or, at least, from some part of Great Britain. + +As to his remarks, they, as we have stated, were infrequent, so +laconic, in reality, that they were mere exclamations rather than +speech. But each time an explanation had been asked concerning the +state of France, the Englishman openly drew out a note-book and +requested those about him, the wine merchant, the abbé, or the +young noble to repeat their remarks; to which each had complied +with an amiability equal to the courteous tone of the request. He +had noted down the most important, extraordinary and, picturesque +features of the robbery of the diligence, the state of Vendée, and +the details about the Companions of Jehu, thanking each informant +by voice and gesture with the stiffness peculiar to our insular +cousins, replacing his note-book enriched each time by a new +item in a side pocket of his overcoat. + +Finally, like a spectator enjoying an unexpected scene, he had +given a cry of satisfaction at sight of the masked man, had listened +with all his ears, gazed with all his eyes, not losing him from +sight until the door closed behind him. Then drawing his note-book +hastily from his pocket-- + +"Ah, sir," he said to his neighbor, who was no other than the +abbé, "will you be so kind, should my memory fail me, as to repeat +what that gentleman who has just gone out said?" + +He began to write immediately, and the abbé's memory agreeing +with his, he had the satisfaction of transcribing literally and +verbatim the speech made by the Companion of Jehu to citizen +Jean Picot. Then, this conversation written down, he exclaimed +with an accent that lent a singular stamp of originality to his +words: + +"Of a truth! it is only in France that such things can happen; +France is the most curious country in the world. I am delighted, +gentlemen, to travel in France and become acquainted with Frenchmen." + +The last sentence was said with such courtesy that nothing remained +save to thank the speaker from whose serious mouth it issued, +though he was a descendant of the conquerors of Crecy, Poitiers +and Agincourt. It was the younger of the two travellers who +acknowledged this politeness in that heedless and rather caustic +manner which seemed habitual to him. + +"'Pon my word! I am exactly like you, my lord--I say my lord, +because I presume you are English." + +"Yes, sir," replied the gentleman, "I have that honor." + +"Well! as I was saying," continued the young man, "I am delighted +to travel in France and see what I am seeing. One must live under +the government of citizens Gohier, Moulins, Roger Ducos, Sièyes +and Barras to witness such roguery. I dare wager than when the +tale is told, fifty years hence, of the highwayman who rode into +a city of thirty thousand inhabitants in broad day, masked and +armed with two pistols and a sword at his belt, to return the +two hundred louis which he had stolen the day previous to the +honest merchant who was then deploring their loss, and when it +is added that this occurred at a table d'hôte where twenty or +twenty-five people were seated, and that this model bandit was +allowed to depart without one of those twenty or twenty-five +people daring to molest him; I dare wager, I repeat, that whoever +has the audacity to tell the story will be branded as an infamous +liar." + +And the young man, throwing himself back in his chair, burst +into laughter, so aggressive, so nervous, that every one gazed +at him in wonderment, while his companion's eyes expressed an +almost paternal anxiety. + +"Sir," said citizen Alfred de Barjols, who, moved like the others +by this singular outburst, more sad, or rather dolorous, than +gay, had waited for its last echo to subside. "Sir, permit me +to point out to you that the man whom you have just seen is not +a highwayman." + +"Bah! Frankly, what is he then?" + +"He is in all probability a young man of as good a family as yours +or mine." + +"Count Horn, whom the Regent ordered broken on the wheel at the +Place de Grève, was also a man of good family, and the proof +is that all the nobility of Paris sent their carriages to his +execution." + +"Count Horn, if I remember rightly, murdered a Jew to steal a +note of hand which he was unable to meet. No one would dare assert +that a Companion of Jehu had ever so much as harmed the hair of +an infant." + +"Well, be it so. We will admit that the Company was founded upon +a philanthropic basis, to re-establish the balance of fortunes, +redress the whims of chance and reform the abuses of society. +Though he may be a robber, after the fashion of Karl Moor, your +friend Morgan--was it not Morgan that this honest citizen called +himself?" + +"Yes," said the Englishman. + +"Well, your friend Morgan is none the less a thief." + +Citizen Alfred de Barjols turned very pale. + +"Citizen Morgan is not my friend," replied the young aristocrat; +"but if he were I should feel honored by his friendship." + +"No doubt," replied Roland, laughing. "As Voltaire says: 'The +friendship of a great man is a blessing from the gods.'" + +"Roland, Roland!" observed his comrade in a low tone. + +"Oh! general," replied the latter, letting his companion's rank +escape him, perhaps intentionally, "I implore you, let me continue +this discussion, which interests me in the highest degree." + +His friend shrugged his shoulders. + +"But, citizen," continued the young man with strange persistence, +"I stand in need of correction. I left France two years ago, and +during my absence so many things have changed, such as dress, +morals, and accents, that even the language may have changed also. +In the language of the day in France what do you call stopping +coaches and taking the money which they contain?" + +"Sir," said the young noble, in the tone of a man determined to +sustain his argument to its end, "I call that war. Here is your +companion whom you have just called general; he as a military +man will tell you that, apart from the pleasure of killing and +being killed, the generals of all ages have never done anything +else than what the citizen Morgan is doing?" + +"What!" exclaimed the young man, whose eyes flashed fire. "You +dare to compare--" + +"Permit the gentleman to develop his theory, Roland," said the +dark traveller, whose eyes, unlike those of his companion, which +dilated as they flamed, were veiled by long black lashes, thus +concealing all that was passing in his mind. + +"Ah!" said the young man in his curt tone, "you see that you, +yourself, are becoming interested in the discussion." Then, turning +to the young noble, whom he seemed to have selected for his +antagonist, he said: "Continue, sir, continue; the general permits +it." + +The young noble flushed as visibly as he had paled a moment before. +Between clinched teeth, his elbow on the table, his chin on his +clinched hand, as if to draw as close to his adversary as possible, +he said with a Provençal accent, which grew more pronounced as +the discussion waxed hotter: "Since _the general_ +permits"--emphasizing the two words--"I shall have the honor +to tell him and you, too, citizen, that I believe I have read +in Plutarch that Alexander the Great, when he started for India, +took with him but eighteen or twenty talents in gold, something +like one hundred or one hundred and twenty thousand francs. Now, +do you suppose that with these eighteen or twenty talents alone +he fed his army, won the battle of Granicus, subdued Asia Minor, +conquered Tyre, Gaza, Syria and Egypt, built Alexandria, penetrated +to Lybia, had himself declared Son of Jupiter by the oracle of +Ammon, penetrated as far as the Hyphases, and, when his soldiers +refused to follow him further, returned to Babylon, where he +surpassed in luxury, debauchery and self-indulgence the most +debauched and voluptuous of the kings of Asia? Did Macedonia +furnish his supplies? Do you believe that King Philip, most indigent +of the kings of poverty-stricken Greece, honored the drafts his +son drew upon him? Not so. Alexander did as citizen Morgan is +doing; only, instead of stopping the coaches on the highroads, +he pillaged cities, held kings for ransom, levied contributions +from the conquered countries. Let us turn to Hannibal. You know +how he left Carthage, don't you? He did not have even the eighteen +or twenty talents of his predecessor; and as he needed money, he +seized and sacked the city of Saguntum in the midst of peace, +in defiance of the fealty of treaties. After that he was rich and +could begin his campaign. Forgive me if this time I no longer +quote Plutarch, but Cornelius Nepos. I will spare you the details +of his descent from the Pyrenees, how he crossed the Alps and +the three battles which he won, seizing each time the treasures +of the vanquished, and turn to the five or six years he spent in +Campania. Do you believe that he and his army paid the Capuans +for their subsistence, and that the bankers of Carthage, with +whom he had quarrelled, supplied him with funds? No; war fed +war--the Morgan system, citizen. Let us pass on to Cæsar. Ah, +Cæsar! That's another story. He left for Spain with some thirty +millions of debt, and returned with practically the same. He +started for Gaul, where he spent ten years with our ancestors. +During these ten years he sent over one hundred millions to Rome, +repassed the Alps, crossed the Rubicon, marched straight to the +Capitol, forced the gates of the Temple of Saturn, where the +treasury was, seized sufficient for his private needs--and not +for those of the Republic--three thousand pounds of gold in ingots; +and died (he whom creditors twenty years earlier refused to allow +to leave his little house in the Suburra) leaving two or three +thousand sesterces per head to the citizens, ten or twelve millions +to Calpurnia, and thirty or forty millions to Octavius; always the +Morgan system, save that Morgan, I am sure, would die sooner than +subvert to his personal needs either the silver of the Gauls or the +gold of the capital. Now let us spring over eighteen centuries and +come to the General Buonaparté." And the young aristocrat, after +the fashion of the enemies of the Conqueror of Italy, affected to +emphasize the _u_, which Bonaparte had eliminated from his +name, and the _e_, from which he had removed the accent. + +This affectation seemed to irritate Roland intensely. He made +a movement as if to spring forward, but his companion stopped +him. + +"Let be," said he, "let be, Roland. I am quite sure that citizen +Barjols will not say the General Buonaparté, as he calls him, +is a thief." + +"No, I will not say it; but there is an Italian proverb which +says it for me." + +"What is the proverb?" demanded the general in his companion's +stead, fixing his calm, limpid eye upon the young noble. + +"I give it in all its simplicity: 'Francesi non sono tutti ladroni, +ma buona parte'; which means: 'All Frenchmen are not thieves, +but--" + +"A good part are?" concluded Roland. + +"Yes, 'Buonaparté,'" replied Alfred de Barjols. + +Scarcely had these insolent words left the young aristocrat's +lips than the plate with which Roland was playing flew from his +hands and struck De Barjols full in the face. The women screamed, +the men rose to their feet. Roland burst into that nervous laugh +which was habitual with him, and threw himself back in his chair. +The young aristocrat remained calm, although the blood was trickling +from his brow to his cheek. + +At this moment the conductor entered with the usual formula: + +"Come! citizen travellers, take your places." + +The travellers, anxious to leave the scene of the quarrel, rushed +to the door. + +"Pardon me, sir," said Alfred de Barjols to Roland, "you do not +go by diligence, I hope?" + +"No, sir, I travel by post; but you need have no fear; I shall +not depart." + +"Nor I," said the Englishman. "Have them unharness my horses; +I shall remain." + +"I must go," sighed the dark young man whom Roland had addressed +as general. "You know it is necessary, my friend; my presence +yonder is absolutely imperative. But I swear that I would not +leave you if I could possibly avoid it." + +In saying these words his voice betrayed an emotion of which, +judging from its usual harsh, metallic ring, it had seemed incapable. +Roland, on the contrary, seemed overjoyed. His belligerent nature +seemed to expand at the approach of a danger to which he had +perhaps not given rise, but which he at least had not endeavored +to avoid. + +"Good! general," he said. "We were to part at Lyons, since you +have had the kindness to grant me a month's furlough to visit +my family at Bourg. It is merely some hundred and sixty miles +or so less than we intended, that is all. I shall rejoin you +in Paris. But you know if you need a devoted arm, and a man who +never sulks, think of me!" + +"You may rest easy on that score, Roland," exclaimed the general. +Then, looking attentively at the two adversaries, he added with +an indescribable note of tenderness: "Above all, Roland, do not +let yourself be killed; but if it is a possible thing don't kill +your adversary. Everything considered, he is a gallant man, and +the day will come when I shall need such men at my side." + +"I shall do my best, general; don't be alarmed." At this moment +the landlord appeared upon the thresh-hold of the door. + +"The post-chaise is ready," said he. + +The general took his hat and his cane, which he had laid upon +the chair. Roland, on the contrary, followed him bareheaded, +that all might see plainly he did not intend to leave with his +friend. Alfred de Barjols, therefore, offered no opposition to his +leaving the room. Besides, it was easy to see that his adversary +was of those who seek rather than avoid quarrels. + +"Just the same," said the general, seating himself in the carriage +to which Roland had escorted him, "my heart is heavy at leaving +you thus, Roland, without a friend to act as your second." + +"Good! Don't worry about that, general; seconds are never lacking. +There are and always will be enough men who are curious to see +how one man can kill another." + +"Au revoir, Roland. Observe, I do not say farewell, but au revoir!" + +"Yes, my dear general," replied the young man, in a voice that +revealed some emotion, "I understand, and I thank you." + +"Promise that you will send me word as soon as the affair is +over, or that you will get some one to write if you are disabled." + +"Oh, don't worry, general. You will have a letter from me personally +in less than four days," replied Roland, adding, in a tone of +profound bitterness: "Have you not perceived that I am protected +by a fatality which prevents me from dying?" + +"Roland!" exclaimed the general in a severe tone, "Again!" + +"Nothing, nothing," said the young man, shaking his head and +assuming an expression of careless gayety which must have been +habitual with him before the occurrence of that unknown misfortune +which oppressed his youth with this longing for death. + +"Very well. By the way, try to find out one thing." + +"What is that, general?" + +"How it happens that at a time when we are at war with England +an Englishman stalks about France as freely and as easily as +if he were at home." + +"Good; I will find out." + +"How?" + +"I do not know; but when I promise you to find out I shall do +so, though I have to ask it of himself." + +"Reckless fellow! Don't get yourself involved in another affair +in that direction." + +"In any case, it would not be a duel. It would be a battle, as +he is a national enemy." + +"Well, once more--till I see you again. Embrace me." + +Roland flung himself with passionate gratitude upon the neck of +the personage who had just given him this permission. + +"Oh, general!" he exclaimed, "how happy I should be--if I were +not so unhappy!" + +The general looked at him with profound affection, then asked: +"One day you will tell me what this sorrow is, will you not, +Roland?" + +Roland laughed that sorrowful laugh which had already escaped +his lips once or twice. + +"Oh! my word, no," said he, "you would ridicule me too much." + +The general stared at him as one would contemplate a madman. + +"After all," he murmured, "one must accept men as they come." + +"Especially when they are not what they seem to be." + +"You must mistake me for OEdipe since you pose me with these enigmas, +Roland." + +"Ah! If you guess this one, general, I will herald you king of +Thebes! But, with all my follies, I forgot that your time is +precious and that I am detaining you needlessly with my nonsense." + +"That is so! Have you any commissions for Paris?" + +"Yes, three; my regards to Bourrienne, my respects to your brother +Lucien, and my most tender homage to Madame Bonaparte." + +"I will deliver them." + +"Where shall I find you in Paris?" + +"At my house in the Rue de la Victoire, perhaps." + +"Perhaps--" + +"Who knows? Perhaps at Luxembourg!" Then throwing himself back +as if he regretted having said so much, even to a man he regarded +as his best friend, he shouted to the postilion, "Road to Orange! +As fast as possible." + +The postilion, who was only waiting for the order, whipped up +his horses; the carriage departed rapidly, rumbling like a roll +of thunder, and disappeared through the Porte d'Oulle. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ENGLISHMAN + +Roland remained motionless, not only as long as he could see +the carriage, but long after it had disappeared. Then, shaking +his head as if to dispel the cloud which darkened his brow, he +re-entered the inn and asked for a room. + +"Show the gentleman to number three," said the landlord to a +chambermaid. + +The chambermaid took a key hanging from a large black wooden +tablet on which were arranged the numbers in white in two rows, +and signed to the young traveller to follow her. + +"Send up some paper, and a pen and ink," Roland said to the landlord, +"and if M. de Barjols should ask where I am tell him the number +of my room." + +The landlord promised to obey Roland's injunctions and the latter +followed the girl upstairs whistling the Marseillaise. Five minutes +later he was seated at a table with the desired paper, pen and +ink before him preparing to write. But just as he was beginning +the first line some one knocked, three times at the door. + +"Come in," said he, twirling his chair on one of its hind legs +so as to face his visitor, whom he supposed to be either, M. de +Barjols or one of his friends. + +The door opened with a steady mechanical motion and the Englishman +appeared upon the threshold. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Roland, enchanted with this visit, in view of +his general's recommendation; "is it you?" + +"Yes," said the Englishman, "it is I." + +"You are welcome." + +"Oh! if I am welcome, so much the better! I was not sure that +I ought to come." + +"Why not?" + +"On account of Aboukir." + +Roland began to laugh. + +"There are two battles of Aboukir," said he; "one which we lost; +the other we won." + +"I referred to the one you lost." + +"Good!" said Roland, "we fight, kill, and exterminate each other +on the battlefield, but that does not prevent us from clasping +hands on neutral ground. So I repeat, you are most welcome, +especially if you will tell me why you have come." + +"Thank you; but, in the first place, read that." And the Englishman +drew a paper from his pocket. + +"What is that?" asked Roland. + +"My passport." + +"What have I to do with your passport?" asked Roland, "I am not +a gendarme." + +"No, but I have come to offer you my services. Perhaps you will +not accept them if you do not know who I am." + +"Your services, sir?" + +"Yes; but read that first." + +Roland read: + + In the name of the French Republic--The Executive Directory hereby + orders that Sir John Tanlay, Esq., be permitted to travel freely + throughout the territory of the Republic, and that both assistance + and protection be accorded him in case of need. + (Signed) FOUCHÉ. + +And below: + + To whom it may concern--I recommend Sir John Tanlay particularly + as a philanthropist and a friend of liberty. + (Signed) BARRAS. + +"Have you read it?" + +"Yes; what of it?" + +"What of it? Well, my father, Lord Tanlay, rendered M. Barras +some services; that is why M. Barras permits me to roam about +France. And I am very glad to roam about; it amuses me very much." + +"Oh, I remember, Sir John; you did us the honor to say so at dinner." + +"I did say so, it is true; I also said that I liked the French +people heartily." + +Roland bowed. + +"And above all General Bonaparte," continued Sir John. + +"You like General Bonaparte very much?" + +"I admire him; he is a great, a very great, man." + +"By Heavens! Sir John, I am sorry he is not here to hear an +Englishman say that of him." + +"Oh! if he were here I should not say it." + +"Why not?" + +"I should not want him to think I was trying to please him. I +say so because it is my opinion." + +"I don't doubt it, my lord," said Roland, who did not see what +the Englishman was aiming at, and who, having learned all that +he wished to know through the passport, held himself upon his +guard. + +"And when I heard," continued the Englishman with the same phlegm, +"you defend General Bonaparte, I was much pleased." + +"Really?" + +"Much pleased," repeated the Englishman, nodding his head +affirmatively. + +"So much the better!" + +"But when I saw you throw a plate at M. Alfred de Barjols' head, +I was much grieved." + +"You were grieved, my lord, and why?" + +"Because in England no gentleman would throw a plate at the head +of another gentleman." + +"My lord," said Roland, rising with a frown, "have you perchance +come here to read me a lecture?" + +"Oh, no; I came to suggest that you are perhaps perplexed about +finding a second?" + +"My faith, Sir John! I admit that the moment when you knocked +at the door I was wondering of whom I could ask this service." + +"Of me, if you wish," said the Englishman. "I will be your second." + +"On my honor!" exclaimed Roland, "I accept with all my heart." + +"That is the service I wished to render you!" + +Roland held out his hand, saying: "Thank you!" + +The Englishman bowed. + +"Now," continued Roland, "as you have had the good taste, my +lord, to tell me who you were before offering your services, +it is but fair that, since I accept them, I should tell you who +I am." + +"Oh! as you please." + +"My name is Louis de Montrevel; I am aide-de-camp to General +Bonaparte." + +"Aide-de-camp to General Bonaparte. I am very glad." + +"That will explain why I undertook, rather too warmly perhaps, +my general's defence." + +"No, not too warmly; only, the plate--" + +"Oh, I know well that the provocation did not entail that plate. +But what would you have me do! I held it in my hand, and, not +knowing what to do with it, I threw it at M. de Barjols' head; +it went of itself without any will of mine." + +"You will not say that to him?" + +"Reassure yourself; I tell you to salve your conscience." + +"Very well; then you will fight?" + +"That is why I have remained here, at any rate." + +"What weapons?" + +"That is not our affair, my lord." + +"What! not our affair?" + +"No; M. de Barjols is the one insulted; the choice is his." + +"Then you will accept whatever he proposes?" + +"Not I, Sir John, but you in my name, since you do me the honor +to act as my second." + +"And if he selects pistols, what is the distance to be and how +will you fight?" + +"That is your affair, my lord, and not mine. I don't know how +you do in England, but in France the principals take no part +in the arrangements. That duty devolves upon the seconds; what +they decide is well decided!" + +"Then my arrangements will be satisfactory?" + +"Perfectly so, my lord." + +The Englishman bowed. + +"What hour and what day?" + +"Oh! as soon as possible; I have not seen my family for two years, +and I confess that I am in a hurry to greet them." + +The Englishman looked at Roland with a certain wonder; he spoke +with such assurance, as if he were certain that he would not be +killed. Just then some one knocked at the door, and the voice +of the innkeeper asked: "May I come in?" + +The young man replied affirmatively. The door opened and the +landlord entered, holding a card in his hand which he handed his +guest. The young man took the card and read: "Charles du Valensolle." + +"From M. Alfred de Barjols," said the host. + +"Very well!" exclaimed Roland. Then handing the card to the +Englishman, he said: "Here, this concerns you; it is unnecessary +for me to see this monsieur--since we are no longer citizens--M. +de Valensolle is M. de Barjols' second; you are mine. Arrange +this affair between you. Only," added the young man, pressing +the Englishman's hand and looking fixedly at him, "see that it +holds a chance of certain death for one of us. Otherwise I shall +complain that it has been bungled." + +"Don't worry," said the Englishman, "I will act for you as for +myself." + +"Excellent! Go now, and when everything is arranged come back. +I shall not stir from here." + +Sir John followed the innkeeper. Roland reseated himself, twirled +his chair back to its former position facing the table, took up +his pen and began to write. + +When Sir John returned, Roland had written and sealed two letters +and was addressing a third. He signed to the Englishman to wait +until he had finished, that he might give him his full attention. +Then, the address finished, he sealed the letter, and turned +around. + +"Well," he asked, "is everything arranged?" + +"Yes," said the Englishman, "it was an easy matter. You are dealing +with a true gentleman." + +"So much the better!" exclaimed Roland, waiting. + +"You will fight two hours hence by the fountain of Vaucluse--a +charming spot--with pistols, advancing to each other, each to +fire as he pleases and continuing to advance after his adversary's +fire." + +"By my faith! you are right, Sir John. That is, indeed, excellent. +Did you arrange that?" + +"I and M. de Barjols' second, your adversary having renounced +his rights of the insulted party." + +"Have you decided upon the weapons?" + +"I offered my pistols. They were accepted on my word of honor +that you were as unfamiliar with them as was M. de Barjols. They +are excellent weapons. I can cut a bullet on a knife blade at +twenty paces." + +"Peste! You are a good shot, it would seem, my lord." + +"Yes, I am said to be the best shot in England." + +"That is a good thing to know. When I wish to be killed, Sir John, +I'll pick a quarrel with you." + +"Oh! don't pick a quarrel with me," said the Englishman, "it would +grieve me too much to have to fight you." + +"We will try, my lord, not to cause you such grief. So it is settled +then, in two hours." + +"Yes, you told me you were in a hurry." + +"Precisely. How far is it to this charming spot?" + +"From here to Vaucluse?" + +"Yes." + +"Twelve miles." + +"A matter of an hour and a half. We have no time to lose, so let +us rid ourselves of troublesome things in order to have nothing +but pleasure before us." + +The Englishman looked at the young man in astonishment. Roland +did not seem to pay any attention to this look. + +"Here are three letters," said he; "one for Madame de Montrevel, +my mother; one for Mlle. de Montrevel, my sister; one for the +citizen, Bonaparte, my general. If I am killed you will simply +put them in the post. Will that be too much trouble?" + +"Should that misfortune occur, I will deliver your letters myself," +said the Englishman. "Where do your mother and sister live?" + +"At Bourg, the capital of the Department of Ain." + +"That is near here," observed the Englishman. "As for General +Bonaparte, I will go to Egypt if necessary. I should be extremely +pleased to meet General Bonaparte." + +"If you take the trouble, as you say, my lord, of delivering my +letters yourself, you will not have to travel such a distance. +Within three days General Bonaparte will be in Paris." + +"Oh!" said the Englishman, without betraying the least surprise, +"do you think so?" + +"I am sure of it," replied Roland. + +"Truly, he is a very extraordinary man, your General Bonaparte. +Now, have you any other recommendations to make to me, M. de +Montrevel?" + +"One only, my lord." + +"Oh! as many as you please." + +"No, thank you, one only, but that is very important." + +"What is it?" + +"If I am killed--but I doubt if I be so fortunate." + +Sir John looked at Roland with that expression of wonder which +he had already awakened three or four times. + +"If I am killed," resumed Roland; "for after all one must be prepared +for everything--" + +"Yes, if you are killed, I understand." + +"Listen well, my lord, for I place much stress on my directions +being carried out exactly in this matter." + +"Every detail shall be observed," replied Sir John, "I am very +punctilious." + +"Well, then, if I am killed," insisted Roland, laying his hand +upon his second's shoulder, to impress his directions more firmly +on his memory, "you must not permit any one to touch my body, +which is to be placed in a leaden coffin without removing the +garments I am wearing; the coffin you will have soldered in your +presence, then inclosed in an oaken bier, which must also be +nailed up in your presence. Then you will send it to my mother, +unless you should prefer to throw it into the Rhone, which I +leave absolutely to your discretion, provided only that it be +disposed of in some way." + +"It will be no more difficult," replied the Englishman, "to take +the coffin, since I am to deliver your letter." + +"Decidedly, my lord," said Roland, laughing in his strange way. +"You are a capital fellow. Providence in person brought us together. +Let us start, my lord, let us start!" + +They left Roland's room; Sir John's chamber was on the same floor. +Roland waited while the Englishman went in for his weapons. He +returned a few seconds later, carrying the box in his hand. + +"Now, my lord," asked Roland, "how shall we reach Vaucluse? On +horseback or by carriage?" + +"By carriage, if you are willing. It is much more convenient in +case one is wounded. Mine is waiting below." + +"I thought you had given the order to have it unharnessed?" + +"I did, but I sent for the postilion afterward and countermanded it." + +They went downstairs. + +"Tom! Tom!" called Sir John at the door, where a servant, in +the severe livery of an English groom, was waiting, "take care +of this box." + +"Am I going with you, my lord?" asked the servant. + +"Yes!" replied Sir John. + +Then showing Roland the steps of his carriage, which the servant +lowered, he said: + +"Come, M. de Montrevel." + +Roland entered the carriage and stretched himself out luxuriously. + +"Upon my word!" said he. "It takes you English to understand +travelling. This carriage is as comfortable as a bed. I warrant +you pad your coffins before you are put in them!" + +"Yes, that is a fact," said Sir John, "the English people understand +comfort, but the French people are much more curious and +amusing--postilion, to Vaucluse!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE DUEL + +The road was passable only from Avignon to l'Isle. They covered +the nine miles between the two places in an hour. During this +hour Roland, as he resolved to shorten the time for his travelling +companion, was witty and animated, and their approach to the +duelling ground only served to redouble his gayety. To one +unacquainted with the object of this drive, the menace of dire +peril impending over this young man, with his continuous flow of +conversation and incessant laughter, would have seemed incredible. + +At the village of l'Isle they were obliged to leave the carriage. +Finding on inquiry that they were the first to arrive, they entered +the path which led to the fountain. + +"Oh! oh!" exclaimed Roland, "there ought to be a fine echo here." +And he gave one or two cries to which Echo replied with perfect +amiability. + +"By my faith!" said the young man, "this is a marvellous echo. +I know none save that of the Seinonnetta, at Milan, which can +compare with it. Listen, my lord." + +And he began, with modulations which revealed an admirable voice +and an excellent method, to sing a Tyrolean song which seemed to +bid defiance to the human throat with its rebellious music. Sir +John watched Roland, and listened to him with an astonishment +which he no longer took the trouble to conceal. When the last note +had died away among the cavities of the mountain, he exclaimed: + +"God bless me! but I think your liver is out of order." + +Roland started and looked at him interrogatively. But seeing that +Sir John did not intend to say more, he asked: + +"Good! What makes you think so?" + +"You are too noisily gay not to be profoundly melancholy." + +"And that anomaly astonishes you?" + +"Nothing astonishes me, because I know that it has always its +reason for existing." + +"True, and it's all in knowing the secret. Well, I'm going to +enlighten you." + +"Oh! I don't want to force you." + +"You're too polite to do that; still, you must admit you would +be glad to have your mind set at rest about me." + +"Because I'm interested in you." + +"Well, Sir John, I am going to tell you the secret of the enigma, +something I have never done with any one before. For all my seeming +good health, I am suffering from a horrible aneurism that causes +me spasms of weakness and faintness so frequent as to shame even +a woman. I spend my life taking the most ridiculous precautions, +and yet Larrey warns me that I am liable to die any moment, as +the diseased artery in my breast may burst at the least exertion. +Judge for yourself how pleasant for a soldier! You can understand +that, once I understood my condition, I determined incontinently +to die with all the glory possible. Another more fortunate than I +would have succeeded a hundred times already. But I'm bewitched; +I am impervious alike to bullets and balls; even the swords seem +to fear to shatter themselves upon my skin. Yet I never miss an +opportunity; that you must see, after what occurred at dinner. +Well, we are going to fight. I'll expose myself like a maniac, +giving my adversary all the advantages, but it will avail me +nothing. Though he shoot at fifteen paces, or even ten or five, +at his very pistol' s point, he will miss me, or his pistol will +miss fire. And all this wonderful luck that some fine day when +I least expect it, I may die pulling on my boots! But hush I +here comes my adversary." + +As he spoke the upper half of three people could be seen ascending +the same rough and rocky path that Roland and Sir John had followed, +growing larger as they approached. Roland counted them. + +"Three!" he exclaimed. "Why three, when we are only two?" + +"Ah! I had forgotten," replied the Englishman. "M. de Barjols, +as much in your interest as in his own, asked permission to bring +a surgeon, one of his friends." + +"What for?" harshly demanded Roland, frowning. + +"Why, in case either one of you was wounded. A man's life can +often be saved by bleeding him promptly." + +"Sir John," exclaimed Roland, ferociously, "I don't understand +these delicacies in the matter of a duel. When men fight they fight +to kill. That they exchange all sorts of courtesies beforehand, +as your ancestors did at Fontenoy, is all right; but, once the +swords are unsheathed or the pistols loaded, one life must pay +for the trouble they have taken and the heart beats they have +lost. I ask you, on your word of honor, Sir John, to promise that, +wounded or dying, M. de Barjols' surgeon shall not be allowed +to touch me." + +"But suppose, M. Roland--" + +"Take it or leave it. Your word of honor, my lord, or devil take +me if I fight at all." + +The Englishman again looked curiously at the young man. His face +was livid, and his limbs quivered as though in extreme terror. +Sir John, without understanding this strange dread, passed his +word. + +"Good!" exclaimed Roland. "This, you see, is one of the effects +of my charming malady. The mere thought of surgical instruments, +a bistoury or a lance, makes me dizzy. Didn't I grow very pale?" + +"I did think for an instant you were going to faint." + +"What a stunning climax!" exclaimed Roland with a laugh. "Our +adversaries arrive and you are dosing me with smelling salts +like a hysterical woman. Do you know what they, and you, first +of all, would have said? That I was afraid." + +Meantime, the three new-comers having approached within earshot, +Sir John was unable to answer Roland. They bowed, and Roland, +with a smile that revealed his beautiful teeth, returned their +greeting. Sir John whispered in his ear: + +"You are still a trifle pale. Go on toward the fountain; I will +fetch you when we are ready." + +"Ah! that's the idea," said Roland. "I have always wanted to see +that famous fountain of Vaucluse, the Hippocrene of Petrarch. +You know his sonnet? + + "'Chiari, fresche e dolci acque + Ove le belle membra + Pose colei, che sola a me perdona.' + +This opportunity lost, I may never have another. Where is your +fountain?" + +"Not a hundred feet off. Follow the path; you'll find it at the +turn of the road, at the foot of that enormous bowlder you see." + +"My lord," said Roland, "you are the best guide I know; thanks!" + +And, with a friendly wave of the hand, he went off in the direction +of the fountain, humming the charming pastoral of Philippe Desportes +beneath his breath: + + "'Rosette, a little absence + Has turned thine heart from me; + I, knowing that inconstance, + Have turned my heart from thee. + No wayward beauty o'er me + Such power shall obtain; + We'll see, my fickle lassie, + Who first will turn again.'" + +Sir John turned as he heard the modulations of that fresh sweet +voice, whose higher notes had something at a feminine quality. His +cold methodical mind understood nothing of that nervous impulsive +nature, save that he had under his eyes one of the most amazing +organisms one could possibly meet. + +The other two young men were waiting for him; the surgeon stood +a little apart. Sir John carried his box of pistols in his hands. +Laying it upon a table-shaped rock, he drew a little key from +his pocket, apparently fashioned by a goldsmith rather than a +locksmith, and opened the box. The weapons were magnificent, +although of great simplicity. They came from Manton's workshop, +the grandfather of the man who is still considered one of the +best gunsmiths in London. He handed them to M. de Barjols' second +to examine. The latter tried the triggers and played with the +lock, examining to see if they were double-barrelled. They were +single-barrelled. M. de Barjols cast a glance at them but did +not even touch them. + +"Our opponent does not know these weapons?" queried M. Valensolle. + +"He has not even seen them," replied Sir John, "I give you my +word of honor." + +"Oh!" exclaimed M. de Valensolle, "a simple denial suffices." + +The conditions of the duel were gone over a second time to avoid +possible misunderstanding. Then, these conditions determined, +the pistols were loaded. They were then placed, loaded, in the +box, the box left in the surgeon's charge, and Sir John, with +the key in his pocket, went after Roland. + +He found him chatting with a little shepherd boy who was herding +three goats on the steep rocky slope of the mountain, and throwing +pebbles into the fountain. Sir John opened his lips to tell Roland +that all was ready; but the latter, without giving the Englishman +time to speak, exclaimed: + +"You don't know what this child has been telling me, my lord! A +perfect legend of the Rhine. He says that this pool, whose depth +is unknown, extends six or eight miles under the mountain, and a +fairy, half woman half serpent, dwells here. Calm summer nights +she glides over the surface of water calling to the shepherds of +the mountains, showing them, of course, nothing more than her +head with its long locks and her beautiful bare shoulders and +arms. The fools, caught by this semblance of a woman, draw nearer, +beckoning to her to come to them, while she on her side signs +to them to go to her. The unwary spirits advance unwittingly, +giving no heed to their steps. Suddenly the earth fails them, the +fairy reaches out her arms, and plunges down into her dripping +palaces, to reappear the next day alone. Where the devil did +these idiots of shepherds get the tale that Virgil related in +such noble verse to Augustus and Mecænas?" + +He remained pensive an instant, his eyes bent upon the azure depths, +then turning to Sir John: + +"They say that, no matter how vigorous the swimmer, none has +ever returned from this abyss. Perhaps were I to try it, my lord, +it might be surer than M. de Barjols' bullet. However, it always +remains as a last resort; in the meantime let us try the bullet. +Come, my lord, come." + +Then turning to the Englishman, who listened, amazed by this +mobility of mind, he led him back to the others who awaited them. +They in the meantime had found a suitable place. + +It was a little plateau, perched as it were on a rocky proclivity, +jutting from the mountain side, exposed to the setting sun, on +which stood a ruined castle where the shepherds were wont to +seek shelter when the mistral overtook them. A flat space, some +hundred and fifty feet long, and sixty wide, which might once +have been the castle platform, was now to be the scene of the +drama which was fast approaching its close. + +"Here we are, gentlemen," said Sir John. + +"We are ready, gentlemen," replied M. de Valensolle. + +"Will the principals kindly listen to the conditions of the duel?" +said Sir John. Then addressing M. de Valensolle, he added: "Repeat +them, monsieur; you are French and I am a foreigner, you will +explain them more clearly than I." + +"You belong to those foreigners, my lord, who teach us poor +Provençals the purity of our language; but since you so courteously +make me spokesman, I obey you." Then exchanging bows with Sir +John, he continued: "Gentlemen, it is agreed that you stand at +forty paces, that you advance toward each other, that each will +fire at will, and wounded or not will have the right to advance +after your adversary's fire." + +The two combatants bowed in sign of assent, and with one voice, +and almost at the same moment, they said: + +"The pistols!" + +Sir John drew the little key from his pocket and opened the box. +Then approaching M. de Barjols he offered it to him open. The +latter wished to yield the choice of weapons to his opponent; +but with a wave of his hand Roland refused, saying in a tone +almost feminine in its sweetness: + +"After you, M. de Barjols. Although you are the insulted party, +you have, I am told, renounced your advantages. The least I can do +is to yield you this one, if for that matter it is an advantage." + +M. de Barjols no longer insisted. He took one of the two pistols +at random. Sir John offered the other to Roland, who took it, +and, without even examining its mechanism, cocked the trigger, +then let it fall at arm's-length at his side. + +During this time M. de Valensolle had measured forty paces, staking +a cane as a point of departure. + +"Will you measure after me?" he asked Sir John. + +"Needless, sir," replied the latter: "M. de Montrevel and myself +rely entirely upon you." + +M. de Valensolle staked a second cane at the fortieth pace. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "when you are ready." + +Roland's adversary was already at his post, hat and cloak removed. +The surgeon and the two seconds stood aside. The spot had been +so well chosen that neither had any advantage of sun or ground. +Roland tossed off hat and coat, stationed himself forty paces +from M. de Barjols, facing him. Both, one to right the other to +the left, cast a glance at the same horizon. The aspect harmonized +with the terrible solemnity of the scene about to take place. + +Nothing was visible to Roland's right and to M. de Barjols' left, +except the mountain's swift incline and gigantic peak. But on the +other side, that is to say, to M. de Barjols' right and Roland's +left, it was a far different thing. + +The horizon stretched illimitable. In the foreground, the plain, +its ruddy soil pierced on all sides by rocks, like a Titan graveyard +with its bones protruding through the earth. Then, sharply outlined +in the setting sun, was Avignon with its girdle of walls and its +vast palace, like a crouching lion, seeming to hold the panting +city in its claws. Beyond Avignon, a luminous sweep, like a river +of molten gold, defined the Rhone. Beyond the Rhone, a deep-hued +azure vista, stretched the chain of hills which separate Avignon +from Nimes and d'Uzes. And far off, the sun, at which one of +these two men was probably looking for the last time, sank slowly +and majestically in an ocean of gold and purple. + +For the rest these two men presented a singular contrast. One, +with his black hair, swarthy skin, slender limbs and sombre eyes, +was the type of the Southern race which counts among its ancestors +Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Spaniards. The other, with his rosy +skin, large blue eyes, and hands dimpled like a woman's, was +the type of that race of temperate zones which reckons Gauls, +Germans and Normans among its forebears. + +Had one wished to magnify the situation it were easy to believe +this something greater than single combat between two men. One +might have thought it was a duel of a people against another +people, race against race, the South against the North. + +Was it these thoughts which we have just expressed that filled +Roland's mind and plunged him into that melancholy revery. + +Probably not; the fact is, for an instant he seemed to have forgotten +seconds, duel, adversary, lost as he was in contemplation of this +magnificent spectacle. M. de Barjols' voice aroused him from +this poetical stupor. + +"When you are ready, sir," said he, "I am." + +Roland started. + +"Pardon my keeping you waiting, sir," said he. "You should not +have considered me, I am so absent-minded. I am ready now." + +Then, a smile on his lips, his hair lifted by the evening breeze, +unconcerned as if this were an ordinary promenade, while his +opponent, on the contrary, took all the precaution usual in such +a case, Roland advanced straight toward M. de Barjols. + +Sir John's face, despite his ordinary impassibility, betrayed +a profound anxiety. The distance between the opponents lessened +rapidly. M. de Barjols halted first, took aim, and fired when +Roland was but ten paces from him. + +The ball clipped one of Roland's curls, but did not touch him. +The young man turned toward his second: + +"Well," said he, "what did I tell you?" + +"Fire, monsieur, fire!" said the seconds. + +M. de Barjols stood silent and motionless on the spot where he +had fired. + +"Pardon me, gentlemen," replied Roland; "but you will, I hope, +permit me to be the judge of the time and manner of retaliating. +Since I have felt M. de Barjols' shot, I have a few words to +say to him which I could not say before." Then, turning to the +young aristocrat, who was pale and calm, he said: "Sir, perhaps +I was somewhat too hasty in our discussion this morning." + +And he waited. + +"It is for you to fire, sir," replied M. de Barjols. + +"But," continued Roland, as if he had not heard, "you will understand +my impetuosity, and perhaps excuse it, when you hear that I am +a soldier and General Bonaparte's aide-de-camp." + +"Fire, sir," replied the young nobleman. + +"Say but one word of retraction, sir," resumed the young officer. +"Say that General Bonaparte's reputation for honor and delicacy +is such that a miserable Italian proverb, inspired by ill-natured +losers, cannot reflect discredit on him. Say that, and I throw +this weapon away to grasp your hand; for I recognize in you, +sir, a brave man." + +"I cannot accord that homage to his honor and delicacy until +your general has devoted the influence which his genius gives +him over France as Monk did--that is to say, to reinstate his +legitimate sovereign upon the throne." + +"Ah!" cried Roland, with a smile, "that is asking too much of +a republican general." + +"Then I maintain what I said," replied the young noble. "Fire! +monsieur, fire!" Then as Roland made no haste to obey this +injunction, he shouted, stamping his foot: "Heavens and earth! +will you fire?" + +At these words Roland made a movement as if he intended to fire +in the air. + +"Ah!" exclaimed M. de Barjols. Then with a rapidity of gesture +and speech that prevented this, "Do not fire in the air, I beg, +or I shall insist that we begin again and that you fire first." + +"On my honor!" cried Roland, turning as pale as if the blood +had left his body, "this is the first time I have done so much +for any man. Go to the devil! and if you don't want to live, +then die!" + +At the same time he lowered his arm and fired, without troubling +to take aim. + +Alfred de Barjols put his hand to his breast, swayed back and +forth, turned around and fell face down upon the ground. Roland's +bullet had gone through his heart. + +Sir John, seeing M. de Barjols fall, went straight to Roland +and drew him to the spot where he had thrown his hat and coat. + +"That is the third," murmured Roland with a sigh; "but you are +my witness that this one would have it." + +Then giving his smoking pistol to Sir John, he resumed his hat +and coat. During this time M. de Valensolle picked up the pistol +which had escaped from his friend's hand, and brought it, together +with the box, to Sir John. + +"Well?" asked the Englishman, motioning toward Alfred de Barjols +with his eyes. + +"He is dead," replied the second. + +"Have I acted as a man of honor, sir?" asked Roland, wiping away +the sweat which suddenly inundated his brow at the announcement +of his opponent's death. + +"Yes, monsieur," replied M. de Valensolle; "only, permit me to +say this: you possess the fatal hand." + +Then bowing to Roland and his second with exquisite politeness, +he returned to his friend's body. + +"And you, my lord," resumed Roland, "what do you say?" + +"I say," replied Sir John, with a sort of forced admiration, +"you are one of those men who are made by the divine Shakespeare +to say of themselves: + + "'Danger and I-- + We were two lions littered in one day, + But I the elder.'" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ROLAND + +The return was silent and mournful; it seemed that with the hopes +of death Roland's gayety had disappeared. + +The catastrophe of which he had been the author played perhaps a +part in his taciturnity. But let us hasten to say that in battle, +and more especially during the last campaign against the Arabs, +Roland had been too frequently obliged to jump his horse over +the bodies of his victims to be so deeply impressed by the death +of an unknown man. + +His sadness was, due to some other cause; probably that which he +confided to Sir John. Disappointment over his own lost chance of +death, rather than that other's decease, occasioned this regret. + +On their return to the Hotel du Palais-Royal, Sir John mounted to +his room with his pistols, the sight of which might have excited +something like remorse in Roland's breast. Then he rejoined the young +officer and returned the three letters which had been intrusted +to him. + +He found Roland leaning pensively on a table. Without saying +a word the Englishman laid the three letters before him. The +young man cast his eyes over the addresses, took the one destined +for his mother, unsealed it and read it over. As he read, great +tears rolled down his cheeks. Sir John gazed wonderingly at this +new phase of Roland's character. He had thought everything possible +to this many-sided nature except those tears which fell silently +from his eyes. + +Shaking his head and paying not the least attention to Sir John's +presence, Roland murmured: + +"Poor mother! she would have wept. Perhaps it is better so. Mothers +were not made to weep for their children!" + +He tore up the letters he had written to his mother, his sister, +and General Bonaparte, mechanically burning the fragments with +the utmost care. Then ringing for the chambermaid, he asked: + +"When must my letters be in the post?" + +"Half-past six," replied she. "You have only a few minutes more." + +"Just wait then." + +And taking a pen he wrote: + + My DEAR GENERAL--It is as I told you; I am living and he is + dead. You must admit that this seems like a wager. Devotion + to death. + + Your Paladin + + ROLAND. + +Then he sealed the letter, addressed it to General Bonaparte, +Rue de la Victoire, Paris, and handed it to the chambermaid, +bidding her lose no time in posting it. Then only did he seem +to notice Sir John, and held out his hand to him. + +"You have just rendered me a great service, my lord," he said. +"One of those services which bind men for all eternity. I am +already your friend; will you do me the honor to become mine?" + +Sir John pressed the hand that Roland offered him. + +"Oh!" said he, "I thank you heartily. I should never have dared +ask this honor; but you offer it and I accept." + +Even the impassible Englishman felt his heart soften as he brushed +away the tear that trembled on his lashes. Then looking at Roland, +he said: "It is unfortunate that you are so hurried; I should +have been pleased and delighted to spend a day or two with you." + +"Where were you going, my lord, when I met you?" + +"Oh, I? Nowhere. I am travelling to get over being bored. I am +unfortunately often bored." + +"So that you were going nowhere?" + +"I was going everywhere." + +"That is exactly the same thing," said the young officer, smiling. +"Well, will you do something for me?" + +"Oh! very willingly, if it is possible." + +"Perfectly possible; it depends only on you." + +"What is it?" + +"Had I been killed you were going to take me to my mother or throw +me into the Rhone." + +"I should have taken you to your mother and not thrown you into +the Rhone." + +"Well, instead of accompanying me dead, take me living. You will +be all the better received." + +"Oh!" + +"We will remain a fortnight at Bourg. It is my natal city, and +one of the dullest towns in France; but as your compatriots are +pre-eminent for originality, perhaps you will find amusement +where others are bored. Are we agreed?" + +"I should like nothing better," exclaimed the Englishman; "but +it seems to me that it is hardly proper on my part." + +"Oh! we are not in England, my lord, where etiquette holds absolute +sway. We have no longer king nor queen. We didn't cut off that +poor creature's head whom they called Marie Antoinette to install +Her Majesty, Etiquette, in her stead." + +"I should like to go," said Sir John. + +"You'll see, my mother is an excellent woman, and very distinguished +besides. My sister was sixteen when I left; she must be eighteen +now. She was pretty, and she ought to be beautiful. Then there +is my brother Edouard, a delightful youngster of twelve, who +will let off fireworks between your legs and chatter a gibberish +of English with you. At the end of the fortnight we will go to +Paris together." + +"I have just come from Paris," said the Englishman. + +"But listen. You were willing to go to Egypt to see General +Bonaparte. Paris is not so far from here as Cairo. I'll present +you, and, introduced by me, you may rest assured that you will +be well received. You were speaking of Shakespeare just now--" + +"Oh! I am always quoting him." + +"Which proves that you like comedies and dramas." + +"I do like them very much, that's true." + +"Well, then, General Bonaparte is going to produce one in his +own style which will not be wanting in interest, I answer for +it!" + +"So that," said Sir John, still hesitating, "I may accept your +offer without seeming intrusive?" + +"I should think so. You will delight us all, especially me." + +"Then I accept." + +"Bravo! Now, let's see, when will you start?" + +"As soon as you wish. My coach was harnessed when you threw that +unfortunate plate at Barjols' head. However, as I should never +have known you but for that plate, I am glad you did throw it +at him!" + +"Shall we start this evening?" + +"Instantly. I'll give orders for the postilion to send other horses, +and once they are here we will start." + +Roland nodded acquiescence. Sir John went out to give his orders, +and returned presently, saying they had served two cutlets and a +cold fowl for them below. Roland took his valise and went down. +The Englishman placed his pistols in the coach box again. Both ate +enough to enable them to travel all night, and as nine o'clock was +striking from the Church of the Cordeliers they settled themselves +in the carriage and quitted Avignon, where their passage left +a fresh trail of blood, Roland with the careless indifference +of his nature, Sir John Tanlay with the impassibility of his +nation. A quarter of an hour later both were sleeping, or at +least the silence which obtained induced the belief that both +had yielded to slumber. + +We shall profit by this instant of repose to give our readers +some indispensable information concerning Roland and his family. + +Roland was born the first of July, 1773, four years and a few +days later than Bonaparte, at whose side, or rather following +him, he made his appearance in this book. He was the son of M. +Charles de Montrevel, colonel of a regiment long garrisoned at +Martinique, where he had married a creole named Clotilde de la +Clémencière. Three children were born of this marriage, two boys +and a girl: Louis, whose acquaintance we have made under the +name of Roland, Amélie, whose beauty he had praised to Sir John, +and Edouard. + +Recalled to France in 1782, M. de Montrevel obtained admission +for young Louis de Montrevel (we shall see later how the name +of Louis was changed to Roland) to the Ecole Militaire in Paris. + +It was there that Bonaparte knew the child, when, on M. de Keralio's +report, he was judged worthy of promotion from the Ecole de Brienne +to the Ecole Militaire. Louis was the youngest pupil. Though +he was only thirteen, he had already made himself remarked for +that ungovernable and quarrelsome nature of which we have seen +him seventeen years later give an example at the table d'hôte +at Avignon. + +Bonaparte, a child himself, had the good side of this character; +that is to say, without being quarrelsome, he was firm, obstinate, +and unconquerable. He recognized in the child some of his own +qualities, and this similarity of sentiments led him to pardon +the boy's defects, and attached him to him. On the other hand +the child, conscious of a supporter in the Corsican, relied upon +him. + +One day the child went to find his great friend, as he called +Napoleon, when the latter was absorbed in the solution of a +mathematical problem. He knew the importance the future artillery +officer attached to this science, which so far had won him his +greatest, or rather his only successes. + +He stood beside him without speaking or moving. The young +mathematician felt the child's presence, and plunged deeper and +deeper into his mathematical calculations, whence he emerged +victorious ten minutes later. Then he turned to his young comrade +with that inward satisfaction of a man who issues victorious +from any struggle, be it with science or things material. + +The child stood erect, pale, his teeth clinched, his arms rigid +and his fists closed. + +"Oh! oh!" said young Bonaparte, "what is the matter now?" + +"Valence, the governor's nephew, struck me." + +"Ah!" said Bonaparte, laughing, "and you have come to me to strike +him back?" + +The child shook his head. + +"No," said he, "I have come to you because I want to fight him--" + +"Fight Valence?" + +"Yes." + +"But Valence will beat you, child; he is four times as strong +as you." + +"Therefore I don't want to fight him as children do, but like +men fight." + +"Pooh!" + +"Does that surprise you?" asked the child. + +"No," said Bonaparte; "what do you want to fight with?" + +"With swords." + +"But only the sergeants have swords, and they won't lend you +one." + +"Then we will do without swords." + +"But what will you fight with?" + +The child pointed to the compass with which the young mathematician +had made his equations. + +"Oh! my child," said Bonaparte, "a compass makes a very bad wound." + +"So much the better," replied Louis; "I can kill him." + +"But suppose he kills you?" + +"I'd rather that than bear his blow." + +Bonaparte made no further objections; he loved courage, instinctively, +and his young comrade's pleased him. + +"Well, so be it!" he replied; "I will tell Valence that you wish +to fight him, but not till to-morrow." + +"Why to-morrow?" + +"You will have the night to reflect." + +"And from now till to-morrow," replied the child, "Valence will +think me a coward." Then shaking his head, "It is too long till +to-morrow." And he walked away. + +"Where are you going?" Bonaparte asked him. + +"To ask some one else to be my friend." + +"So I am no longer your friend?" + +"No, since you think I am a coward." + +"Very well," said the young man rising. + +"You will go?" + +"I am going." + +"At once?" + +"At once." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the child, "I beg your pardon; you are indeed +my friend." And he fell upon his neck weeping. They were the +first tears he had shed since he had received the blow. + +Bonaparte went in search of Valence and gravely explained his +mission to him. Valence was a tall lad of seventeen, having already, +like certain precocious natures, a beard and mustache; he appeared +at least twenty. He was, moreover, a head taller than the boy +he had insulted. + +Valence replied that Louis had pulled his queue as if it were +a bell-cord (queues were then in vogue)--that he had warned him +twice to desist, but that Louis had repeated the prank the third +time, whereupon, considering him a mischievous youngster, he had +treated him as such. + +Valence's answer was reported to Louis, who retorted that pulling +a comrade's queue was only teasing him, whereas a blow was an +insult. Obstinacy endowed this child of thirteen with the logic +of a man of thirty. + +The modern Popilius to Valence returned with his declaration +of war. The youth was greatly embarrassed; he could not fight +with a child without being ridiculous. If he fought and wounded +him, it would be a horrible thing; if he himself were wounded, +he would never get over it so long as he lived. + +But Louis's unyielding obstinacy made the matter a serious one. +A council of the Grands (elder scholars) was called, as was usual +in serious cases. The Grands decided that one of their number +could not fight a child; but since this child persisted in +considering himself a young man, Valence must tell him before +all his schoolmates that he regretted having treated him as a +child, and would henceforth regard him as a young man. + +Louis, who was waiting in his friend's room, was sent for. He +was introduced into the conclave assembled in the playground +of the younger pupils. + +There Valence, to whom his comrades had dictated a speech carefully +debated among themselves to safeguard the honor of the Grands +toward the Petits, assured Louis that he deeply deplored the +occurrence; that he had treated him according to his age and +not according to his intelligence and courage, and begged him +to excuse his impatience and to shake hands in sign that all +was forgotten. + +But Louis shook his head. + +"I heard my father, who is a colonel, say once," he replied, +"that he who receives a blow and does not fight is a coward. +The first time I see my father I shall ask him if he who strikes +the blow and then apologizes to avoid fighting is not more of +a coward than he who received it." + +The young fellows looked at each other. Still the general opinion +was against a duel which would resemble murder, and all, Bonaparte +included, were unanimously agreed that the child must be satisfied +with what Valence had said, for it represented their common opinion. +Louis retired, pale with anger, and sulked with his great friend, +who, said he, with imperturbable gravity, had sacrificed his +honor. + +The morrow, while the Grands were receiving their lesson in +mathematics, Louis slipped into the recitation-room, and while +Valence was making a demonstration on the blackboard, he approached +him unperceived, climbed on a stool to reach his face, and returned +the slap he had received the preceding day. + +"There," said he, "now we are quits, and I have your apologies +to boot; as for me, I shan't make any, you may be quite sure +of that." + +The scandal was great. The act occurring in the professor's presence, +he was obliged to report it to the governor of the school, the +Marquis Tiburce Valence. The latter, knowing nothing of the events +leading up to the blow his nephew had received, sent for the +delinquent and after a terrible lecture informed him that he was +no longer a member of the school, and must be ready to return +to his mother at Bourg that very day. Louis replied that his +things would be packed in ten minutes, and he out of the school +in fifteen. Of the blow he himself had received he said not a +word. + +The reply seemed more than disrespectful to the Marquis Tiburce +Valence. He was much inclined to send the insolent boy to the +dungeon for a week, but reflected that he could not confine him +and expel him at the same time. + +The child was placed in charge of an attendant, who was not to +leave him until he had put him in the coach for Mâcon; Madame +de Montrevel was to be notified to meet him at the end of the +journey. + +Bonaparte meeting the boy, followed by his keeper, asked an +explanation of the sort of constabulary guard attached to him. + +"I'd tell you if you were still my friend," replied the child; +"but you are not. Why do you bother about what happens to me, +whether good or bad?" + +Bonaparte made a sign to the attendant, who came to the door +while Louis was packing his little trunk. He learned then that the +child had been expelled. The step was serious; it would distress +the entire family, and perhaps ruin his young comrade's future. + +With that rapidity of decision which was one of the distinctive +characteristics of his organization, he resolved to ask an audience +of the governor, meantime requesting the keeper not to hasten +Louis's departure. + +Bonaparte was an excellent pupil, beloved in the school, and +highly esteemed by the Marquis Tiburce Valence. His request was +immediately complied with. Ushered into the governor's presence, +he related everything, and, without blaming Valence in the least, +he sought to exculpate Louis. + +"Are you sure of what you are telling me, sir?" asked the governor. + +"Question your nephew himself. I will abide by what he says." + +Valence was sent for. He had already heard of Louis's expulsion, +and was on his way to tell his uncle what had happened. His account +tallied perfectly with what you Bonaparte had said. + +"Very well," said the governor, "Louis shall not go, but you +will. You are old enough to leave school." Then ringing, "Bring +me the list of the vacant sub-lieutenancies," he said. + +That same day an urgent request for a sub-lieutenancy was made +to the Ministry, and that same night Valence left to join his +regiment. He went to bid Louis farewell, embracing him half +willingly, half unwillingly, while Bonaparte held his hand. The +child received the embrace reluctantly. + +"It's all right now," said he, "but if ever we meet with swords +by our sides--" A threatening gesture ended the sentence. + +Valence left. Bonaparte received his own appointment as +sub-lieutenant October 10, 1785. His was one of fifty-eight +commissions which Louis XVI. signed for the Ecole Militaire. Eleven +years later, November 15, 1796, Bonaparte, commander-in-chief of +the army of Italy, at the Bridge of Arcola, which was defended +by two regiments of Croats and two pieces of cannon, seeing his +ranks disseminated by grapeshot and musket balls, feeling that +victory was slipping through his fingers, alarmed by the hesitation +of his bravest followers, wrenched the tri-color from the rigid +fingers of a dead color-bearer, and dashed toward the bridge, +shouting: "Soldiers! are you no longer the men of Lodi?" As +he did so he saw a young lieutenant spring past him who covered +him with his body. + +This was far from what Bonaparte wanted. He wished to cross first. +Had it been possible he would have gone alone. + +Seizing the young man by the flap of his coat, he drew him back, +saying: "Citizen, you are only a lieutenant, I a commander-in-chief! +The precedence belongs to me." + +"Too true," replied the other; and he followed Bonaparte instead +of preceding him. + +That evening, learning that two Austrian divisions had been cut +to pieces, and seeing the two thousand prisoners he had taken, +together with the captured cannons and flags, Bonaparte recalled +the young man who had sprung in front of him when death alone +seemed before him. + +"Berthier," said he, "tell my aide-de-camp, Valence, to find +that young lieutenant of grenadiers with whom I had a controversy +this morning at the Bridge of Arcola." + +"General," stammered Berthier, "Valence is wounded." + +"Ah! I remember I have not seen him to-day. Wounded? Where? How? +On the battlefield?" + +"No, general," said he, "he was dragged into a quarrel yesterday, +and received a sword thrust through his body." + +Bonaparte frowned. "And yet they know very well I do not approve +of duels; a soldier's blood belongs not to himself, but to France. +Give Muiron the order then." + +"He is killed, general." + +"To Elliot, in that case." + +"Killed also." + +Bonaparte drew his handkerchief from his pocket and passed it +over his brow, which was bathed with sweat. + +"To whom you will, then; but I want to see that lieutenant." + +He dared not name any others, fearing to hear again that fatal +"Killed!" + +A quarter of an hour later the young lieutenant was ushered into +his tent, which was lighted faintly by a single lamp. + +"Come nearer, lieutenant," said Bonaparte. + +The young man made three steps and came within the circle of light. + +"So you are the man who wished to cross the bridge before me?" +continued Bonaparte. + +"It was done on a wager, general," gayly answered the young +lieutenant, whose voice made the general start. + +"Did I make you lose it?" + +"Maybe, yes; maybe, no." + +"What was the wager?" + +"That I should be promoted captain to-day." + +"You have won it." + +"Thank you, general." + +The young man moved hastily forward as if to press Bonaparte's +hand, but checked himself almost immediately. The light had fallen +full on his face for an instant; that instant sufficed to make +the general notice the face as he had the voice. Neither the +one nor the other was unknown to him. He searched his memory +for an instant, but finding it rebellious, said: "I know you!" + +"Possibly, general." + +"I am certain; only I cannot recall your name." + +"You managed that yours should not be forgotten, general." + +"Who are you?" + +"Ask Valence, general." + +Bonaparte gave a cry of joy. + +"Louis de Montrevel," he exclaimed, opening wide his arms. This +time the young lieutenant did not hesitate to fling himself into +them. + +"Very good," said Bonaparte; "you will serve eight days with the +regiment in your new rank, that they may accustom themselves to +your captain's epaulets, and then you will take my poor Muiron's +place as aide-de-camp. Go!" + +"Once more!" cried the young man, opening his arms. + +"Faith, yes!" said Bonaparte, joyfully. Then holding him close +after kissing him twice, "And so it was you who gave Valence +that sword thrust?" + +"My word!" said the new captain and future aide-de-camp, "you +were there when I promised it to him. A soldier keeps his word." + +Eight days later Captain Montrevel was doing duty as staff-officer +to the commander-in-chief, who changed his name of Louis, then +in ill-repute, to that of Roland. And the young man consoled +himself for ceasing to be a descendant of St. Louis by becoming +the nephew of Charlemagne. + +Roland--no one would have dared to call Captain Montrevel Louis +after Bonaparte had baptized him Roland--made the campaign of +Italy with his general, and returned with him to Paris after +the peace of Campo Formio. + +When the Egyptian expedition was decided upon, Roland, who had been +summoned to his mother's side by the death of the Brigadier-General +de Montrevel, killed on the Rhine while his son was fighting on +the Adige and the Mincio, was among the first appointed by the +commander-in-chief to accompany him in the useless but poetical +crusade which he was planning. He left his mother, his sister Amélie, +and his young brother Edouard at Bourg, General de Montrevel's +native town. They resided some three-quarters of a mile out of +the city, at Noires-Fontaines, a charming house, called a château, +which, together with the farm and several hundred acres of land +surrounding it, yielded an income of six or eight thousand livres +a year, and constituted the general's entire fortune. Roland's +departure on this adventurous expedition deeply afflicted the +poor widow. The death of the father seemed to presage that of +the son, and Madame de Montrevel, a sweet, gentle Creole, was far +from possessing the stern virtues of a Spartan or Lacedemonian +mother. + +Bonaparte, who loved his old comrade of the Ecole Militaire with +all his heart, granted him permission to rejoin him at the very +last moment at Toulon. But the fear of arriving too late prevented +Roland from profiting by this permission to its full extent. He +left his mother, promising her--a promise he was careful not +to keep--that he would not expose himself unnecessarily, and +arrived at Marseilles eight days before the fleet set sail. + +Our intention is no more to give the history of the campaign +of Egypt than we did that of Italy. We shall only mention that +which is absolutely necessary to understand this story and the +subsequent development of Roland's character. The 19th of May, +1798, Bonaparte and his entire staff set sail for the Orient; +the 15th of June the Knights of Malta gave up the keys of their +citadel. The 2d of July the army disembarked at Marabout, and +the same day took Alexandria; the 25th, Bonaparte entered Cairo, +after defeating the Mamelukes at Chebreïss and the Pyramids. + +During this succession of marches and battles, Roland had been +the officer we know him, gay, courageous and witty, defying the +scorching heat of the day, the icy dew of the nights, dashing +like a hero or a fool among the Turkish sabres or the Bedouin +bullets. During the forty days of the voyage he had never left +the interpreter Ventura; so that with his admirable facility +he had learned, if not to speak Arabic fluently, at least to +make himself understood in that language. Therefore it often +happened that, when the general did not wish to use the native +interpreter, Roland was charged with certain communications to +the Muftis, the Ulemas, and the Sheiks. + +During the night of October 20th and 21st Cairo revolted. At five +in the morning the death of General Dupey, killed by a lance, was +made known. At eight, just as the revolt was supposedly quelled, +an aide-de-camp of the dead general rode up, announcing that the +Bedouins from the plains were attacking Bab-el-Nasr, or the Gate +of Victory. + +Bonaparte was breakfasting with his aide-de-camp Sulkowsky, so +severely wounded at Salahieh that he left his pallet of suffering +with the greatest difficulty only. Bonaparte, in his preoccupation +forgetting the young Pole's condition, said to him: "Sulkowsky, +take fifteen Guides and go see what that rabble wants." + +Sulkowsky rose. + +"General," interposed Roland, "give me the commission. Don't you +see my comrade can hardly stand?" + +"True," said Bonaparte; "do you go!" + +Roland went out and took the fifteen Guides and started. But the +order had been given to Sulkowsky, and Sulkowsky was determined +to execute it. He set forth with five or six men whom he found +ready. + +Whether by chance, or because he knew the streets of Cairo better +than Roland, he reached the Gate of Victory a few seconds before +him. When Roland arrived, he saw five or six dead men, and an +officer being led away by the Arabs, who, while massacring the +soldiers mercilessly, will sometimes spare the officers in hope +of a ransom. Roland recognized Sulkowsky; pointing him out with +his sabre to his fifteen men, he charged at a gallop. + +Half an hour later, a Guide, returning alone to head-quarters, +announced the deaths of Sulkowsky, Roland and his twenty-one +companions. + +Bonaparte, as we have said, loved Roland as a brother, as a son, +as he loved Eugene. He wished to know all the details of the +catastrophe, and questioned the Guide. The man had seen an Arab +cut off Sulkowsky's head and fasten it to his saddle-bow. As for +Roland, his horse had been killed. He had disengaged himself +from the stirrups and was seen fighting for a moment on foot; but +he had soon disappeared in a general volley at close quarters. + +Bonaparte sighed, shed a tear and murmured: "Another!" and apparently +thought no more about it. But he did inquire to what tribe belonged +these Bedouins, who had just killed two of the men he loved best. +He was told that they were an independent tribe whose village +was situated some thirty miles off. Bonaparte left them a month, +that they might become convinced of their impunity; then, the +month elapsed, he ordered one of his aides-de-camp, named Crosier, +to surround the village, destroy the huts, behead the men, put +them in sacks, and bring the rest of the population, that is +to say, the women and children, to Cairo. + +Crosier executed the order punctually; all the women and children +who could be captured were brought to Cairo, and also with them +one living Arab, gagged and bound to his horse's back. + +"Why is this man still alive?" asked Bonaparte. "I ordered you +to behead every man who was able to bear arms." + +"General," said Crosier, who also possessed a smattering of Arabian +words, "just as I was about to order his head cut off, I understood +him to offer to exchange a prisoner for his life. I thought there +would be time enough to cut off his head, and so brought him +with me. If I am mistaken, the ceremony can take place here as +well as there; what is postponed is not abandoned." + +The interpreter Ventura was summoned to question the Bedouin. +He replied that he had saved the life of a French officer who +had been grievously wounded at the Gate of Victory, and that +this officer, who spoke a little Arabic, claimed to be one of +General Bonaparte's aides-de-camp. He had sent him to his brother +who was a physician in a neighboring tribe, of which this officer +was a captive; and if they would promise to spare his life, he +would write to his brother to send the prisoner to Cairo. + +Perhaps this was a tale invented to gain time, but it might also +be true; nothing was lost by waiting. + +The Arab was placed in safe keeping, a scribe was brought to +write at his dictation. He sealed the letter with his own seal, +and an Arab from Cairo was despatched to negotiate the exchange. +If the emissary succeeded, it meant the Bedouin's life and five +hundred piastres to the messenger. + +Three days later he returned bringing Roland. Bonaparte had hoped +for but had not dared to expect this return. + +This heart of iron, which had seemed insensible to grief, was +now melted with joy. He opened his arms to Roland, as on the +day when he had found him, and two tears, two pearls--the tears +of Bonaparte were rare--fell from his eyes. + +But Roland, strange as it may seem, was sombre in the midst of the +joy caused by his return. He confirmed the Arab's tale, insisted +upon his liberation, but refused all personal details about his +capture by the Bedouins and the treatment he had received at +the hands of the doctor. As for Sulkowsky, he had been killed +and beheaded before his eyes, so it was useless to think more +of him. Roland resumed his duties, but it was noticeable his +native courage had become temerity, and his longing for glory, +desire for death. + +On the other hand, as often happens with those who brave fire +and sword, fire and sword miraculously spared him. Before, behind +and around Roland men fell; he remained erect, invulnerable as +the demon of war. During the campaign in Syria two emissaries +were sent to demand the surrender of Saint Jean d'Acre of Djezzar +Pasha. Neither of the two returned; they had been beheaded. It +was necessary to send a third. Roland applied for the duty, and +so insistent was he, that he eventually obtained the general's +permission and returned in safety. He took part in each of the +nineteen assaults made upon the fortress; at each assault he was +seen entering the breach. He was one of the ten men who forced their +way into the Accursèd Tower; nine remained, but he returned without +a scratch. During the retreat, Bonaparte commanded his cavalry +to lend their horses to the wounded and sick. All endeavored to +avoid the contagion of the pest-ridden sick. To them Roland gave +his horse from preference. Three fell dead from the saddle; he +mounted his horse after them, and reached Cairo safe and sound. +At Aboukir he flung himself into the mélée, reached the Pasha +by forcing his way through the guard of blacks who surrounded +him; seized him by the beard and received the fire of his two +pistols. One burned the wadding only, the other ball passed under +his arm, killing a guard behind him. + +When Bonaparte resolved to return to France, Roland was the first +to whom the general announced his intention. Another had been +overjoyed; but he remained sombre and melancholy, saying: "I +should prefer to remain here, general. There is more chance of +my being killed here." + +But as it would have appeared ungrateful on his part to refuse +to follow the general, he returned with him. During the voyage +he remained sad and impenetrable, until the English fleet was +sighted near Corsica. Then only did he regain his wonted animation. +Bonaparte told Admiral Gantheaume that he would fight to the +death, and gave orders to sink the frigate sooner than haul down +the flag. He passed, however, unseen through the British fleet, +and disembarked at Frejus, October 8, 1799. + +All were impatient to be the first to set foot on French soil. +Roland was the last. Although the general paid no apparent attention +to these details, none escaped him. He sent Eugène, Berthier, +Bourrienne, his aides-de-camp and his suite by way of Gap and +Draguignan, while he took the road to Aix strictly incognito, +accompanied only by Roland, to judge for himself of the state of +the Midi. Hoping that the joy of seeing his family again would +revive the love of life in his heart crushed by its hidden sorrow, +he informed Roland at Aix that they would part at Lyons, and +gave him three weeks' furlough to visit his mother and sister. + +Roland replied: "Thank you, general. My sister and my mother +will be very happy to see me." Whereas formerly his words would +have been: "Thank you, general. I shall be very happy to see +my mother and sister again." + +We know what occurred at Avignon; we have seen with what profound +contempt for danger, bitter disgust of life, Roland had provoked +that terrible duel. We heard the reason he gave Sir John for +this indifference to death. Was it true or false? Sir John at +all events was obliged to content himself with it, since Roland +was evidently not disposed to furnish any other. + +And now, as we have said, they were sleeping or pretending to +sleep as they were drawn by two horses at full speed along the +road of Avignon to Orange. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MORGAN + +Our readers must permit us for an instant to abandon Roland and +Sir John, who, thanks to the physical and moral conditions in +which we left them, need inspire no anxiety, while we direct +our attention seriously to a personage who has so far made but +a brief appearance in this history, though he is destined to +play an important part in it. + +We are speaking of the man who, armed and masked, entered the +room of the table d'hôte at Avignon to return Jean Picot the two +hundred louis which had been stolen from him by mistake, stored +as it had been with the government money. + +We speak of the highwayman, who called himself Morgan. He had +ridden into Avignon, masked, in broad daylight, entered the hotel +of the Palais-Egalité leaving his horse at the door. This horse +had enjoyed the same immunity in the pontifical and royalist town +as his master; he found it again at the horse post, unfastened its +bridle, sprang into the saddle, rode through the Porte d'Oulle, +skirting the walls, and disappeared at a gallop along the road +to Lyons. Only about three-quarters of a mile from Avignon, he +drew his mantle closer about him, to conceal his weapons from +the passers, and removing his mask he slipped it into one of +the holsters of his saddle. + +The persons whom he had left at Avignon who were curious to know +if this could be the terrible Morgan, the terror of the Midi, +might have convinced themselves with their own eyes, had they +met him on the road between Avignon and Bédarides, whether the +bandit's appearance was as terrifying as his renown. We do not +hesitate to assert that the features now revealed would have +harmonized so little with the picture their prejudiced imagination +had conjured up that their amazement would have been extreme. + +The removal of the mask, by a hand of perfect whiteness and delicacy, +revealed the face of a young man of twenty-four or five years +of age, a face that, by its regularity of feature and gentle +expression, had something of the character of a woman's. One +detail alone gave it or rather would give it at certain moments +a touch of singular firmness. Beneath the beautiful fair hair +waving on his brow and temples, as was the fashion at that period, +eyebrows, eyes and lashes were black as ebony. The rest of the +face was, as we have said, almost feminine. There were two little +ears of which only the tips could be seen beneath the tufts of +hair to which the Incroyables of the day had given the name of +"dog's-ears"; a straight, perfectly proportioned nose, a rather +large mouth, rosy and always smiling, and which, when smiling, +revealed a double row of brilliant teeth; a delicate refined +chin faintly tinged with blue, showing that, if the beard had +not been carefully and recently shaved, it would, protesting +against the golden hair, have followed the same color as the +brows, lashes and eyes, that is to say, a decided black. As for +the unknown's figure, it was seen, when he entered the dining-room, +to be tall, well-formed and flexible, denoting, if not great +muscular strength, at least much suppleness and agility. + +The manner he sat his horse showed him to be a practiced rider. +With his cloak thrown back over his shoulders, his mask hidden in +the holster, his hat pulled low over his eyes, the rider resumed +his rapid pace, checked for an instant, passed through Bédarides +at a gallop, and reaching the first houses in Orange, entered +the gate of one which closed immediately behind him. A servant +in waiting sprang to the bit. The rider dismounted quickly. + +"Is your master here?" he asked the domestic. + +"No, Monsieur the Baron," replied the man; "he was obliged to +go away last night, but he left word that if Monsieur should +ask for him, to say that he had gone in the interests of the +Company." + +"Very good, Baptiste. I have brought back his horse in good +condition, though somewhat tired. Rub him down with wine, and +give him for two or three days barley instead of oats. He has +covered something like one hundred miles since yesterday morning." + +"Monsieur the Baron was satisfied with him?" + +"Perfectly satisfied. Is the carriage ready?" + +"Yes, Monsieur the Baron, all harnessed in the coach-house; the +postilion is drinking with Julien. Monsieur recommended that +he should be kept outside the house that he might not see him +arrive." + +"He thinks he is to take your master?" + +"Yes, Monsieur the Baron. Here is my master's passport, which +we used to get the post-horses, and as my master has gone in +the direction of Bordeaux with Monsieur the Baron's passport, +and as Monsieur the Baron goes toward Geneva with my master's +passport, the skein will probably be so tangled that the police, +clever as their fingers are, can't easily unravel it." + +"Unfasten the valise that is on the croup of my saddle, Baptiste, +and give it to me." + +Baptiste obeyed dutifully, but the valise almost slipped from +his hands. "Ah!" said he laughing, "Monsieur the Baron did not +warn me! The devil! Monsieur the Baron has not wasted his time +it seems." + +"Just where you're mistaken, Baptiste! if I didn't waste all my +time, I at least lost a good deal, so I should like to be off +again as soon as possible." + +"But Monsieur the Baron will breakfast?" + +"I'll eat a bite, but quickly." + +"Monsieur will not be delayed. It is now two, and breakfast has +been ready since ten this morning. Luckily it's a cold breakfast." + +And Baptiste, in the absence of his master, did the honors of the +house to the visitor by showing him the way to the dining-room. + +"Not necessary," said the visitor, "I know the way. Do you see +to the carriage; let it be close to the house with the door wide +open when I come out, so that the postilion can't see me. Here's +the money to pay him for the first relay." + +And the stranger whom Baptiste had addressed as Baron handed him +a handful of notes. + +"Why, Monsieur," said the servant, "you have given me enough to +pay all the way to Lyons!" + +"Pay him as far as Valence, under pretext that I want to sleep, +and keep the rest for your trouble in settling the accounts." + +"Shall I put the valise in the carriage-box?" + +"I will do so myself." + +And taking the valise from the servant's hands, without letting it +be seen that it weighed heavily, he turned toward the dining-room, +while Baptiste made his way toward the nearest inn, sorting his +notes as he went. + +As the stranger had said, the way was familiar to him, for he +passed down a corridor, opened a first door without hesitation, +then a second, and found himself before a table elegantly served. +A cold fowl, two partridges, a ham, several kinds of cheese, a +dessert of magnificent fruit, and two decanters, the one containing +a ruby-colored wine, and the other a yellow-topaz, made a breakfast +which, though evidently intended for but one person, as only one +place was set, might in case of need have sufficed for three +or four. + +The young man's first act on entering the dining-room was to go +straight to a mirror, remove his hat, arrange his hair with a +little comb which he took from his pocket; after which he went +to a porcelain basin with a reservoir above it, took a towel +which was there for the purpose, and bathed his face and hands. +Not until these ablutions were completed--characteristic of a man +of elegant habits--not until these ablutions had been minutely +performed did the stranger sit down to the table. + +A few minutes sufficed to satisfy his appetite, to which youth +and fatigue had, however, given magnificent proportions; and when +Baptiste came in to inform the solitary guest that the carriage +was ready he found him already afoot and waiting. + +The stranger drew his hat low over his eyes, wrapped his coat +about him, took the valise under his arm, and, as Baptiste had +taken pains to lower the carriage-steps as close as possible +to the door, he sprang into the post-chaise without being seen +by the postilion. Baptiste slammed the door after him; then, +addressing the man in the top-boots: + +"Everything is paid to Valence, isn't it, relays and fees?" he +asked. + +"Everything; do you want a receipt?" replied the postilion, +jokingly. + +"No; but my master, the Marquise de Ribier, don't want to be +disturbed until he gets to Valence." + +"All right," replied the postilion, in the same bantering tone, +"the citizen Marquis shan't be disturbed. Forward, hoop-la!" +And he started his horses, and cracked his whip with that noisy +eloquence which says to neighbors and passers-by: "'Ware here, +'ware there! I am driving a man who pays well and who has the +right to run over others." + +Once in the carriage the pretended Marquis of Ribier opened the +window, lowered the blinds, raised the seat, put his valise in +the hollow, sat down on it, wrapped himself in his cloak, and, +certain of not being disturbed till he reached Valence, slept +as he had breakfasted, that is to say, with all the appetite +of youth. + +They went from Orange to Valence in eight hours. Our traveller +awakened shortly before entering the city. Raising one of the +blinds cautiously, he recognized the little suburb of Paillasse. +It was dark, so he struck his repeater and found it was eleven +at night. Thinking it useless to go to sleep again, he added up +the cost of the relays to Lyons and counted out the money. As +the postilion at Valence passed the comrade who replaced him, +the traveller heard him say: + +"It seems he's a ci-devant; but he was recommended from Orange, +and, as he pays twenty sous fees, you must treat him as you would +a patriot." + +"Very well," replied the other; "he shall be driven accordingly." + +The traveller thought the time had come to intervene. He raised +the blind and said: + +"And you'll only be doing me justice. A patriot? Deuce take it! +I pride myself upon being one, and of the first calibre, too! +And the proof is--Drink this to the health of the Republic." +And he handed a hundred-franc assignat to the postilion who had +recommended him to his comrade. Seeing the other looking eagerly +at this strip of paper, he continued: "And the same to you if +you will repeat the recommendation you've just received to the +others." + +"Oh! don't worry, citizen," said the postilion; "there'll be but +one order to Lyons--full speed!" + +"And here is the money for the sixteen posts, including the double +post of entrance in advance. I pay twenty sous fees. Settle it +among yourselves." + +The postilion dug his spurs into his horse and they were off +at a gallop. The carriage relayed at Lyons about four in the +afternoon. While the horses were being changed, a man clad like +a porter, sitting with his stretcher beside him on a stone post, +rose, came to the carriage and said something in a low tone to +the young Companion of Jehu which seemed to astonish the latter +greatly. + +"Are you quite sure?" he asked the porter. + +"I tell you that I saw him with my own eyes!" replied the latter. + +"Then I can give the news to our friends as a positive fact?" + +"You can. Only hurry." + +"Have they been notified at Servas?" + +"Yes; you will find a horse ready between Servas and Sue." + +The postilion came up; the young man exchanged a last glance +with the porter, who walked away as if charged with a letter of +the utmost importance. + +"What road, citizen?" asked the postilion. + +"To Bourg. I must reach Servas by nine this evening; I pay thirty +sous fees." + +"Forty-two miles in five hours! That's tough. Well, after all, +it can be done." + +"Will you do it." + +"We can try." + +And the postilion started at full gallop. Nine o'clock was striking +as they entered Servas. + +"A crown of six livres if you'll drive me half-way to Sue without +stopping here to change horses!" cried the young man through +the window to the postilion. + +"Done!" replied the latter. + +And the carriage dashed past the post house without stopping. + +Morgan stopped the carriage at a half mile beyond Servas, put +his head out of the window, made a trumpet of his hands, and +gave the hoot of a screech-owl. The imitation was so perfect that +another owl answered from a neighboring woods. + +"Here we are," cried Morgan. + +The postilion pulled up, saying: "If we're there, we needn't go +further." + +The young man took his valise, opened the door, jumped out and +stepped up to the postilion. + +"Here's the promised ecu." + +The postilion took the coin and stuck it in his eye, as a fop of +our day holds his eye-glasses. Morgan divined that this pantomime +had a significance. + +"Well," he asked, "what does that mean?" + +"That means," said the postilion, "that, do what I will, I can't +help seeing with the other eye." + +"I understand," said the young man, laughing; "and if I close +the other eye--" + +"Damn it! I shan't see anything." + +"Hey! you're a rogue who'd rather be blind than see with one eye! +Well, there's no disputing tastes. Here!" + +And he gave him a second crown. The postilion stuck it up to +his other eye, wheeled the carriage round and took the road back +to Servas. + +The Companion of Jehu waited till he vanished in the darkness. +Then putting the hollow of a key to his lips, he drew a long +trembling sound from it like a boatswain's whistle. + +A similar call answered him, and immediately a horseman came out +of the woods at full gallop. As he caught sight of him Morgan +put on his mask. + +"In whose name have you come?" asked the rider, whose face, hidden +as it was beneath the brim of an immense hat, could not be seen. + +"In the name of the prophet Elisha," replied the young man with +the mask. + +"Then you are he whom I am waiting for." And he dismounted. + +"Are you prophet or disciple?" asked Morgan. + +"Disciple," replied the new-comer. + +"Where is your master?" + +"You will find him at the Chartreuse of Seillon." + +"Do you know how many Companions are there this evening?" + +"Twelve." + +"Very good; if you meet any others send them there." + +He who had called himself a disciple bowed in sign of obedience, +assisted Morgan to fasten the valise to the croup of the saddle, +and respectfully held the bit while the young man mounted. Without +even waiting to thrust his other foot into the stirrup, Morgan +spurred his horse, which tore the bit from the groom's hand and +started off at a gallop. + +On the right of the road stretched the forest of Seillon, like +a shadowy sea, its sombre billows undulating and moaning in the +night wind. Half a mile beyond Sue the rider turned his horse +across country toward the forest, which, as he rode on, seemed +to advance toward him. The horse, guided by an experienced hand, +plunged fearlessly into the woods. Ten minutes later he emerged +on the other side. + +A gloomy mass, isolated in the middle of a plain, rose about +a hundred feet from the forest. It was a building of massive +architecture, shaded by five or six venerable trees. The horseman +paused before the portal, over which were placed three statues +in a triangle of the Virgin, our Lord, and St. John the Baptist. +The statue of the Virgin was at the apex of the triangle. + +The mysterious traveller had reached his goal, for this was the +Chartreuse of Seillon. This monastery, the twenty-second of its +order, was founded in 1178. In 1672 a modern edifice had been +substituted for the old building; vestiges of its ruins can be +seen to this day. These ruins consist externally of the +above-mentioned portal with the three statues, before which our +mysterious traveller halted; internally, a small chapel, entered +from the right through the portal. A peasant, his wife and two +children are now living there, and the ancient monastery has +become a farm. + +The monks were expelled from their convent in 1791; in 1792 the +Chartreuse and its dependencies were offered for sale as +ecclesiastical property. The dependencies consisted first of +the park, adjoining the buildings, and the noble forest which +still bears the name of Seillon. But at Bourg, a royalist and, +above all, religious town, no one dared risk his soul by purchasing +property belonging to the worthy monks whom all revered. The +result was that the convent, the park and the forest had become, +under the title of state property, the property of the republic; +that is to say, they belonged to nobody, or were at the best +neglected. The republic having, for the last seven years, other +things to think of than pointing walls, cultivating an orchard +and cutting timber. + +For seven years, therefore, the Chartreuse had been completely +abandoned, and if by chance curious eyes peered through the keyhole, +they caught glimpses of grass-grown courtyards, brambles in the +orchard, and brush in the forest, which, except for one road +and two or three paths that crossed it, had become almost +impenetrable. The Correrie, a species of pavilion belonging to +the monastery and distant from it about three-quarters of a mile, +was mossgrown too in the tangle of the forest, which, profiting +by its liberty, grew at its own sweet will, and had long since +encircled it in a mantle of foliage which hid it from sight. + +For the rest, the strangest rumors were current about these two +buildings. They were said to be haunted by guests invisible by +day, terrifying at night. The woodsmen and the belated peasants, +who went to the forest to exercise against the Republic the rights +which the town of Bourg had enjoyed in the days of the monks, +pretended that, through the cracks of the closed blinds, they had +seen flames of fire dancing along the corridors and stairways, and +had distinctly heard the noise of chains clanking over the cloister +tilings and the pavement of the courtyards. The strong-minded +denied these things; but two very opposite classes opposed the +unbelievers, confirming the rumors, attributing these terrifying +noises and nocturnal lights to two different causes according to +their beliefs. The patriots declared that they were the ghosts +of the poor monks buried alive by cloister tyranny in the In-pace, +who were now returned to earth, dragging after them their fetters +to call down the vengeance of Heaven upon their persecutors. +The royalists said that they were the imps of the devil, who, +finding an empty convent, and fearing no further danger from holy +water, were boldly holding their revels where once they had not +dared show a claw. One fact, however, left everything uncertain. +Not one of the believers or unbelievers--whether he elected for +the souls of the martyred monks or for the Witches' Sabbath of +Beelzebub--had ever had the courage to venture among the shadows, +and to seek during the solemn hours of night confirmation of the +truth, in order to tell on the morrow whether the Chartreuse +were haunted, and if haunted by whom. + +But doubtless these tales, whether well founded or not, had no +influence over our mysterious horseman; for although, as we have +said, nine o'clock had chimed from the steeples of Bourg, and +night had fallen, he reined in his horse in front of the great +portal of the deserted monastery, and, without dismounting, drew +a pistol from his holster, striking three measured blows with +the butt on the gate, after the manner of the Freemasons. Then +he listened. For an instant he doubted if the meeting were really +there; for though he looked closely and listened attentively, +he could perceive no light, nor could he hear a sound. Still +he fancied he heard a cautious step approaching the portal from +within. He knocked a second time with the same weapon and in +the same manner. + +"Who knocks?" demanded a voice. + +"He who comes from Elisha," replied the traveller. + +"What king do the sons of Isaac obey?" + +"Jehu." + +"What house are they to exterminate?" + +"That of Ahab." + +"Are you prophet or disciple?" + +"Prophet." + +"Welcome then to the House of the Lord!" said the voice. + +Instantly the iron bars which secured the massive portal swung +back, the bolts grated in their sockets, half of the gate opened +silently, and the horse and his rider passed beneath the sombre +vault, which immediately closed behind them. + +The person who had opened the gate, so slow to open, so quick to +close, was attired in the long white robe of a Chartreuse monk, +of which the hood, falling over his face, completely concealed +his features. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE CHARTREUSE OF SEILLON + +Beyond doubt, like the first affiliated member met on the road +to Sue by the man who styled himself prophet, the monk who opened +the gate was of secondary rank in the fraternity; for, grasping the +horse's bridle, he held it while the rider dismounted, rendering +the young man the service of a groom. + +Morgan got off, unfastened the valise, pulled the pistols from +the holsters, and placed them in his belt, next to those already +there. Addressing the monk in a tone of command, he said: "I +thought I should find the brothers assembled in council." + +"They are assembled," replied the monk. + +"Where?" + +"At La Correrie. Suspicious persons have been seen prowling around +the Chartreuse these last few days, and orders have been issued +to take the greatest precautions." + +The young man shrugged his shoulders as if he considered such +precautions useless, and, always in the same tone of command, +said: "Have some one take my horse to the stable and conduct +me to the council." + +The monk summoned another brother, to whom he flung the bridle. +He lighted a torch at a lamp, in the little chapel which can +still be seen to the right of the great portal, and walked before +the new-comer. Crossing the cloister, he took a few steps in the +garden, opened a door leading into a sort of cistern, invited +Morgan to enter, closed it as carefully as he had the outer door, +touched with his foot a stone which seemed to be accidentally +lying there, disclosed a ring and raised a slab, which concealed +a flight of steps leading down to a subterraneous passage. This +passage had a rounded roof and was wide enough to admit two men +walking abreast. + +The two men proceeded thus for five or six minutes, when they +reached a grated door. The monk, drawing a key from his frock, +opened it. Then, when both had passed through and the door was +locked again, he asked: "By what name shall I announce you?" + +"As Brother Morgan." + +"Wait here; I will return in five minutes." + +The young man made a sign with his head which showed that he +was familiar with these precautions and this distrust. Then he +sat down upon a tomb--they were in the mortuary vaults of the +convent--and waited. Five minutes had scarcely elapsed before +the monk reappeared. + +"Follow me," said he; "the brothers are glad you have come. They +feared you had met with some mishap." + +A few seconds later Morgan was admitted into the council chamber. + +Twelve monks awaited him, their hoods drawn low over their eyes. +But, once the door had closed and the serving brother had +disappeared, while Morgan was removing his mask, the hoods were +thrown back and each monk exposed his face. + +No brotherhood had ever been graced by a more brilliant assemblage +of handsome and joyous young men. Two or three only of these +strange monks had reached the age of forty. All hands were held +out to Morgan and several warm kisses were imprinted upon the +new-comer's cheek. + +"'Pon my word," said one who had welcomed him most tenderly, +"you have drawn a mighty thorn from my foot; we thought you dead, +or, at any rate, a prisoner." + +"Dead, I grant you, Amiet; but prisoner, never! citizen--as they +still say sometimes, and I hope they'll not say it much longer. +It must be admitted that the whole affair was conducted on both +sides with touching amenity. As soon as the conductor saw us he +shouted to the postilion to stop; I even believe he added: 'I +know what it is.' 'Then,' said I, 'if you know what it is, my +dear friend, our explanations needn't be long.' 'The government +money?' he asked. 'Exactly,' I replied. Then as there was a great +commotion inside the carriage, I added: 'Wait! first come down +and assure these gentlemen, and especially the ladies, that we +are well-behaved folk and will not harm them--the ladies; you +understand--and nobody will even look at them unless they put +their heads out of the window.' One did risk it; my faith! but +she was charming. I threw her a kiss, and she gave a little cry +and retired into the carriage, for all the world like Galatea, and +as there were no willows about, I didn't pursue her. In the meantime +the guard was rummaging in his strong-box in all expedition, and +to such good purpose, indeed, that with the government money, +in his hurry, he passed over two hundred louis belonging to a +poor wine merchant of Bordeaux." + +"Ah, the devil!" exclaimed the brother called Amiet--an assumed +name, probably, like that of Morgan--"that is annoying! You know +the Directory, which is most imaginative, has organized some +bands of chauffeurs, who operate in our name, to make people +believe that we rob private individuals. In other words, that +we are mere thieves." + +"Wait an instant," resumed Morgan; "that is just what makes me +late. I heard something similar at Lyons. I was half-way to Valence +when I discovered this breach of etiquette. It was not difficult, +for, as if the good man had foreseen what happened, he had marked +his bag 'Jean Picot, Wine Merchant at Fronsac, Bordeaux.'" + +"And you sent his money back to him?" + +"I did better; I returned it to him." + +"At Fronsac?" + +"Ah! no, but at Avignon. I suspected that so careful a man would +stop at the first large town to inquire what chance he had to +recover his two hundred louis. I was not mistaken. I inquired at +the inn if they knew citizen Jean Picot. They replied that not +only did they know him, but in fact he was then dining at the +table d'hôte. I went in. You can imagine what they were talking +about--the stoppage of the diligence. Conceive the sensation my +apparition caused. The god of antiquity descending from the +machine produced a no more unexpected finale than I. I asked +which one of the guests was called Jean Picot. The owner of this +distinguished and melodious name stood forth. I placed the two +hundred louis before him, with many apologies, in the name of the +Company, for the inconvenience its followers had occasioned him. +I exchanged a friendly glance with Barjols and a polite nod with +the Abbé de Rians who were present, and, with a profound bow to +the assembled company, withdrew. It was only a little thing, but +it took me fifteen hours; hence the delay. I thought it preferable +to leaving a false conception of us in our wake. Have I done well, +my masters?" + +The gathering burst into bravos. + +"Only," said one of the participants, "I think you were somewhat +imprudent to return the money yourself to citizen Jean Picot." + +"My dear colonel," replied the young man, "there's an Italian +proverb which says: 'Who wills, goes; who does not will, sends.' +I willed--I went." + +"And there's a jolly buck who, if you ever have the misfortune +to fall into the hands of the Directory, will reward you by +recognizing you; a recognition which means cutting off your head!" + +"Oh! I defy him to recognize me." + +"What can prevent it?" + +"Oh! You seem to think that I play such pranks with my face +uncovered? Truly, my dear colonel, you mistake me for some one +else. It is well enough to lay aside my mask among friends; but +among strangers--no, no! Are not these carnival times? I don't +see why I shouldn't disguise myself as Abellino or Karl Moor, +when Messieurs Gohier, Sieyès, Roger Ducos, Moulin and Barras +are masquerading as kings of France." + +"And you entered the city masked?" + +"The city, the hotel, the dining-room. It is true that if my +face was covered, my belt was not, and, as you see, it is well +garnished." + +The young man tossed aside his coat, displaying his belt, which +was furnished with four pistols and a short hunting-knife. Then, +with a gayety which seemed characteristic of his careless nature, +he added: "I ought to look ferocious, oughtn't I? They may have +taken me for the late Mandrin, descending from the mountains of +Savoy. By the bye, here are the sixty thousand francs of Her +Highness, the Directory." And the young man disdainfully kicked +the valise which he had placed on the ground, which emitted a +metallic sound indicating the presence of gold. Then he mingled +with the group of friends from whom he had been separated by +the natural distance between a narrator and his listeners. + +One of the monks stooped and lifted the valise. + +"Despise gold as much as you please, my dear Morgan, since that +doesn't prevent you from capturing it. But I know of some brave +fellows who are awaiting these sixty thousand francs, you so +disdainfully kick aside, with as much impatience and anxiety as +a caravan, lost in the desert, awaits the drop of water which +is to save it from dying of thirst." + +"Our friends of the Vendée, I suppose?" replied Morgan. "Much +good may it do them! Egotists, they are fighting. These gentlemen +have chosen the roses and left us the thorns. Come! don't they +receive anything from England?" + +"Oh, yes," said one of the monks, gayly; "at Quiberon they got +bullets and grapeshot." + +"I did not say from the English," retorted Morgan; "I said from +England." + +"Not a penny." + +"It seems to me, however," said one of those present, who apparently +possessed a more reflective head than his comrades, "it seems +to me that our princes might send a little gold to those who +are shedding their blood for the monarchy. Are they not afraid +the Vendée may weary some day or other of a devotion which up to +this time has not, to my knowledge, won her a word of thanks." + +"The Vendée, dear friend," replied Morgan, "is a generous land +which will not weary, you may be sure. Besides, where is the +merit of fidelity unless it has to deal with ingratitude? From +the instant devotion meets recognition, it is no longer devotion. +It becomes an exchange which reaps its reward. Let us be always +faithful, and always devoted, gentlemen, praying Heaven that +those whom we serve may remain ungrateful, and then, believe +me, we shall bear the better part in the history of our civil +wars." + +Morgan had scarcely formulated this chivalric axiom, expressive +of a desire which had every chance of accomplishment, than three +Masonic blows resounded upon the door through which he had entered. + +"Gentlemen," said the monk who seemed to fill the rôle of president, +"quick, your hoods and masks. We do not know who may be coming +to us." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOW THE MONEY OF THE DIRECTORY WAS USED + +Every one hastened to obey. The monks lowered the hoods of their +long robes over their faces, Morgan replaced his mask. + +"Enter!" said the superior. + +The door opened and the serving-brother appeared. + +"An emissary from General Georges Cadoudal asks to be admitted," +said he. + +"Did he reply to the three passwords?" + +"Perfectly." + +"Then let him in." + +The lay brother retired to the subterranean passage, and reappeared +a couple of minutes later leading a man easily recognized by his +costume as a peasant, and by his square head with its shock of +red hair for a Breton. He advanced in the centre of the circle +without appearing in the least intimidated, fixing his eyes on +each of the monks in turn, and waiting until one of these twelve +granite statues should break silence. The president was the first +to speak to him. + +"From whom do you come?" he asked him. + +"He who sent me," replied the peasant, "ordered me to answer, +if I were asked that question, that I was sent by Jehu." + +"Are you the bearer of a verbal or written message?" + +"I am to reply to the questions which you ask me, and exchange +a slip of paper for some money." + +"Very good; we will begin with the questions. What are our brothers +in the Vendée doing?" + +"They have laid down their arms and are awaiting only a word from +you to take them up again." + +"And why did they lay down their arms?" + +"They received the order to do so from his Majesty Louis XVIII." + +"There is talk of a proclamation written by the King's own hand. +Have they received it?" + +"Here is a copy." + +The peasant gave a paper to the person who was interrogating him. +The latter opened it and read: + + The war has absolutely no result save that of making the monarchy + odious and threatening. Monarchs who return to their own through + its bloody succor are never loved; these sanguinary measures must + therefore be abandoned; confide in the empire of opinion which + returns of itself to its saving principles. "God and the King," + will soon be the rallying cry of all Frenchmen. The scattered + elements of royalism must be gathered into one formidable sheaf; + militant Vendée must be abandoned to its unhappy fate and marched + within a more pacific and less erratic path. The royalists of the + West have fulfilled their duty; those of Paris, who have prepared + everything for the approaching Restoration, must now be relied + upon-- + +The president raised his head, and, seeking Morgan with a flash +of the eye which his hood could not entirely conceal, said: "Well, +brother, I think this is the fulfilment of your wish of a few +moments ago. The royalists of the Vendée and the Midi will have +the merit of pure devotion." Then, lowering his eyes to the +proclamation, of which there still remained a few lines to read, +he continued: + + The Jews crucified their King, and since that time they have + wandered over the face of the earth. The French guillotined + theirs, and they shall be dispersed throughout the land. + + Given at Blankenbourg, this 25th of August, 1799, on the day + of St. Louis and the sixth year of our reign. + + (Signed) LOUIS. + +The young men looked at each other. + +"'Quos vult perdere Jupiter dementat!'" said Morgan. + +"Yes," said the president; "but when those whom Jupiter wishes +to destroy represent a principle, they must be sustained not +only against Jupiter but against themselves. Ajax, in the midst +of the bolts and lightning, clung to a rock, and, threatening +Heaven with his clinched hand, he cried, 'I will escape in spite +of the gods!'" Then turning toward Cadoudal's envoy, "And what +answer did he who sent you make to this proclamation?" + +"About what you yourself have just answered. He told me to come +and inform myself whether you had decided to hold firm in spite +of all, in spite of the King himself." + +"By Heavens! yes," said Morgan. + +"We are determined," said the President. + +"In that case," replied the peasant, "all is well. Here are the +real names of our new chiefs, and their assumed names. The general +recommends that you use only the latter as far as is possible +in your despatches. He observes that precaution when he, on his +side, speaks of you." + +"Have you the list?" asked the President. + +"No; I might have been stopped, and the list taken. Write yourself; +I will dictate them to you." + +The president seated himself at the table, took a pen, and wrote +the following names under the dictation of the Breton peasant: + +"Georges Cadoudal, Jehu or Roundhead; Joseph Cadoudal, Judas +Maccabeus; Lahaye Saint-Hilaire, David; Burban-Malabry, +Brave-la-Mort; Poulpiquez, Royal-Carnage; Bonfils, Brise-Barrière; +Dampherné, Piquevers; Duchayla, La Couronne; Duparc, Le Terrible; +La Roche, Mithridates; Puisaye, Jean le Blond." + +"And these are the successors of Charette, Stoffiet, Cathelineau, +Bonchamp, d'Elbée, la Rochejaquelin, and Lescure!" cried a voice. + +The Breton turned toward him who had just spoken. + +"If they get themselves killed like their predecessors," said +he, "what more can you ask of them?" + +"Well answered," said Morgan, "so that--" + +"So that, as soon as our general has your reply," answered the +peasant, "he will take up arms again." + +"And suppose our reply had been in the negative?" asked another +voice. + +"So much the worse for you," replied the peasant; "in any case +the insurrection is fixed for October 20." + +"Well," said the president, "thanks to us, the general will have +the wherewithal for his first month's pay. Where is your receipt?" + +"Here," said the peasant, drawing a paper from his pocket on which +were written these words: + + Received from our brothers of the Midi and the East, to be + employed for the good of the cause, the sum of.... + + GEORGES CADOUDAL, + General commanding the Royalist army of Brittany. + +The sum was left blank. + +"Do you know how to write?" asked the president. + +"Enough to fill in the three or four missing words." + +"Very well. Then write, 'one hundred thousand francs.'" + +The Breton wrote; then extending the paper to the president, he +said: "Here is your receipt; where is the money?" + +"Stoop and pick up the bag at your feet; it contains sixty thousand +francs." Then addressing one of the monks, he asked: "Montbard, +where are the remaining forty thousand?" + +The monk thus interpellated opened a closet and brought forth a +bag somewhat smaller than the one Morgan had brought, but which, +nevertheless, contained the good round sum of forty thousand +francs. + +"Here is the full amount," said the monk. + +"Now, my friend," said the president, "get something to eat and +some rest; to-morrow you will start." + +"They are waiting for me yonder," said the Breton. "I will eat +and sleep on horseback. Farewell, gentlemen. Heaven keep you!" +And he went toward the door by which he bad entered. + +"Wait," said Morgan. + +The messenger paused. + +"News for news," said Morgan; "tell General Cadoudal that General +Bonaparte has left the army in Egypt, that he landed at Fréjus, +day before yesterday, and will be in Paris in three days. My +news is fully worth yours, don't you think so? What do you think +of it?" + +"Impossible!" exclaimed all the monks with one accord. + +"Nevertheless nothing is more true, gentlemen. I have it from +our friend the Priest (Leprêtre), [Footnote: The name Leprêtre is +a contraction of the two words "le prêtre," meaning the priest; +hence the name under which this man died.] who saw him relay at +Lyons one hour before me, and recognized him." + +"What has he come to France for?" demanded several voices. + +"Faith," said Morgan, "we shall know some day. It is probable +that he has not returned to Paris to remain there incognito." + +"Don't lose an instant in carrying this news to our brothers +in the West," said the president to the peasant. "A moment ago +I wished to detain you; now I say to you: 'Go!'" + +The peasant bowed and withdrew. The president waited until the +door was closed. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "the news which our brother Morgan has +just imparted to us is so grave that I wish to propose a special +measure." + +"What is it?" asked the Companions of Jehu with one voice. + +"It is that one of us, chosen by lot, shall go to Paris and keep +the rest informed, with the cipher agreed upon, of all that happens +there." + +"Agreed!" they replied. + +"In that case," resumed the president, "let us write our thirteen +names, each on a slip of paper. We put them in a hat. He whose +name is first drawn shall start immediately." + +The young men, one and all, approached the table, and wrote their +names on squares of paper which they rolled and dropped into +a hat. The youngest was told to draw the lots. He drew one of +the little rolls of paper and handed it to the president, who +unfolded it. + +"Morgan!" said he. + +"What are my instructions?" asked the young man. + +"Remember," replied the president, with a solemnity to which +the cloistral arches lent a supreme grandeur, "that you bear the +name and title of Baron de Sainte-Hermine, that your father was +guillotined on the Place de la Révolution and that your brother +was killed in Condé's army. Noblesse oblige! Those are your +instructions." + +"And what else?" asked the young man. + +"As to the rest," said the president, "we rely on your royalist +principles and your loyalty." + +"Then, my friends, permit me to bid you farewell at once. I would +like to be on the road to Paris before dawn, and I must pay a +visit before my departure." + +"Go!" said the president, opening his arms to Morgan. "I embrace +you in the name of the Brotherhood. To another I should say, 'Be +brave, persevering and active'; to you I say, 'Be prudent.'" + +The young man received the fraternal embrace, smiled to his other +friends, shook hands with two or three of them, wrapped himself +in his mantle, pulled his hat over his eyes and departed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ROMEO AND JULIET + +Under the possibility of immediate departure, Morgan's horse, +after being washed, rubbed down and dried, had been fed a double +ration of oats and been resaddled and bridled. The young man had +only to ask for it and spring upon its back. He was no sooner +in the saddle than the gate opened as if by magic; the horse +neighed and darted out swiftly, having forgotten its first trip, +and ready for another. + +At the gate of the Chartreuse, Morgan paused an instant, undecided +whether to turn to the right or left. He finally turned to the +right, followed the road which leads from Bourg to Seillon for +a few moments, wheeled rapidly a second time to the right, cut +across country, plunged into an angle of the forest which was +on his way, reappeared before long on the other side, reached +the main road to Pont-d'Ain, followed it for about a mile and +a half, and halted near a group of houses now called the Maison +des Gardes. One of these houses bore for sign a cluster of holly, +which indicated one of those wayside halting places where the +pedestrians quench their thirst, and rest for an instant to recover +strength before continuing the long fatiguing voyage of life. +Morgan stopped at the door, drew a pistol from its holster and +rapped with the butt end as he had done at the Chartreuse. Only +as, in all probability, the good folks at the humble tavern were +far from being conspirators, the traveller was kept waiting longer +than he had been at the monastery. At last he heard the echo +of the stable boy's clumsy sabots. The gate creaked, but the +worthy man who opened it no sooner perceived the horseman with +his drawn pistol than he instinctively tried to, close it again. + +"It is I, Patout," said the young man; "don't be afraid." + +"Ah! sure enough," said the peasant, "it is really you, Monsieur +Charles. I'm not afraid now; but you know, as the curé used to +tell us, in the days when there was a good God, 'Caution is the +mother of safety.'" + +"Yes, Patout, yes," said the young man, slipping a piece of silver +into the stable boy's hand, "but be easy; the good God will return, +and M. le Curé also." + +"Oh, as for that," said the good man, "it is easy to see that +there is no one left on high by the way things go. Will this +last much longer, M. Charles?" + +"Patout, I promise, in my honor, to do my best to be rid of all +that annoys you. I am no less impatient than you; so I'll ask +you not to go to bed, my good Patout." + +"Ah! You know well, monsieur, that when you come I don't often +go to bed. As for the horse--Goodness! You change them every +day? The time before last it was a chestnut, the last time a +dapple-gray, now a black one." + +"Yes, I'm somewhat capricious by nature. As to the horse, as +you say, my dear Patout, he wants nothing. You need only remove +his bridle; leave him saddled. Oh, wait; put this pistol back +in the holsters and take care of these other two for me." And +the young man removed the two from his belt and handed them to +the hostler. + +"Well," exclaimed the latter, laughing, "any more barkers?" + +"You know, Patout, they say the roads are unsafe." + +"Ah! I should think they weren't safe! We're up to our necks +in regular highway robberies, M. Charles. Why, no later than +last week they stopped and robbed the diligence between Geneva +and Bourg!" + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Morgan; "and whom do they accuse of the robbery?" + +"Oh, it's such a farce! Just fancy; they say it was the Companions +of Jesus. I don't believe a word of it, of course. Who are the +Companions of Jesus if not the twelve apostles?" + +"Of course," said Morgan, with his eternally joyous smile, "I +don't know of any others." + +"Well!" continued Patout, "to accuse the twelve apostles of robbing +a diligence, that's the limit. Oh! I tell you, M. Charles, we're +living in times when nobody respects anything." + +And shaking his head like a misanthrope, disgusted, if not with +life, at least with men, Patout led the horse to the stable. + +As for Morgan, he watched Patout till he saw him disappear down +the courtyard and enter the dark stable; then, skirting the +hedge which bordered the garden, he went toward a large clump +of trees whose lofty tops were silhouetted against the darkness +of the night, with the majesty of things immovable, the while +their shadows fell upon a charming little country house known in +the neighborhood as the Château des Noires-Fontaines. As Morgan +reached the château wall, the hour chimed from the belfry of the +village of Montagnac. The young man counted the strokes vibrating +in the calm silent atmosphere of the autumn night. It was eleven +o'clock. Many things, as we have seen, had happened during the +last two hours. + +Morgan advanced a few steps farther, examined the wall, apparently +in search of a familiar spot, then, having found it, inserted +the tip of his boot in a cleft between two stones. He sprang +up like a man mounting a horse, seized the top of the wall with +the left hand, and with a second spring seated himself astride +the wall, from which, with the rapidity of lightning, he lowered +himself on the other side. All this was done with such rapidity, +such dexterity and agility, that any one chancing to pass at that +instant would have thought himself the puppet of a vision. Morgan +stopped, as on the other side of the wall, to listen, while his +eyes tried to pierce the darkness made deeper by the foliage +of poplars and aspens, and the heavy shadows of the little wood. +All was silent and solitary. Morgan ventured on his path. We +say ventured, because the young man, since nearing the Château +des Noires-Fontaines, revealed in all his movement a timidity +and hesitation so foreign to his character that it was evident +that if he feared it was not for himself alone. + +He gained the edge of the wood, still moving cautiously. Coming to +a lawn, at the end of which was the little château, he paused. Then +he examined the front of the house. Only one of the twelve windows +which dotted the three floors was lighted. This was on the second +floor at the corner of the house. A little balcony, covered with +virgin vines which climbed the walls, twining themselves around +the iron railing and falling thence in festoons from the window, +overhung the garden. On both sides of the windows, close to the +balcony, large-leafed trees met and formed above the cornice a +bower of verdure. A Venetian blind, which was raised and lowered +by cords, separated the balcony from the window, a separation +which disappeared at will. It was through the interstices of +this blind that Morgan had seen the light. + +The young man's first impulse was to cross the lawn in a straight +line; but again, the fears of which we spoke restrained him. A +path shaded by lindens skirted the wall and led to the house. +He turned aside and entered its dark leafy covert. When he had +reached the end of the path, he crossed, like a frightened doe, +the open space which led to the house wall, and stood for a moment +in the deep shadow of the house. Then, when he had reached the +spot he had calculated upon, he clapped his hands three times. + +At this call a shadow darted from the end of the apartment and +clung, lithe, graceful, almost transparent, to the window. + +Morgan repeated the signal. The window was opened immediately, +the blind was raised, and a ravishing young girl, in a night +dress, her fair hair rippling over her shoulders, appeared in +the frame of verdure. + +The young man stretched out his arms to her, whose arms were +stretched out to him, and two names, or rather two cries from +the heart, crossed from one to the other. + +"Charles!" + +"Amélie!" + +Then the young man sprang against the wall, caught at the vine +shoots, the jagged edges of the rock, the jutting cornice, and +in an instant was on the balcony. + +What these two beautiful young beings said to each other was +only a murmur of love lost in an endless kiss. Then, by gentle +effort, the young man drew the girl with one hand to her chamber, +while with the other he loosened the cords of the blind, which +fell noisily behind them. The window closed behind the blind. +Then the lamp was extinguished, and the front of the Château +des Noires-Fontaines was again in darkness. + +This darkness had lasted for about a quarter of an hour, when +the rolling of a carriage was heard along the road leading from +the highway of Pont-d'Ain to the entrance of the château. There +the sound ceased; it was evident that the carriage had stopped +before the gates. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FAMILY OF ROLAND + +The carriage which had stopped before the gate was that which +brought Roland back to his family, accompanied by Sir John. + +The family was so far from expecting him that, as we have said, +all the lights in the house were extinguished, all the windows +in darkness, even Amélie's. The postilion had cracked his whip +smartly for the last five hundred yards, but the noise was +insufficient to rouse these country people from their first sleep. +When the carriage had stopped, Roland opened the door, sprang +out without touching the steps, and tugged at the bell-handle. +Five minutes elapsed, and, after each peal, Roland turned to +the carriage, saying: "Don't be impatient, Sir John." + +At last a window opened and a childish but firm voice cried out: +"Who is ringing that way?" + +"Ah, is that you, little Edouard?" said Roland. "Make haste and +let us in." + +The child leaped back with a shout of delight and disappeared. +But at the same time his voice was heard in the corridors, crying: +"Mother! wake up; it is Roland! Sister! wake up; it is the big +brother!" + +Then, clad only in his night robe and his little slippers, he +ran down the steps, crying: "Don't be impatient, Roland; here +I am." + +An instant later the key grated in the lock, and the bolts slipped +back in their sockets. A white figure appeared in the portico, and +flew rather than ran to the gate, which an instant later turned +on its hinges and swung open. The child sprang upon Roland's +neck and hung there. + +"Ah, brother! Brother!" he exclaimed, embracing the young man, +laughing and crying at the same time. "Ah, big brother Roland! +How happy mother will be; and Amélie, too! Every body is well. +I am the sickest--ah! except Michel, the gardener, you know, +who has sprained his leg. But why aren't you in uniform? Oh! how +ugly you are in citizen's clothes! Have you just come from Egypt? +Did you bring me the silver-mounted pistols and the beautiful +curved sword? No? Then you are not nice, and I won't kiss you any +more. Oh, no, no! Don't be afraid! I love you just the same!" + +And the boy smothered the big brother with kisses while he showered +questions upon him. The Englishman, still seated in the carriage, +looked smilingly through the window at the scene. + +In the midst of these fraternal embraces came the voice of a woman; +the voice of the mother. + +"Where is he, my Roland, my darling son?" asked Madame de Montrevel, +in a voice fraught with such violent, joyous emotion that it +was almost painful. "Where is he? Can it be true that he has +returned; really true that he is not a prisoner, not dead? Is +he really living?" + +The child, at her voice, slipped from his brother's arms like +an eel, dropped upon his feet on the grass, and, as if moved +by a spring, bounded toward his mother. + +"This way, mother; this way!" said he, dragging his mother, half +dressed as she was, toward Roland. When he saw his mother Roland +could no longer contain himself. He felt the sort of icicle that +had petrified his breast melt, and his heart beat like that of +his fellowmen. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "I was indeed ungrateful to God when life +still holds such joys for me." + +And he fell sobbing upon Madame de Montrevel's neck without thinking +of Sir John, who felt his English phlegm disperse as he silently +wiped away the tears that flowed down his cheeks and moistened +his lips. The child, the mother, and Roland formed an adorable +group of tenderness and emotion. + +Suddenly little Edouard, like a leaf tossed about by the wind, +flew from the group, exclaiming: "Sister Amélie! Why, where is +she?" and he rushed toward the house, repeating: "Sister Amélie, +wake up! Get up! Hurry up!" + +And then the child could be heard kicking and rapping against +a door. Silence followed. Then little Edouard shouted: "Help, +mother! Help, brother Roland! Sister Amélie is ill!" + +Madame de Montrevel and her son flew toward the house. Sir John, +consummate tourist that he was, always carried a lancet and a +smelling bottle in his pocket. He jumped from the carriage and, +obeying his first impulse, hurried up the portico. There he paused, +reflecting that he had not been introduced, an all-important +formality for an Englishman. + +However, the fainting girl whom he sought came toward him at +that moment. The noise her brother had made at the door brought +Amélie to the landing; but, without doubt, the excitement which +Roland's return had occasioned was too much for her, for after +descending a few steps in an almost automatic manner, controlling +herself by a violent effort, she gave a sigh, and, like a flower +that bends, a branch that droops, like a scarf that floats, she +fell, or rather lay, upon the stairs. It was at that moment that +the child cried out. + +But at his exclamation Amélie recovered, if not her strength, at +least her will. She rose, and, stammering, "Be quiet, Edouard! +Be quite, in Heaven's name! I'm all right," she clung to the +balustrade with one hand, and leaning with the other on the child, +she had continued to descend. On the last step she met her mother +and her brother. Then with a violent, almost despairing movement, +she threw both arms around Roland's neck, exclaiming: "My brother! +My brother!" + +Roland, feeling the young girl's weight press heavily upon his +shoulder, exclaimed: "Air! Air! She is fainting!" and carried +her out upon the portico. It was this new group, so different +from the first, which met Sir John's eyes. + +As soon as she felt the fresh air, Amélie revived and raised +her head. Just then the moon, in all her splendor, shook off a +cloud which had veiled her, and lighted Amélie's face, as pale +as her own. Sir John gave a cry of admiration. Never had he seen +a marble statue so perfect as this living marble before his eyes. + +We must say that Amélie, seen thus, was marvelously beautiful. +Clad in a long cambric robe, which defined the outlines of her +body, molded on that of the Polyhymnia of antiquity, her pale +face gently inclined upon her brother's shoulder, her long golden +hair floating around her snowy shoulders, her arm thrown around +her mother's neck, its rose-tinted alabaster hand drooping upon +the red shawl in which Madame de Montrevel had wrapped herself; +such was Roland's sister as she appeared to Sir John. + +At the Englishman's cry of admiration, Roland remembered that +he was there, and Madame de Montrevel perceived his presence. +As for the child, surprised to see this stranger in his mother's +home, he ran hastily down the steps of the portico, stopping on +the third one, not that he feared to go further, but in order +to be on a level with the person he proceeded to question. + +"Who are you, sir!" he asked Sir John; "and what are you doing +here?" + +"My little Edouard," said Sir John, "I am your brother's friend, +and I have brought you the silver-mounted pistols and the Damascus +blade which he promised you." + +"Where are they?" asked the child. + +"Ah!" said Sir John, "they are in England, and it will take some +time to send for them. But your big brother will answer for me +that I am a man of my word." + +"Yes, Edouard, yes," said Roland. "If Sir John promises them +to you, you will get them." Then turning to Madame de Montrevel +and his sister, "Excuse me, my mother; excuse me, Amélie; or +rather, excuse yourselves as best you can to Sir John, for you +have made me abominably ungrateful." Then grasping Sir John's +hand, he continued: "Mother, Sir John took occasion the first +time he saw me to render me an inestimable service. I know that +you never forget such things. I trust, therefore, that you will +always remember that Sir John is one of our best friends; and +he will give you the proof of it by saying with me that he has +consented to be bored for a couple of weeks with us." + +"Madame," said Sir John, "permit me, on the contrary, not to +repeat my friend Roland's words. I could wish to spend, not a +fortnight, nor three weeks, but a whole lifetime with you." + +Madame de Montrevel came down the steps of the portico and offered +her hand to Sir John, who kissed it with a gallantry altogether +French. + +"My lord," said she, "this house is yours. The day you entered +it has been one of joy, the day you leave will be one of regret +and sadness." + +Sir John turned toward Amélie, who, confused by the disorder +of her dress before this stranger, was gathering the folds of +her wrapper about her neck. + +"I speak to you in my name and in my daughter's, who is still +too much overcome by her brother's unexpected return to greet +you herself as she will do in a moment," continued Madame de +Montrevel, coming to Amélie's relief. + +"My sister," said Roland, "will permit my friend Sir John to kiss +her hand, and he will, I am sure, accept that form of welcome." + +Amélie stammered a few words, slowly lifted her arm, and held +out her hand to Sir John with a smile that was almost painful. + +The Englishman took it, but, feeling how icy and trembling it +was, instead of carrying it to his lips he said: "Roland, your +sister is seriously indisposed. Let us think only of her health +this evening. I am something of a doctor, and if she will deign +to permit me the favor of feeling her pulse I shall be grateful." + +But Amélie, as if she feared that the cause of her weakness might +be surmised, withdrew her hand hastily, exclaiming: "Oh, no! Sir +John is mistaken. Joy never causes illness. It is only joy at +seeing my brother again which caused this slight indisposition, and +it has already passed over." Then turning to Madame de Montrevel, +she added with almost feverish haste: "Mother, we are forgetting +that these gentlemen have made a long voyage, and have probably +eaten nothing since Lyons. If Roland has his usual good appetite +he will not object to my leaving you to do the honors of the house, +while I attend to the unpoetical but much appreciated details +of the housekeeping." + +Leaving her mother, as she said, to do the honors of the house, +Amélie went to waken the maids and the manservant, leaving on +the mind of Sir John that sort of fairy-like impression which +the tourist on the Rhine brings with him of the Lorelei on her +rock, a lyre in her hand, the liquid gold of her hair floating +in the evening breezes. + +In the meantime, Morgan had remounted his horse, returning at +full gallop to the Chartreuse. He drew rein before the portal, +pulled out a note-book, and pencilling a few lines on one of the +leaves, rolled it up and slipped it through the keyhole without +taking time to dismount. + +Then pressing in both his spurs, and bending low over the mane +of the noble animal, he disappeared in the forest, rapid and +mysterious as Faust on his way to the mountain of the witches' +sabbath. The three lines he had written were as follows: + + "Louis de Montrevel, General Bonaparte's aide-de-camp, arrived + this evening at the Château des Noires-Fontaines. Be careful, + Companions of Jehu!" + +But, while warning his comrades to be cautious about Louis de +Montrevel, Morgan had drawn a cross above his name, which signified +that no matter what happened the body of the young officer must +be considered as sacred by them. + +The Companions of Jehu had the right to protect a friend in that +way without being obliged to explain the motives which actuated +them. Morgan used that privilege to protect the brother of his +love. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CHÂTEAU DES NOIRES-FONTAINES + +The Château of Noires-Fontaines, whither we have just conducted +two of the principal characters of our story, stood in one of +the most charming spots of the valley, where the city of Bourg +is built. The park, of five or six acres, covered with venerable +oaks, was inclosed on three sides by freestone walls, one of +which opened in front through a handsome gate of wrought-iron, +fashioned in the style of Louis XV.; the fourth side was bounded +by the little river called the Reissouse, a pretty stream that +takes its rise at Journaud, among the foothills of the Jura, +and flowing gently from south to north, joins the Saône at the +bridge of Fleurville, opposite Pont-de-Vaux, the birthplace of +Joubert, who, a month before the period of which we are writing, +was killed at the fatal battle of Novi. + +Beyond the Reissouse, and along its banks, lay, to the right and +left of the Château des Noires-Fontaines, the village of Montagnac +and Saint-Just, dominated further on by that of Ceyzeriat. Behind +this latter hamlet stretched the graceful outlines of the hills +of the Jura, above the summits of which could be distinguished +the blue crests of the mountains of Bugey, which seemed to be +standing on tiptoe in order to peer curiously over their younger +sisters' shoulder at what was passing in the valley of the Ain. + +It was in full view of this ravishing landscape that Sir John +awoke. For the first time in his life, perhaps, the morose and +taciturn Englishman smiled at nature. He fancied himself in one +of those beautiful valleys of Thessaly celebrated by Virgil, +beside the sweet slopes of Lignon sung by Urfé, whose birthplace, +in spite of what the biographers say, was falling into ruins +not three miles from the Château des Noires-Fontaines. He was +roused by three light raps at his door. It was Roland who came +to see how he had passed the night. He found him radiant as the +sun playing among the already yellow leaves of the chestnuts +and the lindens. + +"Oh! oh! Sir John," cried Roland, "permit me to congratulate +you. I expected to find you as gloomy as the poor monks of the +Chartreuse, with their long white robes, who used to frighten +me so much in my childhood; though, to tell the truth, I was +never easily frightened. Instead of that I find you in the midst +of this dreary October, as smiling as a morn of May." + +"My dear Roland," replied Sir John, "I am an orphan; I lost my +mother at my birth and my father when I was twelve years old. +At an age when children are usually sent to school, I was master +of a fortune producing a million a year; but I was alone in the +world, with no one whom I loved or who loved me. The tender joys of +family life are completely unknown to me. From twelve to eighteen +I went to Cambridge, but my taciturn and perhaps haughty character +isolated me from my fellows. At eighteen I began to travel. You who +scour the world under the shadow of your flag; that is to say, the +shadow of your country, and are stirred by the thrill of battle, +and the pride of glory, cannot imagine what a lamentable thing +it is to roam through cities, provinces, nations, and kingdoms +simply to visit a church here, a castle there; to rise at four in +the morning at the summons of a pitiless guide, to see the sun +rise from Rigi or Etna; to pass like a phantom, already dead, +through the world of living shades called men; to know not where +to rest; to know no land in which to take root, no arm on which +to lean, no heart in which to pour your own! Well, last night, my +dear Roland, suddenly, in an instant, in a second, this void in +my life was filled. I lived in you; the joys I seek were yours. +The family which I never had, I saw smiling around you. As I looked +at your mother I said to myself: 'My mother was like that, I am +sure.' Looking at your sister, I said: 'Had I a sister I could +not have wished her otherwise.' When I embraced your brother, +I thought that I, too, might have had a child of that age, and +thus leave something behind me in the world, whereas with the +nature I know I possess, I shall die as I have lived, sad, surly +with others, a burden to myself. Ah! you are happy, Roland! you +have a family, you have fame, you have youth, you have that which +spoils nothing in a man--you have beauty. You want no joys. You +are not deprived of a single delight. I repeat it, Roland, you +are a happy man, most happy!" + +"Good!" said Roland. "You forget my aneurism, my lord." + +Sir John looked at Roland increduously. Roland seemed to enjoy +the most perfect health. + +"Your aneurism against my million, Roland," said Lord Tanlay, +with a feeling of profound sadness, "providing that with this +aneurism you give me this mother who weeps for joy on seeing +you again; this sister who faints with delight at your return; +this child who clings upon your neck like some fresh young fruit +to a sturdy young tree; this château with its dewy shade, its +river with its verdant flowering banks, these blue vistas dotted +with pretty villages and white-capped belfries graceful as swans. +I would welcome your aneurism, Roland, and with death in two +years, in one, in six months; but six months of stirring, tender, +eventful and glorious life!" + +Roland laughed in his usual nervous manner. + +"Ah!" said he, "so this is the tourist, the superficial traveller, +the Wandering Jew of civilization, who pauses nowhere, gauges +nothing, judges everything by the sensation it produces in him. The +tourist who, without opening the doors of these abodes where dwell +the fools we call men, says: 'Behind these walls is happiness!' +Well, my dear friend, you see this charming river, don't you? +These flowering meadows, these pretty villages? It is the picture +of peace, innocence and fraternity; the cycle of Saturn, the +golden age returned; it is Eden, Paradise! Well, all that is +peopled by beings who have flown at each other's throats. The +jungles of Calcutta, the sedges of Bengal are inhabited by tigers +and panthers not one whit more ferocious or cruel than the denizens +of these pretty villages, these dewy lawns, and these charming +shores. After lauding in funeral celebrations the good, the great, +the immortal Marat, whose body, thank God! they cast into the +common sewer like carrion that he was, and always had been; after +performing these funeral rites, to which each man brought an +urn into which he shed his tears, behold! our good Bressans, +our gentle Bressans, these poultry-fatteners, suddenly decided +that the Republicans were all murderers. So they murdered them +by the tumbrelful to correct them of that vile defect common +to savage and civilized man--the killing his kind. You doubt +it? My dear fellow, on the road to Lons-le-Saulnier they will +show you, if you are curious, the spot where not six months ago +they organized a slaughter fit to turn the stomach of our most +ferocious troopers on the battlefield. Picture to yourself a +tumbrel of prisoners on their way to Lons-le-Saulnier. It was a +staff-sided cart, one of those immense wagons in which they take +cattle to market. There were some thirty men in this tumbrel, +whose sole crime was foolish exaltation of thought and threatening +language. They were bound and gagged; heads hanging, jolted by the +bumping of the cart; their throats parched with thirst, despair and +terror; unfortunate beings who did not even have, as in the times +of Nero and Commodus, the fight in the arena, the hand-to-hand +struggle with death. Powerless, motionless, the lust of massacre +surprised them in their fetters, and battered them not only in +life but in death; their bodies, when their hearts had ceased +to beat, still resounded beneath the bludgeons which mangled +their flesh and crushed their bones; while women looked on in +calm delight, lifting high the children, who clapped their hands +for joy. Old men who ought to have been preparing for a Christian +death helped, by their goading cries, to render the death of these +wretched beings more wretched still. And in the midst of these +old men, a little septuagenarian, dainty, powdered, flicking his +lace shirt frill if a speck of dust settled there, pinching his +Spanish tobacco from a golden snuff-box, with a diamond monogram, +eating his "amber sugarplums" from a Sevres bonbonnière, given him +by Madame du Barry, and adorned with the donor's portrait--this +septuagenarian--conceive the picture, my dear Sir John--dancing +with his pumps upon that mattress of human flesh, wearying his +arm, enfeebled by age, in striking repeatedly with his gold-headed +cane those of the bodies who seemed not dead enough to him, not +properly mangled in that cursed mortar! Faugh! My friend, I have +seen Montebello, I have seen Arcole, I have seen Rivoli, I have +seen the Pyramids, and I believe I could see nothing more terrible. +Well, my mother's mere recital, last night, after you had retired, +of what has happened here, made my hair stand on end. Faith! that +explains my poor sister's spasms just as my aneurism explains +mine." + +Sir John watched Roland, and listened with that strange wonderment +which his young friend's misanthropical outbursts always aroused. +Roland seemed to lurk in the niches of a conversation in order to +fall upon mankind whenever he found an opportunity. Perceiving +the impression he had made on Sir John's mind, he changed his +tone, substituting bitter raillery for his philanthropic wrath. + +"It is true," said he, "that, apart from this excellent aristocrat +who finished what the butchers had begun, and dyed in blood the +red heels of his pumps, the people who performed these massacres +belonged to the lower classes, bourgeois and clowns, as our ancestors +called those who supported them. The nobles manage things much +more daintily. For the rest, you saw yourself what happened at +Avignon. If you had been told that, you would never have believed +it, would you? Those gentlemen pillagers of stage coaches pique +themselves on their great delicacy. They have two faces, not +counting their mask. Sometimes they are Cartouche and Mandrin, +sometimes Amadis and Galahad. They tell fabulous tales of these +heroes of the highways. My mother told me yesterday of one called +Laurent. You understand, my dear fellow, that Laurent is a fictitious +name meant to hide the real name, just as a mask hides the face. +This Laurent combined all the qualities of a hero of romance, +all the accomplishments, as you English say, who, under pretext +that you were once Normans, allow yourselves occasionally to +enrich your language with a picturesque expression, or some word +which has long, poor beggar! asked and been refused admittance +of our own scholars. This Laurent was ideally handsome. He was +one of seventy-two Companions of Jehu who have lately been tried +at Yssen-geaux. Seventy were acquitted; he and one other were +the only ones condemned to death. The innocent men were released +at once, but Laurent and his companion were put in prison to +await the guillotine. But, pooh! Master Laurent had too pretty a +head to fall under the executioner's ignoble knife. The judges who +condemned him, the curious who expected to witness him executed, +had forgotten what Montaigne calls the corporeal recommendation of +beauty. There was a woman belonging to the jailer of Yssen-geaux, +his daughter, sister or niece; history--for it is history and +not romance that I am telling you--history does not say which. +At all events the woman, whoever she was, fell in love with the +handsome prisoner, so much in love that two hours before the +execution, just as Master Laurent, expecting the executioner, +was sleeping, or pretending to sleep, as usually happens in such +cases, his guardian angel came to him. I don't know how they +managed; for the two lovers, for the best of reasons, never told +the details; but the truth is--now remember; Sir John, that this +is truth and not fiction--that Laurent was free, but, to his great +regret, unable to save his comrade in the adjoining dungeon. +Gensonné, under like circumstances, refused to escape, preferring +to die with the other Girondins; but Gensonné did not have the +head of Antinous on the body of Apollo. The handsomer the head, +you understand, the more one holds on to it. So Laurent accepted +the freedom offered him and escaped; a horse was waiting for him +at the next village. The young girl, who might have retarded +or hindered his flight, was to rejoin him the next day. Dawn +came, but not the guardian angel. It seems that our hero cared +more for his mistress than he did for his companion; he left his +comrade, but he would not go without her. It was six o'clock, +the very hour for his execution. His impatience mastered him. +Three times had he turned his horse's head toward the town, and +each time drew nearer and nearer. At the third time a thought +flashed through his brain. Could his mistress have been taken, +and would she pay the penalty for saving him? He was then in +the suburbs. Spurring his horse, he entered the town with face +uncovered, dashed through people who called him by name, astonished +to see him free and on horseback, when they expected to see him +bound and in a tumbrel on his way to be executed. Catching sight +of his guardian angel pushing through the crowd, not to see him +executed, but to meet him, he urged his horse past the executioner, +who had just learned of the disappearance of one of his patients, +knocking over two or three bumpkins with the breast of his Bayard. +He bounded toward her, swung her over the pommel of his saddle, +and, with a cry of joy and a wave of his hat, he disappeared like +M. de Condé at the battle of Lens. The people all applauded, +and the women thought the action heroic, and all promptly fell +in love with the hero on the spot." + +Roland, observing that Sir John was silent, paused and questioned +him by a look. "Go on," replied the Englishman; "I am listening. +And as I am sure you are telling me all this in order to come +to something you wish to say, I await your point." + +"Well," resumed Roland, laughing, "you are right, my dear friend, +and, on my word, you know me as if we had been college chums. +Well, what idea do you suppose has been cavorting through my brain +all night? It is that of getting a glimpse of these gentlemen of +Jehu near at hand." + +"Ah, yes, I understand. As you failed to get yourself killed +by M. de Barjols, you want to try your chance of being killed +by M. Morgan." + +"Or any other, my dear Sir John," replied the young officer calmly; +"for I assure you that I have nothing in particular against M. +Morgan; quite the contrary, though my first impulse when he came +into the room and made his little speech--don't you call it a +speech--?" + +Sir John nodded affirmatively. + +"Though my first thought," resumed Roland, "was to spring at +his throat and strangle him with one hand, and to tear off his +mask with the other." + +"Now that I know you, my dear Roland, I do indeed wonder how +you refrained from putting such a fine project into execution." + +"It was not my fault, I swear! I was just on the point of it when +my companion stopped me." + +"So there are people who can restrain you?" + +"Not many, but he can." + +"And now you regret it?" + +"Honestly, no! This brave stage-robber did the business with +such swaggering bravado that I admired him. I love brave men +instinctively. Had I not killed M. de Barjols I should have liked +to be his friend. It is true I could not tell how brave he was +until I had killed him. But let us talk of something else; that +duel is one of my painful thoughts. But why did I come up? It +was certainly not to talk of the Companions of Jehu, nor of M. +Laurent's exploits--Ah! I came to ask how you would like to +spend your time. I'll cut myself in quarters to amuse you, my +dear guest, but there are two disadvantages against me: this +region, which is not very amusing, and your nationality, which +is not easily amused." + +"I have already told you, Roland," replied Lord Tanlay, offering +his hand to the young man, "that I consider the Château des +Noires-Fontaines a paradise." + +"Agreed; but still in the fear that you may find your paradise +monotonous, I shall do my best to entertain you. Are you fond of +archeology--Westminster and Canterbury? We have a marvel here, +the church of Brou; a wonder of sculptured lace by Colonban. +There is a legend about it which I will tell you some evening +when you cannot sleep. You will see there the tombs of Marguerite +de Bourbon, Philippe le Bel, and Marguerite of Austria. I will +puzzle you with the problem of her motto: 'Fortune, infortune, +fort'une,' which I claim to have solved by a Latinized version: +'Fortuna, in fortuna, forti una.' Are you fond of fishing, my +dear friend? There's the Reissouse at your feet, and close at +hand a collection of hooks and lines belonging to Edouard, and +nets belonging to Michel; as for the fish, they, you know, are +the last thing one thinks about. Are you fond of hunting? The +forest of Seillon is not a hundred yards off. Hunting to hounds +you will have perforce to renounce, but we have good shooting. +In the days of my old bogies, the Chartreuse monks, the woods +swarmed with wild boars, hares and foxes. No one hunts there +now, because it belongs to the government; and the government +at present is nobody. In my capacity as General Bonaparte's +aide-de-camp I'll fill the vacancy, and we'll see who dares meddle +with me, if, after chasing the Austrians on the Adige and the +Mamelukes on the Nile, I hunt the boars and deer and the hares +and foxes on the Reissouse. One day of archeology, one day of +fishing, and one of hunting, that's three already. You see, my +dear fellow, we have only fifteen or sixteen left to worry about." + +"My dear Roland," said Sir John sadly, and without replying to +the young officer's wordy sally, "won't you ever tell me about +this fever which sears you, this sorrow which undermines you?" + +"Ah!" said Roland, with his harsh, doleful laugh. "I have never +been gayer than I am this morning; it's your liver, my lord, +that is out of order and makes you see everything black." + +"Some day I hope to be really your friend," replied Sir John +seriously; "then you will confide in me, and I shall help you +to bear your burden." + +"And half my aneurism!--Are you hungry, my lord?" + +"Why do you ask?" + +"Because I hear Edouard on the stairs, coming up to tell us that +breakfast is ready." + +As Roland spoke, the door opened and the boy burst out: "Big +brother Roland, mother and sister Amélie are waiting breakfast +for Sir John and you." + +Then catching the Englishman's right hand, he carefully examined +the first joint of the thumb and forefinger. + +"What are you looking at, my little friend?" asked Sir John. + +"I was looking to see if you had any ink on your fingers." + +"And if I had ink on my fingers, what would it mean?" + +"That you had written to England, and sent for my pistols and +sword." + +"No, I have not yet written," said Sir John; "but I will to-day." + +"You hear, big brother Roland? I'm to have my sword and my pistols +in a fortnight!" + +And the boy, full of delight, offered his firm rosy cheek to +Sir John, who kissed it as tenderly as a father would have done. +Then they went to the dining-room where Madame de Montrevel and +Amélie were awaiting them. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +PROVINCIAL PLEASURES + +That same day Roland put into execution part of his plans for +his guest's amusement. He took Sir John to see the church of +Brou. + +Those who have seen the charming little chapel of Brou know that +it is known as one of the hundred marvels of the Renaissance; +those who have not seen it must have often heard it said. Roland, +who had counted on doing the honors of this historic gem to Sir +John, and who had not seen it for the last seven or eight years, +was much disappointed when, on arriving in front of the building, +he found the niches of the saints empty and the carved figures +of the portal decapitated. + +He asked for the sexton; people laughed in his face. There was +no longer a sexton. He inquired to whom he should go for the +keys. They replied that the captain of the gendarmerie had them. +The captain was not far off, for the cloister adjoining the church +had been converted into a barrack. + +Roland went up to the captain's room and made himself known as +Bonaparte's aide-de-camp. The captain, with the placid obedience of +a subaltern to his superior officer, gave him the keys and followed +behind him. Sir John was waiting before the porch, admiring, in +spite of the mutilation to which they had been subjected, the +admirable details of the frontal. + +Roland opened the door and started back in astonishment. The +church was literally stuffed with hay like a cannon charged to +the muzzle. + +"What does this mean?" he asked the captain of the gendarmerie. + +"A precaution taken by the municipality." + +"A precaution taken by the municipality?" + +"Yes." + +"For what?" + +"To save the church. They were going to demolish it; but the +mayor issued a decree declaring that, in expiation of the false +worship for which it had served, it should be used to store fodder." + +Roland burst out laughing, and, turning to Sir John, he said: +"My dear Sir John, the church was well worth seeing, but I think +what this gentleman has just told us is no less curious. You +can always find--at Strasburg, Cologne, or Milan--churches or +cathedrals to equal the chapel of Brou; but where will you find +an administration idiotic enough to destroy such a masterpiece, +and a mayor clever enough to turn it into a barn? A thousand +thanks, captain. Here are your keys." + +"As I was saying at Avignon, the first time I had the pleasure +of seeing you, my dear Roland," replied Sir John, "the French +are a most amusing people." + +"This time, my lord, you are too polite," replied Roland. "Idiotic +is the word. Listen. I can understand the political cataclysms +which have convulsed society for the last thousand years; I can +understand the communes, the pastorals, the Jacquerie, the +maillotins, the Saint Bartholomew, the League, the Fronde, the +dragonnades, the Revolution; I can understand the 14th of July, +the 5th and 6th of October, the 20th of June, the 10th of August, +the 2d and 3d of September, the 21st of January, the 31st of May, +the 30th of October, and the 9th Thermidor; I can understand +the egregious torch of civil wars, which inflames instead of +soothing the blood; I can understand the tidal wave of revolution, +sweeping on with its flux, that nothing can arrest, and its reflux, +which carries with it the ruins of the institution which it has +itself shattered. I can understand all that, but lance against +lance, sword against sword, men against men, a people against +a people! I can understand the deadly rage of the victors, the +sanguinary reaction of the vanquished, the political volcanoes +which rumble in the bowels of the globe, shake the earth, topple +over thrones, upset monarchies, and roll heads and crowns on the +scaffold. But what I cannot understand is this mutilation of the +granite, this placing of monuments beyond the pale of the law, the +destruction of inanimate things, which belong neither to those +who destroy them nor to the epoch in which they are destroyed; +this pillage of the gigantic library where the antiquarian can +read the archeological history of a country. Oh! the vandals, +the barbarians! Worse than that, the idiots! who revenge the +Borgia crimes and the debauches of Louis XV. on stone. How well +those Pharaohs, Menæs, and Cheops knew man as the most perversive, +destructive and evil of animals! They who built their pyramids, +not with carved traceries, nor lacy spires, but with solid blocks +of granite fifty feet square! How they must have laughed in the +depths of those sepulchres as they watched Time dull its scythe +and pashas wear out their nails in vain against them. Let us +build pyramids, my dear Sir John. They are not difficult as +architecture, nor beautiful as art, but they are solid; and that +enables a general to say four thousand years later: 'Soldiers, +from the apex of these monuments forty centuries are watching +you!' On my honor, my lord, I long to meet a windmill this moment +that I might tilt against it." + +And Roland, bursting into his accustomed laugh, dragged Sir John +in the direction of the château. But Sir John stopped him and +asked: "Is there nothing else to see in the city except the church?" + +"Formerly, my lord," replied Roland, "before they made a hay-loft +of it, I should have asked you to come down with me into the +vaults of the Dukes of Savoy. We could have hunted for that +subterranean passage, nearly three miles long, which is said to +exist there, and which, according to these rumors, communicates +with the grotto of Ceyzeriat. Please observe, I should never +offer such a pleasure trip except to an Englishman; it would +have been like a scene from your celebrated Anne Radcliffe in +the 'Mysteries of Udolpho.' But, as you see, that is impossible, +so we will have to be satisfied with our regrets. Come." + +"Where are we going?" + +"Faith, I don't know. Ten years ago I should have taken you to +the farms where they fatten pullets. The pullets of Bresse, you +must know, have a European reputation. Bourg was an annex to +the great coop of Strasburg. But during the Terror, as you can +readily imagine, these fatteners of poultry shut up shop. You +earned the reputation of being an aristocrat if you ate a pullet, +and you know the fraternal refrain: 'Ah, ça ira, ça ira--the +aristocrats to the lantern!' After Robespierre's downfall they +opened up again; but since the 18th of Fructidor, France has +been commanded to fast, from fowls and all. Never mind; come +on, anyway. In default of pullets, I can show you one thing, +the square where they executed those who ate them. But since +I was last in the town the streets have changed their names. I +know the way, but I don't know the names." + +"Look here!" demanded Sir John; "aren't you a Republican?" + +"I not a Republican? Come, come! Quite to the contrary. I consider +myself an excellent Republican. I am quite capable of burning off +my hand, like Mucius Scævola, or jumping into the gulf like Curtius +to save the Republic; but I have, unluckily, a keen sense of the +ridiculous. In spite of myself, the absurdity of things catches +me in the side and tickles me till I nearly die of laughing. I am +willing to accept the Constitution of 1791; but when poor Hérault +de Séchelles wrote to the superintendent of the National Library +to send him a copy of the laws of Minos, so that he could model +his constitution on that of the Isle of Crete, I thought it was +going rather far, and that we might very well have been content +with those of Lycurgus. I find January, February, and March, +mythological as they were, quite as good as Nivose, Pluviose, and +Ventose. I can't understand why, when one was called Antoine +or Chrystomome in 1789, he should be called Brutus or Cassius +in 1793. Here, for example, my lord, is an honest street, which +was called the Rue des Halles (Market Street). There was nothing +indecent or aristocratic about that, was there? Well, now it +is called--Just wait (Roland read the inscription). Well, now +it is called the Rue de la Révolution. Here's another, which +used to be called Notre Dame; it is now the Rue du Temple. Why +Rue du Temple? Probably to perpetuate the memory of that place +where the infamous Simon tried to teach cobbling to the heir of +sixty-three kings. Don't quarrel with me if I am mistaken by +one or two! Now here's a third; it was named Crèvecoeur, a name +famous throughout Bresse, Burgundy and Flanders. It is now the +Rue de la Federation. Federation is a fine thing, but Crèvecoeur +was a fine name. And then you see to-day it leads straight to +the Place de la Guillotine, which is, in my opinion, all wrong. +I don't want any streets that lead to such places. This one has +its advantages; it is only about a hundred feet from the prison, +which economized and still economizes the tumbrel and the horse +of M. de Bourg. By the way, have you noticed that the executioner +remains noble and keeps his title? For the rest, the square is +excellently arranged for spectators, and my ancestor, Montrevel, +whose name it bears, doubtless, foreseeing its ultimate destiny, +solved the great problem, still unsolved by the theatres, of +being able to see well from every nook and corner. If ever they +cut off my head, which, considering the times in which we are +living, would in no wise be surprising, I shall have but one +regret: that of being less well-placed and seeing less than the +others. Now let us go up these steps. Here we are in the Place +des Lices. Our Revolutionists left it its name, because in all +probability they don't know what it means. I don't know much +better than they, but I think I remember that a certain Sieur +d'Estavayer challenged some Flemish count--I don't know who--and +that the combat took place in this square. Now, my dear fellow, +here is the prison, which ought to give you some idea of human +vicissitudes. Gil Blas didn't change his condition more often +than this monument its purposes. Before Cæsar it was a Gaelic +temple; Cæsar converted it into a Roman fortress; an unknown +architect transformed it into a military work during the Middle +Ages; the Knights of Baye, following Cæsar's example, re-made it +into a fortress; the princes of Savoy used it for a residence; +the aunt of Charles V. lived here when she came to visit her +church at Brou, which she never had the satisfaction of seeing +finished. Finally, after the treaty of Lyons, when Bresse was +returned to France, it was utilized both as a prison and a +court-house. Wait for me a moment, my lord, if you dislike the +squeaking of hinges and the grating of bolts. I have a visit +to pay to a certain cell." + +"The grating of bolts and the squeaking of hinges is not a very +enlivening sound, but no matter. Since you were kind enough to +undertake my education, show me your dungeon." + +"Very well, then. Come in quickly. I see a crowd of persons who +look as if they want to speak to me." + +In fact, little by little, a sort of rumor seemed to spread +throughout the town. People emerged from the houses, forming +groups in the streets, and they all watched Roland with curiosity. +He rang the bell of the gate, situated then where it is now, but +opening into the prison yard. A jailer opened it for them. + +"Ah, ah! so you are still here, Father Courtois?" asked the young +man. Then, turning to Sir John, he added: "A fine name for a +jailer, isn't it, my lord?" + +The jailer looked at the young man in amazement. + +"How is it," he asked through the grating, "that you know my name, +when I don't know yours?" + +"Good! I not only know your name, but also your opinions. You +are an old royalist, Père Courtois." + +"Monsieur," said the jailer, terrified, "don't make bad jokes +if you please, and say what you want." + +"Well, my good Father Courtois, I would like to visit the cell +where they put my mother and sister, Madame and Mademoiselle +Montrevel." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the gatekeeper, "so it's you, M. Louis? You may +well say that I know you. What a fine, handsome young man you've +grown to be!" + +"Do you think so, Father Courtois? Well, I can return the compliment. +Your daughter Charlotte is, on my word, a beautiful girl. Charlotte +is my sister's maid, Sir John." + +"And she is very happy over it. She is better off there than here, +M. Roland. Is it true that you are General Bonaparte's aide-de-camp?" + +"Alas! I have that honor, Courtois. You would prefer me to be +Comte d'Artois's aide-de-camp, or that of M. le Duc of Angoulême?" + +"Oh, do be quiet, M. Louis!" Then putting his lips to the young +man's ear, "Tell me, is it true?" + +"What, Father Courtois?" + +"That General Bonaparte passed through Lyons yesterday?" + +"There must be some truth in the rumor, for this is the second +time that I have heard it. Ah! I understand now. These good people +who were watching me so curiously apparently wanted to question +me. They were like you, Father Courtois: they want to know what +to make of General Bonaparte's arrival." + +"Do you know what they say, M. Louis?" + +"Still another rumor, Father Courtois?" + +"I should think so, but they only whisper it." + +"What is it?" + +"They say that he has come to demand the throne of his Majesty +Louis XVIII. from the Directory and the king's return to it; +and that if Citizen Gohier as president doesn't give it up of +his own accord he will take it by force." + +"Pooh!" exclaimed the young officer with an incredulous air bordering +on irony. But Father Courtois insisted on his news with an +affirmative nod. + +"Possibly," said the young man; "but as for that, it's news for +me. And now that you know me, will you open the gate?" + +"Of course I will. I should think so. What the devil am I about?" +and the jailer opened the gate with an eagerness equalling his +former reluctance. The young man entered, and Sir John followed +him. The jailer locked the gate carefully, then he turned, followed +by Roland and the Englishman in turn. The latter was beginning +to get accustomed to his young friend's erratic character. The +spleen he saw in Roland was misanthropy, without the sulkiness +of Timon or the wit of Alceste. + +The jailer crossed the yard, which was separated from the law +courts by a wall fifteen feet high, with an opening let into +the middle of the receding wall, closed by a massive oaken door, +to admit prisoners without taking them round by the street. The +jailer, we say, crossed the yard to a winding stairway in the +left angle of the courtyard which led to the interior of the +prison. + +If we insist upon these details, it is because we shall be obliged +to return to this spot later, and we do not wish it to be wholly +unfamiliar to our readers when that time comes. + +These steps led first to the ante-chamber of the prison, that +is to say to the porter's hall of the lower court-room. From +that hall ten steps led down into an inner court, separated from +a third, which was that of the prisoners, by a wall similar to +the one we have described, only this one had three doors. At +the further end of the courtyard a passage led to the jailer's +own room, which gave into a second passage, on which were the +cells which were picturesquely styled cages. The jailer paused +before the first of these cages and said, striking the door: + +"This is where I put madame, your mother, and your sister, so +that if the dear ladies wanted either Charlotte or myself, they +need but knock." + +"Is there any one in the cell?" + +"No one" + +"Then please open the door. My friend, Lord Tanlay, is a +philanthropic Englishman who is travelling about to see if the +French prisons are more comfortable than the English ones. Enter, +Sir John." + +Père Courtois having opened the door, Roland pushed Sir John +into a perfectly square cell measuring ten or twelve feet each +way. + +"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Sir John, "this is lugubrious." + +"Do you think so? Well, my dear friend, this is where my mother, +the noblest woman in the world, and my sister, whom you know, +spent six weeks with a prospect of leaving it only to make the +trip to the Place de Bastion. Just think, that was five years +ago, so my sister was scarcely twelve." + +"But what crime had they committed?" + +"Oh! a monstrous crime. At the anniversary festival with which +the town of Bourg considered proper to commemorate the death +of the 'Friend of the People,' my mother refused to permit my +sister to represent one of the virgins who bore the tears of +France in vases. What will you! Poor woman, she thought she had +done enough for her country in giving it the blood of her son +and her husband, which was flowing in Italy and Germany. She was +mistaken. Her country, as it seems, claimed further the tears +of her daughter. She thought that too much, especially as those +tears were to flow for the citizen Marat. The result was that +on the very evening of the celebration, during the enthusiastic +exaltation, my mother was declared accused. Fortunately Bourg +had not attained the celerity of Paris. A friend of ours, an +official in the record-office, kept the affair dragging, until +one fine day the fall and death of Robespierre were made known. +That interrupted a good many things, among others the guillotinades. +Our friend convinced the authorities that the wind blowing from +Paris had veered toward clemency; they waited fifteen days, and on +the sixteenth they told my mother and sister that they were free. +So you understand, my friend--and this involves the most profound +philosophical reflection--so that if Mademoiselle Teresa Cabarrus +had not come from Spain, if she had not married M. Fontenay, +parliamentary counsellor; had she not been arrested and brought +before the pro-consul Tallien, son of the Marquis de Bercy's +butler, ex-notary's clerk, ex-foreman of a printing-shop, ex-porter, +ex-secretary to the Commune of Paris temporarily at Bordeaux; +and had the ex-pro-consul not become enamored of her, and had +she not been imprisoned, and if on the ninth of Thermidor she +had not found means to send a dagger with these words: 'Unless +the tyrant dies to-day, I die to-morrow'; had not Saint-Just +been arrested in the midst of his discourse; had not Robespierre, +on that day, had a frog in his throat; had not Garnier de l'Aube +exclaimed: 'It is the blood of Danton choking you!' had not Louchet +shouted for his arrest; had he not been arrested, released by +the Commune, recaptured in spite of this, had his jaw broken +by a pistol shot, and been executed next day--my mother would, +in all probability, have had her head cut off for refusing to +allow her daughter to weep for citizen Marat in one of the twelve +lachrymal urns which Bourg was desirous of filling with its tears. +Good-by, Courtois. You are a worthy man. You gave my mother and +sister a little water to put with their wine, a little meat to +eat with their bread, a little hope to fill their hearts; you +lent them your daughter that they might not have to sweep their +cell themselves. That deserves a fortune. Unfortunately I am not +rich; but here are fifty louis I happen to have with me. Come, +my lord." + +And the young man carried off Sir John before the jailer, recovered +from his surprise and found time either to thank Roland or refuse +the fifty louis; which, it must be said, would have been a remarkable +proof of disinterestedness in a jailer, especially when that jailer's +opinions were opposed to those of the government he served. + +Leaving the prison, Roland and Sir John found the Place des Lices +crowded with people who had heard of General Bonaparte's return to +France, and were shouting "Vive Bonaparte!" at the top of their +lungs--some because they really admired the victor of Arcola, +Rivoli, and the Pyramids, others because they had been told, +like Père Courtois, that this same victor had vanquished only +that Louis XVIII. might profit by his victories. + +Roland and Sir John, having now visited all that the town of Bourg +offered of interest, returned to the Château des Noires-Fontaines, +which they reached before long. Madame de Montrevel and Amélie +had gone out. Roland installed Sir John in an easy chair, asking +him to wait a few minutes for him. At the end of five minutes +he returned with a sort of pamphlet of gray paper, very badly +printed, in his hand. + +"My dear fellow," said he, "you seemed to have some doubts about +the authenticity of that festival which I just mentioned, and +which nearly cost my mother and sister their lives, so I bring +you the programme. Read it, and while you are doing so I will +go and see what they have been doing with my dogs; for I presume +that you would rather hold me quit of our fishing expedition +in favor of a hunt." + +He went out, leaving in Sir John's hands a copy of the decree of +the municipality of the town of Bourg, instituting the funeral +rites in honor of Marat, on the anniversary of his death. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE WILD-BOAR + +Sir John was just finishing that interesting bit of history when +Madame de Montrevel and her daughter returned. Amélie, who did +not know how much had been said about her between Roland and Sir +John, was astounded by the expression with which that gentleman +scrutinized her. + +To him she seemed more lovely than before. He could readily +understand that mother, who at the risk of life had been unwilling +that this charming creature should profane her youth and beauty +by serving as a mourner in a celebration of which Marat was the +deity. He recalled that cold damp cell which he had lately visited, +and shuddered at the thought that this delicate white ermine +before his eyes had been imprisoned there, without sun or air, +for six weeks. He looked at the throat, too long perhaps, but +swan-like in its suppleness and graceful in its exaggeration, +and he remembered that melancholy remark of the poor Princesse +de Lamballe, as she felt her slender neck: "It will not give +the executioner much trouble!" + +The thoughts which succeeded each other in Sir John's mind gave +to his face an expression so different from its customary aspect, +that Madame de Montrevel could not refrain from asking what troubled +him. He then told her of his visit to the prison, and Roland's +pious pilgrimage to the dungeon where his mother and sister had +been incarcerated. Just as Sir John had concluded his tale, a +view-halloo sounded without, and Roland entered, his hunting-horn +in his hands. + +"My dear friend," he cried, "thanks to my mother, we shall have +a splendid hunt to-morrow." + +"Thanks to me?" queried Madame de Montrevel. + +"How so?" added Sir John. + +"I left you to see about my dogs, didn't I?" + +"You said so, at any rate." + +"I had two excellent beasts, Barbichon and Ravaude, male and female." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Sir John, "are they dead?" + +"Well, yes; but just guess what this excellent mother of mine +has done?" and, tilting Madame de Montrevel's head, he kissed +her on both cheeks. "She wouldn't let them drown a single puppy +because they were the dogs of my dogs; so the result is, that +to-day the pups, grand-pups, and great-grand-pups of Barbichon +and Ravaude are as numerous as the descendant of Ishmael. Instead +of a pair of dogs, I have a whole pack, twenty-five beasts, all +as black as moles with white paws, fire in their eyes and hearts, +and a regiment of cornet-tails that would do you good to see." + +And Roland sounded another halloo that brought his young brother +to the scene. + +"Oh!" shouted the boy as he entered, "you are going hunting +to-morrow, brother Roland. I'm going, too, I'm going, too!" + +"Good!" said Roland, "but do you know what we are going to hunt?" + +"No. All I know is that I'm going, too." + +"We're going to hunt a boar." + +"Oh, joy!" cried the boy, clapping his little hands. + +"Are you crazy?" asked Madame de Montrevel, turning pale. + +"Why so, madame mother, if you please?" + +"Because boar hunts are very dangerous." + +"Not so dangerous as hunting men. My brother got back safe from +that, and so will I from the other." + +"Roland," cried Madame de Montrevel, while Amélie, lost in thought, +took no part in the discussion, "Roland, make Edouard listen to +reason. Tell him that he hasn't got common-sense." + +But Roland, who recognized himself again in his young brother, +instead of blaming him, smiled at his boyish ardor. "I'd take +you willingly," said he, "only to go hunting one must at least +know how to handle a gun." + +"Oh, Master Roland," cried Edouard, "just come into the garden +a bit. Put up your hat at a hundred yards, and I'll show you +how to handle a gun." + +"Naughty child," exclaimed Madame de Montrevel, trembling, "where +did you learn?" + +"Why, from the gunsmith at Montagnac, who keeps papa's and Roland's +guns. You ask me sometimes what I do with my money, don't you? +Well, I buy powder and balls with it, and I am learning to kill +Austrians and Arabs like my brother Roland." + +Madame de Montrevel raised her hands to heaven. + +"What can you expect, mother?" asked Roland. "Blood will tell. +No Montrevel could be afraid of powder. You shall come with us +to-morrow, Edouard." + +The boy sprang upon his brother's neck. + +"And I," said Sir John, "will equip you to-day like a regular +huntsman, just as they used to arm the knights of old. I have +a charming little rifle that I will give you. It will keep you +contented until your sabre and pistols come." + +"Well," asked Roland, "are you satisfied now, Edouard?" + +"Yes; but when will he give it to me? If you have to write to +England for it, I warn you I shan't believe in it." + +"No, my little friend, we have only to go up to my room and open +my gun-case. That's soon done." + +"Then, let's go at once." + +"Come on," said Sir John; and he went out, followed by Edouard. + +A moment later, Amélie, still absorbed in thought, rose and left +the room. Neither Madame de Montrevel nor Roland noticed her +departure, so interested were they in a serious discussion. Madame +de Montrevel tried to persuade Roland not to take his young brother +with him on the morrow's hunt. Roland explained that, since Edouard +was to become a soldier like his father and brother, the sooner +he learned to handle a gun and become familiar with powder and +ball the better. The discussion was not yet ended when Edouard +returned with his gun slung over his shoulder. + +"Look, brother," said he, turning to Roland; "just see what a +fine present Sir John has given me." And he looked gratefully +at Sir John, who stood in the doorway vainly seeking Amélie with +his eyes. + +It was in truth a beautiful present. The rifle, designed with +that plainness of ornament and simplicity of form peculiar to +English weapons, was of the finest finish. Like the pistols, +of which Roland had had opportunity to test the accuracy, the +rifle was made by the celebrated Manton, and carried a twenty-four +calibre bullet. That it had been originally intended for a woman +was easily seen by the shortness of the stock and the velvet +pad on the trigger. This original purpose of the weapon made it +peculiarly suitable for a boy of twelve. + +Roland took the rifle from his brother's shoulder, looked at +it knowingly, tried its action, sighted it, tossed it from one +hand to the other, and then, giving it back to Edouard, said: +"Thank Sir John again. You have a rifle fit for a king's son. +Let's go and try it." + +All three went out to try Sir John's rifle, leaving Madame de +Montrevel as sad as Thetis when she saw Achilles in his woman's +garb draw the sword of Ulysses from its scabbard. + +A quarter of an hour later, Edouard returned triumphantly. He +brought his mother a bit of pasteboard of the circumference of +a hat, in which he had put ten bullets out of twelve. The two +men had remained behind in the park conversing. + +Madame de Montrevel listened to Edouard's slightly boastful account +of his prowess. Then she looked at him with that deep and holy +sorrow of mothers to whom fame is no compensation for the blood +it sheds. Oh! ungrateful indeed is the child who has seen that +look bent upon him and does not eternally remember it. Then, +after a few seconds of this painful contemplation, she pressed +her second son to her breast, and murmured sobbing: "You, too! +you, too, will desert your mother some day." + +"Yes, mother," replied the boy, "to become a general like my father, +or an aide-de-camp like Roland." + +"And to be killed as your father was, as your brother perhaps +will be." + +For the strange transformation in Roland's character had not +escaped Madame de Montrevel. It was but an added dread to her +other anxieties, among which Amélie's pallor and abstraction +must be numbered. + +Amélie was just seventeen; her childhood had been that of a happy +laughing girl, joyous and healthy. The death of her father had +cast a black veil over her youth and gayety. But these tempests +of spring pass rapidly. Her smile, the sunshine of life's dawn, +returned like that of Nature, sparkling through that dew of the +heart we call tears. + +Then, one day about six months before this story opens, Amélie's +face had saddened, her cheeks had grown pale, and, like the birds +who migrate at the approach of wintry weather, the childlike +laughter that escaped her parted lips and white teeth had fled +never to return. + +Madame de Montrevel had questioned her, but Amélie asserted that +she was still the same. She endeavored to smile, but as a stone +thrown into a lake rings upon the surface, so the smiles roused +by this maternal solicitude faded, little by little, from Amélie's +face. With keen maternal instinct Madame de Montrevel had thought +of love. But whom could Amélie love? There were no visitors at +the Château des Noires-Fontaines, the political troubles had put +an end to all society, and Amélie went nowhere alone. Madame de +Montrevel could get no further than conjecture. Roland's return +had given her a moment's hope; but this hope fled as soon as she +perceived the effect which this event had produced upon Amélie. + +It was not a sister, but a spectre, it will be recalled, who had +come to meet him. Since her son's arrival, Madame de Montrevel +had not lost sight of Amélie, and she perceived, with dolorous +amazement, that Roland's presence awakened a feeling akin to +terror in his sister's breast. She, whose eyes had formerly rested +so lovingly upon him, now seemed to view him with alarm. Only a +few moments since, Amélie had profited by the first opportunity +to return to her room, the one spot in the château where she +seemed at ease, and where for the last six months she had spent +most of her time. The dinner-bell alone possessed the power to +bring her from it, and even then she waited for the second call +before entering the dining-room. + +Roland and Sir John, as we have said, had divided their time +between their visit to Bourg and their preparations for the morrow's +hunt. From morn until noon they were to beat the woods; from noon +till evening they were to hunt the boar. Michel, that devoted +poacher, confined to his chair for the present with a sprain, felt +better as soon as the question of the hunt was mooted, and had +himself hoisted on a little horse that was used for the errands +of the house. Then he sallied forth to collect the beaters from +Saint-Just and Montagnac. He, being unable to beat or run, was +to remain with the pack, and watch Sir John's and Roland's horse, +and Edouard's pony, in the middle of the forest, where it was +intersected by one good road and two practicable paths. The beaters, +who could not follow the hunt, were to return to the château with +the game-bags. + +The beaters were at the door at six the following morning. Michel +was not to leave with the horses and dogs until eleven. The Château +des Noires-Fontaines was just at the edge of the forest of Seillon, +so the hunt could begin at its very gates. + +As the battue promised chiefly deer and hares, the guns were +loaded with balls. Roland gave Edouard a simple little gun which +he himself had used as a child. He had not enough confidence as +yet in the boy's prudence to trust him with a double-barrelled +gun. As for the rifle that Sir John had given him the day before, +it could only carry cartridges. It was given into Michel's safe +keeping, to be returned to him in case they started a boar for +the second part of the hunt. For this Roland and Sir John were +also to change their guns for rifles and hunting knives, pointed +as daggers and sharp as razors, which formed part of Sir John's +arsenal, and could be suspended from the belt or screwed on the +point of the gun like bayonets. + +From the beginning of the battue it was easy to see that the +hunt would be a good one. A roebuck and two hares were killed +at once. At noon two does, seven roebucks and two foxes had been +bagged. They had also seen two boars, but these latter had only +shaken their bristles in answer to the heavy balls and made off. + +Edouard was in the seventh heaven; he had killed a roebuck. The +beaters, well rewarded for their labor, were sent to the château +with the game, as had been arranged. A sort of bugle was sounded +to ascertain Michel's whereabout, to which he answered. In less +than ten minutes the three hunters had rejoined the gardener +with his hounds and horses. + +Michel had seen a boar which he had sent his son to head off, +and it was now in the woods not a hundred paces distant. Jacques, +Michel's eldest son, beat up the woods with Barbichon and Ravaude, +the heads of the pack, and in about five minutes the boar was +found in his lair. They could have killed him at once, or at least +shot at him, but that would have ended the hunt too quickly. The +huntsmen launched the whole pack at the animal, which, seeing +this troop of pygmies swoop down upon him, started off at a slow +trot. He crossed the road, Roland giving the view-halloo, and +headed in the direction of the Chartreuse of Seillon, the three +riders following the path which led through the woods. The boar +led them a chase which lasted until five in the afternoon, turning +upon his tracks, evidently unwilling to leave the forest with +its thick undergrowth. + +At last the violent barking of the dogs warned them that the +animal had been brought to bay. The spot was not a hundred paces +distant from the pavilion belonging to the Chartreuse, in one +of the most tangled thickets of the forest. It was impossible +to force the horses through it, and the riders dismounted. The +barking of the dogs guided them straight along the path, from +which they deviated only where the obstacles they encountered +rendered it necessary. + +From time to time yelps of pain indicated that members of the +attacking party had ventured too close to the animal, and had +paid the price of their temerity. About twenty feet from the +scene of action the hunters began to see the actors. The boar +was backed against a rock to avoid attack in the rear; then, +bracing himself on his forepaws, he faced the dogs with his +ensanguined eyes and enormous tusks. They quivered around him +like a moving carpet; five or six, more or less badly wounded, +were staining the battlefield with their blood, though still +attacking the boar with a fury and courage that might have served +as an example to the bravest men. + +Each hunter faced the scene with the characteristic signs of his +age, nature and nation. Edouard, at one and the same time, the +most imprudent and the smallest, finding the path less difficult, +owing to his small, stature, arrived first. Roland, heedless of +danger of any kind, seeking rather than avoiding it, followed. +Finally Sir John, slower, graver, more reflective, brought up +the rear. Once the boar perceived his hunters he paid no further +attention to the dogs. He fixed his gleaming, sanguinary eyes upon +them; but his only movement was a snapping of the jaws, which +he brought together with a threatening sound. Roland watched the +scene for an instant, evidently desirous of flinging himself +into the midst of the group, knife in hand, to slit the boar's +throat as a butcher would that of a calf or a pig. This impulse +was so apparent that Sir John caught his arm, and little Edouard +exclaimed: "Oh! brother, let me shoot the boar!" + +Roland restrained himself, and stacking his gun against a tree, +waited, armed only with his hunting-knife, which he had drawn +from its sheath. + +"Very well," said he, "shoot him; but be careful about it." + +"Oh! don't worry," retorted the child, between his set teeth. +His face was pale but resolute as he aimed the barrel of his +rifle at the animal's head. + +"If he misses him, or only wounds him," observed Sir John, "you +know that the brute will be upon us before we can see him through +the smoke." + +"I know it, my lord; but I am accustomed to these hunts," replied +Roland, his nostrils quivering, his eyes sparkling, his lips +parted: "Fire, Edouard!" + +The shot followed the order upon the instant; but after the shot, +with, or even before it, the beast, swift as lightning, rushed +upon the child. A second shot followed the first, but the animal's +scarlet eyes still gleamed through the smoke. But, as it rushed, +it met Roland with his knee on the ground, the knife in his hand. +A moment later a tangled, formless group, man and boar, boar +and man, was rolling on the ground. Then a third shot rang out, +followed by a laugh from Roland. + +"Ah! my lord," cried the young man, "you've wasted powder and +shot. Can't you see that I have ripped him up? Only get his body +off of me. The beast weighs at least four hundred pounds, and +he is smothering me." + +But before Sir John could stoop, Roland, with a vigorous push +of the shoulder, rolled the animal's body aside, and rose to his +feet covered with blood, but without a single scratch. Little +Edouard, either from lack of time or from native courage, had +not recoiled an inch. True, he was completely protected by his +brother's body, which was between him and the boar. Sir John had +sprung aside to take the animal in the flank. He watched Roland, +as he emerged from this second duel, with the same amazement that +he had experienced after the first. + +The dogs--those that were left, some twenty in all--had followed +the boar, and were now leaping upon his body in the vain effort +to tear the bristles, which were almost as impenetrable as iron. + +"You will see," said Roland, wiping the blood from his face and +hands with a fine cambric handkerchief, "how they will eat him, +and your knife too, my lord." + +"True," said Sir John; "where is the knife?" + +"In its sheath," replied Roland. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the boy, "only the handle shows." + +He sprang toward the animal and pulled out the poniard, which, +as he said, was buried up to the hilt. The sharp point, guided +by a calm eye and a firm hand, had pierced the animal's heart. + +There were other wounds on the boar's body. The first, caused +by the boy's shot, showed a bloody furrow just over the eye; the +blow had been too weak to crush the frontal bone. The second came +from Sir John's first shot; it had caught the animal diagonally +and grazed his breast. The third, fired at close quarters, went +through the body; but, as Roland had said, not until after the +animal was dead. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN UNPLEASANT COMMISSION + +The hunt was over, darkness was falling, and it was now a question +of returning to the château. The horses were nearby; they could +hear them neighing impatiently. They seemed to be asking if their +courage was so doubted that they were not allowed to share in +the exciting drama. + +Edouard was bent upon dragging the boar after them, fastening +it to the saddle-bow, and so carrying it back to the château; +but Roland pointed out that it was simpler to send a couple of +men for it with a barrow. Sir John being of the same opinion, +Edouard--who never ceased pointing to the wound in the head, +and saying, "That's my shot; that's where I aimed"--Edouard, we +say, was forced to yield to the majority. The three hunters soon +reached the spot where their horses were tethered, mounted, and in +less than ten minutes were at the Château des Noires-Fontaines. + +Madame de Montrevel was watching for them on the portico. The +poor mother had waited there nearly an hour, trembling lest an +accident had befallen one or the other of her sons. The moment +Edouard espied her he put his pony to a gallop, shouting from +the gate: "Mother, mother! We killed a boar as big as a donkey. +I shot him in the head; you'll see the hole my ball, made; Roland +stuck his hunting knife into the boar's belly up to the hilt, and +Sir John fired at him twice. Quick, quick! Send the men for the +carcass. Don't be frightened when you see Roland. He's all covered +with blood--but it's from the boar, and he hasn't a scratch." + +This was delivered with Edouard's accustomed volubility while +Madame de Montrevel was crossing the clearing between the portico +and the road to open the gate. She intended to take Edouard in her +arms, but he jumped from his saddle and flung himself upon her +neck. Roland and Sir John came up just then, and Amélie appeared +on the portico at the same instant. + +Edouard left his mother to worry over Roland, who, covered as +he was with blood, looked very terrifying, and rushed to his +sister with the tale he had rattled off to his mother. Amélie +listened in an abstracted manner that probably hurt Edouard's +vanity, for he dashed off to the kitchen to describe the affair +to Michel, who was certain to listen to him. + +Michel was indeed interested; but when, after telling him where +the carcass lay, Edouard gave him Roland's order to send a couple +of men after the beast, he shook his head. + +"What!" demanded Edouard, "are you going to refuse to obey my +brother?" + +"Heaven forbid! Master Edouard. Jacques shall start this instant +for Montagnac." + +"Are you afraid he won't find any body?" + +"Goodness, no; he could get a dozen. But the trouble is the time +of night. You say the boar lies close to the pavilion of the +Chartreuse?" + +"Not twenty yards from it." + +"I'd rather it was three miles," replied Michel scratching his +head; "but never mind. I'll send for them anyway without telling +them what they're wanted for. Once here, it's for your brother +to make them go." + +"Good! Good! Only get them here and I'll see to that myself." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Michel, "if I hadn't this beastly sprain I'd go +myself. But to-day's doings have made it worse. Jacques! Jacques!" + +Jacques came, and Edouard not only waited to hear the order given, +but until he had started. Then he ran upstairs to do what Roland +and Sir John were already doing, that is, dress for dinner. + +The whole talk at table, as may be easily imagined, centred upon +the day's prowess. Edouard asked nothing better than to talk +about it, and Sir John, astounded by Roland's skill, courage, +and good luck, improved upon the child's narrative. Madame de +Montrevel shuddered at each detail, and yet she made them repeat +it twenty times. That which seemed most clear to her in all this +was that Roland had saved Edouard's life. + +"Did you thank him for it?" she asked the boy. "Thank whom?" + +"Your brother." + +"Why should I thank him?" retorted Edouard. "I should have done +the same thing." + +"Ah, madame, what can you expect!" said Sir John; "you are a gazelle +who has unwittingly given birth to a race of lions." + +Amélie had also paid the closest attention to the account, especially +when the hunters spoke of their proximity to the Chartreuse. +From that time on she listened with anxious eyes, and seemed +scarcely to breathe, until they told of leaving the woods after +the killing. + +After dinner, word was brought that Jacques had returned with +two peasants from Montagnac. They wanted exact directions as to +where the hunters had left the animal. Roland rose, intending to +go to them, but Madame de Montrevel, who could never see enough +of her son, turned to the messenger and said: "Bring these worthy +men in here. It is not necessary to disturb M. Roland for that." + +Five minutes later the two peasants entered, twirling their hats +in their hands. + +"My sons," said Roland, "I want you to fetch the boar we killed +in the forest of Seillon." + +"That can be done," said one of the peasants, consulting his +companion with a look. + +"Yes, it can be done," answered the other. + +"Don't be alarmed," said Roland. "You shall lose nothing by your +trouble." + +"Oh! we're not," interrupted one of the peasants. "We know you, +Monsieur de Montrevel." + +"Yes," answered the other, "we know that, like your father, you're +not in the habit of making people work for nothing. Oh! if all +the aristocrats had been like you, Monsieur Louis, there wouldn't +have been any revolution." + +"Of course not," said the other, who seemed to have come solely +to echo affirmatively what his companion said. + +"It remains to be seen now where the animal is," said the first +peasant. + +"Yes," repeated the second, "remains to be seen where it is." + +"Oh! it won't be hard to find." + +"So much the better," interjected the peasant. + +"Do you know the pavilion in the forest?" + +"Which one?" + +"Yes, which one?" + +"The one that belongs to the Chartreuse of Seillon." + +The peasants looked at each other. + +"Well, you'll find it some twenty feet distant from the front +on the way to Genoud." + +The peasants looked at each other once more. + +"Hum!" grunted the first one. + +"Hum!" repeated the other, faithful echo of his companion. + +"Well, what does this 'hum' mean?" demanded Roland. + +"Confound it." + +"Come, explain yourselves. What's the matter?" + +"The matter is that we'd rather that it was the other end of the +forest." + +"But why the other end?" retorted Roland, impatiently; "it's +nine miles from here to the other end, and barely three from here +to where we left the boar." + +"Yes," said the first peasant, "but just where the boar lies--" +And he paused and scratched his head. + +"Exactly; that's what," added the other. + +"Just what?" + +"It's a little too near the Chartreuse." + +"Not the Chartreuse; I said the pavilion." + +"It's all the same. You know, Monsieur Louis, that there is an +underground passage leading from the pavilion to the Chartreuse." + +"Oh, yes, there is one, that's sure," added the other. + +"But," exclaimed Roland, "what has this underground passage got +to do with our boar?" + +"This much, that the beast's in a bad place, that's all." + +"Oh, yes! a bad place," repeated the other peasant. + +"Come, now, explain yourselves, you rascals," said Roland, who +was growing angry, while his mother seemed uneasy, and Amélie +visibly turned pale. + +"Beg pardon, Monsieur Louis," answered the peasant; "we are not +rascals; we're God-fearing men, that's all." + +"By thunder," cried Roland, "I'm a God-fearing man myself. What +of that?" + +"Well, we don't care to have any dealings with the devil." + +"No, no, no," asserted the second peasant. + +"A man can match a man if he's of his own kind," continued the +first peasant. + +"Sometimes two," said the second, who was built like a Hercules. + +"But with ghostly beings phantoms, spectres--no thank you," continued +the first peasant. + +"No, thank you," repeated the other. + +"Oh, mother, sister," queried Roland, addressing the two women, +"in Heaven's name, do you understand anything of what these two +fools are saying?" + +"Fools," repeated the first peasant; "well, possibly. But it's +not the less true that Pierre Marey had his neck twisted just for +looking over the wall. True, it was of a Saturday--the devil's +sabbath." + +"And they couldn't straighten it out," affirmed the second peasant, +"so they had to bury him with his face turned round looking the +other way. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Sir John, "this is growing interesting. I'm very +fond of ghost stories." + +"That's more than sister Amélie is it seems," cried Edouard. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Just see how pale she's grown, brother Roland." + +"Yes, indeed," said Sir John; "mademoiselle looks as if she were +going to faint." + +"I? Not at all," exclaimed Amélie, wiping the perspiration from +her forehead; "only don't you think it seems a little warm here, +mother?" + +"No," answered Madame de Montrevel. + +"Still," insisted Amélie, "if it would not annoy you, I should +like to open the window." + +"Do so, my child." + +Amélie rose hastily to profit by this permission, and went with +tottering steps to a window opening upon the garden. After it +was opened, she stood leaning against the sill, half-hidden by +the curtains. + +"Ah!" she said, "I can breathe here." + +Sir John rose to offer her his smelling-salts, but Amélie declined +hastily: "No, no, my lord. Thank you, but I am better now." + +"Come, come," said Roland, "don't bother about that; it's our +boar." + +"Well, Monsieur Louis, we will fetch your boar tomorrow." + +"That's it," said the second peasant, "to-morrow morning, when +it's light." + +"But to go there at night--" + +"Oh! to go there at night--" + +The peasant looked at his comrade and both shook their heads. + +"It can't be done at night." + +"Cowards." + +"Monsieur Louis, a man's not a coward because he's afraid." + +"No, indeed; that's not being a coward," replied the other. + +"Ah!" said Roland, "I wish some stronger minded men than you would +face me with that argument; that a man is not a coward because +he's afraid!" + +"Well, it's according to what he's afraid of, Monsieur Louis. +Give me a good sickle and a good cudgel, and I'm not afraid of +a wolf; give me a good gun and I'm not afraid of any man, even +if I knew he's waiting to murder me." + +"Yes," said Edouard, "but you're afraid of a ghost, even when +it's only the ghost of a monk." + +"Little Master Edouard," said the peasant, "leave your brother to +do the talking; you're not old enough to jest about such things--" + +"No," added the other peasant, "wait till your beard is grown, +my little gentleman." + +"I haven't any beard," retorted Edouard, starting up, "but just +the same if I was strong enough to carry the boar, I'd go fetch +it myself either by day or night." + +"Much good may it do you, my young gentleman. But neither my comrade +nor myself would go, even for a whole louis." + +"Nor for two?" said Roland, wishing to corner them. + +"Nor for two, nor four, nor ten, Monsieur de Montrevel. Ten louis +are good, but what could I do with them if my neck was broken?" + +"Yes, twisted like Pierre Marey's," said the other peasant. + +"Ten louis wouldn't feed my wife and children for the rest of +my life, would they?" + +"And besides, when you say ten louis," interrupted the second +peasant, "you mean really five, because I'd get five, too." + +"So the pavilion is haunted by ghosts, is it?" asked Roland. + +"I didn't say the pavilion--I'm not sure about the pavilion--but +in the Chartreuse--" + +"In the Chartreuse, are you sure?" + +"Oh! there, certainly." + +"Have you seen them?" + +"I haven't; but some folks have." + +"Has your comrade?" asked the young officer, turning to the second +peasant. + +"I haven't seen them; but I did see flames, and Claude Philippon +heard chains." + +"Ah! so they have flames and chains?" said Roland. + +"Yes," replied the first peasant, "for I have seen the flames +myself." + +"And Claude Philippon on heard the chains," repeated the other. + +"Very good, my friends, very good," replied Roland, sneering; +"so you won't go there to-night at any price?" + +"Not at any price." + +"Not for all the gold in the world." + +"And you'll go to-morrow when it's light?" + +"Oh! Monsieur Louis, before you're up the boar will be here." + +"Before you're up," said Echo. + +"All right," said Roland. "Come back to me the day after tomorrow." + +"Willingly, Monsieur Louis. What do you want us to do?" + +"Never mind; just come." + +"Oh! we'll come." + +"That means that the moment you say, 'Come,' you can count upon +us, Monsieur Louis." + +"Well, then I'll have some information for you." + +"What about?" + +"The ghosts." + +Amélie gave a stifled cry; Madame de Montrevel alone heard it. +Louis dismissed the two peasants, and they jostled each other +at the door in their efforts to go through together. + +Nothing more was said that evening about the Chartreuse or the +pavilion, nor of its supernatural tenants, spectres or phantoms +who haunted them. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE STRONG-MINDED MAN + +At ten o'clock everyone was in bed at the Château des +Noires-Fontaines, or, at any rate, all had retired to their rooms. + +Three or four times in the course of the evening Amélie had +approached Roland as if she had something to say to him; but +each time the words died upon her lips. When the family left +the salon, she had taken his arm, and, although his room was +on the floor above hers, she had accompanied him to his very +door. Roland had kissed her, bade her good-night, and closed +his door, declaring himself very tired. + +Nevertheless, in spite of this assertion, Roland, once alone, +did not proceed to undress. He went to his collection of arms, +selected a pair of magnificent pistols, manufactured at Versailles, +and presented to his father by the Convention. He snapped the +triggers, and blew into the barrels to see that there were no +old charges in them. They were in excellent condition. After +which he laid them side by side on the table; then going to the +door, looking out upon the stairs, he opened it softly to see if +any one were watching. Finding the corridor and stairs empty, +he went to Sir John's door and knocked. + +"Come in," said the Englishman. Sir John, like himself, was not +prepared for bed. + +"I guessed from the sign you made me that you had something to +say to me," said Sir John, "so I waited for you, as you see." + +"Indeed, I have something to say to you," returned Roland, seating +himself gayly in an armchair. + +"My kind host," replied the Englishman, "I am beginning to understand +you. When I see you as gay as you are now, I am like your peasants, +I feel afraid." + +"Did you hear what they were saying?" + +"I heard them tell a splendid ghost story. I, myself, have a haunted +castle in England." + +"Have you ever seen the ghosts, my lord?" + +"Yes, when I was little. Unfortunately, since I have grown up +they have disappeared." + +"That's always the way with ghosts," said Roland gayly; "they +come and go. How lucky it is that I should return just as the +ghosts have begun to haunt the Chartreuse of Seillon." + +"Yes," replied Sir John, "very lucky. Only are you sure that there +are any there?" + +"No. But I'll know by the day after to-morrow." + +"How so?" + +"I intend to spend to-morrow night there." + +"Oh!" said the Englishmen, "would you like to have me go with +you?" + +"With pleasure, my lord. Only, unfortunately, that is impossible." + +"Impossible, oh!" + +"As I have just told you, my dear fellow." + +"But why impossible?" + +"Are you acquainted with the manners and customs of ghosts, Sir +John?" asked Roland gravely. + +"No." + +"Well, I am. Ghosts only show themselves under certain conditions." + +"Explain that." + +"Well, for example, in Italy, my lord, and in Spain, the most +superstitious of countries, there are no ghosts, or if there +are, why, at the best, it's only once in ten or twenty years, +or maybe in a century." + +"And to what do you attribute their absence?" + +"To the absence of fogs." + +"Ah! ah!" + +"Not a doubt of it. You understand the native atmosphere of ghosts +is fog. Scotland, Denmark and England, regions of fog, are overrun +with ghosts. There's the spectre of Hamlet, then that of Banquo, +the shadows of Richard III. Italy has only one spectre, Cæsar, +and then where did he appear to Brutus? At Philippi, in Macedonia +and in Thessaly, the Denmark of Greece, the Scotland of the Orient; +where the fog made Ovid so melancholy he named the odes he wrote +there Tristia. Why did Virgil make the ghost of Anchises appear +to Eneas? Because he came from Mantua. Do you know Mantua? A +marsh, a frog-pond, a regular manufactory of rheumatism, an +atmosphere of vapors, and consequently a nest of phantoms." + +"Go on, I'm listening to you." + +"Have you seen the Rhine?" + +"Yes." + +"Germany, isn't it?" + +"Yes." + +"Still another country of fairies, water sprites, sylphs, and +consequently phantoms ('for whoso does the greater see, can see +the less'), and all that on account of the fog. But where the +devil can the ghosts hide in Italy and Spain? Not the least bit +of mist. And, therefore, were I in Spain or Italy I should never +attempt to-morrow's adventure." + +"But all that doesn't explain why you refuse my company," insisted +Sir John. + +"Wait a moment. I've just explained to you that ghosts don't +venture into certain countries, because they do not offer certain +atmospheric conditions. Now, let me explain the precautions we +must take if we wish to see them." + +"Explain! explain!" said Sir John, "I would rather hear you talk +than any other man, Roland." + +And Sir John, stretching himself out in his easy-chair, prepared +to listen with delight to the improvisations of this fantastic +mind, which he had seen under so many aspects during the few +days of their acquaintance. + +Roland bowed his head by way of thanks. + +"Well, this is the way of it, and you will grasp it readily enough. +I have heard so much about ghosts in my life that I know the +scamps as if I had made them. Why do ghosts appear?" + +"Are you asking me that?" inquired Sir John. + +"Yes, I ask you." + +"I own that, not having studied ghosts as you have, I am unable +to give you a definitive answer." + +"You see! Ghosts show themselves, my dear fellow, in order to +frighten those who see them." + +"That is undeniable." + +"Of course! Now, if they don't frighten those to whom they appear, +they are frightened by them; witness M. de Turenne, whose ghosts +proved to be counterfeiters. Do you know that story?" + +"No." + +"I'll tell it to you some day; don't let's get mixed up. That +is just why, when they decide to appear--which is seldom--ghosts +select stormy nights, when it thunders, lightens and blows; that's +their scenery." + +"I am forced to admit that nothing could be more correct." + +"Wait a moment! There are instances when the bravest man feels +a shudder run through his veins. Even before I was suffering +with this aneurism it has happened to me a dozen times, when I +have seen the flash of sabres and heard the thunder of cannon +around me. It is true that since I have been subject to this +aneurism I rush where the lightning flashes and the thunder growls. +Still there is the chance that these ghosts don't know this and +believe that I can be frightened." + +"Whereas that is an impossibility, isn't it?" asked Sir John. + +"What will you! When, right or wrong, one feels that, far from +dreading death, one has every reason to seek it, what should +he fear? But I repeat, these ghosts, who know so much, may not +know that only ghosts know this; they know that the sense of +fear increases or diminishes according to the seeing and hearing +of exterior things. Thus, for example, where do phantoms prefer +to appear? In dark places, cemeteries, old cloisters, ruins, +subterranean passages, because the aspect of these localities +predisposes the soul to fear. What precedes their appearance? +The rattling of chains, groans, sighs, because there is nothing +very cheerful in all that? They are careful not to appear in +the bright light, or after a strain of dance music. No, fear +is an abyss into which you descend step by step, until you are +overcome by vertigo; your feet slip, and you plunge with closed +eyes to the bottom of the precipice. Now, if you read the accounts +of all these apparitions, you'll find they all proceed like this: +First the sky darkens, the thunder growls, the wind howls, doors +and windows rattle, the lamp--if there is a lamp in the room of +the person the ghosts are trying to frighten--the lamp flares, +flickers and goes out--utter darkness! Then, in the darkness, +groans, wails and the rattling of chains are heard; then, at +last, the door opens and the ghost appears. I must say that all +the apparitions that I have not seen but read about have presented +themselves under similar circumstances. Isn't that so, Sir John?" + +"Perfectly." + +"And did you ever hear of a ghost appearing to two persons at +the same time?" + +"I certainly never did hear of it." + +"It's quite simple, my dear fellow. Two together, you understand, +have no fear. Fear is something mysterious, strange, independent +of the will, requiring isolation, darkness and solitude. A ghost +is no more dangerous than a cannon ball. Well, a soldier never +fears a cannon ball in the daytime, when his elbows touch a comrade +to the right and left. No, he goes straight for the battery and +is either killed or he kills. That's not what the phantoms want. +That's why they never appear to two persons at the same time, +and that is the reason I want to go to the Chartreuse alone, +my lord. Your presence would prevent the boldest ghost from +appearing. If I see nothing, or if I see something worth the +trouble, you can have your turn the next day. Does the bargain +suit you?" + +"Perfectly! But why can't I take the first night?" + +"Ah! first, because the idea didn't occur to you, and it is only +just that I should benefit by my own cleverness. Besides, I belong +to the region; I was friendly with the good monks in their lifetime, +and there may be a chance of their appearing to me after death. +Moreover, as I know the localities, if it becomes necessary to +run away or pursue I can do it better than you. Don't you see +the justice of that, my dear fellow?" + +"Yes, it couldn't be fairer; but I am sure of going the next night." + +"The next night, and the one after, and every day and night if +you wish; I only hold to the first. Now," continued Roland rising, +"this is between ourselves, isn't it? Not a word to any one. +The ghosts might be forewarned and act accordingly. It would +never do to let those gay dogs get the best of us; that would +be too grotesque." + +"Oh, be easy about that. You will go armed, won't you?" + +"If I thought I was only dealing with ghosts, I'd go with my +hands in my pockets and nothing in my fobs. But, as I told you, +M. de Turenne's ghosts were counterfeiters, so I shall take my +pistols." + +"Do you want mine?" + +"No, thanks. Though yours are good, I am about resolved never +to use them again." Then, with a smile whose bitterness it would +be impossible to describe, he added: "They brought me ill-luck. +Good-night! Sir John. I must sleep soundly to-night, so as not +to want to sleep to-morrow night." + +Then, shaking the Englishman's hand vigorously a second time, +he left the room and returned to his own. There he was greatly +surprised to find the door, which he was sure he had left closed, +open. But as soon as he entered, the sight of his sister explained +the matter to him. + +"Hello!" he exclaimed, partly astonished, partly uneasy; "is that +you, Amélie?" + +"Yes, it is I," she said. Then, going close to her brother, and +letting him kiss her forehead, she added in a supplicating voice: +"You won't go, will you, dear Roland?" + +"Go where?" asked Roland. + +"To the Chartreuse." + +"Good! Who told you that?" + +"Oh! for one who knows, how difficult it is to guess!" + +"And why don't you want me to go to the Chartreuse?" + +"I'm afraid something might happen to you." + +"What! So you believe in ghosts, do you?" he asked, looking fixedly +into Amélie's eyes. + +Amélie lowered her glance, and Roland felt his sister's hand tremble +in his. + +"Come," said Roland; "Amélie, at least the one I used to know, +General de Montrevel's daughter and Roland's sister, is too +intelligent to yield to these vulgar terrors. It's impossible +that you can believe these tales of apparitions, chains, flames, +spectres, and phantoms." + +"If I did believe them, Roland, I should not be so alarmed. If +ghosts do exist, they must be souls without bodies, and consequently +cannot bring their material hatred from the grave. Besides, why +should a ghost hate you, Roland; you, who never harmed any one?" + +"Good! You forget all those I have killed in war or in duels." + +Amélie shook her head. "I'm not afraid of them." + +"Then what are you afraid of?" + +The young girl raised her beautiful eyes, wet with tears, to +Roland, and threw herself in his arms, saying: "I don't know, +Roland. But I can't help it, I am afraid." + +The young man raised her head, which she was hiding in his breast, +with gentle force, and said, kissing her eyelids softly and tenderly: +"You don't believe I shall have ghosts to fight with to-morrow, +do you?" + +"Oh, brother, don't go to the Chartreuse!" cried Amélie, eluding +the question. + +"Mother told you to say this to me, didn't she?" + +"Oh, no, brother! Mother said nothing to me. It is I who guessed +that you intended to go." + +"Well, if I want to go," replied Roland firmly, "you ought to +know, Amélie, that I shall go." + +"Even if I beseech you on my knees, brother?" cried Amélie in +a tone of anguish, slipping down to her brother's feet; "even +if I beseech you on my knees?" + +"Oh! women! women!" murmured Roland, "inexplicable creatures, +whose words are all mystery, whose lips never tell the real secrets +of their hearts, who weep, and pray, and tremble--why? God knows, +but man, never! I shall go, Amélie, because I have resolved to +go; and when once I have taken a resolution no power on earth +can make me change it. Now kiss me and don't be frightened, and +I will tell you a secret." + +Amélie raised her head, and gazed questioningly, despairingly, +at Roland. + +"I have known for more than a year," replied the young man, "that +I have the misfortune not to be able to die. So reassure yourself, +and don't be afraid." + +Roland uttered these words so dolefully that Amélie, who had, +until then, kept her emotion under control, left the room sobbing. + +The young officer, after assuring himself that her door was closed, +shut his, murmuring: "We'll see who will weary first, Fate or I." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE GHOST + +The next evening, at about the same hour, the young officer, +after convincing himself that every one in the Château des +Noires-Fontaines had gone to bed, opened his door softly, went +downstairs holding his breath, reached the vestibule, slid back +the bolts of the outer door noiselessly, and turned round to +make sure that all was quiet. Reassured by the darkened windows, +he boldly opened the iron gate. The hinges had probably been +oiled that day, for they turned without grating, and closed as +noiselessly as they had opened behind Roland, who walked rapidly +in the direction of Pont d'Ain at Bourg. + +He had hardly gone a hundred yards before the clock at Saint-Just +struck once; that of Montagnac answered like a bronze echo. It +was half-past ten o'clock. At the pace the young man was walking +he needed only twenty minutes to reach the Chartreuse; especially +if, instead of skirting the woods, he took the path that led direct +to the monastery. Roland was too familiar from youth with every +nook of the forest of Seillon to needlessly lengthen his walk +ten minutes. He therefore turned unhesitatingly into the forest, +coming out on the other side in about five minutes. Once there, +he had only to cross a bit of open ground to reach the orchard +wall of the convent. This took barely another five minutes. + +At the foot of the wall he stopped, but only for a few seconds. +He unhooked his cloak, rolled it into a ball, and tossed it over +the wall. The cloak off, he stood in a velvet coat, white leather +breeches, and top-boots. The coat was fastened round the waist +by a belt in which were a pair of pistols. A broad-brimmed hat +covered his head and shaded his face. + +With the same rapidity with which he had removed his garment +that might have hindered his climbing the wall, he began to scale +it. His foot readily found a chink between the stones; he sprang +up, seizing the coping, and was on the other side without even +touching the top of the wall over which he bounded. He picked +up his cloak, threw it over his shoulder, hooked it, and crossed +the orchard to a little door communicating with the cloister. +The clock struck eleven as he passed through it. Roland stopped, +counted the strokes, and slowly walked around the cloister, looking +and listening. + +He saw nothing and heard no noise. The monastery was the picture +of desolation and solitude; the doors were all open, those of +the cells, the chapel, and the refectory. In the refectory, a +vast hall where the tables still stood in their places, Roland +noticed five or six bats circling around; a frightened owl flew +through a broken casement, and perched upon a tree close by, +hooting dismally. + +"Good!" said Roland, aloud; "I'll make my headquarters here; bats +and owls are the vanguards of ghosts." + +The sound of that human voice, lifted in the midst of this solitude, +darkness and desolation, had something so uncanny, so lugubrious +about it, that it would have caused even the speaker to shudder, +had not Roland, as he himself said, been inaccessible to fear. He +looked about for a place from which he could command the entire +hall. An isolated table, placed on a sort of stage at one end of +the refectory, which had no doubt been used by the superior of +the convent to take his food apart from the monks, to read from +pious books during the repast, seemed to Roland best adapted to +his needs. Here, backed by the wall, he could not be surprised +from behind, and, once his eye grew accustomed to the darkness, +he could survey every part of the hall. He looked for a seat, +and found an overturned stool about three feet from the table, +probably the one occupied by the reader or the person dining +there in solitude. + +Roland sat down at the table, loosened his cloak to insure greater +freedom of movement, took his pistols from his belt, laid one +on the table, and striking three blows with the butt-end of the +other, he said, in a loud voice: "The meeting is open; the ghosts +can appear!" + +Those who have passed through churches and cemeteries at night have +often experienced, without analyzing it, the supreme necessity of +speaking low and reverently which attaches to certain localities. +Only such persons can understand the strange impression produced +on any one who heard it by that curt, mocking voice which now +disturbed the solitude and the shadows. It vibrated an instant +in the darkness, which seemed to quiver with it; then it slowly +died away without an echo, escaping by all the many openings made +by the wings of time. + +As he had expected, Roland's eyes had accustomed themselves to +the darkness, and now, by the pale light of the rising moon, +whose long, white rays penetrated the refectory through the broken +windows, he could see distinctly from one end to the other of +the vast apartment. Although Roland was as evidently without +fear internally as externally, he was not without distrust, and +his ear caught the slightest sounds. + +He heard the half-hour strike. In spite of himself the sound +startled him, for it came from the bell of the convent. How was +it that, in this ruin where all was dead, a clock, the pulse of +time, was living? + +"Oh! oh!" said Roland; "that proves that I shall see something." + +The words were spoken almost in an aside. The majesty of the +place and the silence acted upon that heart of iron, firm as +the iron that had just tolled the call of time upon eternity. +The minutes slowly passed, one after the other. Perhaps a cloud +was passing between earth and moon, for Roland fancied that the +shadows deepened. Then, as midnight approached, he seemed to +hear a thousand confused, imperceptible sounds, coming no doubt +from the nocturnal universe which wakes while the other sleeps. +Nature permits no suspension of life, even for repose. She created +her nocturnal world, even as she created her daily world, from +the gnat which buzzes about the sleeper's pillow to the lion +prowling around the Arab's bivouac. + +But Roland, the camp watcher, the sentinel of the desert, Roland, +the hunter, the soldier, knew all those sounds; they were powerless +to disturb him. + +Then, mingling with these sounds, the tones of the clock, chiming +the hour, vibrated above his head. This time it was midnight. +Roland counted the twelve strokes, one after the other. The last +hung, quivering upon the air, like a bird with iron wings, then +slowly expired, sad and mournful. Just then the young man, thought +he heard a moan. He listened in the direction whence it came. +Again he heard it, this time nearer at hand. + +He rose, his hands resting upon the table, the butt-end of a +pistol beneath each palm. A rustle like that of a sheet or a +gown trailing along the grass was audible on his right, not ten +paces from him. He straightened up as if moved by a spring. + +At the same moment a shade appeared on the threshold of the vast +hall. This shade resembled the ancient statues lying on the tombs. +It was wrapped in an immense winding-sheet which trailed behind it. + +For an instant Roland doubted his own eyes. Had the preoccupation +of his mind made him see a thing which was not? Was he the dupe +of his senses, the sport of those hallucinations which physicians +assert, but cannot explain? A moan, uttered by the phantom, put +his doubts to flight. + +"My faith!" he cried in a burst of laughter, "now for a tussle, +friend ghost!" + +The spectre paused and extended a hand toward the, young officer. +"Roland! Roland!" said the spectre in a muffled voice, "it would +be a pity not to follow to the grave those you have sent there." + +And the spectre, without hastening its step, continued on its way. + +Roland, astounded for an instant, came down from the stage, and +resolutely followed the ghost. The path was difficult, encumbered +with stones, benches awry, and over-turned tables. And yet, through +all these obstacles, an invisible channel seemed open for the +spectre, which pursued its way unchecked. + +Each time it passed before a window, the light from with out, +feeble as it was, shone upon the winding-sheet and the ghost, +outlining the figure, which passed into the obscurity to reappear +and vanish again at each succeeding one, Roland, his eyes fixed +upon the figure, fearing to lose sight of it if he diverted his +gaze from it, dared not look at the path, apparently so easy to +the spectre, yet bristling with obstacles for him. He stumbled +at every step. The ghost was gaining upon him. It reached the +door opposite to that by which it had entered. Roland saw the +entrance to a dark passage. Feeling that the ghost would escape +him, he cried: "Man or ghost, robber or monk, halt or I fire!" + +"A dead body cannot be killed twice, and death has no power over +the spirit," replied the ghost in its muffled voice. + +"Who are you?" + +"The Shade of him you tore violently from the earth." + +The young officer burst into that harsh, nervous laugh, made more +terrible by the darkness around him. + +"Faith!" said he, "if you have no further indications to give +me, I shall not trouble myself to discover you." + +"Remember the fountain at Vaucluse," said the Shade, in a voice +so faint the words seemed to escape his lips like a sigh rather +than articulate speech. + +For an instant Roland felt, not his heart failing him, but the +sweat pouring from his forehead. Making an effort over himself, +he regained his voice and cried, menacingly: "For a last time, +apparition or reality, I warn you that, if you do not stop, I +shall fire!" + +The Shade did not heed him, but continued on its way. + +Roland paused an instant to take aim. The spectre was not ten +paces from him. Roland was a sure shot; he had himself loaded +his pistols, and only a moment before he had looked to the charge +to see that it was intact. + +As the spectre passed, tall and white, beneath the gloomy vault +of the passage, Roland fired. The flash illumined the corridor +like lightning, down which the spectre passed with unfaltering, +unhastening steps. Then all was blacker than before. The ghost +vanished in the darkness. Roland dashed after him, changing his +other pistol from the left hand to the right. But short as his +stop had been, the ghost had gained ground. Roland saw him at +the end of the passage, this time distinctly outlined against +the gray background of the night. He redoubled his pace, and +as he crossed the threshold of the passage, he fancied that the +ghost was plunging into the bowels of the earth. But the torso +still remained visible. + +"Devil or not," cried Roland, "I follow you!" + +He fired a second shot, which filled the cavernous space, into +which the ghost had disappeared, with flame and smoke. + +When the smoke had cleared away, Roland looked vainly around. +He was alone. He sprang into the cistern howling with rage. He +sounded the walls with the butt-end of his pistol, he stamped +on the ground; but everywhere, earth and stone gave back the +sound of solid objects. He tried to pierce the darkness, but +it was impossible. The faint moonlight that filtered into the +cistern died out at the first steps. + +"Oh!" cried Roland, "a torch! a torch!" + +No one answered. The only sound to be heard was the spring bubbling +close at hand. Realizing that further search would be useless, +he emerged from the cavern. Drawing a powder-horn and two balls +from his pocket, he loaded his pistols hastily. Then he took +the path along which he had just come, found the dark passage, +then the vast refectory, and again took his place at the end +of the silent hall and waited. + +But the hours of the night sounded successively, until the first +gleam of dawn cast its pallid light upon the walls of the cloister. + +"Well," muttered Roland, "it's over for to-night. Perhaps I shall +be more fortunate the next time." + +Twenty minutes later he re-entered the Château des Noires-Fontaines. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +INVESTIGATIONS + +Two persons were waiting for Roland's return; one in anguish, +the other with impatience. These two persons were Amélie and Sir +John. Neither of them had slept for an instant. Amélie displayed +her anguish only by the sound of her door, which was furtively +closed as Roland came up the staircase. Roland heard the sound. +He had not the courage to pass before her door without reassuring +her. + +"Be easy, Amélie, I am here," he said. It did not occur to him +that his sister might be anxious for any one but him. + +Amélie darted from her room in her night-dress. It was easy to +see from her pallor and the dark circles which spread nearly to +the middle of her cheeks that she had not closed her eyes all +night. + +"Has nothing happened to you, Roland?" she cried, clasping her +brother in her arms and feeling him over anxiously. + +"Nothing." + +"Nor to any one else?" + +"No." + +"And you saw nothing?" + +"I didn't say that," answered Roland. + +"Good God! What did you see?" + +"I'll tell that to you later. Meantime, there is no one either +killed or wounded." + +"Ah! I breathe again!" + +"Now, let me give you a bit of advice, little sister. Go to bed +and sleep, if you can, till breakfast. I am going to do the same +thing, and can assure yon I won't need any rocking. Good-night, +or rather good-morning." + +Roland kissed his sister tenderly. Then affecting to whistle a +hunting-air carelessly, he ran up the next flight of steps. Sir +John was frankly waiting for him in the hall. He went straight +to the young man. + +"Well?" he asked. + +"Well, I didn't roll my stone entirely for nothing." + +"Did you see any ghosts?" + +"At any rate I saw something that resembled one very closely." + +"Come, tell me all about it." + +"I see you won't be able to sleep, or at best only fitfully, if +I don't. Here's what happened, in a nutshell." + +And Roland gave him a minute account of the night's adventure. + +"Excellent," said Sir John, when Roland had finished. "I hope +you have left something for me to do." + +"I am even afraid," answered Roland, "that I have left you the +hardest part." + +Then, as Sir John went over each detail, asking many questions +about the localities, he said: + +"Listen, Sir John. We will pay the Chartreuse a visit in broad +daylight after breakfast, which will not interfere in the least +with your night-watch. On the contrary, it will acquaint you +with the localities. Only you must tell no one." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Sir John, "do I look like a gabbler?" + +"No, that's true," cried Roland laughing, "you are not a gabbler, +but I am a ninny." So saying, he entered his bedchamber. + +After breakfast the two young men sauntered down the slopes of +the garden, as if to take a walk along the banks of the Reissouse. +Then they bore to the left, swung up the hill for about forty +paces, struck into the highroad, and crossed the woods, till +they reached the convent wall at the very place where Roland had +climbed over it on the preceding night. + +"My lord," said Roland, "this is the way." + +"Very well," replied Sir John, "let us take it." + +Slowly, with a wonderful strength of wrist, which betokened a +man well trained in gymnastics, the Englishman seized the coping +of the wall, swung himself to the top, and dropped down on the +other side. Roland followed with the rapidity of one who is not +achieving a feat for the first time. They were both on the other +side, where the desertion and desolation were more visible by +night than by day. The grass was growing knee high in the paths; +the espaliers were tangled with vines so thick that the grapes +could not ripen in the shadow of the leaves. The wall had given +way in several places, and ivy, the parasite rather than the +friend of ruins, was spreading everywhere. + +As for the trees in the open space, plums, peaches and apricots, +they had grown with the freedom of the oaks and beeches in the +forest, whose breadth and thickness they seemed to envy. The +sap, completely absorbed by the branches which were many and +vigorous, produced but little fruit, and that imperfect. By the +rustle of the tall grass, Sir John and Roland divined that the +lizards, those crawling offsprings of solitude, had established +their domicile there, from which they fled in amazement at this +disturbance. + +Roland led his friend straight to the door between the orchard +and the cloister, but before entering he glanced at the clock. +That clock, which went at night, was stopped in the day time. +From the cloister he passed into the refectory. There the daylight +showed under their true aspect the various objects which the +darkness had clothed with such fantastic forms the night before. +Roland showed Sir John the overturned stools, the table marked +by the blow of the pistol, the door by which the phantom had +entered. Accompanied by the Englishman, he followed the path he +had taken in pursuit of the spectre. He recognized the obstacles +which had hindered him, and noted how easily one who knew the +locality might cross or avoid them. + +At the spot where he had fired, he found the wad, but he looked +in vain for the bullet. The arrangement of the passage, which +ran slanting, made it impossible for the bullet, if its marks +were not on the walls, to have missed the ghost. And yet if the +ghost were hit, supposing it to be a solid body, how came it to +remain erect? How had it escaped being wounded, and if wounded, +why were there no bloodstains on the ground? And there was no +trace of either blood or ball. + +Sir John was almost ready to admit that his friend had had to +do with a veritable ghost. + +"Some one came after me," said Roland, "and picked up the ball." + +"But if you fired at a man, why didn't the ball go into him?" + +"Oh! that's easily explained. The man wore a coat of mail under +his shroud." + +That was possible, but, nevertheless, Sir John shook his head +dubiously. He preferred to believe in a supernatural occurrence; +it gave him less trouble. + +Roland and he continued their investigations. They reached the +end of the passage which opened on the furthest extremity of +the orchard. It was there that Roland had seen his spectre for +an instant as it glided into the dark vault. He made for the +cistern, and so little did he hesitate that he might still have +been following the ghost. There he understood how the darkness +of the night had seemed to deepen by the absence of all exterior +reflection. It was even difficult to see there by day. + +Roland took two torches about a foot long from beneath his cloak, +took a flint, lighted the tinder, and a match from the tinder. +Both torches flared up. + +The problem was now to discover the way by which the ghost had +disappeared. Roland and Sir John lowered their torches and examined +the ground. The cistern was paved with large squares of limestone, +which seemed to fit perfectly. Roland looked for his second ball +as persistently as for the first. A stone lay loose at his feet, +and, pushing it aside, he disclosed an iron ring screwed into +one of the limestone blocks. + +Without a word Roland seized the ring, braced his feet and pulled. +The square turned on its pivot with an ease which proved that it +was frequently subjected to the same manipulation. As it turned, +it disclosed a subterranean passage. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Roland, "this is the way my spectre went." + +He entered the yawning cavern, followed by Sir John. They traversed +the same path that Morgan took when he returned to give an account +of his expedition. At the end of the passage they came upon an +iron gate opening into the mortuary vaults. Roland shook the +gate, which yielded to his touch. They crossed this subterranean +cemetery, and came to a second gate; like the first, it was open. +With Roland still in front, they went up several steps, and found +themselves in the choir of the chapel, where the scene we have +related between Morgan and the Company of Jehu took place. Only +now the stalls were empty, the choir was deserted, and the altar, +degraded by the abandonment of worship, was no longer covered +by the burning tapers or the sacred cloth. + +It was evident to Roland that this was the goal of the false +ghost, which Sir John persisted in believing a real one. But, +real or false, Sir John admitted that its flight had brought it +to this particular spot. He reflected a moment and then remarked: +"As it is my turn to watch tonight, I have the right to choose +my ground; I shall watch here." + +And he pointed to a sort of table formed in the centre of the +choir by an oaken pedestal which had formerly supported the eagle +lectern. + +"Indeed," said Roland, with the same heedlessness he showed in +his own affairs, "you'll do very well there, only as you may find +the gates locked and the stone fastened tonight, we had better +look for some more direct way to get here." + +In less than five minutes they had found an outlet. The door of +the old sacristy opened into the choir, and from the sacristy a +broken window gave passage into the forest. The two men climbed +through the window and found themselves in the forest thicket +some twenty feet from the spot where they had killed the boar. + +"That's what we want," said Roland; "only, my dear Sir John, +as you would never find your way by night in a forest which, +even by day, is so impenetrable, I shall accompany you as far +as this." + +"Very well. But once I am inside, you are to leave me," said the +Englishman. "I remember what you told me about the susceptibility +of ghosts. If they know you are near, they may hesitate to appear, +and as you have seen one, I insist on seeing at least one myself." + +"I'll leave you, don't be afraid," replied Roland, adding, with +a laugh, "Only I do fear one thing." + +"What is that?" + +"That in your double capacity of an Englishman and a heretic they +won't feel at ease with you." + +"Oh," replied Sir John, gravely, "what a pity I shall not have +time to abjure before this evening." + +The two friends, having seen all there was to see, returned to +the chateau. No one, not even Amélie, had suspected that their walk +was other than an ordinary one. The day passed without questions +and without apparent anxiety; besides, it was already late when +the two gentlemen returned. + +At dinner, to Edouard's great delight, another hunt was proposed, +and it furnished a topic for conversation during dinner and part +of the evening. By ten o'clock, as usual, all had retired to +their rooms, except Roland, who was in that of Sir John. + +The difference of character showed itself markedly in the +preparations of the two men. Roland had made them joyously, as +if for a pleasure trip; Sir John made his gravely, as if for a +duel. He loaded his pistols with the utmost care and put them +into his belt English fashion. And, instead of a cloak, which +might have impeded his movements, he wore a top-coat with a high +collar put on over his other coat. + +At half-past ten the pair left the house with the same precautions +that Roland had observed when alone. It was five minutes before +eleven when they reached the broken window, where the fallen +stones served as a stepping-block. There, according to agreement, +they were to part. Sir John, reminded Roland of this agreement. + +"Yes," said Roland, "an agreement is an agreement with me. Only, +let me give you a piece of advice." + +"What is it?" + +"I could not find the bullets because some one had been here +and carried them off; and that was done beyond doubt to prevent +me from seeing the dents on them." + +"What sort of dent do you mean?" + +"Those of the links of a coat of mail; my ghost was a man in armor." + +"That's too bad!" said Sir John; "I hoped for a ghost." Then, +after a moment's silence and a sigh expressive of his deep regret +in resigning the ghost, he asked: "What was your advice?" + +"Fire at his face!" + +Sir John nodded assent, pressed the young officer's hand, clambered +through the window and disappeared in the sacristy. + +"Good-night!" called Roland after him. Then with the indifference +to danger which a soldier generally feels for himself and his +companions, Roland took his way back to the Château des +Noires-Fontaines, as he had promised Sir John. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE TRIAL + +The next day Roland, who had been unable to sleep till about +two in the morning, woke about seven. Collecting his scattered +wits, he recalled what had passed between Sir John and himself +the night before, and was astonished that the Englishman had +not wakened him. He dressed hastily and went to Sir John's room +at the risk of rousing him from his first sleep. + +He knocked at the door. Sir John made no answer. Roland knocked +again, louder this time. The same silence. This time some uneasiness +mingled with Roland's curiosity. The key was on the outside; the +young officer opened the door, and cast a rapid glance around +the room. Sir John was not there; he had not returned. The bed +was undisturbed. What had happened? + +There was not an instant to lose, and we may be sure that, with +that rapidity of decision we know in Roland, he lost not an instant. +He rushed to his room, finished dressing, put his hunting knife +into his belt, slung his rifle over his shoulder and went out. +No one was yet awake except the chambermaid. Roland met her on +the stairs. + +"Tell Madame de Montrevel," said he, "that I have gone into the +forest of Seillon with my gun. She must not worry if Sir John +and I are not on time for breakfast." + +Then he darted rapidly away. Ten minutes later he reached the +window where he had left Sir John the night before. He listened, +not a sound came from within; the huntsman's ear could detect the +morning woodland sounds, but no others. Roland climbed through +the window with his customary agility, and rushed through the +choir into the sacristy. + +One look sufficed to show him that not only the choir but the +entire chapel was empty. Had the spectres led the Englishman +along the reverse of the way he had come himself? Possibly. Roland +passed rapidly behind the altar, into the vaults, where he found +the gate open. He entered the subterranean cemetery. Darkness +hid its depths. He called Sir John three times. No one answered. + +He reached the second gate; it was open like the first. He entered +the vaulted passage; only, as it would be impossible to use his +gun in such darkness, he slung it over his shoulder and drew +out his hunting-knife. Feeling his way, he continued to advance +without meeting anybody, but the further he went the deeper became +the darkness, which indicated that the stone in the cistern was +closed. He reached the steps, and mounted them until his head +touched the revolving stone; then he made an effort, and the +block turned. Roland saw daylight and leaped into the cistern. +The door into the orchard stood open. Roland passed through it, +crossed that portion of the orchard which lay between the cistern +and the corridor at the other end of which he had fired upon the +phantom. He passed along the corridor and entered the refectory. +The refectory was empty. + +Again, as in the funereal passageway, Roland called three times. +The wondering echo, which seemed to have forgotten the tones of +the human voice, answered stammering. It was improbable that +Sir John had come this way; it was necessary to go back. Roland +retraced his steps, and found himself in the choir again. That +was where Sir John had intended to spend the night, and there +some trace of him must be found. + +Roland advanced only a short distance, and then a cry escaped +him. A large spot of blood lay at his feet, staining the pavement. +On the other side of the choir, a dozen feet from the blood, was +another stain, not less large, nor less red, nor less recent. +It seemed to make a pendant for the first. + +One of these stains was to the right, the other to the left of +that sort of pedestal intended, as we have said, to support the +eagle lectern--the pedestal which Sir John had selected for his +place of waiting. Roland went up to it. It was drenched with +blood! Evidently the drama had taken place on that spot; a drama +which, if all the signs were true, must have been terrible. + +Roland, in his double capacity of huntsman and soldier, was keen +at a quest. He could calculate the amount of blood lost by a +man who was dead, or by one who was only wounded. That night +three men had fallen, either dead or wounded. What were the +probabilities? + +The two stains in the choir to the right and left of the pedestal +were probably the blood of Sir John's two antagonists. That on +the pedestal was probably his own. Attacked on both sides, right +and left, he had fired with both hands, killing or wounding a +man with each shot. Hence these two bloodstains which reddened +the pavement. He himself must have been struck down beside the +pedestal, on which his blood had spurted. + +After a few seconds of examination, Roland was as sure of this +as if he had witnessed the struggle with his own eyes. Now, what +had been done with the bodies? He cared little enough about two +of them; but he was determined to know what had become of that +of Sir John. + +A track of blood started from the pedestal and led straight to +the door. Sir John's body had been carried outside. Roland shook +the massive door. It was only latched, and opened at the first +pressure. Outside the sill the tracks of blood still continued. +Roland could see through the underbrush the path by which the +body had been carried. The broken branches, the trampled grass, +led Roland to the edge of the wood on the road leading from Pont +d'Ain to Bourg. There the body, living or dead, seemed to have +been laid on the bank of the ditch. Beyond that no traces whatever. + +A man passed just then, coming from the direction of the Château +des Noires-Fontaines. Roland went up to him. + +"Have you seen anything on the road? Did you meet any one?" he +inquired. + +"Yes," replied the man, "I saw two peasants carrying a body on +a litter." + +"Ah!" cried Roland, "was it that of a living man?" + +"The man was pale and motionless; he looked as if he were dead." + +"Was the blood flowing?" + +"I saw some drops on the road." + +"In that case, he is living." + +Then taking a louis from his pocket he said: "There's a louis +for you. Run for Dr. Milliet at Bourg; tell him to get a horse +and come at full speed to the Château des Noires-Fontaines. You +can add that there is a man there in danger of dying." + +While the peasant, stimulated by the reward, made all haste to +Bourg, Roland, leaping along on his vigorous legs, was hurrying +to the château. + +And now, as our readers are, in all probability, as curious as +Roland to know what had happened to Sir John, we shall give an +account of the events of the night. + + +A few minutes before eleven, Sir John, as we have seen, entered +what was usually known as La Correrie, or the pavilion of the +Chartreuse, which was nothing more than a chapel erected in the +woods. From the sacristy he entered the choir. It was empty and +seemed solitary. A rather brilliant moon, veiled from time to +time by a cloud, sent its bluish rays through the stained glass, +cracked and broken, of the pointed windows. Sir John advanced to +the middle of the choir, where he paused and remained standing +beside the pedestal. + +The minutes slipped away. But this time it was not the convent +clock which marked the time, it was the church at Péronnaz; that +is to say, the nearest village to the chapel where Sir John was +watching. + +Everything happened up to midnight just as it had to Roland. +Sir John heard only the vague rustling and passing noises of the +night. + +Midnight sounded; it was the moment he awaited with impatience, +for it was then that something would happen, if anything was to +happen. As the last stroke died away he thought he heard footsteps +underground, and saw a light appear behind the iron gate leading +to the mortuary vault. His whole attention was fixed on that +spot. + +A monk emerged from the passage, his hood brought low over his +eyes, and carrying a torch in his hand. He wore the dress of a +Chartreux. A second one followed, then a third. Sir John counted +twelve. They separated before the altar. There were twelve stalls +in the choir; six to the right of Sir John, six to his left. The +twelve monks silently took their places in the twelve stalls. +Each one placed his torch in a hole made for that purpose in +the oaken desk, and waited. + +A thirteenth monk appeared and took his stand before the altar. + +None of the monks affected the fantastic behavior of ghosts or +shades; they all belonged undoubtedly to the earth, and were +living men. + +Sir John, a pistol in each hand, stood leaning against the pedestal +in the middle of the choir, and watched with the utmost coolness this +manoeuvre which tended to surround him. The monks were standing, +like him, erect and silent. + +The monk at the altar broke the silence. + +"Brothers," he asked, "why are the Avengers assembled?" + +"To judge a blasphemer!" replied the monks. + +"What crime has this blasphemer committed?" continued the +interlocutor. + +"He has tried to discover the secrets of the Companions of Jehu." + +"What penalty has he incurred?" + +"Death." + +The monk at the altar waited, apparently, to give time for the +sentence which had just been pronounced to reach the heart of him +whom it concerned. Then turning to the Englishman, who continued +as calm as if he were at a comedy, he said: "Sir John Tanlay, +you are a foreigner and an Englishman--a double reason why you +should leave the Companions of Jehu to fight their own battles +with the government, whose downfall they have sworn. You failed +in wisdom, you yielded to idle curiosity; instead of keeping +away, you have entered the lion's den, and the lion will rend you." + +Then after an instant's silence, during which he seemed to await +the Englishman's reply, he resumed, seeing that he remained silent: +"Sir John Tanlay, you are condemned to death. Prepare to die!" + +"Ah! I see that I have fallen into the hands of a band of thieves. +If so, I can buy myself off with a ransom." Then turning to the +monk at the altar he asked, "How much do you demand, captain?" + +A threatening murmur greeted these insolent words. The monk at +the altar stretched out his hand. + +"You are mistaken, Sir John. We are not a band of thieves," said +he in a tone as calm and composed as Sir John's, "and the proof +is, that if you have money or jewels upon you, you need only +give me your instructions, and they will be remitted either to +your family or the person whom you designate." + +"And what guarantee shall I have that my last wishes will be +carried out?" + +"My word." + +"The word of the leader of assassins! I don't trust it." + +"This time, as before, you are mistaken, Sir John. I am no more +the leader of assassins than I am a captain of thieves." + +"Who are you, then?" + +"The elect of celestial vengeance. I am the envoy of Jehu, King +of Israel, who was anointed by the prophet Elisha to destroy the +house of Ahab." + +"If you are what you say, why do you veil your faces? Why do +you wear armor under your robes? The elect strike openly; they +risk death in giving death. Throw back your hoods, show me your +naked breasts, and I will admit that you are what you pretend +to be." + +"Brothers, you have heard him," said the monk at the altar. + +Then, stripping off his gown, he opened his coat, waistcoat and +even his shirt. Each monk did the same, and stood with face exposed +and bared breast. They were all handsome young men, of whom the +eldest was apparently not more than thirty-five. Their dress was +elegant, but, strange fact, none was armed. They were judges and +nothing more. + +"Be satisfied, Sir John Tanlay," said the monk at the altar. +"You will die, but in dying, you can, as you wished just now, +recognize and kill your judges. Sir John, you have five minutes +to prepare your soul for death!" + +Sir John, instead of profiting by this permission to think of +his eternal salvation, coolly cocked his pistols to see that the +triggers were all right, and passed a ramrod down the barrels +to make sure that the balls were there. Then, without waiting +for the five minutes to expire, he said: "Gentlemen, I am ready. +Are you?" + +The young men looked at each other; then, on a sign from their +chief, they walked straight to Sir John, and surrounded him on +all sides. The monk at the altar stood immovable, commanding +with his eye the scene that was about to take place. + +Sir John had only two pistols, consequently he could only kill +two men. He selected his victims and fired. Two Companions of +Jehu rolled upon the pavement, which they reddened with their +blood. The others, as if nothing had happened, still advanced +with outstretched hands upon Sir John. Sir John seized his pistols +by the muzzle, using them like hammers. He was vigorous and the +struggle was long. For ten minutes, a confused group tussled in +the centre of the choir; then this violent commotion ceased, and +the Companions of Jehu drew away to right and left, and regained +their stalls, leaving Sir John bound with their girdles and lying +upon the pedestal in the choir. + +"Have you commended your soul to God?" asked the monk at the altar. + +"Yes, assassin," answered Sir John; "you may strike." + +The monk took a dagger from the altar, advanced with uplifted +arm, and, standing over Sir John, levelled the dagger at his +breast: "Sir John Tanlay," he said, "you are a brave man, and +doubtless a man of honor. Swear that you will never breathe a +syllable of what you have seen; swear that under no circumstances, +whatever they may be, you will recognize us, and we will spare +your life." + +"As soon as I leave here," replied Sir John, "I shall denounce +you. The moment I am free I will trail you down." + +"Swear," repeated the monk a second time. + +"No," said Sir John. + +"Swear," said the monk for the third time. + +"Never," replied Sir John. + +"Then die, since you will it!" + +And he drove his dagger up to the hilt in Sir John's breast; +who, whether by force of will, or because the blow killed him +at once, did not even sigh. Then the monk in a loud sonorous +voice, like a man conscious of having done his duty, exclaimed: +"Justice is done!" + +Then he returned to the altar, leaving the dagger in the wound +and said: "Brothers, you are invited to the ball of the Victims, +which takes place in Paris on the 21st of January next, at No. +35 Rue du Bac, in memory of the death of King Louis XVI." + +So saying, he re-entered the subterranean passage, followed by +the remaining ten monks, each bearing his torch in his hand. +Two torches remained to light the three bodies. + +A moment later four serving brothers entered, and raised first +the bodies of the two monks, which they carried into the vault. +Then they returned, lifted that of Sir John, placed it on a +stretcher, and carried it out of the chapel by the entrance door, +which they closed after them. Two of the monks walked in front +of the stretcher, carrying the two torches left in the chapel. + +And now, if our readers ask why there was this difference between +the treatment received by Roland and that administered to Sir +John, why this mansuetude toward one and this rigor toward the +other, we reply: Remember that Morgan enjoined on his brethren +the safety of Amélie's brother, and thus safeguarded, under no +circumstances could Roland die by the hand of a Companion of +Jehu. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE RUE DE LA VICTOIRE + +While they are bearing Sir John Tanlay's body to the Château des +Noires-Fontaines; while Roland is hurrying in the same direction; +while the peasant, despatched by him, is hastening to Bourg to +notify Dr. Milliet of the catastrophe which necessitated his +immediate presence at Madame de Montrevel's home, let us jump over +the distance which separates Bourg from Paris, and the time which +elapsed between the 16th of October and the 7th of November; that +is to say, between the 24th of Vendemiaire and the 16th Brumaire, +and repair to that little house in the Rue de la Victoire rendered +historically famous by the conspiracy of the 18th Brumaire, which +issued from it fully armed. + +It is the same house which stands there to-day on the right of +the street at No. 60, apparently astonished to present to the +eye, after so many successive changes of government, the consular +fasces which may still be seen on the panels of its double oaken +doors. + +Let us follow the long, narrow alley of lindens that leads from +the gate on the street to the door of the house; let us enter +the antechamber, take the hall to the right, ascend the twenty +steps that lead to a study hung with green paper, and furnished +with curtains, easy chairs and couches of the same color. The +walls are covered with geographical charts and plans of cities. +Bookcases of maple are ranged on either side of the fireplace, +which they inclose. The chairs, sofas, tables and desks are piled +with books; there is scarcely any room on the chairs to sit down, +or on the desks and tables to write. + +In the midst of this encumbering mass of reports, letters, pamphlets +and books, a man had cleared a space for himself where he was +now seated, clutching his hair impatiently from time to time, +as he endeavored to decipher a page of notes, compared to which +the hieroglyphics on the obelisk of Luxor, would have been +transparently intelligible. Just as the secretary's impatience +was approaching desperation, the door opened and a young officer +wearing an aide's uniform entered. + +The secretary raised his head, and a lively expression of +satisfaction crossed his face. + +"Oh! my dear Roland," said he; "you here at last! I am delighted +to see you, for three reasons. First, because I am wearying for +you; second, because the general is impatient for your return, +and keeps up a hullaballoo about it; and third, because you can +help me to read this, with which I have been struggling for the +last ten minutes. But first of all, kiss me." + +And the secretary and the aide-de-camp embraced each other. + +"Well," said the latter, "let us see this word that is troubling +you so, my dear Bourrienne!" + +"Ah! my dear fellow, what writing! I get a white hair for every +page I decipher, and this is my third to-day! Here, read it if +you can." + +Roland took the sheet from the secretary, and fixing his eyes +on the spot indicated, read quite fluently: "Paragraph XI. The +Nile, from Assouan to a distance of twelve miles north of Cairo, +flows in a single stream"--"Well," said he, interrupting himself, +"that's all plain sailing. What did you mean? The general, on +the contrary, took pains when he wrote that." + +"Go on, go on," said Bourrienne. + +The young man resumed: "'From that point, which is called'--ah! +Ah!" + +"There you are! Now what do you say to that?" + +Roland repeated: "'Which is called'--The devil! 'Which is called--'" + +"Yes, 'Which is called'--after that?" + +"What will you give me, Bourrienne," cried Roland, "if I guess +it?" + +"The first colonel's commission I find signed in blank." + +"By my faith, no! I don't want to leave the general; I'd rather +have a good father than five hundred naughty children. I'll give +you the three words for nothing." + +"What! are there three words there?" + +"They don't look as if they were quite three, I admit. Now listen, +and make obeisance to me: 'From the point called Ventre della +Vacca.'" + +"Ha! Ventre de la Vache! Confound it! He's illegible enough in +French, but if he takes it into his head to go off in Italian, +and that Corsican patois to boot! I thought I only ran the risk +of going crazy, but then I should become stupid, too. Well, you've +got it," and he read the whole sentence consecutively: "'The Nile, +from Assouan to a distance of twelve miles north of Cairo, flows +in a single stream; from that point, which is called Ventre de la +Vache, it forms the branches of the Rosetta and the Damietta.' +Thank you, Roland," and he began to write the end of the paragraph, +of which the first lines were already committed to paper. + +"Tell me," said Roland; "is he still got his hobby, the dear general, +of colonizing Egypt?" + +"Yes; and then, as a sort of offset, a little governing in France; +we will colonize from a distance." + +"Well, my dear Bourrienne, suppose you post me a little on matters +in this country, so that I won't seem to have just arrived from +Timbuctoo." + +"In the first place, did you come back of your own accord, or +were you recalled?" + +"Recalled? I should think so!" + +"By whom?" + +"The general himself." + +"Special despatch?" + +"Written by himself; see!" + +The young man drew a paper from his pocket containing two lines, +not signed, in the same handwriting as that which Bourrienne +had before him. These two lines said: "'Start. Be in Paris 16th +Brumaire. I need you." + +"Yes," said Bourrienne, "I think it will be on the eighteenth." + +"What will be on the eighteenth?" + +"On my word, Roland, you ask more than I know. That man, as you +are aware, is not communicative. What will take place on the +18th Brumaire? I don't know as yet; but I'll answer for it that +something will happen." + +"Oh! you must have a suspicion!" + +"I think he means to make himself Director in place of Sièyes, +or perhaps president in Gohier's stead." + +"Good! How about the Constitution of the year III.?" + +"The Constitution of the year III. What about that?" + +"Why, yes, a man must be forty years old to be a Director; and +the general lacks just ten of them." + +"The deuce! so much the worse for the Constitution. They must +violate it." + +"It is rather young yet, Bourrienne; they don't, as a rule, violate +children of seven." + +"My dear fellow, in Barras' hands everything grows old rapidly. +The little girl of seven is already an old prostitute." + +Roland shook his head. + +"Well, what is it?" asked Bourrienne. + +"Why, I don't believe the general will make himself a simple +Director with four colleagues. Just imagine it--five kings of +France! It wouldn't be a Directory any longer, but a four-in-hand." + +"Anyway, up to the present, that is all he has allowed any one +to perceive; but you know, my dear friend, if we want to know +the general's secrets we must guess them." + +"Faith! I'm too lazy to take the trouble, Bourrienne. Besides, +I'm a regular Janissary--what is to be, will be. Why the devil +should I bother to form an opinion and battle for it. It's quite +wearisome enough to have to live." And the young man enforced +his favorite aphorism with a long yawn; then he added: "Do you +think there will be any sword play?" + +"Probably." + +"Then there will be a chance of getting killed; that's all I want. +Where is the general?" + +"With Madame Bonaparte. He went to her about fifteen minutes ago. +Have you let him know you are here?" + +"No, I wanted to see you first. But I hear his step now." + +Just then the door was opened abruptly, and the same historical +personage whom we saw playing a silent part incognito at Avignon +appeared on the threshold, in the picturesque uniform of the +general-in-chief of the army of Egypt, except that, being in +his own house, he was bare-headed. Roland thought his eyes were +more hollow and his skin more leaden than usual. But the moment +he saw the young man, Bonaparte's gloomy, or rather meditative, +eye emitted a flash of joy. + +"Ah, here you are, Roland!" he said. "True as steel! Called, +you come. Welcome, my dear fellow." And he offered Roland his +hand. Then he asked, with an imperceptible smile, "What were +you doing with Bourrienne?" + +"Waiting for you, general." + +"And in the meantime gossiping like two old women." + +"I admit it, general. I was showing him my order to be here on +the 16th Brumaire." + +"Did I write the 16th or the 17th?" + +"Oh! the 16th, general. The 17th would have been too late." + +"Why too late?" + +"Why, hang it, Bourrienne says there are to be great doings here +on the 18th." + +"Capital," muttered Bourrienne; "the scatter-brain will earn me +a wigging." + +"Ah! So he told you I had planned great doings for the 18th?" +Then, approaching Bourrienne, Bonaparte pinched his ear, and +said, "Tell-tale!" Then to Roland he added: "Well, it is so, +my dear fellow, we have made great plans for the 18th. My wife +and I dine with President Gohier; an excellent man, who was very +polite to Josephine during my absence. You are to dine with us, +Roland." + +Roland looked at Bonaparte. "Was it for that you brought me here, +general?" he asked, laughing. + +"For that, and something else, too, perhaps. Bourrienne, write--" + +Bourrienne hastily seized his pen. + +"Are you ready?" + +"Yes, general." + +"'My dear President, I write to let you know that my wife and I, +with one of my aides-de-camp, will dine with you the day after +to-morrow. This is merely to say that we shall be quite satisfied +with a family dinner.'" + +"What next?" + +"How do you mean?" + +"Shall I put, 'Liberty, equality, fraternity'?" + +"Or death," added Roland. + +"No," said Bonaparte; "give me the pen." + +He took the pen from Bourrienne's hands and wrote, "Ever yours, +Bonaparte." Then, pushing away the paper, he added: "Address +it, Bourrienne, and send an orderly with it." + +Bourrienne wrote the address, sealed it, and rang the bell. An +officer on duty entered. + +"Send an orderly with that," said Bourrienne. + +"There is an answer," added Bonaparte. + +The officer closed the door. + +"Bourrienne," said Bonaparte, pointing to Roland, "look at your +friend." + +"Well, general, I am looking at him." + +"Do you know what he did at Avignon?" + +"I hope he didn't make a pope." + +"No, he threw a plate at a man's head." + +"Oh, that was hasty!" + +"That's not all." + +"That I can well imagine." + +"He fought a duel with that man." + +"And, most naturally, he killed him." + +"Exactly. Do you know why he did it?" + +"No." + +The general shrugged his shoulders, and said: "Because the man +said that I was a thief." Then looking at Roland with an indefinable +expression of raillery and affection, he added: "Ninny!" Then +suddenly he burst out: "Oh! by the way, and the Englishman?" + +"Exactly, the Englishman, general. I was just going to speak to +you about him." + +"Is he still in France?" + +"Yes, and for awhile even I thought he would remain here till the +last trumpet blew its blast through the valley of Jehosaphat." + +"Did you miss killing him?" + +"Oh! no, not I. We are the best friends in the world. General, +he is a capital fellow, and so original to boot that I'm going +to ask a bit of a favor for him." + +"The devil! For an Englishman?" said Bonaparte, shaking his head. +"I don't like the English." + +"Good! As a people, but individually--" + +"Well, what happened to your friend?" + +"He was tried, condemned, and executed." + +"What the devil are you telling us?" + +"God's truth, general." + +"What do you mean when you say, 'He was tried, condemned, and +guillotined'?" + +"Oh! not exactly that. Tried and condemned, but not guillotined. +If he had been guillotined he would be more dangerously ill than +he is now." + +"Now, what are you gabbling about? What court tried and condemned +him?" + +"That of the Companions of Jehu!" + +"And who are the Companions of Jehu?" + +"Goodness! Have you forgotten our friend Morgan already, the +masked man who brought back the wine-merchant's two hundred louis?" + +"No," replied Bonaparte, "I have not forgotten him. I told you +about the scamp's audacity, didn't I, Bourrienne?" + +"Yes, general," said Bourrienne, "and I answered that, had I +been in your place, I should have tried to find out who he was." + +"And the general would know, had he left me alone. I was just +going to spring at his throat and tear off his mask, when the +general said, in that tone you know so well: 'Friend Roland!'" + +"Come back to your Englishman, chatterbox!" cried the general. +"Did Morgan murder him?" + +"No, not he himself, but his Companions." + +"But you were speaking of a court and a trial just now." + +"General, you are always the same," said Roland, with their old +school familiarity; "you want to know, and you don't give me +time to tell you." + +"Get elected to the Five Hundred, and you can talk as much as +you like." + +"Good! In the Five Hundred I should have four hundred and ninety-nine +colleagues who would want to talk as much as I, and who would +take the words out of my mouth. I'd rather be interrupted by +you than by a lawyer." + +"Will you go on?" + +"I ask nothing better. Now imagine, general, there is a Chartreuse +near Bourg--" + +"The Chartreuse of Seillon; I know it." + +"What! You know the Chartreuse of Seillon?" demanded Roland. + +"Doesn't the general know everything?" cried Bourrienne. + +"Well, about the Chartreuse; are there any monks there now?" + +"No; only ghosts--" + +"Are you, perchance, going to tell me a ghost-story?" + +"And a famous one at that!" + +"The devil! Bourrienne knows I love them. Go on." + +"Well, we were told at home that the Chartreuse was haunted by +ghosts. Of course, you understand that Sir John and I, or rather +I and Sir John, wanted to clear our minds about it. So we each +spent a night there." + +"Where?" + +"Why, at the Chartreuse." + +Bonaparte made an imperceptible sign of the cross with his thumb, +a Corsican habit which he never lost. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "did you see any ghosts?" + +"One." + +"And what did you do to it?" + +"Shot at it." + +"And then?" + +"It walked away." + +"And you allowed yourself to be baffled?" + +"Good! How well yon know me! I followed it, and fired again. +But as he knew his way among the ruins better than I, he escaped +me." + +"The devil!" + +"The next day it was Sir John's turn; I mean our Englishman." + +"Did he see your ghost?" + +"He saw something better. He saw twelve monks enter the church, +who tried him for trying to find out their secrets, condemned +him to death, and who, on my word of honor, stabbed him." + +"Didn't he defend himself?" + +"Like a lion. He killed two." + +"Is he dead?" + +"Almost, but I hope he will recover. Just imagine, general; he +was found by the road, and brought home with a dagger in his +breast, like a prop in a vineyard." + +"Why, it's like a scene of the Sainte-Vehme, neither more nor +less." + +"And on the blade of the dagger, that there might be no doubt +as to who did the deed, were graven the words: 'Companions of +Jehu.'" + +"Why, it isn't possible that such things can happen in France, in +the last year of the eighteenth century. It might do for Germany +in the Middle Ages, in the days of the Henrys and the Ottos." + +"Not possible, general? But here is the dagger. What do you say +to that? Attractive, isn't it?" + +And the young man drew from under his coat a dagger made entirely +of steel, blade and handle. The handle was shaped like a cross, +and on the blade, sure enough, were engraved the words, "Companions +of Jehu." + +Bonaparte examined the weapon carefully. + +"And you say they planted that plaything in your Englishman's +breast?" + +"Up to the hilt." + +"And he's not dead?" + +"Not yet, at any rate." + +"Have you been listening, Bourrienne?" + +"With the greatest interest." + +"You must remind me of this, Roland." + +"When, general?" + +"When?--when I am master. Come and say good-day to Josephine. +Come, Bourrienne, you will dine with us, and be careful what you +say, you two, for Moreau is coming to dinner. Ah! I will keep +the dagger as a curiosity." + +He went out first, followed by Roland, who was, soon after, followed +by Bourrienne. On the stairs they met the orderly who had taken the +note to Gohier. + +"Well?" asked the general. + +"Here is the President's answer." + +"Give it to me." + +Bonaparte broke the seal, and read: + + The President Gohier is enchanted the good fortune promised him + by General Bonaparte. He will expect him to dinner the day after + to-morrow, the 18th Brumaire, with his charming wife, and the + aide-de-camp, whoever he may be. Dinner will be served at five + o'clock. + + If the hour does not suit General Bonaparte, will he kindly make + known the one he would prefer. + + The President, GOHIER. + 16th Brumaire, year VII. + +With an indescribable smile, Bonaparte put the letter in his +pocket. Then turning to Roland, he asked: "Do you know President +Gohier?" + +"No, general." + +"Ah! you'll see; he's an excellent man." + +These words were pronounced in a tone no less indescribable than +the smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE GUESTS OF GENERAL BONAPARTE + +Josephine, in spite of her thirty-four years, or possibly because +of them (that enchanting age when woman hovers between her passing +youth and her corning age), Josephine, always beautiful, more +graceful than ever, was still the charming woman we all know. +An imprudent remark of Junot's, at the time of her husband's +return, had produced a slight coolness between them. But three +days had sufficed to restore to the enchantress her full power +over the victor of Rivoli and the Pyramids. + +She was doing the honors of her salon, when Roland entered the +room. Always incapable, like the true Creole she was, of controlling +her emotions, she gave a cry of joy, and held out her hand to +him. She knew that Roland was devoted to her husband; she knew +his reckless bravery, knew that if the young man had twenty lives +he would willingly have given them all for Bonaparte. Roland +eagerly took the hand she offered him, and kissed it respectfully. +Josephine had known Roland's mother in Martinique; and she never +failed, whenever she saw Roland, to speak to him of his maternal +grandfather, M. de la Clémencière, in whose magnificent garden +as a child she was wont to gather those wonderful fruits which +are unknown in our colder climates. + +A subject of conversation was therefore ready at hand. She inquired +tenderly after Madame de Montrevel's health, and that of her +daughter and little Edouard. Then, the information given, she +said: "My dear Roland, I must now pay attention to my other guests; +but try to remain after the other guests, or else let me see you +alone to-morrow. I want to talk to you about _him_" (she +glanced at Bonaparte) "and have a thousand things to tell you." +Then, pressing the young man's hand with a sigh, she added, "No +matter what happens, you will never leave him, will you?" + +"What do you mean?" asked Roland, amazed. + +"I know what I mean," said Josephine, "and when you have talked +ten minutes with Bonaparte you will, I am sure, understand me. +In the meantime watch, and listen, and keep silence." + +Roland bowed and drew aside, resolved, as Josephine had advised, +to play the part of observer. + +But what was there to observe? Three principal groups occupied +the salon. The first, gathered around Madame Bonaparte, the only +woman present, was more a flux and reflux than a group. The second, +surrounding Talma, was composed of Arnault, Parseval-Grandmaison, +Monge, Berthollet, and two or three other members of the Institute. +The third, which Bonaparte had just joined, counted in its circle +Talleyrand, Barras, Lucien, Admiral Bruix, [Footnote: AUTHOR'S +NOTE.--Not to be confounded with Rear-Admiral de Brueys, who was +killed at Aboukir, August 1, 1798. Admiral Bruix, the negotiator +with Talleyrand of the 18th Brumaire, did not die until 1805.] +Roederer, Regnaud de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, Fouché, Réal, and two +or three generals, among whom was Lefebvre. + +In the first group they talked of fashions, music, the theatre; +in the second, literature, science, dramatic art; in the third, +they talked of everything except that which was uppermost in +their minds. Doubtless this reserve was not in keeping with +Bonaparte's own feeling at the moment; for after sharing in this +commonplace conversation for a short time, he took the former +bishop of Autun by the arm and led him into the embrasure of +the window. + +"Well?" he asked. + +Talleyrand looked at Bonaparte with that air which belonged to +no one but him. + +"What did I tell you of Sièyes, general?" + +"You told me to secure the support of those who regarded the +friends of the Republic as Jacobins, and to rely, upon it that +Sièyes was at their head." + +"I was not mistaken." + +"Then he will yield?" + +"Better, he has yielded." + +"The man who wanted to shoot me at Fréjus for having landed without +being quarantined!" + +"Oh, no; not for that." + +"But what then?" + +"For not having looked at him or spoken to him at Gohier's dinner." + +"I must confess that I did it on purpose. I cannot endure that +unfrocked monk." + +Bonaparte perceived, too late, that the speech he had just made +was like the sword of the archangel, double-edged; if Sièyes +was unfrocked, Talleyrand was unmitred. He cast a rapid glance +at his companion's face; the ex-bishop of Autun was smiling his +sweetest smile. + +"Then I can count upon him?" + +"I will answer for him." + +"And Cambacérès and Lebrun, have you seen them?" + +"I took Sièyes in hand as the most recalcitrant. Bruix saw the +other two." + +The admiral, from the midst of the group, had never taken his +eyes off of the general and the diplomatist. He suspected that +their conversation had a special importance. Bonaparte made him +a sign to join them. A less able man would have done so at once, +but Bruix avoided such a mistake. He walked about the room with +affected indifference, and then, as if he had just perceived +Talleyrand and Bonaparte talking together, he went up to them. + +"Bruix is a very able man!" said Bonaparte, who judged men as +much by little as by great things. + +"And above all very cautious, general!" said Talleyrand. + +"Yes. We will need a corkscrew to pull anything out of him." + +"Oh, no; on the contrary, now that he has joined us, he, will +broach the question frankly." + +And, indeed, no sooner had Bruix joined them than he began in +words as clear as they were concise: "I have seen them; they +waver!" + +"They waver! Cambacérès and Lebrun waver? Lebrun I can understand--a +sort of man of letters, a moderate, a Puritan; but Cambacérès--" + +"But it is so." + +"But didn't you tell them that I intended to make them each a +consul?" + +"I didn't get as far as that," replied Bruix, laughing. + +"And why not?" inquired Bonaparte. + +"Because this is the first word you have told me about your +intentions, Citizen General." + +"True," said Bonaparte, biting his lips. + +"Am I to repair the omission?" asked Bruix. + +"No, no," exclaimed Bonaparte hastily; "they might think I needed +them. I won't have any quibbling. They must decide to-day without +any other conditions than those you have offered them; to-morrow +it will be too late. I feel strong enough to stand alone; and +I now have Sièyes and Barras." + +"Barras?" repeated the two negotiators astonished. + +"Yes, Barras, who treated me like a little corporal, and wouldn't +send me back to Italy, because, he said, I had made my fortune +there, and it was useless to return. Well, Barras--" + +"Barras?" + +"Nothing." Then, changing his mind, "Faith! I may as well tell +you. Do you know what Barras said at dinner yesterday before me? +That it was impossible to go on any longer with the Constitution +of the year III. He admitted the necessity of a dictatorship; said +he had decided to abandon the reins of government, and retire; +adding that he himself was looked upon as worn-out, and that +the Republic needed new men. Now, guess to whom he thinks of +transferring his power. I give it you, as Madame de Sévigné says, +in a hundred, thousand, ten thousand. No other than General +Hedouville, a worthy man, but I have only to look him in the face +to make him lower his eyes. My glance must have been blasting! +As the result, Barras came to my bedside at eight o'clock, to +excuse himself as best he could for the nonsense he talked the +night before, and admitted that I alone could save the Republic, +and placed himself at my disposal, to do what I wished, assume +any rôle I might assign him, begging me to promise that if I +had any plan in my head I would count on him--yes, on him; and +he would be true to the crack of doom." + +"And yet," said Talleyrand, unable to resist a play upon words, +"doom is not a word with which to conjure liberty." + +Bonaparte glanced at the ex-bishop. + +"Yes, I know that Barras is your friend, the friend of Fouché +and Réal; but he is not mine, and I shall prove it to him. Go +back to Lebrun and Cambacérès, Bruix, and let them make their +own bargain." Then, looking at his watch and frowning, he added: +"It seems to me that Moreau keeps us waiting." + +So saying, he turned to the group which surrounded Talma. The +two diplomatists watched him. Then Admiral Bruix asked in a low +voice: "What do you say, my dear Maurice, to such sentiments +toward the man who picked him out, a mere lieutenant, at the +siege of Toulon, who trusted him to defend the Convention on +the 13th Vendémiaire, and who named him, when only twenty-six, +General-in-Chief of the Army in Italy?" + +"I say, my dear admiral," replied M. de Talleyrand, with his +pallid mocking smile, "that some services are so great that +ingratitude alone can repay them." + +At that moment the door opened and General Moreau was announced. +At this announcement, which was more than a piece of news--it +was a surprise to most of those present--every eye was turned +toward the door. Moreau appeared. + +At this period three men were in the eyes of France. Moreau was +one of these three men. The two others were Bonaparte and Pichegru. +Each had become a sort of symbol. Since the 18th Fructidor, Pichegru +had become the symbol of monarchy; Moreau, since he had been +christened Fabius, was the symbol of the Republic; Bonaparte, +symbol of war, dominated them both by the adventurous aspect +of his genius. + +Moreau was at that time in the full strength of his age; we would +say the full strength of his genius, if decision were not one of +the characteristics of genius. But no one was ever more undecided +than the famous cunctator. He was thirty-six years old, tall, +with a sweet, calm, firm countenance, and must have resembled +Xenophon. + +Bonaparte had never seen him, nor had he, on his side, ever seen +Bonaparte. While the one was battling on the Adige and the Mincio, +the other fought beside the Danube and the Rhine. Bonaparte came +forward to greet him, saying: "You are welcome, general!" + +"General," replied Moreau, smiling courteously, while all present +made a circle around them to see how this new Cæsar would meet +the new Pompey, "you come from Egypt, victorious, while I come, +defeated, from Italy." + +"A defeat which was not yours, and for which you are not responsible, +general. It was Joubert's fault. If he had rejoined the Army of +Italy as soon as he had been made commander-in-chief, it is more +than probable that the Russians and Austrians, with the troops they +then had, could not have resisted him. But he remained in Paris +for his honeymoon! Poor Joubert paid with his life for that fatal +month which gave the enemy time to gather its reinforcements. +The surrender of Mantua gave them fifteen thousand men on the +eve of the battle. It was impossible that our poor army should +not have been overwhelmed by such united forces." + +"Alas! yes," said Moreau; "it is always the greater number which +defeats the smaller." + +"A great truth, general," exclaimed Bonaparte; "an indisputable +truth." + +"And yet," said Arnault, joining in the conversation, "you yourself, +general, have defeated large armies with little ones." + +"If you were Marius, instead of the author of 'Marius,' you would +not say that, my dear poet. Even when I beat great armies with +little ones--listen to this, you young men who obey to-day, and +will command to-morrow--it was always the larger number which +defeated the lesser." + +"I don't understand," said Arnault and Lefebvre together. + +But Moreau made a sign with his head to show that he understood. +Bonaparte continued: "Follow my theory, for it contains the whole +art of war. When with lesser forces I faced a large army, I gathered +mine together, with great rapidity, fell like a thunderbolt on +a wing of the great army, and overthrew it; then I profited by +the disorder into which this manoeuvre never failed to throw +the enemy to attack again, always with my whole army, on the +other side. I beat them, in this way, in detail; and the victory +which resulted was always, as you see, the triumph of the many +over the few." + +As the able general concluded his definition of his own genius, +the door opened and the servant announced that dinner was served. + +"General," said Bonaparte, leading Moreau to Josephine, "take +in my wife. Gentlemen, follow them." + +On this invitation all present moved from the salon to the +dining-room. + +After dinner, on pretence of showing him a magnificent sabre he +had brought from Egypt, Bonaparte took Moreau into his study. +There the two rivals remained closeted more than an hour. What +passed between them? What compact was signed? What promises were +made? No one has ever known. Only, when Bonaparte returned to +the salon alone, and Lucien asked him: "Well, what of Moreau?" +he answered: "Just as I foresaw; he prefers military power to +political power. I have promised him the command of an army." +Bonaparte smiled as he pronounced these words; then added, "In +the meantime--" + +"In the meantime?" questioned Lucien. + +"He will have that of the Luxembourg. I am not sorry to make +him the jailer of the Directors, before I make him the conqueror +of the Austrians." + +The next day the following appeared in the "Moniteur": + + PARIS, 17th Brumaire. Bonaparte has presented Moreau with a + magnificent Damascus sword set with precious stones which he + brought from Egypt, the value of which is estimated at twelve + thousand francs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE SCHEDULE OF THE DIRECTORY + +We have said that Moreau, furnished no doubt with instructions, +left the little house in the Rue de la Victoire, while Bonaparte +returned alone to the salon. Everything furnished an object of +comment in such a company as was there assembled; the absence of +Moreau, the return of Bonaparte unaccompanied, and the visible +good humor which animated his countenance, were all remarked +upon. + +The eyes which fastened upon him most ardently were those of +Josephine and Roland. Moreau for Bonaparte added twenty chances +to the success of the plot; Moreau against Bonaparte robbed him +of fifty. Josephine's eyes were so supplicating that, on leaving +Lucien, Bonaparte pushed his brother toward his wife. Lucien +understood, and approached Josephine, saying: "All is well." + +"Moreau?" + +"With us." + +"I thought he was a Republican." + +"He has been made to see that we are acting for the good of the +Republic." + +"I should have thought him ambitious," said Roland. + +Lucien started and looked at the young man. + +"You are right," said he. + +"Then," remarked Josephine, "if he is ambitious he will not let +Bonaparte seize the power." + +"Why not?" + +"Because he will want it himself." + +"Yes; but he will wait till it comes to him ready-made, inasmuch +as he doesn't know how to create it, and is afraid to seize it." + +During this time Bonaparte had joined the group which had formed +around Talma after dinner, as well as before. Remarkable men +are always the centre of attraction. + +"What are you saying, Talma?" demanded Bonaparte. "It seems to +me they are listening to you very attentively." + +"Yes, but my reign is over," replied the artist. + +"Why so?" + +"I do as citizen Barras has done; I abdicate?" + +"So citizen Barras has abdicated?" + +"So rumor says." + +"Is it known who will take his place?" + +"It is surmised." + +"Is it one of your friends, Talma?" + +"Time was," said Talma, bowing, "when he did me the honor to say +I was his." + +"Well, in that case, Talma, I shall ask for your influence." + +"Granted," said Talma, laughing; "it only remains to ask how it +can serve you." + +"Get me sent back to Italy; Barras would not let me go." + +"The deuce!" said Talma; "don't you know the song, general, 'We +won't go back to the woods when the laurels are clipped'?" + +"Oh! Roscius, Roscius!" said Bonaparte, smiling, "have you grown +a flatterer during my absence?" + +"Roscius was the friend of Cæsar, general, and when the conqueror +returned from Gaul he probably said to him about the same thing +I have said to you." + +Bonaparte laid his band on Talma's shoulder. + +"Would he have said the same words after crossing the Rubicon?" + +Talma looked Bonaparte straight in the face. + +"No," he replied; "he would have said, like the augur, 'Cæsar, +beware of the Ides of March!'" + +Bonaparte slipped his hand into his breast as if in search of +something; finding the dagger of the Companions of Jehu, he grasped +it convulsively. Had he a presentiment of the conspiracies of +Arena, Saint-Regent, and Cadoudal? + +Just then the door opened and a servant announced: "General +Bernadotte!" + +"Bernadotte," muttered Bonaparte, involuntarily. "What does he +want here?" + +Since Bonaparte's return, Bernadotte had held aloof from him, +refusing all the advances which the general-in-chief and his +friends had made him. The fact is, Bernadotte had long since +discerned the politician beneath the soldier's greatcoat, the +dictator beneath the general, and Bernadotte, for all that he +became king in later years, was at that time a very different +Republican from Moreau. Moreover, Bernadotte believed he had +reason to complain of Bonaparte. His military career had not +been less brilliant than that of the young general; his fortunes +were destined to run parallel with his to the end, only, more +fortunate than that other--Bernadotte was to die on his throne. +It is true, he did not conquer that throne; he was called to +it. + +Son of a lawyer at Pau, Bernadotte, born in 1764--that is to +say, five years before Bonaparte--was in the ranks as a private +soldier when only eighteen. In 1789 he was only a sergeant-major. +But those were the days of rapid promotion. In 1794, Kléber created +him brigadier-general on the field of battle, where he had decided +the fortunes of the day. Becoming a general of division, he played +a brilliant part at Fleurus and Juliers, forced Maestricht to +capitulate, took Altdorf, and protected, against an army twice as +numerous as his own, the retreat of Joubert. In 1797 the Directory +ordered him to take seventeen thousand men to Bonaparte. These +seventeen thousand men were his old soldiers, veterans of Kléber, +Marceau and Hoche, soldiers of the Sambre-et-Meuse; and yet +Bernadotte forgot all rivalry and seconded Bonaparte with all his +might, taking part in the passage of the Tagliamento, capturing +Gradiska, Trieste, Laybach, Idria, bringing back to the Directory, +after the campaign, the flags of the enemy, and accepting, possibly +with reluctance, an embassy to Vienna, while Bonaparte secured +the command of the army of Egypt. + +At Vienna, a riot, excited by the tri-color flag hoisted above +the French embassy, for which the ambassador was unable to obtain +redress, forced him to demand his passports. On his return to +Paris, the Directory appointed him Minister of War. An underhand +proceeding of Sièyes, who was offended by Bernadotte's republicanism, +induced the latter to send in his resignation. It was accepted, +and when Bonaparte landed at Fréjus the late minister had been +three months out of office. Since Bonaparte's return, some of +Bernadotte's friends had sought to bring about his reinstatement; +but Bonaparte had opposed it. The result was a hostility between +the two generals, none the less real because not openly avowed. + +Bernadotte's appearance in Bonaparte's salon was therefore an +event almost as extraordinary as the presence of Moreau. And +the entrance of the conqueror of Maestricht caused as many heads +to turn as had that of the conqueror of Rastadt. Only, instead +of going forward to meet him, as he had Moreau, Bonaparte merely +turned round and awaited him. + +Bernadotte, from the threshold of the door, cast a rapid glance +around the salon. He divided and analyzed the groups, and although +he must have perceived Bonaparte in the midst of the principal +one, he went up to Josephine, who was reclining on a couch at +the corner of the fireplace, like the statue of Agrippina in +the Pitti, and, addressing her with chivalric courtesy, inquired +for her health; then only did he raise his head as if to look for +Bonaparte. At such a time everything was of too much importance +for those present not to remark this affectation of courtesy on +Bernadotte's part. + +Bonaparte, with his rapid, comprehensive intellect, was not the +last to notice this; he was seized with impatience, and, instead +of awaiting Bernadotte in the midst of the group where he happened +to be, he turned abruptly to the embrasure of a window, as if +to challenge the ex-minister of war to follow him. Bernadotte +bowed graciously to right and left, and controlling his usually +mobile face to an expression of perfect calmness, he walked toward +Bonaparte, who awaited him as a wrestler awaits his antagonist, +the right foot forward and his lips compressed. The two men bowed, +but Bonaparte made no movement to extend his hand to Bernadotte, +nor did the latter offer to take it. + +"Is it you?" asked Bonaparte. "I am glad to see you." + +"Thank you, general," replied Bernadotte. "I have come because +I wish to give you a few explanations." + +"I did not recognize you at first." + +"Yet I think, general, that my name was announced by your servant +in a voice loud enough to prevent any doubt as to my identity." + +"Yes, but he announced General Bernadotte." + +"Well?" + +"Well, I saw a man in civilian's dress, and though I recognized +you, I doubted if it were really you." + +For some time past Bernadotte had affected to wear civilian's +dress in preference to his uniform. + +"You know," said he, laughing, "that I am only half a soldier +now. I was retired by citizen Sièyes." + +"It seems that it was lucky for me that you were no longer minister +of war when I landed at Fréjus." + +"How so?" + +"You said, so I was told, that had you received the order to arrest +me for violating quarantine you would have done so." + +"I said it, and I repeat it, general. As a soldier I was always +a faithful observer of discipline. As a minister I was a slave +to law." + +Bonaparte bit his lips. "And will you say, after that, that you +have not a personal enmity to me?" + +"A personal enmity to you, general?" replied Bernadotte. "Why +should I have? We have always gone together, almost in the same +stride; I was even made general before you. While my campaigns +on the Rhine were less brilliant than yours on the Adige, they +were not less profitable for the Republic; and when I had the +honor to serve under you, you found in me, I hope, a subordinate +devoted, if not to the man, at least to the country which he +served. It is true that since your departure, general, I have +been more fortunate than you in not having the responsibility +of a great army, which, if one may believe Kléber's despatches, +you have left in a disastrous position." + +"What do you mean? Kléber's last despatches? Has Kléber written?" + +"Are you ignorant of that, general? Has the Directory not informed +you of the complaints of your successor? That would be a great +weakness on their part, and I congratulate myself to have come +here, not only to correct in your mind what has been said of +me, but to tell you what is being said of you." + +Bonaparte fixed an eye, darkling as an eagle's, on Bernadotte. +"And what are they saying of me?" he asked. + +"They say that, as you must come back, you should have brought +the army with you." + +"Had I a fleet? Are you unaware that De Brueys allowed his to +be burned?" + +"They also say, general, that, being unable to bring back the +army, it would have been better for your renown had you remained +with it." + +"That is what I should have done, monsieur, if events had not +recalled me to France." + +"What events, general?" + +"Your defeats." + +"Pardon me, general; you mean to say Schérer's defeats. + +"Yours as well." + +"I was not answerable for the generals commanding our armies +on the Rhine and in Italy until I was minister of war. If you +will enumerate the victories and defeats since that time you +will see on which side the scale turns." + +"You certainly do not intend to tell me that matters are in a +good condition?" + +"No, but I do say that they are not in so desperate state as you +affect to believe." + +"As I affect!--Truly, general, to hear you one would think I +had some interest in lowering France in the eyes of foreigners. + +"I don't say that; I say that I wish to settle the balance of +our victories and defeats for the last three months; and as I +came for that, and am now in your house, and in the position +of an accused person--" + +"Or an accuser." + +"As the accused, in the first instance--I begin." + +"And I listen," said Bonaparte, visibly on thorns. + +"My ministry dates from the 30th Prairial, the 8th of June if +you prefer; we will not quarrel over words." + +"Which means that we shall quarrel about things." + +Bernadotte continued without replying. + +"I became minister, as I said, the 8th of June; that is, a short +time after the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Acre was raised." + +Bonaparte bit his lips. "I did not raise the siege until after +I had ruined the fortifications," he replied. + +"That is not what Kléber wrote; but that does not concern me." +Then he added, smiling: "It happened while Clark was minister." + +There was a moment's silence, during which Bonaparte endeavored +to make Bernadotte lower his eyes. Not succeeding, he said: "Go on." + +Bernadotte bowed and continued: "Perhaps no minister of war--and +the archives of the ministry are there for reference--ever received +the portfolio under more critical circumstances: civil war within, +a foreign enemy at our doors, discouragement rife among our veteran +armies, absolute destitution of means to equip new ones. That was +what I had to face on the 8th of June, when I entered upon my +duties. An active correspondence, dating from the 8th of June, +between the civil and military authorities, revived their courage +and their hopes. My addresses to the armies--this may have been a +mistake--were those, not of a minister to his soldiers, but of a +comrade among comrades, just as my addresses to the administrators +were those of a citizen to his fellow-citizens. I appealed to +the courage of the army, and the heart of the French people; I +obtained all that I had asked. The National Guard reorganized +with renewed zeal; legions were formed upon the Rhine, on the +Moselle. Battalions of veterans took the place of old regiments +to reinforce the troops that were guarding our frontiers; to-day +our cavalry is recruited by a remount of forty thousand horses, +and one hundred thousand conscripts, armed and equipped, have +received with cries of 'Vive la Republique!' the flags under +which they will fight and conquer--" + +"But," interrupted Bonaparte bitterly, "this is an apology you +are making for yourself." + +"Be it so. I will divide my discourse into two parts. The first +will be a contestable apology; the second an array of incontestable +facts. I will set aside the apology and proceed to facts. June +17 and 18, the battle of the Trebbia. Macdonald wished to fight +without Moreau; he crossed the Trebbia, attacked the enemy, was +defeated and retreated to Modena. June 20, battle of Tortona; +Moreau defeated the Austrian Bellegarde. July 22, surrender of +the citadel of Alexandria to the Austro-Russians. So far the +scale turns to defeat. July 30, surrender of Mantua, another +check. August 15, battle of Novi; this time it was more than a +check, it was a defeat. Take note of it, general, for it is the +last. At the very moment we were fighting at Novi, Masséna was +maintaining his position at Zug and Lucerne, and strengthening +himself on the Aar and on the Rhine; while Lecourbe, on August +14 and 15, took the Saint-Gothard. August 19, battle of Bergen; +Brune defeated the Anglo-Russian army, forty thousand strong, +and captured the Russian general, Hermann. On the 25th, 26th +and 27th of the same month, the battles of Zurich, where Masséna +defeated the Austro-Russians under Korsakoff. Hotze and three other +generals are taken prisoners. The enemy lost twelve thousand men, +a hundred cannon, and all its baggage; the Austrians, separated +from the Russians, could not rejoin them until after they were +driven beyond Lake Constance. That series of victories stopped +the progress the enemy had been making since the beginning of +the campaign; from the time Zurich was retaken, France was secure +from invasion. August 30, Molitor defeated the Austrian generals, +Jellachich and Luiken, and drove them back into the Grisons. +September 1, Molitor attacked and defeated General Rosenberg in the +Mutterthal. On the 2d, Molitor forced Souvaroff to evacuate Glarus, +to abandon his wounded, his cannon, and sixteen hundred prisoners. +The 6th, General Brune again defeated the Anglo-Russians, under +the command of the Duke of York. On the 7th, General Gazan took +possession of Constance. On the 8th you landed at Fréjus.--Well, +general," continued Bernadotte, "as France will probably pass +into your hands, it is well that you should know the state in +which you find her, and in place of receipt, our possessions +bear witness to what we are giving you. What we are now doing, +general, is history, and it is important that those who may some +day have an interest in falsifying history shall find in their +path the denial of Bernadotte." + +"Is that said for my benefit, general?" + +"I say that for flatterers. You have pretended, it is said, that +you returned to France because our armies were destroyed, because +France was threatened, the Republic at bay. You may have left +Egypt with that fear; but once in France, all such fears must +have given way to a totally different belief." + +"I ask no better than to believe as you do," replied Bonaparte, +with sovereign dignity; "and the more grand and powerful you prove +France to be, the more grateful am I to those who have secured her +grandeur and her power." + +"Oh, the result is plain, general! Three armies defeated; the +Russians exterminated, the Austrians defeated and forced to fly, +twenty thousand prisoners, a hundred pieces of cannon, fifteen +flags, all the baggage of the enemy in our possession, nine generals +taken or killed, Switzerland free, our frontiers safe, the Rhine +our limit--so much for Masséna's contingent and the situation +of Helvetia. The Anglo-Russian army twice defeated, utterly +discouraged, abandoning its artillery, baggage, munitions of +war and commissariat, even to the women and children who came +with the British; eight thousand French prisoners; effective +men, returned to France; Holland completely evacuated--so much +for Brune's contingent and the situation in Holland. The rearguard +of General Klénau forced to lay down its arms at Villanova; a +thousand prisoners and three pieces of cannon fallen into our +hands, and the Austrians driven back beyond Bormida; in all, +counting the combats at la Stura and Pignerol, four thousand +prisoners, sixteen cannon, Mondovi, and the occupation of the +whole region between la Stura and Tanaro--so much for Championnet's +contingent and the situation in Italy. Two hundred thousand men +under arms, forty thousand mounted cavalry; that is my contingent, +mine, and the situation in France." + +"But," asked Bonaparte satirically, "if you have, as you say, +two hundred thousand soldiers under arms, why do you want me to +bring back the fifteen or twenty thousand men I have in Egypt, +who are useful there as colonizers?" + +"If I ask you for them, general, it is not for any need we may +have of them, but in the fear of some disaster over taking them." + +"What disaster do you expect to befall them, commanded by Kléber?" + +"Kléber may be killed, general; and who is there behind Kléber? +Menou. Kléber and your twenty thousand men are doomed, general!" + +"How doomed?" + +"Yes, the Sultan will send troops; he controls by land. The English +will send their fleet; they control by sea. We, who have neither +land nor sea, will be compelled to take part from here in the +evacuation of Egypt and the capitulation of our army. + +"You take a gloomy view of things, general!" + +"The future will show which of us two have seen things as they are." + +"What would you have done in my place?" + +"I don't know. But, even had I been forced to bring them back +by way of Constantinople, I should never have abandoned those +whom France had intrusted to me. Xenophon, on the banks of the +Tigris, was in a much more desperate situation than you on the +banks of the Nile. He brought his ten thousand back to Ionia, and +they were not the children of Athens, not his fellow citizens; +they were mercenaries!" + +From the instant Bernadotte uttered the word Constantinople, +Bonaparte listened no longer; the name seemed to rouse a new train +of ideas in his mind, which he followed in solitary thought. He laid +his hand on the arm of the astonished Bernadotte, and, with eyes +fixed on space, like a man who pursues through space the phantom of +a vanished project, he said: "Yes, yes! I thought of it. That is +why I persisted in taking that hovel, Saint-Jean-d'Acre. Here you +only thought it obstinacy, a useless waste of men sacrificed to +the self-love of a mediocre general who feared that he might be +blamed for a defeat. What should I have cared for the raising of +the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Acre, if Saint-Jean-d'Acre had not been +the barrier in the way of the grandest project ever conceived. +Cities! Why, good God! I could take as many as ever did Alexander +or Cæsar, but it was Saint-Jean-d'Acre that had to be taken! If +I had taken Saint-Jean-d'Acre, do you know what I should have +done?" + +And he fixed his burning eyes upon Bernadotte, who, this time, +lowered his under the flame of this genius. + +"What I should have done," repeated Bonaparte, and, like Ajax, he +seemed to threaten Heaven with his clinched fist; "if I had taken +Saint-Jean-d'Acre, I should have found the treasures of the pasha +in the city and three thousand stands of arms. With that I should +have raised and armed all Syria, so maddened by the ferocity of +Djezzar that each time I attacked him the population prayed to God +for his overthrow. I should have marched upon Damascus and Aleppo; +I should have swelled my army with the malcontents. Advancing into +the country, I should, step by step, have proclaimed the abolition +of slavery, and the annihilation of the tyrannical government +of the pashas. I should have overthrown the Turkish empire, and +founded a great empire at Constantinople, which would have fixed +my place in history higher than Constantine and Mohammed II. +Perhaps I should have returned to Paris by way of Adrianople +and Vienna, after annihilating the house of Austria. Well, my +dear general, that is the project which that little hovel of +a Saint-Jean-d'Acre rendered abortive!" + +And he so far forgot to whom he was speaking, as he followed +the shadows of his vanished dream, that he called Bernadotte +"my dear general." The latter, almost appalled by the magnitude +of the project which Bonaparte had unfolded to him, made a step +backward. + +"Yes," said Bernadotte, "I perceive what you want, for you have +just betrayed yourself. Orient or Occident, a throne! A throne? +So be it; why not? Count upon me to help you conquer it, but +elsewhere than in France. I am a Republican, and I will die a +Republican." + +Bonaparte shook his head as if to disperse the thoughts which +held him in the clouds. + +"I, too, am a Republican," said he, "but see what has come of +your Republic!" + +"What matter!" cried Bernadotte. "It is not to a word or a form +that I am faithful, but to the principle. Let the Directors but +yield me the power, and I would know how to defend the Republic +against her internal enemies, even as I defended her from her +foreign enemies." + +As he said these words, Bernadotte raised his eyes, and his glance +encountered that of Bonaparte. Two naked blades clashing together +never sent forth lightning more vivid, more terrible. + +Josephine had watched the two men for some time past with anxious +attention. She saw the dual glance teeming with reciprocal menace. +She rose hastily and went to Bernadotte. + +"General," said she. + +Bernadotte bowed. + +"You are intimate with Gohier, are you not?" she continued. + +"He is one of my best friends, madame," said Bernadotte. + +"Well, we dine with him the day after to-morrow, the 18th Brumaire; +dine there yourself and bring Madame Bernadotte. I should be so +glad to know her better." + +"Madame," said Bernadotte, "in the days of the Greeks you would +have been one of the three graces; in the Middle Ages you would +have been a fairy; to-day you are the most adorable woman I know." + +And making three steps backward, and bowing, he contrived to +retire politely without including Bonaparte in his bow. Josephine +followed him with her eyes until he had left the room. Then, +turning to her husband, she said: "Well, it seems that it was +not as successful with Bernadotte as with Moreau, was it?" + +"Bold, adventurous, disinterested, sincere republican, inaccessible +to seduction, he is a human obstacle. We must make our way around +him, since we cannot overthrow him." + +And leaving the salon without taking leave of any one, he went +to his study, whither Roland and Bourrienne followed. They had +hardly been there a quarter of an hour when the handle of the +lock turned softly, the door opened, and Lucien appeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE OUTLINE OF A DECREE + +Lucien was evidently expected. Bonaparte had not mentioned his +name once since entering the study; but in spite of this silence he +had turned his head three or four times with increasing impatience +toward the door, and when the young man appeared an exclamation of +contentment escaped his lips. + +Lucien, the general's youngest brother, was born in 1775, making +him now barely twenty-five years old. Since 1797, that is, at the +age of twenty-two and a half, he had been a member of the Five +Hundred, who, to honor Bonaparte, had made him their president. +With the projects he had conceived nothing could have been more +fortunate for Bonaparte. + +Frank and loyal, republican to the core, Lucien believed that, +in seconding his brother's plans, he was serving the Republic +better than the future First Consul. In his eyes, no one was +better fitted to save it a second time than he who had saved +it the first. It was with these sentiments in his heart that he +now came to confer with his brother. + +"Here you are," said Bonaparte. "I have been waiting for you +impatiently." + +"So I suspected. But I was obliged to wait until I could leave +without being noticed." + +"Did you manage it?" + +"Yes; Talma was relating a story about Marat and Dumouriez. +Interesting as it was, I deprived myself of the pleasure, and +here I am." + +"I have just heard a carriage driving away; the person who got +in it couldn't have seen you coming up my private stairs, could +he?" + +"The person who drove off was myself, the carriage was mine. If +that is not seen every one will think I have left." + +Bonaparte breathed freer. + +"Well," said he, "let us hear how you have spent your day." + +"Oh! I haven't wasted my time, you may be sure." + +"Are we to have a decree or the Council?" + +"We drew it up to-day, and I have brought it to you--the rough +draft at least--so that you can see if you want anything added +or changed." + +"Let me see it," cried Bonaparte. Taking the paper hastily from +Lucien's hand, he read: + + Art. I. The legislative body is transferred to the commune of + Saint-Cloud; the two branches of the Council will hold their + sessions in the two wings of the palace. + +"That's the important article," said Lucien. "I had it placed +first, so that it might strike the people at once." + +"Yes, yes," exclaimed Bonaparte, and he continued: + + Art. II. They will assemble there to-morrow, the 20th Brumaire-- + +"No, no," said Bonaparte, "to-morrow the 19th. Change the date, +Bourrienne;" and he handed the paper to his secretary. + +"You expect to be ready for the 18th?" + +"I shall be. Fouché said day before yesterday, 'Make haste, or +I won't answer for the result.'" + +"The 19th Brumaire," said Bourrienne, returning the paper to the +general. + +Bonaparte resumed: + + Art. II. They will assemble there to-morrow, the 19th Brumaire, + at noon. All deliberations are forbidden elsewhere and before + the above date. + +Bonaparte read the article a second time. + +"Good," said he; "there is no double meaning there." And he +continued: + + Art. III. General Bonaparte is charged with the enforcement of + this decree; he will take all necessary measures for the safety + of the National Legislature. + +A satirical smile flickered on the stony lips of the reader, but +he continued almost immediately. + + The general commanding the 17th military division, the guard of + the Legislature, the stationary national guard the troops of the + line within the boundaries of the Commune of Paris, and those in + the constitutional arrondissement, and throughout the limits of + the said 17th division, are placed directly under his orders, and + are directed to regard him as their commanding officer. + +"Bourrienne, add: 'All citizens will lend him assistance when +called upon.' The bourgeois love to meddle in political matters, +and when they really can help us in our projects we ought to +grant them this satisfaction." + +Bourrienne obeyed; then he returned the paper to the general, +who went on: + + Art. IV. General Bonaparte is summoned before the Council to + receive a copy of the present decree, and to make oath thereto. + He will consult with the inspecting commissioners of both + branches of the Council. + + Art. V. The present decree shall be transmitted immediate, by + messenger, to all the members of the Council of Five Hundred + and to the Executive Directory. It shall be printed and posted, + and promulgated throughout the communes of the Republic by + special messengers. + + Done at Paris this.... + +"The date is left blank," said Lucien. + +"Put 'the 18th Brumaire,' Bourrienne; the decree must take everybody +by surprise. It must be issued at seven o'clock in the morning, +and at the same hour or even earlier it must be posted on all +the walls of Paris." + +"But suppose the Ancients won't consent to issue it?" said Lucien. + +"All the more reason to have it posted, ninny," said Bonaparte. +"We must act as if it had been issued." + +"Am I to correct this grammatical error in the last paragraph?" +asked Bourrienne, laughing. + +"Where?" demanded Lucien, in the tone of an aggrieved author. + +"The word 'immediate,'" replied Bourrienne. "You can't say +'transmitted immediate'; it ought to be 'immediately.'" + +"It's not worth while," said Bonaparte. "I shall act, you may +be sure, as if it were 'immediately.'" Then, after an instant's +reflection, he added: "As to what you said just now about their +not being willing to pass it, there's a very simple way to get +it passed." + +"What is that." + +"To convoke the members of whom we are sure at six o'clock in +the morning, and those of whom we are not sure at eight. Having +only our own men, it will be devilishly hard to lose the majority." + +"But six o'clock for some, and eight for the others--" objected +Lucien. + +"Employ two secretaries; one of them can make a mistake." Then +turning to Lucien, he said: "Write this." + +And walking up and down, he dictated without hesitating, like +a man who has long thought over and carefully prepared what he +dictates; stopping occasionally beside Bourrienne to see if the +secretary's pen were following his every word: + + CITIZENS--The Council of the Ancients, the trustee of the nation's + wisdom, has issued the subjoined decree: it is authorized by + articles 102 and 103 of the Constitution. + + This decree enjoins me to take measures for the safety of the + National Legislature, and its necessary and momentary removal. + +Bourrienne looked at Bonaparte; _instantaneous_ was the +word the latter had intended to use, but as the general did not +correct himself, Bourrienne left _momentary_. + +Bonaparte continued to dictate: + + The Legislature will find means to avoid the imminent danger into + which the disorganization of all parts of the administration has + brought us. + + But it needs, at this crisis, the united support and confidence of + patriots. Rally around it; it offers the only means of establishing + the Republic on the bases of civil liberty, internal prosperity, + victory and peace. + +Bonaparte perused this proclamation, and nodded his head in sign +of approval. Then he looked at his watch. + +"Eleven o'clock," he said; "there is still time." + +Then, seating himself in Bourrienne's chair, he wrote a few words +in the form of a note, sealed it, and wrote the address: "To +the Citizen Barras." + +"Roland," said he, when he had finished, "take a horse out of +the stable, or a carriage in the street, and go to Barras' house. +I have asked him for an interview tomorrow at midnight. I want +an answer." + +Roland left the room. A moment later the gallop of a horse resounded +through the courtyard, disappearing in the direction of the Rue +du Mont-Blanc. + +"Now, Bourrienne," said Bonaparte, after listening to the sound, +"to-morrow at midnight, whether I am in the house or not, you +will take my carriage and go in my stead to Barras." + +"In your stead, general?" + +"Yes. He will do nothing all day, expecting me to accept him +on my side at night. At midnight you will go to him, and say +that I have such a bad headache I have had to go to bed, but +that I will be with him at seven o'clock in the morning without +fail. He will believe you, or he won't believe you; but at any +rate it will be too late for him to act against us. By seven in +the morning I shall have ten thousand men under my command." + +"Very good, general. Have you any other orders for me?" + +"No, not this evening," replied Bonaparte. "Be here early to-morrow." + +"And I?" asked Lucien. + +"See Sièyes; he has the Ancients in the hollow of his hand. Make +all your arrangements with him. I don't wish him to be seen here, +nor to be seen myself at his house. If by any chance we fail, +he is a man to repudiate. After tomorrow I wish to be master +of my own actions, and to have no ties with any one." + +"Do you think you will need me to-morrow?" + +"Come back at night and report what happens." + +"Are you going back to the salon?" + +"No. I shall wait for Josephine in her own room. Bourrienne, +tell her, as you pass through, to get rid of the people as soon +as possible." + +Then, saluting Bourrienne and his brother with a wave of the +hand, he left his study by a private corridor, and went to +Josephine's room. There, lighted by a single alabaster lamp, +which made the conspirator's brow seem paler than ever, Bonaparte +listened to the noise of the carriages, as one after the other +they rolled away. At last the sounds ceased, and five minutes +later the door opened to admit Josephine. + +She was alone, and held a double-branched candlestick in her +hand. Her face, lighted by the double flame, expressed the keenest +anxiety. + +"Well," Bonaparte inquired, "what ails you?" + +"I am afraid!" said Josephine. + +"Of what? Those fools of the Directory, or the lawyers of the +two Councils? Come, come! I have Sièyes with me in the Ancients, +and Lucien in the Five Hundred." + +"Then all goes well?" + +"Wonderfully so!" + +"You sent me word that you were waiting for me here, and I feared +you had some bad news to tell me." + +"Pooh! If I had bad news, do you think I would tell you?" + +"How reassuring that is!" + +"Well, don't be uneasy, for I have nothing but good news. Only, +I have given you a part in the conspiracy." + +"What is it?" + +"Sit down and write to Gohier." + +"That we won't dine with him?" + +"On the contrary, ask him to come and breakfast with us. Between +those who like each other as we do there can't be too much +intercourse." + +Josephine sat down at a little rosewood writing desk "Dictate," +said she; "I will write." + +"Goodness! for them to recognize my style! Nonsense; you know +better than I how to write one of those charming notes there +is no resisting." + +Josephine smiled at the compliment, turned her forehead to Bonaparte, +who kissed it lovingly, and wrote the following note, which we +have copied from the original: + + To the Citizen Gohier, President of the Executive Directory of the + French Republic-- + +"Is that right?" she asked. + +"Perfectly! As he won't wear this title of President much longer, +we won't cavil at it." + +"Don't you mean to make him something?" + +"I'll make him anything he pleases, if he does exactly what I +want. Now go on, my dear." + +Josephine picked up her pen again and wrote: + + Come, my dear Gohier, with your wife, and breakfast with us + to-morrow at eight o'clock. Don't fail, for I have some very + interesting things to tell you. + + Adieu, my dear Gohier! With the sincerest friendship, + Yours, LA PAGERIE-BONAPARTE. + +"I wrote to-morrow," exclaimed Josephine. "Shall I date it the +17th Brumaire?" + +"You won't be wrong," said Bonaparte; "there's midnight striking." + +In fact, another day had fallen into the gulf of time; the clock +chimed twelve. Bonaparte listened gravely and dreamily. Twenty-four +hours only separated him from the solemn day for which he had +been scheming for a month, and of which he had dreamed for years. + +Let us do now what he would so gladly have done, and spring over +those twenty-four hours intervening to the day which history +has not yet judged, and see what happened in various parts of +Paris, where the events we are about to relate produced an +overwhelming sensation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +ALEA JACTA EST + +At seven in the morning, Fouché, minister of police, entered the +bedroom of Gohier, president of the Directory. + +"Oh, ho!" said Gohier, when he saw him. "What has happened now, +monsieur le ministre, to give me the pleasure of seeing you so +early?" + +"Don't you know about the decree?" asked Fouché. + +"What decree?" asked honest Gohier. + +"The decree of the Council of the Ancients." + +"When was it issued?" + +"Last night." + +"So the Council of the Ancients assembles at night now?" + +"When matters are urgent, yes." + +"And what does the decree say." + +"It transfers the legislative sessions to Saint-Cloud." + +Gohier felt the blow. He realized the advantage which Bonaparte's +daring genius might obtain by this isolation. + +"And since when," he asked Fouché, "is the minister of police +transformed into a messenger of the Council of the Ancients?" + +"That's where you are mistaken, citizen president," replied the +ex-Conventional. "I am more than ever minister of police this +morning, for I have come to inform you of an act which may have +the most serious consequences." + +Not being as yet sure of how the conspiracy of the Rue de la +Victoire would turn out, Fouché was not averse to keeping open +a door for retreat at the Luxembourg. But Gohier, honest as he +was, knew the man too well to be his dupe. + +"You should have informed me of this decree yesterday, and not +this morning; for in making the communication now you are scarcely +in advance of the official communication I shall probably receive +in a few moments." + +As he spoke, an usher opened the door and informed the president +that a messenger from the Inspectors of the Council of the Ancients +was there, and asked to make him a communication. + +"Let him come in," said Gohier. + +The messenger entered and handed the president a letter. He broke +the seal hastily and read: + + CITIZEN PRESIDENT--The Inspecting Commission hasten to inform + you of a decree removing the residence of the legislative body + to Saint-Cloud. + + The decree will be forwarded to you; but measures for public + safety are at present occupying our attention. + + We invite you to meet the Commission of the Ancients. You will + find Sièyes and Ducos already there. + + Fraternal greetings + BARILLON, + FARGUES, + CORNET, + +"Very good," said Gohier, dismissing the messenger with a wave +of his hand. + +The messenger went out. Gohier turned to Fouché. + +"Ah!" said he, "the plot is well laid; they inform me of the +decree, but they do not send it to me. Happily you are here to +tell me the terms of it." + +"But," said Fouché, "I don't know them." + +"What! do you the minister of police, mean to tell me that you +know nothing about this extraordinary session of the Council +of the Ancients, when it has been put on record by a decree?" + +"Of course I knew it took place, but I was unable to be present." + +"And you had no secretary, no amanuensis to send, who could give +you an account, word for word, of this session, when in all +probability this session will dispose of the fate of France! Ah, +citizen Fouché, you are either a very deep, or a very shallow +minister of police!" + +"Have you any orders to give me, citizen president?" asked Fouché. + +"None, citizen minister," replied the president. "If the Directory +judges it advisable to issue any orders, it will be to men whom +it esteems worthy of its confidence. You may return to those +who sent you," he added, turning his back upon the minister. + +Fouché went, and Gohier immediately rang his bell. An usher entered. + +"Go to Barras, Sièyes, Ducos, and Moulins, and request them to +come to me at once. Ah! And at the same time ask Madame Gohier +to come into my study, and to bring with her Madame Bonaparte's +letter inviting us to breakfast with her." + +Five minutes later Madame Gohier entered, fully dressed, with the +note in her hand. The invitation was for eight o'clock. It was +then half-past seven, and it would take at least twenty minutes +to drive from the Luxembourg to the Rue de la Victoire. + +"Here it is, my dear," said Madame Gohier, handing the letter +to her husband. "It says eight o'clock." + +"Yes," replied Gohier, "I was not in doubt about the hour, but +about the day." + +Taking the note from his wife's hand, he read it over: + + Come, my dear Gohier, with your wife, and breakfast with me + to-morrow at eight o'clock. Don't fail, for I have some very + interesting things to tell you. + +"Ah," said Gohier, "there can be no mistake." + +"Well, my dear, are we going?" asked Madame Gohier. + +"You are, but not I. An event has just happened about which the +citizen Bonaparte is probably well-informed, which will detain +my colleagues and myself at the Luxembourg." + +"A serious event?" + +"Possibly." + +"Then I shall stay with you." + +"No, indeed; you would not be of any service here. Go to Madame +Bonaparte's. I may be mistaken, but, should anything extraordinary +happen, which appears to you alarming, send me word some way or +other. Anything will do; I shall understand half a word." + +"Very good, my dear; I will go. The hope of being useful to you +is sufficient." + +"Do go!" + +Just then the usher entered, and said: + +"General Moulins is at my heels; citizen Barras is in his bath, +and will soon be here; citizens Sièyes and Ducos went out at +five o'clock this morning, and have not yet returned." + +"They are the two traitors!" said Gohier; "Barras is only their +dupe." Then kissing his wife, he added: "Now, go." + +As she turned round, Madame Gohier came face to face with General +Moulins. He, for his character was naturally impetuous, seemed +furious. + +"Pardon me, citizeness," he said. Then, rushing into Gohier's +study, he cried: "Do you know what has happened, president?" + +"No, but I have my suspicions." + +"The legislative body has been transferred to Saint-Cloud; the +execution of the decree has been intrusted to General Bonaparte, +and the troops are placed under his orders." + +"Ha! The cat's out of the bag!" exclaimed Gohier. + +"Well, we must combine, and fight them." + +"Have you heard that Sièyes and Ducos are not in the palace?" + +"By Heavens! they are at the Tuileries! But Barras is in his +bath; let us go to Barras. The Directory can issue decrees if +there is a majority. We are three, and, I repeat it, we must +make a struggle!" + +"Then let us send word to Barras to come to us as soon as he is +out of his bath." + +"No; let us go to him before he leaves it." + +The two Directors left the room, and hurried toward Barras' +apartment. They found him actually in his bath, but they insisted +on entering. + +"Well?" asked Barras as soon as he saw them. + +"Have you heard?" + +"Absolutely nothing." + +They told him what they themselves knew. + +"Ah!" cried Barras, "that explains everything." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Yes, that is why he didn't come last night." + +"Who?" + +"Why, Bonaparte." + +"Did you expect him last evening?" + +"He sent me word by one of his aides-de-camp that he would call +on me at eleven o'clock last evening." + +"And he didn't come?" + +"No. He sent Bourrienne in his carriage to tell me that a violent +headache had obliged him to go to bed; but that he would be here +early this morning." + +The Directors looked at each other. + +"The whole thing is plain," said they. + +"I have sent Bollot, my secretary, a very intelligent fellow, +to find out what he can," continued Barras. + +He rang and a servant entered. + +"As soon as citizen Bollot returns," said Barras, "ask him to +come here." + +"He is just getting out of his carriage." + +"Send him up! Send him up!" + +But Bollot was already at the door. + +"Well?" cried the three Directors. + +"Well, General Bonaparte, in full uniform, accompanied by Generals +Beurnonville, Macdonald and Moreau, are on their way to the +Tuileries, where ten thousand troops are awaiting them." + +"Moreau! Moreau with him!" exclaimed Gohier. + +"On his right!" + +"I always told you that Moreau was a sneak, and nothing else!" +cried Moulins, with military roughness. + +"Are you still determined to resist, Barras?" asked Gohier. + +"Yes," replied Barras. + +"Then dress yourself and join us in the council-room." + +"Go," said Barras, "I follow you." + +The two Directors hastened to the council-room. After waiting +ten minutes Moulins said: "We should have waited for Barras; +if Moreau is a sneak, Barras is a knave." + +Two hours later they were still waiting for Barras. + +Talleyrand and Bruix had been admitted to Barras' bathroom just +after Gohier and Moulins had left it, and in talking with them +Barras forgot his appointment. + + +We will now see what was happening in the Rue de la Victoire. + +At seven o'clock, contrary to his usual custom, Bonaparte was +up and waiting in full uniform in his bedroom. Roland entered. +Bonaparte was perfectly calm; they were on the eve of a battle. + +"Has no one come yet, Roland?" he asked. + +"No, general," replied the young man, "but I heard the roll of +a carriage just now." + +"So did I," replied Bonaparte. + +At that minute a servant announced: "The citizen Joseph Bonaparte, +and the citizen General Bernadotte." + +Roland questioned Bonaparte with a glance; was he to go or stay? +He was to stay. Roland took his stand at the corner of a bookcase +like a sentinel at his post. + +"Ah, ha!" exclaimed Bonaparte, seeing that Bernadotte was still +attired in civilian's clothes, "you seem to have a positive horror +of the uniform, general!" + +"Why the devil should I be in uniform at seven in the morning," +asked Bernadotte, "when I am not in active service?" + +"You will be soon." + +"But I am retired." + +"Yes, but I recall you to active service." + +"You?" + +"Yes, I." + +"In the name of the Directory?" + +"Is there still a Directory?" + +"Still a Directory? What do you mean?" + +"Didn't you see the troops drawn up in the streets leading to +the Tuileries as you came here?" + +"I saw them, and I was surprised." + +"Those soldiers are mine." + +"Excuse me," said Bernadotte; "I thought they belonged to France." + +"Oh, to France or to me; is it not all one?" + +"I was not aware of that," replied Bernadotte, coldly. + +"Though you doubt it now, you will be certain of it tonight. Come, +Bernadotte, this is the vital moment; decide!" + +"General," replied Bernadotte, "I am fortunate enough to be at +this moment a simple citizen; let me remain a simple citizen." + +"Bernadotte, take care! He that is not for me is against me." + +"General, pay attention to your words! You said just now, 'Take +care.' If that is a threat, you know very well that I do not +fear them." + +Bonaparte came up to him, and took him by both hands. + +"Oh, yes, I know that; that is why I must have you with me. I +not only esteem you, Bernadotte, but I love you. I leave you +with Joseph; he is your brother-in-law. Between brothers, devil +take it, there should be no quarrelling." + +"Where are you going?" + +"In your character of Spartan you are a rigid observer of the +laws, are you not? Well, here is a decree issued by the Council +of Five Hundred last night, which confers upon me the immediate +command of the troops in Paris. So I was right," he added, "when +I told you that the soldiers you met were mine, inasmuch as they +are under my orders." + +And he placed in Bernadotte's hands the copy of the decree which +had been sent to him at six o'clock that morning. Bernadotte +read it through from the first line to the last. + +"To this," said he, "I have nothing to object. Secure the safety +of the National Legislature, and all good citizens will be with +you." + +"Then be with me now." + +"Permit me, general, to wait twenty-four hours to see how you +fulfil that mandate." + +"Devil of a man!" cried Bonaparte. "Have your own way." Then, +taking him by the arm, he dragged him a few steps apart from +Joseph, and continued, "Bernadotte, I want to play above-board +with you." + +"Why so," retorted the latter, "since I am not on your side?" + +"Never mind. You are watching the game, and I want the lookers-on +to see that I am not cheating." + +"Do you bind me to secrecy?" + +"No." + +"That is well, for in that case I should have refused to listen +to your confidences." + +"Oh! my confidences are not long! Your Directory is detested, +your Constitution is worn-out; you must make a clean sweep of +both, and turn the government in another direction. You don't +answer me." + +"I am waiting to hear what you have to say." + +"All I have to say is, Go put on your uniform. I can't wait any +longer for you. Join me at the Tuileries among our comrades." + +Bernadotte shook his head. + +"You think you can count on Moreau, Beurnonville, and Lefebvre," +resumed Bonaparte. "Just look out of that window. Who do you see +there, and there? Moreau and Beurnonville. As for Lefebvre, I +do not see him, but I am certain I shall not go a hundred steps +before meeting him. Now will you decide?" + +"General," replied Bernadotte, "I am not a man to be swayed by +example, least of all when that example is bad. Moreau, Beurnonville, +and Lefebvre may do as they wish. I shall do as I ought!" + +"So you definitively refuse to accompany me to the Tuileries?" + +"I do not wish to take part in a rebellion." + +"A rebellion! A rebellion! Against whom? Against a parcel of +imbeciles who are pettifogging from morning till night in their +hovels." + +"These imbeciles, general, are for the moment the representatives +of the law. The Constitution protects them; they are sacred to +me." + +"At least promise me one thing, iron rod that you are." + +"What is it?" + +"To keep quiet." + +"I will keep quiet as a citizen, but--" + +"But what? Come, I made a clean breast of it to you; do you do +likewise." + +"But if the Directory orders me to act, I shall march against +the agitators, whoever they may be." + +"Ah! So you think I am ambitious?" asked Bonaparte. + +"I suspect as much," retorted Bernadotte, smiling. + +"Faith," said Bonaparte, "you don't know me. I have had enough of +politics, and what I want is peace. Ah, my dear fellow! Malmaison +and fifty thousand a year, and I'd willingly resign all the rest. +You don't believe me. Well, I invite you to come and see me there, +three months hence, and if you like pastorals, we'll do one together. +Now, au revoir! I leave you with Joseph, and, in spite of your +refusal, I shall expect you at the Tuileries. Hark! Our friends +are becoming impatient." + +They were shouting: "Vive Bonaparte!" + +Bernadotte paled slightly. Bonaparte noticed this pallor. + +"Ah, ha," he muttered. "Jealous! I was mistaken; he is not a Spartan, +he is an Athenian!" + +As Bonaparte had said, his friends were growing impatient. During +the hour that had elapsed since the decree had been posted, the +salon, the anterooms, and the courtyard had been crowded. The +first person Bonaparte met at the head of the staircase was his +compatriot, Colonel Sebastiani, then commanding the 9th Dragoons. + +"Ah! is that you, Sebastiani?" said Bonaparte. "Where are your +men?" + +"In line along the Rue de la Victoire, general." + +"Well disposed?" + +"Enthusiastic! I distributed among them ten thousand cartridges +which I had in store." + +"Yes; but you had no right to draw those cartridges out without +an order from the commandant of Paris. Do you know that you have +burned your vessels, Sebastiani?" + +"Then take me into yours, general. I have faith in your fortunes." + +"You mistake me for Cæsar, Sebastiani!" + +"Faith! I might make worse mistakes. Besides, down below in the +courtyard there are forty officers or more, of all classes, without +pay, whom the Directory has left in the most complete destitution +for the last year. You are their only hope, general; they are +ready to die for you." + +"That's right. Go to your regiment, and take leave of it." + +"Take leave of it? What do you mean, general?" + +"I exchange it for a brigade. Go, go!" + +Sebastiani did not wait to be told twice. Bonaparte continued +his way. At the foot of the stairs he met Lefebvre. + +"Here I am, general!" said Lefebvre. + +"You? And where is the 17th military division?" + +"I am waiting for my appointment to bring it into action." + +"Haven't you received your appointment?" + +"From the Directory, yes. But as I am not a traitor, I have just +sent in my resignation, so that they may know I am not to be +counted on." + +"And you have come for me to appoint you, so that I may count +on you, is that it?" + +"Exactly." + +"Quick, Roland, a blank commission; fill in the general's name, +so that I shall only have to put my name to it. I'll sign it +on the pommel of my saddle." + +"That's the true sort," said Lefebvre. + +"Roland." + +The young man, who had already started obediently, came back to +the general. + +"Fetch me that pair of double-barrelled pistols on my mantel-piece +at the same time," said Bonaparte, in a low tone. "One never +knows what may happen." + +"Yes, general," said Roland; "besides, I shan't leave you." + +"Unless I send you to be killed elsewhere." + +"True," replied the young man, hastening away to fulfil his double +errand. + +Bonaparte was continuing on his way when he noticed a shadow in +the corridor. He recognized Josephine, and ran to her. + +"Good God!" cried she, "is there so much danger?" + +"What makes you think that?" + +"I overheard the order you gave Roland." + +"Serves you right for listening at doors. How about Gohier?" + +"He hasn't come." + +"Nor his wife?" + +"She is here." + +Bonaparte pushed Josephine aside with his hand and entered the +salon. He found Madame Gohier alone and very pale. + +"What!" said he, without any preamble, "isn't the President coming?" + +"He was unable to do so, general," replied Madame Gohier. + +Bonaparte repressed a movement of impatience. "He absolutely +must come," said he. "Write him that I await him, and I will +have the note sent." + +"Thank you, general," replied Madame Gohier; "my servants are +here, and they can attend to that." + +"Write, my dear friend, write," said Josephine, offering her paper +and pen and ink. + +Bonaparte stood so that he could see over her shoulder what she +wrote. Madame Gohier looked fixedly at him, and he drew back +with a bow. She wrote the note, folded it, and looked about her +for the sealing-wax; but, whether by accident or intention, there +was none. Sealing the note with a wafer, she rang the bell. A +servant came. + +"Give this note to Comtois," said Madame Gohier, "and bid him +take it to the Luxembourg at once." + +Bonaparte followed the servant, or rather the letter, with his +eyes until the door closed. Then, turning to Madame Gohier, he +said: "I regret that I am unable to breakfast with you. But if +the President has business to attend to, so have I. You must +breakfast with my wife. Good appetite to you both." + +And he went out. At the door he met Roland. + +"Here is the commission, general," said the young man, "and a pen." + +Bonaparte took the pen, and using the back of his aide-de-camp's +hat, he signed the commission. Roland gave him the pistols. + +"Did you look; to them?" asked Bonaparte. + +Roland smiled. "Don't be uneasy," said he; "I'll answer for them." + +Bonaparte slipped the pistols in his belt, murmuring as he did +so: "I wish I knew what she wrote her husband." + +"I can tell you, word for word, what she wrote, general," said +a voice close by. + +"You, Bourrienne?" + +"Yes. She wrote: 'You did right not to come, my dear; all that +is happening here convinces me that the invitation was only a +snare. I will rejoin you shortly.'" + +"You unsealed the letter?" + +"General, Sextus Pompey gave a dinner on his galley to Antony +and Lepidus. His freedman said to him: 'Shall I make you emperor +of the world?' 'How can you do it?' 'Easily. I will cut the cable +of your galley, and Antony and Lepidus are prisoners.' 'You should +have done so without telling me,' replied Sextus. 'Now I charge +you on your life not to do it.' I remembered those words, general: +'_You should have done so without telling me_.'" + +Bonaparte thought an instant; then he said: "You are mistaken; +it was Octavius and not Antony who was on Sextus' galley with +Lepidus." And he went on his way to the courtyard, confining +his blame to the historical blunder. + +Hardly had the general appeared on the portico than cries of +"Vive Bonaparte!" echoed through the courtyard into the street, +where they were taken up by the dragoons drawn up in line before +the gate. + +"That's a good omen, general," said Roland. + +"Yes. Give Lefebvre his commission at once; and if he has no +horse, let him take one of mine. Tell him to meet me in the court +of the Tuileries." + +"His division is already there." + +"All the more reason." + +Glancing about him, Bonaparte saw Moreau and Beurnonville, who +were waiting for him, their horses held by orderlies. He saluted +them with a wave of his hand, already that of a master rather +than that of a comrade. Then, perceiving General Debel out of +uniform, he went down the steps and approached him. + +"Why are you in civilian's dress?" he asked. + +"General, I was not notified. I chanced to be passing along the +street, and, seeing the crowd before your house, I came in, fearing +you might be in danger." + +"Go and put on your uniform quickly." + +"But I live the other side of Paris; it would take too long." +But, nevertheless, he made as if to retire. + +"What are you going to do?" + +"Don't be alarmed, general." + +Debel had noticed an artilleryman on horseback who was about his size. + +"Friend," said he, "I am General Debel. By order of General Bonaparte +lend me your uniform and your horse, and I'll give you furlough +for the day. Here's a louis to drink the health of the commander- +in-chief. To-morrow, come to my house for your horse and uniform. +I live in the Rue Cherche-Midi, No. 11." + +"Will nothing be done to me?" + +"Yes, you shall be made a corporal." + +"Good!" said the artilleryman; and he quickly handed over his +uniform and horse to General Debel. + +In the meantime, Bonaparte heard talking above him. He raised +his head and saw Joseph and Bernadotte at a window. + +"Once more, general," he said to Bernadotte, "will you come with me?" + +"No," said the latter, firmly. Then, lowering his tone, he continued: +"You told me just now to take care." + +Yes." + +"Well, I say to you, take care." + +"Of what?" + +"You are going to the Tuileries?" + +"Of course." + +"The Tuileries are very near the Place de la Révolution." + +"Pooh!" retorted Bonaparte, "the guillotine has been moved to +the Barrière du Trône." + +"Never mind. The brewer Santerre still controls the Faubourg +Saint-Antoine, and Santerre is Moulins' friend." + +"Santerre has been warned that at the first inimical movement +he attempts I will have him shot. Will you come?" + +"No." + +"As you please. You are separating your fortunes from mine; I +do not separate mine from yours." Then, calling to his orderly, +he said: "My horse!" + +They brought his horse. Seeing an artillery private near him, +he said: "What are you doing among the epaulets?" + +The artilleryman began to laugh. + +"Don't you recognize me, general?" he asked. + +"Faith, it's Debel! Where did you get that horse and the uniform?" + +"From that artilleryman you see standing there in his shirt. It +will cost you a corporal's commission." + +"You are wrong, Debel," said Bonaparte; "it will cost me two +commissions, one for the corporal, and one for the general of +division. Forward, march, gentlemen! We are going to the Tuileries." + +And, bending forward on his horse, as he usually did, his left +hand holding a slack rein, his right resting on his hip, with +bent head and dreamy eyes, he made his first steps along that +incline, at once glorious and fatal, which was to lead him to +a throne--and to St. Helena. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE + +On entering the Rue de la Victoire, Bonaparte found Sebastiani's +dragoons drawn up in line of battle. He wished to address them, +but they interrupted him at the first words, shouting: "We want no +explanations. We know that you seek only the good of the Republic. +Vive Bonaparte!" + +The cortège followed the streets which led from the Rue de la +Victoire to the Tuileries, amid the cries of "Vive Bonaparte!" + +General Lefebvre, according to promise, was waiting at the palace +gates. Bonaparte, on his arrival at the Tuileries, was hailed with +the same cheers that had accompanied him. Once there, he raised +his head and shook it. Perhaps this cry of "Vive Bonaparte!" did +not satisfy him. Was he already dreaming of "Vive Napoleon?" + +He advanced in front of the troop, surrounded by his staff, and +read the decree of the Five Hundred, which transferred the sessions +of the Legislature to Saint-Cloud and gave him the command of +the armed forces. + +Then, either from memory, or offhand--Bonaparte never admitted any +one to such secrets--instead of the proclamation he had dictated +to Bourrienne two days earlier, he pronounced these words: + +"Soldiers--The Council of Ancients has given me the command of +the city and the army. + +"I have accepted it, to second the measures to be adopted for +the good of the people. + +"The Republic has been ill governed for two years. You have hoped +for my return to put an end to many evils. You celebrated it +with a unanimity which imposes obligations that I now fulfil. +Fulfil yours, and second your general with the vigor, firmness +and strength I have always found in you. + +"Liberty, victory, and peace will restore the French Republic +to the rank it occupied in Europe, which ineptitude and treason +alone caused her to lose!" + +The soldiers applauded frantically. It was a declaration of war +against the Directory, and soldiers will always applaud a declaration +of war. + +The general dismounted, amid shouts and bravos, and entered the +Tuileries. It was the second time he had crossed the threshold +of this palace of the Valois, whose arches had so ill-sheltered +the crown and head of the last Bourbon who had reigned there. +Beside him walked citizen Roederer. Bonaparte started as he +recognized him, and said: + +"Ah! citizen Roederer, you were here on the morning of August 10." + +"Yes, general," replied the future Count of the Empire. + +"It was you who advised Louis XVI. to go before the National +Assembly." + +"Yes." + +"Bad advice, citizen Roederer! I should not have followed it." + +"We advise men according to what we know of them. I would not +give General Bonaparte the same advice I gave King Louis XVI. +When a king has the fact of his flight to Varennes and the 20th +of June behind him, it is difficult to save him." + +As Roederer said these words, they reached a window opening on +the garden of the Tuileries. Bonaparte stopped, and, seizing +Roederer by the arm, he said: "On the 20th of June I was there," +pointing with his finger to the terrace by the water, "behind +the third linden. Through the open window I could see the poor +king, with the red cap on his head. It was a piteous sight; I +pitied him." + +"What did you do?" + +"Nothing, I could do nothing; I was only a lieutenant of artillery. +But I longed to go in like the others, and whisper: 'Sire, give +me four cannon, and I'll sweep the whole rabble out.'" + +What would have happened if Lieutenant Bonaparte had followed his +impulse, obtained what he wanted from Louis XVI., and _swept +the rabble out_, that is to say the people of Paris? Had his +cannon made a clean sweep on June 20th, would he have had to make +another the 13th Vendemiaire for the benefit of the Convention? + +While the ex-Syndic; who had grown grave, was outlining in his +mind the opening pages of his future "History of the Consulate," +Bonaparte presented himself at the bar of the Council of the +Ancients, followed by his staff, and by all those who chose to +do likewise. When the tumult caused by this influx of people +had subsided, the president read over the decree which invested +Bonaparte with the military power. Then, after requesting him +to take the oath, the president added: + +"He who has never promised his country a victory which he did +not win, cannot fail to keep religiously his new promise to serve +her faithfully." + +Bonaparte stretched forth his hand and said solemnly: + +"I swear it!" + +All the generals repeated after him, each for himself: + +"I swear it!" + +The last one had scarcely finished, when Bonaparte recognized +Barras' secretary, that same Bollot of whom Barras had spoken +that morning to his two colleagues. He had come there solely to +give his patron an account of all that was happening there, but +Bonaparte fancied he was sent on some secret mission by Barras. +He resolved to spare him the first advance, and went straight +to him, saying: + +"Have you come on behalf of the Directors?" Then, without giving +him time to answer, he continued: "What have they done with that +France I left so brilliant? I left peace; I find war. I left +victories; I find reverses. I left the millions of Italy, and +I find spoliation and penury. What have become of the hundred +thousand Frenchmen whom I knew by name? They are dead!" + +It was not precisely to Barras' secretary that these words should +have been said; but Bonaparte wished to say them, needed to say +them, and little he cared to whom he said them. Perhaps even, +from his point of view, it was better to say them to some one +who could not answer him. At that moment Sièyes rose. + +"Citizens," said he, "the Directors Moulins and Gohier ask to +be admitted." + +"They are no longer Directors," said Bonaparte, "for there is +no longer a Directory." + +"But," objected Sièyes, "they have not yet sent in their +resignation." + +"Then admit them and let them give it," retorted Bonaparte. + +Moulins and Gohier entered. They were pale but calm. They knew +they came to force a struggle, but behind their resistance may +have loomed the Sinnamary. The exiles they sent there the 18th +of Fructidor pointed the way. + +"I see with satisfaction," Bonaparte hastened to say, "that you +have yielded to our wishes and those of your two colleagues." + +Gohier made a step forward and said firmly: "We yield neither +to your wishes, nor to those of our two colleagues, who are no +longer our colleagues, since they have resigned, but to the Law. +It requires that the decree transferring the legislative body to +Saint-Cloud shall be proclaimed without delay. We have come here +to fulfil the duty which the law imposes on us, fully determined +to defend it against all factious persons, whoever they may be, +who attempt to attack it." + +"Your zeal does not astonish us," replied Bonaparte; "and because +you are a man who loves his country you will unite with us." + +"Unite with you! And why?" + +"To save the Republic." + +"To save the Republic! There was a time, general, when you had +the honor to be its prop. But to-day the glory of saving it is +reserved for us." + +"You save it!" retorted Bonaparte. "How will you do that? With +the means your Constitution gives you? Why, that Constitution +is crumbling on all sides, and even if I did not topple it over, +it could not last eight days." + +"Ah!" cried Moulins, "at last you avow your hostile intentions." + +"My intentions are not hostile!" shouted Bonaparte, striking +the floor with the heel of his boot. "The Republic is in peril; +it must be saved, and I shall do it." + +"You do it?" cried Gohier. "It seems to me it is for the Directory, +not you, to say, 'I shall do it!'" + +"There is no longer a Directory." + +"I did indeed hear that you said so just a moment before we came in." + +"There is no longer a Directory, now that Sièyes and Ducos have +resigned." + +"You are mistaken. So long as there are three Directors, the +Directory still exists. Neither Moulins, Barras nor myself, have +handed in our resignations." + +At that moment a paper was slipped in Bonaparte's hand, and a +voice said in his ear: "Read it." He did so; then said aloud: +"You, yourself, are mistaken. Barras has resigned, for here is his +resignation. The law requires three Directors to make a Directory. +You are but two, and, as you said just now, whoever resists the +law is a rebel." Then handing the paper to the president, he +continued: "Add the citizen Barras' resignation to that of citizens +Sièyes and Ducos, and proclaim the fall of the Directory. I will +announce it to my soldiers." + +Moulins and Gohier were confounded. Barras' resignation sapped +the foundations of all their plans. Bonaparte had nothing further +to do at the Council of Ancients, but there still remained much +to be done in the court of the Tuileries. He went down, followed +by those who had accompanied him up. His soldiers no sooner caught +sight, of him than they burst into shouts of "Vive Bonaparte!" more +noisily and more eagerly than ever. He sprang into his saddle and +made them a sign that he wished to speak to them. Ten thousand +voices that had burst into cries were hushed in a moment. Silence +fell as if by enchantment. + +"Soldiers," said Bonaparte, in a voice so loud that all could +hear it, "your comrades in arms on the frontiers are denuded of +the necessaries of life. The people are miserable. The authors +of these evils are the factious men against whom I have assembled +you to-day. I hope before long to lead you to victory; but first +we must deprive those who would stand in the way of public order +and general prosperity of their power to do harm." + +Whether it was weariness of the government of the Directory, or +the fascination exercised by the magic being who called them to +victory--so long forgotten in his absence--shouts of enthusiasm +arose, and like a train of burning powder spread from the Tuileries +to the Carrousel, from the Carrousel to the adjacent streets. +Bonaparte profited by this movement. Turning to Moreau, he said: + +"General, I will give you proof of the immense confidence I have +in you. Bernadotte, whom I left at my house, and who refused to +follow us, had the audacity to tell me that if he received orders +from the Directory he should execute them against whosoever the +agitators might be. General, I confide to you the guardianship +of the Luxembourg. The tranquillity of Paris and the welfare of +the Republic are in your hands." + +And without waiting for a reply he put his horse to a gallop, +and rode off to the opposite end of the line. + +Moreau, led by military ambition, had consented to play a part +in this great drama; he was now forced to accept that which the +author assigned him. On returning to the Louvre, Gohier and Moulins +found nothing changed apparently. All the sentries were at their +posts. They retired to one of the salons of the presidency to +consult together. But they had scarcely begun their conference, +when General Jubé, the commandant of the Luxembourg, received +orders to join Bonaparte at the Tuileries with the guard of the +Directory. Their places were filled by Moreau and a portion of +the soldiers who had been electrified by Bonaparte. Nevertheless +the two Directors drew up a message for the Council of the Five +Hundred, in which they protested energetically against what had +been done. When this was finished Gohier handed it to his secretary, +and Moulins, half dead with exhaustion, returned to his apartments +to take some food. + +It was then about four o'clock in the afternoon. An instant later +Gohier's secretary returned in great perturbation. + +"Well," said Gohier, "why have you not gone?" + +"Citizen president," replied the young man, "we are prisoners +in the palace." + +"Prisoners? What do you mean?" + +"The guard has been changed, and General Jubé is no longer in +command." + +"Who has replaced him?" + +"I think some one said General Moreau." + +"Moreau? Impossible! And that coward, Barras, where is he?" + +"He has started for his country-place at Grosbois." + +"Ah! I must see Moulins!" cried Gohier, rushing to the door. But +at the entrance he found a sentry who barred the door. Gohier +insisted. + +"No one can pass," said the sentry. + +"What! not pass?" + +"No." + +"But I am President Gohier!" + +"No one can pass," said the sentry; "that is the order." + +Gohier saw it would be useless to say more; force would be +impossible. He returned to his own rooms. + +In the meantime, General Moreau had gone to see Moulins; he wished +to justify himself. Without listening to a word the ex-Director +turned his back on him, and, as Moreau insisted, he said: "General, +go into the ante-chamber. That is the place for jailers." + +Moreau bowed his head, and understood for the first time into +what a fatal trap his honor had fallen. + +At five o'clock, Bonaparte started to return to the Rue de la +Victoire; all the generals and superior officers in Paris accompanied +him. The blindest, those who had not understood the 13th Vendemiaire, +those who had not yet understood the return from Egypt, now saw, +blazing over the Tuileries, the star of his future, and as everybody +could not be a planet, each sought to become a satellite. + +The shouts of "Vive Bonaparte!" which came from the lower part +of the Rue du Mont Blanc, and swept like a sonorous wave toward +the Rue de la Victoire, told Josephine of her husband's return. +The impressionable Creole had awaited him anxiously. She sprang +to meet him in such agitation that she was unable to utter a +single word. + +"Come, come!" said Bonaparte, becoming the kindly man he was +in his own home, "calm yourself. We have done to-day all that +could be done." + +"Is it all over?" + +"Oh, no!" replied Bonaparte. + +"Must it be done all over again to-morrow?" + +"Yes, but to-morrow it will be merely a formality." + +That formality was rather rough; but every one knows of the events +at Saint-Cloud. We will, therefore, dispense with relating them, +and turn at once to the result, impatient as we are to get back +to the real subject of our drama, from which the grand historical +figure we have introduced diverted us for an instant. + +One word more. The 20th Brumaire, at one o'clock in the morning, +Bonaparte was appointed First Consul for ten years. He himself +selected Cambacérès and Lebrun as his associates under the title +of Second Consuls, being firmly resolved this time to concentrate +in his own person, not only all the functions of the two consuls, +but those of the ministers. + +The 20th Brumaire he slept at the Luxembourg in president Gohier's +bed, the latter having been liberated with his colleague Moulins. + +Roland was made governor of the Luxembourg. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +AN IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION + +Some time after this military revolution, which created a great +stir in Europe, convulsing the Continent for a time, as a tempest +convulses the ocean--some time after, we say, on the morning of +the 30th Nivoise, better and more clearly known to our readers as +the 20th of January, 1800, Roland, in looking over the voluminous +correspondence which his new office entailed upon him, found, +among fifty other letters asking for an audience, the following: + + MONSIEUR THE GOVERNOR-I know your loyalty to your word, and you + will see that I rely on it. I wish to speak to you for five + minutes, during which I must remain masked. + + I have a request to make to you. This request you will grant or + deny. In either case, as I shall have entered the Palace of the + Luxembourg in the interest o£ the First Consul, Bonaparte, and + the royalist party to which I belong, I shall ask for your word + of honor that I be allowed to leave it as freely as you allow + me to enter. + + If to-morrow, at seven in the evening, I see a solitary light + in the window over the clock, I shall know that Colonel Roland + de Montrevel has pledged me his word of honor, and I shall boldly + present myself at the little door of the left wing of the palace, + opening on the garden. I shall strike three blows at intervals, + after the manner of the free-masons. + + In order that you may know to whom you engage or refuse your word, + I sign a name which is known to you, that name having been, under + circumstances you have probably not forgotten, pronounced before + you. + + MORGAN, + Chief of the Companions of Jehu. + +Roland read the letter twice, thought it over for a few moments, +then rose suddenly, and, entering the First Consul's study, handed +it to him silently. The latter read it without betraying the +slightest emotion, or even surprise; then, with a laconism that +was wholly Lacedæmonian, he said: "Place the light." + +Then he gave the letter back to Roland. + +The next evening, at seven o'clock, the light shone in the window, +and at five minutes past the hour, Roland in person was waiting +at the little door of the garden. He had scarcely been there a +moment when three blows were struck on the door after the manner +of the free-masons; first two strokes and then one. + +The door was opened immediately. A man wrapped in a cloak was +sharply defined against the grayish atmosphere of the wintry +night. As for Roland, he was completely hidden in shadow. Seeing +no one, the man in the cloak remained motionless for a second. + +"Come in," said Roland. + +"Ah! it is you, colonel!" + +"How do you know it is I?" asked Roland. + +"I recognize your voice." + +"My voice! But during those few moments we were together in the +dining-room at Avignon I did not say a word." + +"Then I must have heard it elsewhere." + +Roland wondered where the Chief of the Companions of Jehu could +have heard his voice, but the other said gayly: "Is the fact that +I know your voice any reason why we should stand at the door?" + +"No, indeed," replied Roland; "take the lapel of my coat and +follow me. I purposely forbade any lights being placed in the +stairs and hall which lead to my room." + +"I am much obliged for the intention. But on your word I would +cross the palace from one end to the other, though it were lighted +_à giorno_, as the Italians say." + +"You have my word," replied Roland, "so follow me without fear." + +Morgan needed no encouragement; he followed his guide fearlessly. +At the head of the stairs Roland turned down a corridor equally +dark, went twenty steps, opened a door, and entered his own room. +Morgan followed him. The room was lighted by two wax candles +only. Once there, Morgan took off his cloak and laid his pistols +on the table. + +"What are you doing?" asked Roland. + +"Faith! with your permission," replied Morgan, gayly, "I am making +myself comfortable." + +"But those pistols you have just laid aside--" + +"Ah! did you think I brought them for you?" + +"For whom then?" + +"Why, that damned police! You can readily imagine that I am not +disposed to let citizen Fouché lay bold of me, without burning +the mustache of the first of his minions who lays hands on me." + +"But once here you feel you have nothing to fear?" + +"The deuce!" exclaimed the young man; "I have your word." + +"Then why don't you unmask?" + +"Because my face only half belongs to me; the other half belongs +to my companions. Who knows if one of us being recognized might +not drag the others to the guillotine? For of course you know, +colonel, we don't hide from ourselves that that is the price +of our game!" + +"Then why risk it?" + +"Ah! what a question. Why do you venture on the field of battle, +where a bullet may plow through your breast or a cannon-ball +lop off your head?" + +"Permit me to say that that is different. On the battlefield I +risk an honorable death." + +"Ah! do you suppose that on the day I get my head cut off by +the revolutionary triangle I shall think myself dishonored? Not +the least in the world. I am a soldier like you, only we can't +all serve our cause in the same way. Every religion has its heroes +and its martyrs; happy the heroes in this world, and happy the +martyrs in the next." + +The young man uttered these words with a conviction which moved, +or rather astonished, Roland. + +"But," continued Morgan, abandoning his enthusiasm to revert to +the gayety which seemed the distinctive trait of his character, +"I did not come here to talk political philosophy. I came to +ask you to let me speak to the First Consul." + +"What! speak to the First Consul?" exclaimed Roland. + +"Of course. Read my letter over; did I not tell you that I had +a request to make?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, that request is to let me speak to General Bonaparte." + +"But permit me to say that as I did not expect that request--" + +"It surprises you; makes you uneasy even. My dear colonel, if +you don't believe my word, you can search me from head to foot, +and you will find that those pistols are my only weapons. And +I haven't even got them, since there they are on your table. +Better still, take one in each hand, post yourself between the +First Consul and me, and blowout my brains at the first suspicious +move I make. Will that suit you?" + +"But will you assure me, if I disturb the First Consul and ask +him to see you, that your communication is worth the trouble?" + +"Oh! I'll answer for that," said Morgan. Then, in his joyous +tones, he added: "I am for the moment the ambassador of a crowned, +or rather discrowned, head, which makes it no less reverenced by +noble hearts. Moreover, Monsieur Roland, I shall take up very +little of your general's time; the moment the conversation seems +too long, he can dismiss me. And I assure you he will not have +to say the word twice." + +Roland was silent and thoughtful for a moment. + +"And it is to the First Consul only that you can make this +communication?" + +"To the First Consul only, as he alone can answer me." + +"Very well. Wait until I take his orders." + +Roland made a step toward the general's room; then he paused +and cast an uneasy look at a mass of papers piled on his table. +Morgan intercepted this look. + +"What!" he said, "you are afraid I shall read those papers in +your absence? If you only knew how I detest reading! If my +death-warrant lay on that table, I wouldn't take the trouble +to read it. I should consider that the clerk's business. And +every one to his own task. Monsieur Roland, my feet are cold, +and I will sit here in your easy-chair and warm them. I shall +not stir till you return." + +"Very good, monsieur," said Roland, and he went to the First Consul. + +Bonaparte was talking with General Hedouville, commanding the +troops of the Vendée. Hearing the door open, he turned impatiently. + +"I told Bourrienne I would not see any one." + +"So he told me as I came in, but I told him that I was not any one." + +"True. What do you want? Be quick." + +"He is in my room." + +"Who?" + +"The man of Avignon." + +"Ah, ha! And what does he want?" + +"To see you." + +"To see me?" + +"Yes, you, general. Does that surprise you?" + +"No. But what can he want to say to me?" + +"He refused obstinately to tell me. But I dare answer for it that +he is neither importunate nor a fool." + +"No, but he may be an assassin." + +Roland shook his head. + +"Of course, since you introduce him--" + +"Moreover, he is willing that I should be present at the conference +and stand between you and him." + +Bonaparte reflected an instant. + +"Bring him in," he said. + +"You know, general, that except me--" + +"Yes, General Hedouville will be so kind as to wait a second. +Our conversation is of a nature that is not exhausted in one +interview. Go, Roland." + +Roland left the room, crossed Bourrienne's office, reentered his +own room, and found Morgan, as he had said, warming his feet. + +"Come, the First Consul is waiting for you," said the young man. + +Morgan rose and followed Roland. When they entered Bonaparte's +study the latter was alone. He cast a rapid glance on the chief +of the Companions of Jehu, and felt no doubt that he was the +same man he had seen at Avignon. + +Morgan had paused a few steps from the door, and was looking +curiously at Bonaparte, convincing himself that he was the man +he had seen at the table d'hôte the day he attempted the perilous +restoration of the two hundred louis stolen by an oversight from +Jean Picot. + +"Come nearer," said the First Consul. + +Morgan bowed and made three steps forward. Bonaparte partly returned +the bow with a slight motion of the head. + +"You told my aide-de-camp, Colonel Roland, that you had a +communication to make me." + +"Yes, citizen First Consul." + +"Does that communication require a private interview?" + +"No, citizen First Consul, although it is of such importance--" + +"You would prefer to be alone." + +"Beyond doubt. But prudence--" + +"The most prudent thing in France, citizen Morgan, is courage." + +"My presence here, general, proves that I agree with you perfectly." + +Bonaparte turned to the young colonel. + +"Leave us alone, Roland," said he. + +"But, general--" objected Roland. + +Bonaparte went up to him and said in a low voice: "I see what +it is. You are curious to know what this mysterious cavalier +of the highroad has to say to me. Don't worry; you shall know." + +"That's not it. But suppose, as you said just now, he is an +assassin." + +"Didn't you declare he was not. Come, don't be a baby; leave us." + +Roland went out. + +"Now that we are alone, sir," said the First Consul, "speak!" + +Morgan, without answering, drew a letter from his pocket and +gave it to the general. Bonaparte examined it. It was addressed +to him, and the seal bore the three fleurs-de-lis of France. + +"Oh!" he said, "what is this, sir?" + +"Read it, citizen First Consul." + +Bonaparte opened the letter and looked at the signature: "Louis," +he said. + +"Louis," repeated Morgan. + +"What Louis?" + +"Louis de Bourbon, I presume." + +"Monsieur le Comte de Provençe, brother of Louis XVI." + +"Consequently Louis XVIII., since his nephew, the Dauphin, is +dead." + +Bonaparte looked at the stranger again. It was evident that Morgan +was a pseudonym, assumed to hide his real name. Then, turning +his eyes on the letter, he read: + + January 3, 1800. + + Whatever may be their apparent conduct, monsieur, men like you + never inspire distrust. You have accepted an exalted post, and + I thank you for so doing. You know, better than others, that + force and power are needed to make the happiness of a great + nation. Save France from her own madness, and you will fulfil + the desire of my heart; restore her king, and future generations + will bless your memory. If you doubt my gratitude, choose your + own place, determine the future of your friends. As for my + principles, I am a Frenchman, clement by nature, still more so + by judgment. No! the conqueror of Lodi, Castiglione and Arcola, + the conqueror of Italy and Egypt, cannot prefer an empty + celebrity to fame. Lose no more precious time. We can secure + the glory of France. I say we, because I have need of Bonaparte + for that which he cannot achieve without me. General, the eyes + of Europe are upon you, glory awaits you, and I am eager to + restore my people to happiness. + + LOUIS. + +Bonaparte turned to the young man, who stood erect, motionless +and silent as a statue. + +"Do you know the contents of this letter?" he asked. + +The young man bowed. "Yes, citizen First Consul." + +"It was sealed, however." + +"It was sent unsealed under cover to the person who intrusted +it to me. And before doing so he made me read it, that I might +know its full importance." + +"Can I know the name of the person who intrusted it to you?" + +"Georges Cadoudal." + +Bonaparte started slightly. + +"Do you know Georges Cadoudal?" he asked. + +"He is my friend." + +"Why did he intrust it to you rather than to another?" + +"Because he knew that in telling me to deliver the letter to you +with my own hand it would be done." + +"You have certainly kept your promise, sir." + +"Not altogether yet, citizen First Consul." + +"How do you mean? Haven't you delivered it to me?" + +"Yes, but I promised to bring back an answer." + +"But if I tell you I will not give one." + +"You will have answered; not precisely as I could have wished, +but it will be an answer." + +Bonaparte reflected for a few moments. Then shaking his shoulders +to rid himself of his thoughts, he said: "They are fools." + +"Who, citizen?" asked Morgan. + +"Those who write me such letters--fools, arch fools. Do they +take me for a man who patterns his conduct by the past? Play +Monk! What good would it do? Bring back another Charles II.? No, +faith, it is not worth while. When a man has Toulon, the 13th +Vendemiaire, Lodi, Castiglione, Arcola, Rivoli and the Pyramids +behind him, he's no Monk. He has the right to aspire to more +than a duchy of Albemarle, and the command by land and sea of +the forces of his Majesty King Louis XVIII." + +"For that reason you are asked to make your own conditions, citizen +First Consul." + +Bonaparte started at the sound of that voice as if he had forgotten +that any one was present. + +"Not counting," he went on, "that it is a ruined family, a dead +branch of a rotten trunk. The Bourbons have so intermarried with +one another that the race is depraved; Louis XIV. exhausted all +its sap, all its vigor.--You know history, sir?" asked Bonaparte, +turning to the young man. + +"Yes, general," he replied; "at least as well as a _ci-devant_ +can know it." + +"Well, you must have observed in history, especially in that +of France, that each race has its point of departure, its +culmination, and its decadence. Look at the direct line of the +Capets; starting from Hugues Capet, they attained their highest +grandeur in Philippe Auguste and Louis XI., and fell with Philippe +V. and Charles IV. Take the Valois; starting with Philippe VI., +they culminated in François I. and fell with Charles IX. and +Henry III. See the Bourbons; starting with Henry IV., they have +their culminating point in Louis XIV. and fall with Louis XV. +and Louis XVI.--only they fall lower than the others; lower in +debauchery with Louis XV., lower in misfortune with Louis XVI. +You talk to me of the Stuarts, and show me the example of Monk. +Will you tell me who succeeded Charles II.? James II. And who +to James II.? William of Orange, a usurper. Would it not have +been better, I ask you, if Monk had put the crown on his own +head? Well, if I was fool enough to restore Louis XVIII. to the +throne, like Charles II. he would have no children, and, like +James II., his brother Charles X. would succeed him, and like +him would be driven out by some William of Orange. No, no! God +has not put the destiny of this great and glorious country we +call France into my hands that I should cast it back to those +who have gambled with it and lost it." + +"Permit me, general, to remark that I did not ask you for all this." + +"But I, I ask you--" + +"I think you are doing me the honor to take me for posterity." + +Bonaparte started, turned round, saw to whom he was speaking, +and was silent. + +"I only want," said Morgan, with a dignity which surprised the +man whom he addressed, "a yes or a no." + +"And why do you want that?" + +"To know whether we must continue to war against you as an enemy, +or fall at your feet as a savior." + +"War," said Bonaparte, "war! Madmen, they who war with me! Do +they not see that I am the elect of God?" + +"Attila said the same thing." + +"Yes; but he was the elect of destruction; I, of the new era. +The grass withered where he stepped; the harvest will ripen where +I pass the plow. War? Tell me what has become of those who have +made it against me? They lie upon the plains of Piedmont, of +Lombardy and Cairo!" + +"You forget the Vendée; the Vendée is still afoot." + +"Afoot, yes! but her leaders? Cathelineau, Lescure, La Rochejaquelin, +d'Elbée, Bonchamps, Stoffiet, Charette?" + +"You are speaking of men only; the men have been mown down, it is +true; but the principle is still afoot, and for it are fighting +Autichamp, Suzannet, Grignon, Frotté, Châtillon, Cadoudal. The +younger may not be worth the elder, but if they die as their +elders died, what more can you ask?" + +"Let them beware! If I determine upon a campaign against the Vendée +I shall send neither Santerre nor Rossignol!" + +"The Convention sent Kléber, and the Directory, Hoche!" + +"I shall not send; I shall go myself." + +"Nothing worse can happen to them than to be killed like Lescure, +or shot like Charette." + +"It may happen that I pardon them." + +"Cato taught us how to escape the pardon of Cæsar." + +"Take care; you are quoting a Republican!" + +"Cato was one of those men whose example can be followed, no matter +to what party they belong." + +"And suppose I were to tell you that I hold the Vendée in the +hollow of my hand?" + +"You!" + +"And that within three months, she will lay down her arms if I +choose?" + +The young man shook his head. + +"You don't believe me?" + +"I hesitate to believe you." + +"If I affirm to you that what I say is true; if I prove it by +telling you the means, or rather the men, by whom I shall bring +this about?" + +"If a man like General Bonaparte affirms a thing, I shall believe +it; and if that thing is the pacification of the Vendée, I shall +say in my turn: 'Beware! Better the Vendée fighting than the +Vendée conspiring. The Vendée fighting means the sword, the Vendée +conspiring means the dagger.'" + +"Oh! I know your dagger," said Bonaparte. "Here it is." + +And he drew from a drawer the dagger he had taken from Roland +and laid it on the table within reach of Morgan's hand. + +"But," he added, "there is some distance between Bonaparte's breast +and an assassin's dagger. Try." + +And he advanced to the young man with a flaming eye. + +"I did not come here to assassinate you," said the young man, +coldly. "Later, if I consider your death indispensable to the +cause, I shall do all in my power, and if I fail it will not +be because you are Marius and I the Cimbrian. Have you anything +else to say to me, citizen First Consul?" concluded the young +man, bowing. + +"Yes. Tell Cadoudal that when he is ready to fight the enemy, +instead of Frenchmen, I have a colonel's commission ready signed +in my desk for him." + +"Cadoudal commands, not a regiment, but an army. You were unwilling +to retrograde from Bonaparte to Monk; why should you expect him +to descend from general to colonel? Have you nothing else to +say to me, citizen First Consul?" + +"Yes. Have you any way of transmitting my reply to the Comte de +Provençe?" + +"You mean King Louis XVIII.?" + +"Don't let us quibble over words. To him who wrote to me." + +"His envoy is now at the camp at Aubiers." + +"Well, I have changed my mind; I shall send him an answer. These +Bourbons are so blind that this one would misinterpret my silence." + +And Bonaparte, sitting down at his desk, wrote the following letter +with a care that showed he wished to make it legible: + + I have received your letter, monsieur. I thank you for the good + opinion you express in it of me. You must not wish for your return + to France; it could only be over a hundred thousand dead bodies. + Sacrifice your own interests to the repose and welfare of France. + History will applaud you. I am not insensible to the misfortunes of + your family, and I shall hear with pleasure that you are + surrounded with all that could contribute to the tranquillity of + your retreat. BONAPARTE. + +Then, folding and sealing the letter, he directed it to "Monsieur +le Comte de Provençe," and handed it to Morgan. Then he called +Roland, as if he knew the latter were not far off. + +"General?" said the young officer, appearing instantly. + +"Conduct this gentleman to the street," said Bonaparte. "Until +then you are responsible for him." + +Roland bowed in sign of obedience, let the young man, who said +not a word, pass before him, and then followed. But before leaving, +Morgan cast a last glance at Bonaparte. + +The latter was still standing, motionless and silent, with folded +arms, his eyes fixed upon the dagger, which occupied his thoughts +far more than he was willing to admit even to himself. + +As they crossed Roland's room, the Chief of the Companions of +Jehu gathered up his cloak and pistols. While he was putting them +in his belt, Roland remarked: "The citizen First Consul seems +to have shown you a dagger which I gave him." + +"Yes, monsieur," replied Morgan. + +"Did you recognize it?" + +"Not that one in particular; all our daggers are alike." + +"Well," said Roland, "I will tell you whence it came." + +"Ah! where was that?" + +"From the breast of a friend of mine, where your Companions, possibly +you yourself, thrust it." + +"Possibly," replied the young man carelessly. "But your friend +must have exposed himself to punishment." + +"My friend wished to see what was happening at night in the +Chartreuse." + +"He did wrong." + +"But I did the same wrong the night before, and nothing happened +to me." + +"Probably because some talisman protects you." + +"Monsieur, let me tell you something. I am a straight-forward +man who walks by daylight. I have a horror of all that is +mysterious." + +"Happy those who can walk the highroads by daylight, Monsieur +de Montrevel!" + +"That is why I am going to tell you the oath I made, Monsieur +Morgan. As I drew the dagger you saw from my friend's breast, as +carefully as possible, that I might not draw his soul with it, +I swore that henceforward it should be war to the death between +his assassins and myself. It was largely to tell you that that +I gave you a pledge of safety." + +"That is an oath I hope to see you forget, Monsieur de Montrevel." + +"It is an oath I shall keep under all circumstances, Monsieur +Morgan; and you would be most kind if you would furnish me with +an opportunity as soon as possible." + +"In what way, sir?" + +"Well, for example, by accepting a meeting with me, either in +the Bois de Boulogne or at Vincennes. We don't need to say that +we are fighting because you or one of your friends stabbed Lord +Tanlay. No; we can say anything you please." (Roland reflected a +moment.) "We can say the duel is on account of the eclipse that +takes place on the 12th of next month. Does the pretext suit +you?" + +"The pretext would suit me," replied Morgan, in a tone of sadness +of which he seemed incapable, "if the duel itself could take +place. You have taken an oath, and you mean to keep it, you say. +Well, every initiate who enters the Company of Jehu swears that +he will not expose in any personal quarrel a life that belongs +to the cause and not to himself." + +"Oh! So that you assassinate, but will not fight." + +"You are mistaken. We sometimes fight." + +"Have the goodness to point out an occasion when I may study that +phenomenon." + +"Easily enough. If you and five or six men, as resolute as yourself, +will take your places in some diligence carrying government money, +and will defend it against our attack, the occasion you seek +will come. But, believe me, do better than that; do not come in +our way." + +"Is that a threat, sir?" asked the young man, raising his head. + +"No," replied Morgan, in a gentle, almost supplicating voice, +"it is an entreaty." + +"Is it addressed to me in particular, or would you include others?" + +"I make it to you in particular;" and the chief of the Companions +of Jehu dwelt upon the last word. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the young man, "then I am so fortunate as to interest +you?" + +"As a brother," replied Morgan, in the same soft, caressing tone. + +"Well, well," said Roland, "this is decidedly a wager," + +Bourrienne entered at that moment. + +"Roland," he said, "the First Consul wants you." + +"Give me time to conduct this gentleman to the street, and I'll +be with him." + +"Hurry up; you know he doesn't like to wait." + +"Will you follow me, sir?" Roland said to his mysterious companion. + +"I am at your orders, sir." + +"Come, then," And Roland, taking the same path by which he had +brought Morgan, took him back, not to the door opening on the +garden (the garden was closed), but to that on the street. Once +there, he stopped and said: "Sir, I gave you my word, and I have +kept it faithfully, But that there may be no misunderstanding +between us, have the goodness to tell me that you understand +it to have been for this one time and for to-day only." + +"That was how I understood it, sir," + +"You give me back my word then?" + +"I should like to keep it, sir; but I recognize that you are free +to take it back." + +"That is all I wish to know. Au revoir! Monsieur Morgan." + +"Permit me not to offer you the same wish, Monsieur de Montrevel." + +The two young men bowed with perfect courtesy, Roland re-entered +the Luxembourg, and Morgan, following the line of shadow projected +by the walls, took one of the little streets to the Place +Saint-Sulpice. + +It is he whom we are now to follow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE BALL OF THE VICTIMS + +After taking about a hundred steps Morgan removed his mask. He +ran more risk of being noticed in the streets of Paris as a masked +man than with uncovered face. + +When he reached the Rue Taranne he knocked at the door of a small +furnished lodging-house at the corner of that street and the +Rue du Dragon, took a candlestick from a table, a key numbered +12 from a nail, and climbed the stairs without exciting other +attention than a well-known lodger would returning home. The +clock was striking ten as he closed the door of his room. He +listened attentively to the strokes, the light of his candle not +reaching as far as the chimney-piece. He counted ten. + +"Good!" he said to himself; "I shall not be too late." + +In spite of this probability, Morgan seemed determined to lose +no time. He passed a bit of tinder-paper under the heater on the +hearth, which caught fire instantly. He lighted four wax-candles, +all there were in the room, placed two on the mantel-shelf and two +on a bureau opposite, and spread upon the bed a complete dress of +the Incroyable of the very latest fashion. It consisted of a short +coat, cut square across the front and long behind, of a soft shade +between a pale-green and a pearl-gray; a waistcoat of buff plush, +with eighteen mother-of-pearl buttons; an immense white cravat of +the finest cambric; light trousers of white cashmere, decorated +with a knot of ribbon where they buttoned above the calves, and +pearl-gray silk stockings, striped transversely with the same +green as the coat, and delicate pumps with diamond buckles. The +inevitable eye-glass was not forgotten. As for the hat, it was +precisely the same in which Carle Vernet painted his dandy of +the Directory. + +When these things were ready, Morgan waited with seeming impatience. +At the end of five minutes he rang the bell. A waiter appeared. + +"Hasn't the wig-maker come?" asked Morgan. + +In those days wig-makers were not yet called hair-dressers. + +"Yes, citizen," replied the waiter, "he came, but you had not yet +returned, so he left word that he'd come back. Some one knocked +just as you rang; it's probably--" + +"Here, here," cried a voice on the stairs. + +"Ah! bravo," exclaimed Morgan. "Come in, Master Cadenette; you +must make a sort of Adonis of me." + +"That won't be difficult, Monsieur le Baron," replied the wig-maker. + +"Look here, look here; do you mean to compromise me, citizen +Cadenette?" + +"Monsieur le Baron, I entreat you, call me Cadenette; you'll +honor me by that proof of familiarity; but don't call me citizen. +Fie; that's a revolutionary denomination! Even in the worst of +the Terror I always called my wife Madame Cadenette. Now, excuse +me for not waiting for you; but there's a great ball in the Rue +du Bac this evening, the ball of the Victims (the wig-maker +emphasized this word). I should have thought that M. le Baron +would be there." + +"Why," cried Morgan, laughing; "so you are still a royalist, +Cadenette?" + +The wig-maker laid his hand tragically on his heart. + +"Monsieur le Baron," said he, "it is not only a matter of conscience, +but a matter of state." + +"Conscience, I can understand that, Master Cadenette, but state! +What the devil has the honorable guild of wigmakers to do with +politics?" + +"What, Monsieur le Baron?" said Cadenette, all the while getting +ready to dress his client's hair; "you ask me that? You, an +aristocrat!" + +"Hush, Cadenette!" + +"Monsieur le Baron, we _ci-devants_ can say that to each +other." + +"So you are a _ci-devant_?" + +"To the core! In what style shall I dress M. le Baron's hair?" + +"Dog's ears, and tied up behind." + +"With a dash of powder?" + +"Two, if you like, Cadenette." + +"Ah! monsieur, when one thinks that for five years I was the +only man who had an atom of powder '_à la maréchale_.' Why, +Monsieur le Baron, a man was guillotined for owning a box of +powder!" + +"I've known people who were guillotined for less than that, +Cadenette. But explain how you happen to be a _ci-devant_. +I like to understand everything." + +"It's very simple, Monsieur le Baron. You admit, don't you, that +among the guilds there were some that were more or less +aristocratic." + +"Beyond doubt; accordingly as they were nearer to the higher classes +of society." + +"That's it, Monsieur le Baron. Well, we had the higher classes +by the hair of their head. I, such as you see me, I have dressed +Madame de Polignac's hair; my father dressed Madame du Barry's; +my grandfather, Madame de Pompadour's. We had our privileges, +Monsieur; we carried swords. It is true, to avoid the accidents +that were liable to crop up among hotheads like ourselves, our +swords were usually of wood; but at any rate, if they were not +the actual thing, they were very good imitations. Yes, Monsieur +le Baron," continued Cadenette with a sigh, "those days were the +good days, not only for the wig-makers, but for all France. We +were in all the secrets, all the intrigues; nothing was hidden +from us. And there is no known instance, Monsieur le Baron, of +a wig-maker betraying a secret. Just look at our poor queen; to +whom did she trust her diamonds? To the great, the illustrious +Leonard, the prince of wig-makers. Well, Monsieur le Baron, two +men alone overthrew the scaffolding of a power that rested on +the wigs of Louis XIV., the puffs of the Regency, the frizettes +of Louis-XV., and the cushions of Marie Antoinette." + +"And those two men, those levellers, those two revolutionaries, +who were they, Cadenette? that I may doom them, so far as it +lies in my power, to public execration." + +"M. Rousseau and citizen Talma: Monsieur Rousseau who said that +absurdity, 'We must return to Nature,' and citizen Talma, who +invented the Titus head-dress." + +"That's true, Cadenette; that's true." + +"When the Directory came in there was a moment's hope. M. Barras +never gave up powder, and citizen Moulins stuck to his queue. But, +you see, the 18th Brumaire has knocked it all down; how could +any one friz Bonaparte's hair! Ah! there," continued Cadenette, +puffing out the dog's ears of his client--"there's aristocratic +hair for you, soft and fine as silk, and takes the tongs so well +one would think you wore a wig. See, Monsieur le Baron, you wanted +to be as handsome as Adonis! Ah! if Venus had seen you, it's +not of Adonis that Mars would have been jealous!" + +And Cadenette, now at the end of his labors and satisfied with +the result, presented a hand-mirror to Morgan, who examined himself +complacently. + +"Come, come!" he said to the wig-maker, "you are certainly an +artist, my dear fellow! Remember this style, for if ever they +cut off my head I shall choose to have it dressed like that, +for there will probably be women at my execution." + +"And M. le Baron wants them to regret him," said the wig-maker +gravely. + +"Yes, and in the meantime, my dear Cadenette, here is a crown +to reward your labors. Have the goodness to tell them below to +call a carriage for me." + +Cadenette sighed. + +"Monsieur le Baron," said he, "time was when I should have answered: +'Show yourself at court with your hair dressed like that, and I +shall be paid.' But there is no court now, Monsieur le Baron, +and one must live. You shall have your carriage." + +With which Cadenette sighed again, slipped Morgan's crown in his +pocket, made the reverential bow of wig-makers and dancing-masters, +and left the young man to complete his toilet. + +The head being now dressed, the rest was soon done; the cravat +alone took time, owing to the many failures that occurred; but +Morgan concluded the difficult task with an experienced hand, and +as eleven o'clock was striking he was ready to start. Cadenette +had not forgotten his errand; a hackney-coach was at the door. +Morgan jumped into it, calling out: "Rue du Bac, No. 60." + +The coach turned into the Rue de Grenelle, went up the Rue du +Bac, and stopped at No. 60. + +"Here's a double fare, friend," said Morgan, "on condition that +you don't stand before the door." + +The driver took the three francs and disappeared around the corner +of the Rue de Varennes. Morgan glanced up the front of the house; +it seemed as though he must be mistaken, so dark and silent was +it. But he did not hesitate; he rapped in a peculiar fashion. + +The door opened. At the further end of the courtyard was a building, +brilliantly lighted. The young man went toward it, and, as he +approached, the sound of instruments met his ear. He ascended +a flight of stairs and entered the dressing-room. There he gave +his cloak to the usher whose business it was to attend to the +wraps. + +"Here is your number," said the usher. "As for your weapons, you +are to place them in the gallery where you can find them easily." + +Morgan put the number in his trousers pocket, and entered the +great gallery transformed into an arsenal. It contained a complete +collection of arms of all kinds, pistols, muskets, carbines, +swords, and daggers. As the ball might at any moment be invaded +by the police, it was necessary that every dancer be prepared to +turn defender at an instant's notice. Laying his weapons aside, +Morgan entered the ballroom. + +We doubt if any pen could give the reader an adequate idea of the +scene of that ball. Generally, as the name "Ball of the Victims" +indicated, no one was admitted except by the strange right of +having relatives who had either been sent to the scaffold by the +Convention or the Commune of Paris, blown to pieces by Collot +d'Herbois, or drowned by Carrier. As, however, the victims +guillotined during the three years of the Terror far outnumbered +the others, the dresses of the majority of those who were present +were the clothes of the victims of the scaffold. Thus, most of +the young girls, whose mothers and older sisters had fallen by +the hands of the executioner, wore the same costume their mothers +and sisters had worn for that last lugubrious ceremony; that is +to say, a white gown and red shawl, with their hair cut short +at the nape of the neck. Some added to this costume, already so +characteristic, a detail that was even more significant; they +knotted around their necks a thread of scarlet silk, fine as +the blade of a razor, which, as in Faust's Marguerite, at the +Witches' Sabbath, indicated the cut of the knife between the +throat and the collar bone. + +As for the men who were in the same case, they wore the collars +of their coats turned down behind, those of their shirt wide +open, their necks bare, and their hair, cut short. + +But many had other rights of entrance to this ball besides that +of having Victims in their families; some had made victims +themselves. These latter were increasing. There were present +men of forty or forty-five years of age, who had been trained +in the boudoirs of the beautiful courtesans of the seventeenth +century--who had known Madame du Barry in the attics of Versailles, +Sophie Arnoult with M. de Lauraguais, La Duthé with the Comte +d'Artois--who had borrowed from the courtesies of vice the polish +with which they covered their ferocity. They were still young +and handsome; they entered a salon, tossing their perfumed locks +and their scented handkerchiefs; nor was it a useless precaution, +for if the odor of musk or verbena had not masked it they would +have smelled of blood. + +There were men there twenty-five or thirty years old, dressed +with extreme elegance, members of the association of Avengers, +who seemed possessed with the mania of assassination, the lust of +slaughter, the frenzy of blood, which no blood could quench--men +who, when the order came to kill, killed all, friends or enemies; +men who carried their business methods into the business of murder, +giving their bloody checks for the heads of such or such Jacobins, +and paying on sight. + +There were younger men, eighteen and twenty, almost children, +but children fed, like Achilles, on the marrow of wild beasts, +like Pyrrhus, on the flesh of bears; here were the pupil-bandits +of Schiller, the apprentice-judges of the Sainte-Vehme--that +strange generation that follows great political convulsions, +like the Titans after chaos, the hydras after the Deluge; as the +vultures and crows follow the carnage. + +Here was the spectre of iron impassible, implacable, inflexible, +which men call Retaliation; and this spectre mingled with the +guests. It entered the gilded salons; it signalled with a look, +a gesture, a nod, and men followed where it led. It was, as says +the author from whom we have borrowed these hitherto unknown +but authentic details, "a merry lust for extermination." + +The Terror had affected great cynicism in clothes, a Spartan +austerity in its food, the profound contempt of a barbarous people +for arts and enjoyments. The Thermidorian reaction was, on the +contrary, elegant, opulent, adorned; it exhausted all luxuries, +all voluptuous pleasures, as in the days of Louis XV.; with one +addition, the luxury of vengeance, the lust of blood. + +Fréron's name was given to the youth of the day, which was called +the jeunesse Fréron, or the _jéunesse dorée_ (gilded youth). +Why Fréron? Why should he rather than others receive that strange +and fatal honor? + +I cannot tell you--my researches (those who know me will do me +the justice to admit that when I have an end in view, I do not +count them)--my researches have not discovered an answer. It was +a whim of Fashion, and Fashion is the one goddess more capricious +than Fortune. + +Our readers will hardly know to-day who Fréron was. The Fréron +who was Voltaire's assailant was better known than he who was +the patron of these elegant assassins; one was the son of the +other. Louis Stanislas was son of Elie-Catherine. The father +died of rage when Miromesnil, Keeper of the Seals, suppressed +his journal. The other, irritated by the injustices of which +his father had been the victim, had at first ardently embraced +the revolutionary doctrines. Instead of the "Année Littéraire," +strangled to death in 1775, he created the "Orateur du Peuple," in +1789. He was sent to the Midi on a special mission, and Marseilles +and Toulon retain to this day the memory of his cruelty. But all +was forgotten when, on the 9th Thermidor, he proclaimed himself +against Robespierre, and assisted in casting from the altar the +Supreme Being, the colossus who, being an apostle, had made himself +a god. Fréron, repudiated by the Mountain, which abandoned him +to the heavy jaws of Moise Bayle; Fréron, disdainfully repulsed +by the Girondins, who delivered him over to the imprecations of +Isnard; Fréron, as the terrible and picturesque orator of the +Var said, "Fréron naked and covered with the leprosy of crime," +was accepted, caressed and petted by the Thermidorians. From +them he passed into the camp of the royalists, and without any +reason whatever for obtaining that fatal honor, found himself +suddenly at the head of a powerful party of youth, energy and +vengeance, standing between the passions of the day, which led +to all, and the impotence of the law, which permitted all. + +It was to the midst of this _jeunesse_ Fréron, mouthing +its words, slurring its r's, giving its "word of honor" about +everything, that Morgan now made his way. + +It must be admitted that this _jeunesse_, in spite of the +clothes it wore, in spite of the memories these clothes evoked, +was wildly gay. This seems incomprehensible, but it is true. +Explain if you can that Dance of Death at the beginning of the +fifteenth century, which, with all the fury of a modern galop, +led by Musard, whirled its chain through the very Cemetery of +the Innocents, and left amid its tombs fifty thousand of its +votaries. + +Morgan was evidently seeking some one. + +A young dandy, who was dipping into the silver-gilt comfit-box +of a charming victim, with an ensanguined finger, the only part +of his delicate hand that had escaped the almond paste, tried +to stop him, to relate the particulars of the expedition from +which he had brought back this bloody trophy. But Morgan smiled, +pressed his other hand which was gloved, and contented himself +with replying: "I am looking for some one." + +"Important?" + +"Company of Jehu." + +The young man with the bloody finger let him pass. An adorable +Fury, as Corneille would have called her, whose hair was held +up by a dagger with a blade as sharp as a needle, barred his +way, saying: "Morgan, you are the handsomest, the bravest, the +most deserving of love of all the men present. What have you +to say to the woman who tells you that?" + +"I answer that I love," replied Morgan, "and that my heart is +too narrow to hold one hatred and two loves." And he continued +on his search. + +Two young men who were arguing, one saying, "He was English," +the other, "He was German," stopped him. + +"The deuce," cried one; "here is the man who can settle it for +us." + +"No," replied Morgan, trying to push past them; "I'm in a hurry." + +"There's only a word to say," said the other. "We have made a +bet, Saint-Amand and I, that the man who was tried and executed +at the Chartreuse du Seillon, was, according to him, a German, +and, according to me, an Englishman." + +"I don't know," replied Morgan; "I wasn't there. Ask Hector; he +presided that night." + +"Tell us where Hector is?" + +"Tell me rather where Tiffauges is; I am looking for him." + +"Over there, at the end of the room," said the young man, pointing +to a part of the room where the dance was more than usually gay +and animated. "You will recognize him by his waistcoat; and his +trousers are not to be despised. I shall have a pair like them +made with the skin of the very first hound I meet." + +Morgan did not take time to ask in what way Tiffauges' waistcoat was +remarkable, or by what queer cut or precious material his trousers +had won the approbation of a man as expert in such matters as he +who had spoken to him. He went straight to the point indicated by +the young man, saw the person he was seeking dancing an été, which +seemed, by the intricacy of its weaving, if I may be pardoned for +this technical term, to have issued from the salons of Vestris +himself. + +Morgan made a sign to the dancer. Tiffauges stopped instantly, +bowed to his partner, led her to her seat, excused himself on +the plea of the urgency of the matter which called him away, +and returned to take Morgan's arm. + +"Did you see him," Tiffauges asked Morgan. + +"I have just left him," replied the latter. + +"Did you deliver the King's letter?" + +"To himself." + +"Did he read it?" + +"At once." + +"Has he sent an answer?" + +"Two; one verbal, one written; the second dispenses with the first." + +"You have it?" + +"Here it is." + +"Do you know the contents?" + +"A refusal." + +"Positive?" + +"Nothing could be more positive." + +"Does he know that from the moment he takes all hope away from +us we shall treat him as an enemy?" + +"I told him so." + +"What did he answer?" + +"He didn't answer; he shrugged his shoulders." + +"What do you think his intentions are?" + +"It's not difficult to guess." + +"Does he mean to keep the power himself?" + +"It looks like it." + +"The power, but not the throne?" + +"Why not the throne?" + +"He would never dare to make himself king." + +"Oh! I can't say he means to be absolutely king, but I'll answer +for it that he means to be something." + +"But he is nothing but a soldier of fortune!" + +"My dear fellow, better in these days to be the son of his deeds, +than the grandson of a king." + +The young man thought a moment. + +"I shall report it all to Cadoudal," he said. + +"And add that the First Consul said these very words: 'I hold +the Vendée in the hollow of my hand, and if I choose in three +months not another shot will be fired.'" + +"It's a good thing to know." + +"You know it; let Cadoudal know it, and take measures." + +Just then the music ceased; the hum of the dancers died away; +complete silence prevailed; and, in the midst of this silence, +four names were pronounced in a sonorous and emphatic voice. + +These four names were Morgan, Montbar, Adler and d'Assas. + +"Pardon me," Morgan said to Tiffauges, "they are probably arranging +some expedition in which I am to take part. I am forced, therefore, +to my great regret, to bid you farewell. Only before I leave you +let me look closer at your waistcoat and trousers, of which I +have heard--curiosity of an amateur; I trust you will excuse +it." + +"Surely!" exclaimed the young Vendéan, "most willingly." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE BEAR'S SKIN + +With a rapidity and good nature that did honor to his courtesy, +he went close to the candelabra, which were burning on the +chimney-piece. The waistcoat and trousers seemed to be of the same +stuff; but what was that stuff? The most experienced connoisseur +would have been puzzled. + +The trousers were tight-fitting as usual, of a light tint between +buff and flesh color; the only remarkable thing about them was the +absence of the seam, and the closeness with which they clung to +the leg. The waistcoat, on the other hand, had two characteristic +signs which attracted attention; it had been pierced by three balls, +which had the holes gaping, and these were stained a carmine, so +like blood, that it might easily have been mistaken for it. On +the left side was painted a bloody heart, the distinguishing +sign of the Vendéans. Morgan examined the two articles with the +closest attention, but without result. + +"If I were not in such a hurry," said he, "I should like to look +into the matter for myself. But you heard for yourself; in all +probability, some news has reached the committee; government +money probably. You can announce it to Cadoudal; only we shall +have to take it first. Ordinarily, I command these expeditions; +if I delay, some one may take my place. So tell me what your +waistcoat and trousers are made of." + +"My dear Morgan," replied the Vendéan, "perhaps you have heard +that my brother was captured near Bressure, and shot by the Blues?" + +"Yes, I know that." + +"The Blues were retreating; they left the body at the corner +of the hedge. We were pursuing them so closely that we arrived +just after them. I found the body of my brother still warm. In +one of his wounds a sprig was stuck with these words: 'Shot as a +brigand by me, Claude Flageolet, corporal of the Third Battalion +of Paris.' I took my brother's body, and had the skin removed from +his breast. I vowed that this skin, pierced with three holes, +should eternally cry vengeance before my eyes. I made it my battle +waistcoat." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Morgan, with a certain astonishment, in which, +for the first time, was mingled something akin to terror--"Ah! +then that waistcoat is made of your brother's skin? And the +trousers?" + +"Oh!" replied the Vendéan, "the trousers, that's another matter. +They are made of the skin of Claude Flageolet, corporal of the +Third Battalion of Paris." + +At that moment the voice again called out, in the same order, +the names of Morgan, Montbar, Adler and d'Assas. + +Morgan rushed out of the study, crossed the dancing-hall from +end to end, and made his way to a little salon on the other side +of the dressing-room. His three companions, Montbar, Adler and +d'Assas, were there already. With them was a young man in the +government livery of a bearer of despatches, namely a green and +gold coat. His boots were dusty, and he wore a visored cap and +carried the despatch-box, the essential accoutrements of a cabinet +courier. + +One of Cassini's maps, on which could be followed the whole lay +of the land, was spread on the table. + +Before saying why this courier was there, and with what object +the map was unfolded, let us cast a glance at the three new +personages whose names had echoed through the ballroom, and who +are destined to play an important part in the rest of this history. + +The reader already knows Morgan, the Achilles and the Paris of +this strange association; Morgan, with his blue eyes, his black +hair, his tall, well-built figure, graceful, easy, active bearing; +his eye, which was never without animation; his mouth, with its +fresh lips and white teeth, that was never without a smile; his +remarkable countenance, composed of mingling elements that seemed +so foreign to each other--strength and tenderness, gentleness +and energy; and, through it all, that bewildering expression +of gayety that was at times alarming when one remembered that +this man was perpetually rubbing shoulders with death, and the +most terrifying of all deaths--that of the scaffold. + +As for d'Assas, he was a man from thirty-five to thirty-eight +years of age, with bushy hair that was turning gray, and mustaches +as black as ebony. His eyes were of that wonderful shade of Indian +eyes, verging on maroon. He was formerly a captain of dragoons, +admirably built for struggle, whether physical or moral, his +muscles indicating strength, and his face, obstinacy. For the +rest, a noble bearing, great elegance of manners, scented like +a dandy, carrying, either from caprice or luxury, a bottle of +English smelling-salts, or a silver-gilt vinaigrette containing +the most subtle perfumes. + +Montbar and Adler, whose real names were unknown, like those +of d'Assas and Morgan, were commonly called by the Company "the +inseparables." Imagine Damon and Pythias, Euryalus and Nisus, +Orestes and Pylades at twenty-two--one joyous, loquacious, noisy, +the other melancholy, silent, dreamy; sharing all things, dangers, +money, mistresses; one the complement of the other; each rushing +to all extremes, but forgetting self when in peril to watch over +the other, like the Spartan youths on the sacred legions--and +you will form an idea of Montbar and Adler. + +It is needless to say that all three were Companions of Jehu. +They had been convoked, as Morgan suspected, on business of the +Company. + +On entering the room, Morgan went straight to the pretended bearer +of despatches and shook hands with him. + +"Ah! the dear friend," said the latter, with a stiff movement, +showing that the best rider cannot do a hundred and fifty miles on +post-hacks with impunity. "You are taking it easy, you Parisians. +Hannibal at Capua slept on rushes and thorns compared to you. +I only glanced at the ballroom in passing, as becomes a poor +cabinet courier bearing despatches from General Masséna to the +citizen First Consul; but it seemed to me you were a fine lot +of victims! Only, my poor friends, you will have to bid farewell +to all that for the present; disagreeable, unlucky, exasperating, +no doubt, but the House of Jehu before all." + +"My dear Hastier--" began Morgan. + +"Stop!" cried Hastier. "No proper names, if you please, gentlemen. +The Hastiers are an honest family in Lyons, doing business, it is +said, on the Place des Terreaux, from father to son, and would +be much humiliated to learn that their heir had become a cabinet +courier, and rode the highways with the national pack on his +back. Lecoq as much as you please, but not Hastier. I don't know +Hastier; and you, gentlemen," continued the young man, addressing +Montbar, Adler and d'Assas, "do you know him?" + +"No," replied the three young men, "and we ask pardon for Morgan, +who did wrong." + +"My dear Lecoq," exclaimed Morgan. + +"That's right," interrupted Hastier. "I answer to that name! Well, +what did you want to tell me?" + +"I wanted to say that if you are not the antipodes of the god +Harpocrates, whom the Egyptians represent with a finger on his +lips, you will, instead of indulging in a lot of declamations, +more or less flowery, tell us why this costume, and why that +map?" + +"The deuce!" retorted the young man. "If you don't know already, +it's your fault and not mine. If I hadn't been obliged to call +you twice, caught as you doubtless were in the toils of some +beautiful Eumenides imploring vengeance of a fine young man for +the death of her old parents, you'd know as much as these gentlemen, +and I wouldn't have to sing an encore. Well, here's what it is: +simply of the remaining treasure of the Berne bears, which General +Lecourbe is sending to the citizen First Consul by order of General +Masséna. A trifle, only a hundred thousand francs, that they don't +dare send over the Jura on account of M. Teysonnet's partisans, +who, they pretend, are likely to seize it; so it will be sent +by Geneva, Bourg, Mâcon, Dijon, and Troyes; a much safer way, +as they will find when they try it." + +"Very good!" + +"We were informed of this by Renard, who started from Gex at +full speed, and transmitted the news to l'Hirondelle, who is +at present stationed at Châlon-sur-Saône. He transmitted it to +me, Lecoq, at Auxerre, and I have done a hundred and fifty miles +to transmit it in turn to you. As for the secondary details, +here they are. The treasure left Berne last octodi, 28th Nivôse, +year VIII. of the Republic triple and indivisible. It should +reach Genoa to-day, duodi, and leave to-morrow, tridi, by the +diligence from Geneva to Bourg; so that, by leaving this very +night, by the day after to-morrow, quintide, you can, my dear +sons of Israel, meet the treasure of messires the bears between +Dijon and Troyes, near Bar-sur-Seine or Châtillon. What say you?" + +"By heavens!" cried Morgan, "we say that there seems to be no +room for argument left; we say we should never have permitted +ourselves to touch the money of their Highnesses the bears of +Berne so long as it remained in their coffers; but as it has +changed hands once, I see no objection to its doing so a second +time. Only how are we to start?" + +"Haven't you a post-chaise?" + +"Yes, it's here in the coach-house." + +"Haven't you horses to get you to the next stage?" + +"They are in the stable." + +"Haven't you each your passports." + +"We have each four." + +"Well, then?" + +"Well, we can't stop the diligence in a post-chaise. We don't +put ourselves to too much inconvenience, but we don't take our +ease in that way." + +"Well, and why not?" asked Montbar; "it would be original. I +can't see why, if sailors board from one vessel to another, we +couldn't board a diligence from a post-chaise. We want novelty; +shall we try it, Adler?" + +"I ask nothing better," replied the latter, "but what will we +do with the postilion?" + +"That's true," replied Montbar. + +"The difficulty is foreseen, my children," said the courier; "a +messenger has been sent to Troyes. You will leave your post-chaise +at Delbauce; there you will find four horses all saddled and +stuffed with oats. You will then calculate your time, and the day +after to-morrow, or rather to-morrow, for it is past midnight, +between seven and eight in the morning, the money of Messires +Bruin will pass an anxious quarter of an hour." + +"Shall we change our clothes?" inquired d'Assas. + +"What for?" replied Morgan. "I think we are very presentable +as we are. No diligence could be relieved of unnecessary weight +by better dressed fellows. Let us take a last glance at the map, +transfer a pâté, a cold chicken, and a dozen of champagne from +the supper-room to the pockets of the coach, arm to the teeth +in the arsenal, wrap ourselves in warm cloaks, and--clack! +postilion!" + +"Yes!" cried Montbar, "that's the idea." + +"I should think so," added Morgan. "We'll kill the horses if +necessary, and be back at seven in the evening, in time to show +ourselves at the opera." + +"That will establish an alibi," observed d'Assas. + +"Precisely," said Morgan, with his imperturbable gayety. "How +could men who applaud Mademoiselle Clotilde and M. Vestris at +eight o'clock in the evening have been at Bar and Chatillon in +the morning settling accounts with the conductor of a diligence? +Come, my sons, a last look at the map to choose our spot." + +The four young men bent over Cassini's map. + +"If I may give you a bit of topographical advice," said the courier, +"it would be to put yourselves in ambush just beyond Massu; there's +a ford opposite to the Riceys--see, there!" + +And the young man pointed out the exact spot on the map. + +"I should return to Chacource, there; from Chacource you have a +department road, straight as an arrow, which will take you to +Troyes; at Troyes you take carriage again, and follow the road +to Sens instead of that to Coulommiers. The donkeys--there are +plenty in the provinces--who saw you in the morning won't wonder +at seeing you again in the evening; you'll get to the opera at +ten instead of eight--a more fashionable hour--neither seen nor +recognized, I'll warrant you." + +"Adopted, so far as I am concerned," said Morgan. + +"Adopted!" cried the other three in chorus. + +Morgan pulled out one of the two watches whose chains were dangling +from his belt; it was a masterpiece of Petitot's enamel, and +on the outer case which protected the painting was a diamond +monogram. The pedigree of this beautiful trinket was as well +established as that of an Arab horse; it had been made for +Marie-Antoinette, who had given it to the Duchesse de Polastron, +who had given it to Morgan's mother. + +"One o'clock," said Morgan; "come, gentlemen, we must relay at +Lagny at three." + +From that moment the expedition had begun, and Morgan became its +leader; he no longer consulted, he commanded. + +D'Assas, who in Morgan's absence commanded, was the first to obey +on his return. + +Half an hour later a closed carriage containing four young men +wrapped in their cloaks was stopped at the Fontainebleau barrier +by the post-guard, who demanded their passports. + +"Oh, what a joke!" exclaimed one of them, putting his head out of +the window and affecting the pronunciation of the day. "Passpawts +to dwive to Gwobois to call on citizen _Ba-as_? 'Word of +fluted honor!' you're cwazy, fwend! Go on, dwiver!" + +The coachman whipped up his horses and the carriage passed without +further opposition. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +FAMILY MATTERS + +Let us leave our four _hunters_ on their way to Lagny--where, +thanks to the passports they owed to the obligingness of certain +clerks in citizen Fouché's employ, they exchanged their own horses +for post-horses and their coachman for a postilion--and see why +the First Consul had sent for Roland. + +After leaving Morgan, Roland had hastened to obey the general's +orders. He found the latter standing in deep thought before the +fireplace. At the sound of his entrance General Bonaparte raised +his head. + +"What were you two saying to each other?" asked Bonaparte, without +preamble, trusting to Roland's habit of answering his thought. + +"Why," said Roland, "we paid each other all sorts of compliments, +and parted the best friends in the world." + +"How does he impress you?" + +"As a perfectly well-bred man." + +"How old do you take him to be?" + +"About my age, at the outside." + +"So I think; his voice is youthful. What now, Roland, can I be +mistaken? Is there a new royalist generation growing up?" + +"No, general," replied Roland, shrugging his shoulders; "it's +the remains of the old one." + +"Well, Roland, we must build up another, devoted to my son--if +ever I have one." + +Roland made a gesture which might be translated into the words, +"I don't object." Bonaparte understood the gesture perfectly. + +"You must do more than not object," said he; "you must contribute +to it." + +A nervous shudder passed over Roland's body. + +"In what way, general?" he asked. + +"By marrying." + +Roland burst out laughing. + +"Good! With my aneurism?" he asked. + +Bonaparte looked at him, and said: "My dear Roland, your aneurism +looks to me very much like a pretext for remaining single." + +"Do you think so?" + +"Yes; and as I am a moral man I insist upon marriage." + +"Does that mean that I am immoral," retorted Roland, "or that +I cause any scandal with my mistresses?" + +"Augustus," answered Bonaparte, "created laws against celibates, +depriving them of their rights as Roman citizens." + +"Augustus--" + +"Well?" + +"I'll wait until you are Augustus; as yet, you are only Cæsar." + +Bonaparte came closer to the young man, and, laying his hands +on his shoulders, said: "Roland, there are some names I do not +wish to see extinct, and among them is that of Montrevel." + +"Well, general, in my default, supposing that through caprice or +obstinacy I refuse to perpetuate it, there is my little brother." + +"What! Your brother? Then you have a brother?" + +"Why, yes; I have a brother! Why shouldn't I have brother?" + +"How old is he?" + +"Eleven or twelve." + +"Why did you never tell me about him?" + +"Because I thought the sayings and doings of a youngster of that +age could not interest you." + +"You are mistaken, Roland; I am interested in all that concerns +my friends. You ought to have asked me for something for your +brother." + +"Asked what, general?" + +"His admission into some college in Paris." + +"Pooh! You have enough beggars around you without my swelling +their number." + +"You hear; he is to come to Paris and enter college. When he +is old enough, I will send him to the Ecole Militare, or some +other school which I shall have founded before then." + +"Faith, general," said Roland, "just as if I had guessed your +good intentions, he is this very day on the point of, starting +for Paris." + +"What for?" + +"I wrote to my mother three days ago to bring the boy to Paris. +I intended to put him in college without mentioning it, and when +he was old enough to tell you about him--always supposing that +my aneurism had not carried me off in the meantime. But in that +case--" + +"In that case?" + +"Oh! in that case I have left a bit of a will addressed to you, +and recommending to your kindness my mother, and the boy and +the girl--in short, the whole raft." + +"The girl! Who is she?" + +"My sister." + +"So you have a sister also?" + +"Yes." + +"How old is she?" + +"Seventeen." + +"Pretty?" + +"Charming." + +"I'll take charge of her establishment." + +Roland began to laugh. + +"What's the matter?" demanded the First Consul. + +"General, I'm going to put a placard over the grand entrance to +the Luxembourg." + +"What will you put on the placard?" + +"'Marriages made here.'" + +"Why not? Is it any reason because you don't wish to marry for +your sister to remain an old maid? I don't like old maids any +better than I do old bachelors." + +"I did not say, general, that my sister should remain an old +maid; it's quite enough for one member of the Montrevel family +to have incurred your displeasure." + +"Then what do you mean?" + +"Only that, as the matter concerns my sister, she must, if you +will allow it, be consulted." + +"Ah, ha! Some provincial love-affair, is there?" + +"I can't say. I left poor Amélie gay and happy, and I find her +pale and sad. I shall get the truth out of her; and if you wish +me to speak to you again about the matter, I will do so." + +"Yes, do so--when you get back from the Vendée." + +"Ah! So I am going to the Vendée?" + +"Why, is that, like marriage, repugnant, to you?" + +"Not in the least." + +"Then you are going to the Vendée." + +"When?" + +"Oh, you need not hurry, providing you start to-morrow." + +"Excellent; sooner if you wish. Tell me what I am to do there." + +"Something of the utmost importance, Roland." + +"The devil! It isn't a diplomatic mission, I presume?" + +"Yes; it is a diplomatic mission for which I need a man who is +not a diplomatist." + +"Then I'm your man, general! Only, you understand, the less a +diplomatist I am, the more precise my instructions must be." + +"I am going to give them to you. Do you see that map?" + +And he showed the young man a large map of Piedmont stretched +out on the floor, under a lamp suspended from the ceiling. + +"Yes, I see it," replied Roland, accustomed to follow the general +along the unexpected dashes of his genius; "but it is a map of +Piedmont." + +"Yes, it's a map of Piedmont." + +"So there is still a question of Italy?" + +"There is always a question of Italy." + +"I thought you spoke of the Vendée?" + +"Secondarily." + +"Why, general, you are not going to send me to the Vendée and +go yourself to Italy, are you?" + +"No; don't be alarmed." + +"All right; but I warn you, if you did, I should desert and join you." + +"I give you permission to do so; but now let us go back to Mélas." + +"Excuse me, general; this is the first time you have mentioned him." + +"Yes; but I have been thinking of him for a long time. Do you +know where I shall defeat him?" + +"The deuce! I do." + +"Where?" + +"Wherever you meet him." + +Bonaparte laughed. + +"Ninny!" he said, with loving familiarity. Then, stooping over +the map, he said to Roland, "Come here." + +Roland stooped beside him. "There," resumed Bonaparte; "that +is where I shall fight him." + +"Near Alessandria?" + +"Within eight or nine miles of it. He has all his supplies, +hospitals, artillery and reserves in Alessandria; and he will +not leave the neighborhood. I shall have to strike a great blow; +that's the only condition on which I can get peace. I shall cross +the Alps"--he pointed to the great Saint-Bernard--"I shall fall +upon Mélas when he least expects me, and rout him utterly." + +"Oh! trust you for that!" + +"Yes; but you understand, Roland, that in order to quit France +with an easy mind, I can't leave it with an inflammation of the +bowels--I can't leave war in the Vendée." + +"Ah! now I see what you are after. No Vendée! And you are sending +me to the Vendée to suppress it." + +"That young man told me some serious things about the Vendée. +They are brave soldiers, those Vendéans, led by a man of brains, +Georges Cadoudal. I have sent him the offer of a regiment, but +he won't accept." + +"Jove! He's particular." + +"But there's one thing he little knows." + +"Who, Cadoudal?" + +"Yes, Cadoudal. That is that the Abbé Bernier has made me overtures." + +"The Abbé Bernier?" + +"Yes." + +"Who is the Abbé Bernier?" + +"The son of a peasant from Anjou, who may be now about thirty-three +or four years of age. Before the insurrection he was curate of +Saint-Laud at Angers. He refused to take the oath and sought +refuge among the Vendéans. Two or three times the Vendée was +pacificated; twice she was thought dead. A mistake! the Vendée +was pacificated, but the Abbé Bernier had not signed the peace; +the Vendée was dead, but the Abbé Bernier was still alive. One +day the Vendée was ungrateful to him. He wished to be appointed +general agent to the royalist armies of the interior; Stofflet +influenced the decision and got his old master, Comte Colbert de +Maulevrier, appointed in Bernier's stead. When, at two o'clock in +the morning, the council broke up, the Abbé Bernier had disappeared. +What he did that night, God and he alone can tell; but at four +o'clock in the morning a Republican detachment surrounded the +farmhouse where Stofflet was sleeping, disarmed and defenceless. +At half-past four Stofflet was captured; eight days later he was +executed at Angers. The next day Autichamp took command, and, +to avoid making the same blunder as Stofflet, he appointed the +Abbé Bernier general agent. Now, do you understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +"Well, the Abbé Bernier, general agent of the belligerent forces, +and furnished with plenary powers by the Comte d'Artois--the +Abbé Bernier has made overtures to me." + +"To you, to Bonaparte, to the First Consul he deigns to--? Why, +that's very kind of the Abbé Bernier? Have you accepted them?" + +"Yes, Roland; if the Vendée will give me peace, I will open her +churches and give her back her priests." + +"And suppose they chant the _Domine, salvum fac regem?_" + +"That would be better than not singing at all. God is omnipotent, +and he will decide. Does the mission suit you, now that I have +explained it?" + +"Yes, thoroughly." + +"Then, here is a letter for General Hédouville. He is to treat +with the Abbé Bernier as the general-in-chief of the Army of +the West. But you are to be present at all these conferences; +he is only my mouthpiece, you are to be my thought. Now, start +as soon as possible; the sooner you get back, the sooner Mélas +will be defeated." + +"General, give me time to write to my mother, that's all." + +"Where will she stop?" + +"At the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs." + +"When do you think she will arrive?" + +"This is the night of the 21st of January; she will be here the +evening of the 23d, or the morning of the 24th." + +"And she stops at the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs?" + +"Yes, general." + +"I take it all on myself." + +"Take it all on yourself, general?" + +"Certainly; your mother can't stay at a hotel." + +"Where should she stay?" + +"With a friend." + +"She knows no one in Paris." + +"I beg your pardon, Monsieur Roland; she knows citizen Bonaparte, +First Consul, and his wife." + +"You are not going to lodge my mother at the Luxembourg. I warn +you that that would embarrass her very much." + +"No; but I shall lodge her in the Rue de la Victoire." + +"Oh, general!" + +"Come, come; that's settled. Go, now, and get back as soon as +possible." + +Roland took the First Consul's hand, meaning to kiss it; but +Bonaparte drew him quickly to him. + +"Embrace me, my dear Roland," he said, "and good luck to you." + +Two hours later Roland was rolling along in a post-chaise on +the road to Orleans. The next day, at nine in the morning, he +entered Nantes, after a journey of thirty-three hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE GENEVA DILIGENCE + +About the hour when Roland was entering Nantes, a diligence, +heavily loaded, stopped at the inn of the Croix-d'Or, in the middle +of the main street of Châtillon-sur-Seine. + +In those days the diligences had but two compartments, the coupé +and the interior; the rotunda is an adjunct of modern times. + +The diligence had hardly stopped before the postilion jumped +down and opened the doors. The travellers dismounted. There were +seven in all, of both sexes. In the interior, three men, two +women, and a child at the breast; in the coupé, a mother and her +son. + +The three men in the interior were, one a doctor from Troyes, +the second a watchmaker from Geneva, the third an architect from +Bourg. The two women were a lady's maid travelling to Paris to +rejoin her mistress, and the other a wet-nurse; the child was +the latter's nursling, which she was taking back to its parents. + +The mother and son in the coupé were people of position; the +former, about forty years of age, still preserving traces of +great beauty, the latter a boy between eleven and twelve. The +third place in the coupe was occupied by the conductor. + +Breakfast was waiting, as usual, in the dining-room; one of those +breakfasts which conductors, no doubt in collusion with the +landlords, never give travellers the time to eat. The woman and +the nurse got out of the coach and went to a baker's shop nearby, +where each bought a hot roll and a sausage, with which they went +back to the coach, settling themselves quietly to breakfast, +thus saving the cost, probably too great for their means, of a +meal at the hotel. + +The doctor, the watchmaker, the architect and the mother and +son entered the inn, and, after warming themselves hastily at +the large kitchen-fire, entered the dining-room and took seats +at the table. + +The mother contented herself with a cup of coffee with cream, +and some fruit. The boy, delighted to prove himself a man by +his appetite at least, boldly attacked the viands. The first +few moments were, as usual, employed in satisfying hunger. The +watchmaker from Geneva was the first to speak. + +"Faith, citizen," said he (the word citizen was still used in +public places), "I tell you frankly I was not at all sorry to +see daylight this morning." + +"Cannot monsieur sleep in a coach?" asked the doctor. + +"Oh, yes, sir," replied the compatriot of Jean-Jacques; "on the +contrary, I usually sleep straight through the night. But anxiety +was stronger than fatigue this time." + +"Were you afraid of upsetting?" asked the architect. + +"No. I'm very lucky in that respect; it seems enough for me to +be in a coach to make it unupsettable. No, that wasn't it." + +"What was it, then?" questioned the doctor. + +"They say in Geneva that the roads in France are not safe." + +"That's according to circumstances," said the architect. + +"Ah! how's that?" inquired the watchmaker. + +"Oh!" replied the architect; "if, for example, we were carrying +government money, we would surely be stopped, or rather we would +have been already." + +"Do you think so?" queried the watchmaker. + +"That has never failed. I don't know how those devils of Companions +of Jehu manage to keep so well posted; but they never miss an +opportunity." + +The doctor nodded affirmatively. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the watchmaker, addressing the doctor; "do you +think so, too?" + +"I do." + +"And if you knew there was government money in the coach, would +you be so imprudent as to take passage in it?" + +"I must admit," replied the doctor, "that I should think twice +about it." + +"And you, sir?" said the questioner to the architect. + +"Oh, I," replied the latter--"as I am on important business, I +should have started anyway." + +"I am tempted," said the watchmaker "to take off my valise and +my oases, and wait for to-morrow's diligence, because my boxes +are filled with watches worth something like twenty thousand +francs. We've been lucky so far, but there's no use tempting +Providence." + +"Did you not hear these gentlemen say," remarked the lady, joining +in the conversation for the first time, "that we run the risk +of being stopped only when the coach carries government money?" + +"That's exactly it," replied the watchmaker, looking anxiously +around. "We are carrying it." + +The mother blanched visibly and looked at her son. Before fearing +for herself every mother fears for her child. + +"What! we are carrying it?" asked the doctor and the architect +in varying tones of excitement. "Are you sure of what you are +saying?" + +"Perfectly sure, gentlemen." + +"Then you should either have told us before, or have told us in +a whisper now." + +"But perhaps," said the doctor, "the gentleman is not quite sure +of what he says." + +"Or perhaps he is joking," added the architect. + +"Heaven forbid!" + +"The Genevese are very fond of a laugh," persisted the doctor. + +"Sir," replied the Genevese, much hurt that any one should think +he liked to laugh, "I saw it put on the coach myself." + +"What?" + +"The money." + +"Was there much?" + +"A good many bags." + +"But where does the money come from?" + +"The treasury of the bears of Berne. You know, of course, that +the bears of Berne received an income of fifty or even sixty +thousand francs." + +The doctor burst out laughing. + +"Decidedly, sir, you are trying to frighten us," said he. + +"Gentlemen," said the watchmaker, "I give you my word of honor--" + +"Take your places gentlemen," shouted the conductor, opening +the door. "Take your places! We are three-quarters of an hour +late." + +"One moment, conductor, one moment," Said the architect; "we are +consulting." + +"About what?" + +"Close the door, conductor, and come over here." + +"Drink a glass of wine with us, conductor." + +"With pleasure, gentlemen; a glass of wine is never to be refused." + +The conductor held out his glass, and the three travellers touched +it; but just as he was lifting it to his lips the doctor stopped +his arm. + +"Come, conductor, frankly, is it true?" + +"What?" + +"What this gentleman says?" And he pointed to the Genevese. + +"Monsieur Féraud?" + +"I don't know if that is his name." + +"Yes, sir, that is my name--Féraud & Company, No. 6 Rue du Rempart, +Geneva, at your service," replied the watchmaker, bowing. + +"Gentlemen," repeated the conductor, "take your places!" + +"But you haven't answered." + +"What the devil shall I answer? You haven't asked me anything." + +"Yes, we asked you if it is true that you are carrying a large +sum of money belonging to the French Government?" + +"Blabber!" said the conductor to watchmaker, "did you tell that?" + +"Confound it, my worthy fellow--" + +"Come, gentlemen, your places." + +"But before getting in we want to know--" + +"What? Whether I have government money? Yes I have. Now, if we +are stopped, say nothing and all will be well." + +"Are you sure?" + +"Leave me to arrange matters with these gentry." + +"What will you do if we are stopped?" the doctor asked the architect. + +"Faith! I shall follow the conductor's advice." + +"That's the best thing to do," observed the latter. + +"Well, I shall keep quiet," repeated the architect. + +"And so shall I," added the watchmaker. + +"Come, gentlemen, take your seats, and let us make haste." + +The boy had listened to this conversation with frowning brow and +clinched teeth. + +"Well," he said to his mother, "if we are stopped, I know what +I'll do." + +"What will you do?" she asked. + +"You'll see." + +"What does this little boy say?" asked the watchmaker. + +"I say you are all cowards," replied the child unhesitatingly. + +"Edouard!" exclaimed his mother, "what do you mean?" + +"I wish they'd stop the diligence, that I do!" cried the boy, +his eye sparkling with determination. + +"Come, come, gentlemen, in Heaven's name, take your places," called +the conductor once more. + +"Conductor," said the doctor, "I presume you have no weapons!" + +"Yes, I have my pistols." + +"Unfortunate!" + +The conductor stooped to the doctor's ear and whispered: "Don't +be alarmed, doctor; they're only loaded with powder." + +"Good!" + +"Forward, postilion, forward!" shouted the conductor, closing +the door of the interior. Then, while the postilion snapped his +whip and started the heavy vehicle, he also closed that of the +coupé. + +"Are you not coming with us, conductor?" asked the lady. + +"Thank you, no, Madame de Montrevel," replied the conductor; +"I have something to do on the imperial." Then, looking into +the window, he added: "Take care the Monsieur Edouard does not +touch the pistols in the pocket of the carriage; he might hurt +himself." + +"Pooh!" retorted the boy, "as if I didn't know how to handle +a pistol. I have handsomer ones than yours, that my friend Sir +John had sent me from England; haven't I, mamma?" + +"Never mind, Edouard," replied Madame de Montrevel, "I entreat +you not to touch them." + +"Don't worry, little mother." Then he added softly, "All the +same, if the Companions of Jehu stop us, I know what I shall do." + +The diligence was again rolling heavily on its way to Paris. + +It was one of those fine winter days which makes those who think +that nature is dead at that season admit that nature never dies +but only sleeps. The man who lives to be seventy or eighty years +of age has his nights of ten or twelve hours, and often complains +that the length of his nights adds to the shortness of his days. +Nature, which has an everlasting existence; trees, which live a +thousand years; have sleeping periods of four or five months, +which are winters for us but only nights for them. The poets, +in their envious verse, sing the immortality of nature, which +dies each autumn and revives each spring. The poets are mistaken; +nature does not die each autumn, she only falls asleep; she is +not resuscitated, she awakens. The day when our globe really +dies, it will be dead indeed. Then it will roll into space or +fall into the abysses of chaos, inert, mute, solitary, without +trees, without flowers, without verdure, without poets. + +But on this beautiful day of the 23d of February, 1800, sleeping +nature dreamed of spring; a brilliant, almost joyous sun made +the grass in the ditches on either side of the road sparkle with +those deceptive pearls of the hoarfrost which vanish at a touch, +and rejoice the heart of a tiller of the earth when he sees them +glittering at the points of his wheat as it pushes bravely up +through the soil. All the windows of the diligence were lowered, +to give entrance to this earliest smile of the Divine, as though +all hearts were saying: "Welcome back, traveller long lost in the +clouds of the West, or beneath the heaving billows of Ocean!" + +Suddenly, about an hour after leaving Châtillon, the diligence +stopped at a bend of the river without any apparent cause. Four +horsemen quietly approached, walking their horses, and one of +them, a little in advance of the others, made a sign with his +hand to the postilion, ordering him to draw up. The postilion +obeyed. + +"Oh, mamma!" cried Edouard, standing up and leaning out of the +window in spite of Madame de Montrevel's protestations; "oh, +mamma, what fine horses! But why do these gentlemen wear masks? +This isn't carnival." + +Madame de Montrevel was dreaming. A woman always dreams a little; +young, of the future; old, of the past. She started from her +revery, put her head out of the window, and gave a little cry. + +Edouard turned around hastily. + +"What ails you, mother?" he asked. + +Madame de Montrevel turned pale and took him in her arms without +a word. Cries of terror were heard in the interior. + +"But what is the matter?" demanded little Edouard, struggling +to escape from his mother's encircling arms. + +"Nothing, my little man," said one of the masked men in a gentle +voice, putting his head through the window of the coupé; "nothing +but an account we have to settle with the conductor, which does +not in the least concern you travellers. Tell your mother to +accept our respectful homage, and to pay no more heed to us than +if we were not here." Then passing to the door of the interior, +he added: "Gentlemen, your servant. Fear nothing for your money +or jewels, and reassure that nurse--we have not come here to +turn her milk." Then to the conductor: "Now, then, Père Jérôme, +we have a hundred thousand francs on the imperial and in the +boxes, haven't we?" + +"Gentlemen, I assure you--" + +"That the money belongs to the government. It did belong to the +bears of Berne; seventy thousand francs in gold, the rest in +silver. The silver is on the top of the coach, the gold in the +bottom of the coupé. Isn't that so? You see how well informed +we are." + +At the words "bottom of the coupe" Madame de Montrevel gave another +cry of terror; she was about to come in contact with men who, in +spite of their politeness, inspired her with the most profound +terror. + +"But what is the matter, mother, what is the matter?" demanded +the boy impatiently. + +"Be quiet, Edouard; be quiet!" + +"Why must I be quiet?" + +"Don't you understand?" + +"No." + +"The coach has been stopped." + +"Why? Tell me why? Ah, mother, I understand." + +"No, no," said Madame de Montrevel, "you don't understand." + +"Those gentlemen are robbers." + +"Take care you don't say so." + +"What, you mean they are not robbers? Why, see they are taking +the conductor's money." + +Sure enough, one of the four was fastening to the saddle of his +horse the bags of silver which the conductor threw down from +the imperial. + +"No," repeated Madame de Montrevel, "no, they are not robbers." +Then lowering her voice, she added: "They are Companions of Jehu." + +"Ah!" cried the boy, "they are the ones who assassinated my friend, +Sir John." + +And the child turned very pale, and his breath came hissing through +his clinched teeth. + +At that moment one of the masked men opened the door of the coupé, +and said with exquisite politeness: "Madame la Comtesse, to our +great regret we are obliged to disturb you; but we want, or rather +the conductor wants, a package from the bottom of the coupé. +Will you be so kind as to get out for a moment? Jérôme will get +what he wants as quickly as possible." Then, with that note of +gayety which was never entirely absent from that laughing voice, +he added, "Won't you, Jérôme?" + +Jérôme replied from the top of the diligence, confirming these +words. + +With an instinctive movement to put herself between the danger and +her son, Madame de Montrevel, while complying with that request, +pushed Edouard behind her. That instant sufficed for the boy to +seize the conductor's pistols. + +The young man with the laughing voice assisted Madame de Montrevel +from the coach with the greatest care, then signed to one of his +companions to give her an arm, and returned to the coach. + +But at that instant a double report was heard. Edouard had fired +a pistol with each hand at the Companion of Jehu, who disappeared +in the smoke. + +Madame de Montrevel screamed, and fainted away. Various cries, +expressive of diverse sentiments, echoed that of the mother. + +From the interior came one of terror; they had all agreed to +offer no resistance, and now some one had resisted. From the +three young men came a cry of surprise--it was the first time +such a thing had happened. + +They rushed to their companion, expecting to find him reduced +to pulp; but they found him safe and sound, laughing heartily, +while the conductor, with clasped hands, was exclaiming: "Monsieur, +I swear there were no balls; monsieur, I protest, they were only +charged with powder." + +"The deuce," said the young man, "don't I see that? But the intention +was good, wasn't it, my little Edouard?" Then, turning to his +companions, he added: "Confess, gentlemen, that he is a fine +boy--a true son of his father, and brother of his brother. Bravo, +Edouard! you'll make a man some day!" + +Taking the boy in his arms, he kissed him, in spite of his struggles, +on both cheeks. + +Edouard fought like a demon, thinking no doubt that it was very +humiliating to be embraced by a man at whom he had just fired +two pistols. + +In the meantime one of the Companions had carried Edouard's mother +to the bank by the roadside a little distance from the diligence. +The man who had kissed Edouard with so much affection and persistence +now looked around for her. + +"Ah!" cried he, on perceiving her, "Madame de Montrevel still +unconscious? We can't leave a woman in that condition, gentlemen. +Conductor, take Master Edouard." Placing the boy in Jérôme's +arms, he turned to one of his companions: "Man of precautions," +said he, "haven't you smelling salts or a bottle of essence with +you?" + +"Here!" said the young man he had addressed, pulling a flask of +toilet vinegar from his pocket. + +"Good," said the other, who seemed to be the leader of the band. +"Do you finish up the matter with Master Jérôme; I'll take charge +of Madame de Montrevel." + +It was indeed time. The fainting fit was giving place to a violent +nervous attack; spasmodic movements shook her whole body and +strangled cries came from her throat. The young man leaned over +her and made her inhale the salts. + +Madame de Montrevel presently opened her frightened eyes, and +called out: "Edouard! Edouard!" With an involuntary movement +she knocked aside the mask of the man who was supporting her, +exposing his face. + +The courteous, laughing young man--our readers have already +recognized him--was Morgan. + +Madame de Montrevel paused in amazement at sight of those beautiful +blue eyes, the lofty brow, and the gracious lips smiling at her. +She realized that she ran no danger from such a man, and that no +harm could have befallen Edouard. Treating Morgan as a gentleman +who had succored her, and not as a bandit who had caused her +fainting-fit, she exclaimed: "Ah, sir! how kind you are." + +In the words, in the tones in which she uttered them, there lay +a world of thanks, not only for herself, but for her child. + +With singular delicacy, entirely in keeping with his chivalric +nature, Morgan, instead of picking up his fallen mask and covering +his face immediately, so that Madame de Montrevel could only +have retained a fleeting and confused impression of it--Morgan +replied to her compliment by a low bow, leaving his features +uncovered long enough to produce their impression; then, placing +d'Assas' flask in Madame de Montrevel's hand--and then only--he +replaced his mask. Madame de Montrevel understood the young man's +delicacy. + +"Ah! sir," said she, "be sure that, in whatever place or situation +I see you again, I shall not recognize you." + +"Then, madame," replied Morgan, "it is for me to thank you and +repeat, 'How kind you are.'" + +"Come, gentlemen, take your seats!" said the conductor, in his +customary tone, as if nothing unusual had happened. + +"Are you quite restored, madame, or should you like a few minutes +more to rest?" asked Morgan. "The diligence shall wait." + +"No, that is quite unnecessary; I feel quite well, and am much +indebted to you." + +Morgan offered Madame de Montrevel his arm, and she leaned upon +it to reach the diligence. The conductor had already placed little +Edouard inside. When Madame de Montrevel had resumed her seat, +Morgan, who had already made his peace with the mother, wished +to do so with the son. + +"Without a grudge, my young hero," he said, offering his hand. + +But the boy drew back. + +"I don't give my hand to a highway robber," he replied. Madame +de Montrevel gave a start of terror. + +"You have a charming boy, madame," said Morgan; "only he has his +prejudices." Then, bowing with the utmost courtesy, he added, +"A prosperous voyage, madame," and closed the door. + +"Forward!" cried the conductor. + +The carriage gave a lurch. + +"Oh! pardon me, sir!" exclaimed Madame de Montrevel; "your flask!" + +"Keep it, madame," said Morgan; "although I trust you are +sufficiently recovered not to need it." + +But Edouard, snatching the flask from his mother's hands, flung +it out of the window, crying: "Mamma doesn't receive presents +from robbers." + +"The devil!" murmured Morgan, with the first sigh his Companions +had ever heard him give. "I think I am right not to ask for my +poor Amélie in marriage." Then, turning to his Companions, he +said: "Well, gentlemen, is it finished?" + +"Yes," they answered with one voice. + +"Then let us mount and be off. Don't forget we have to be at the +Opera at nine o'clock this evening." + +Springing into his saddle, he was the first to jump the ditch, +reach the river, and there unhesitatingly took the ford which +the pretended courier had pointed out on Cassini's map. + +When he reached the opposite bank, followed by the other young +men, d'Assas said to him: "Say, didn't your mask falloff?" + +"Yes; but no one saw my face but Madame de Montrevel." + +"Hum!" muttered d'Assas. "Better no one had seen it." + +Putting their horses to a gallop, all four disappeared across +the fields in the direction of Chacource. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +CITIZEN FOUCHÉ'S REPORT + +On arriving the next day, toward eleven in the morning, at the +Hôtel des Ambassadeurs, Madame de Montrevel was astonished to +find, instead of Roland, a stranger awaiting her. The stranger +approached her. + +"Are you the widow of General de Montrevel, madame?" he asked. + +"Yes, monsieur," replied Madame de Montrevel, not a little +astonished. + +"And you are looking for your son?" + +"Yes; and I do not understand, after the letter he wrote me--" + +"Man proposes, the First Consul disposes," replied the stranger, +laughing. "The First Consul has disposed of your son for a few +days, and has sent me to receive you in his stead." + +Madame de Montrevel bowed. + +"To whom have I the honor of speaking?" she asked. + +"To citizen Fauvelet de Bourrienne, his first secretary," replied +the stranger. + +"Will you thank the First Consul for me," replied Madame de +Montrevel, "and have the kindness to express to him the profound +regret I feel at not being able to do so myself?" + +"But nothing can be more easy, madame." + +"How so?" + +"The First Consul has ordered me to bring you to the Luxembourg." + +"Me?" + +"You and your son." + +"Oh! I am going to see General Bonaparte; I am going to see General +Bonaparte!" cried the child, jumping for joy and clapping his +hands. "What happiness!" + +"Edouard, Edouard!" exclaimed Madame de Montrevel. Then, turning +to Bourrienne, "You must excuse him, sir; he is a little savage +from the Jura Mountains." + +Bourrienne held out his hand to the boy. + +"I am a friend of your brother's," said he. "Will you kiss me?" + +"Oh! willingly, sir," replied Edouard. "You are not a thief, I know." + +"Why, no; I trust not," replied the secretary, laughing. + +"You must excuse him once again, sir. Our diligence was stopped +on the way." + +"Stopped?" + +"Yes." + +"By robbers?" + +"Not exactly." + +"Monsieur," asked Edouard, "when people take other people's money, +are they not thieves?" + +"That is what they are generally called, my dear child." + +"There, you see, mamma." + +"Come, Edouard, be quiet, I beg of you." + +Bourrienne glanced at Madame de Montrevel, and saw clearly from +the expression of her face that the subject was disagreeable +to her; he therefore dropped it. + +"Madame," said he, "may I remind you that I have I orders to +take you to the Luxembourg, and to add that Madame Bonaparte is +expecting you?" + +"Pray give me time to change my gown and to dress Edouard, sir." + +"How long will that take, madame?" + +"Is half an hour too much to ask?" + +"No, indeed; if half an hour really suffices I shall think you +most reasonable." + +"Be easy, sir; it will be sufficient." + +"Well, madame," said the secretary, bowing, "I will attend to +an errand, and return in half an hour to place myself at your +orders." + +"Thank you, sir." + +"Don't be annoyed if I should be punctual." + +"I shall not keep you waiting." + +Bourrienne left. Madame de Montrevel dressed Edouard first, then +herself, and was ready five minutes before Bourrienne reappeared. + +"Take care, madame," said Bourrienne laughing, "lest I tell the +First Consul of your extreme punctuality." + +"What should I have to fear if you did?" + +"He would keep you near him to give lessons in punctuality to +Madame Bonaparte." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Madame de Montrevel, "you must forgive unpunctuality +in a Creole." + +"But I believe you are a Creole also, madame." + +"Madame Bonaparte sees her husband every day," said Madame de +Montrevel, laughing, "whereas I am to see the First Consul for +the first time." + +"Come, mother, let us go!" said Edouard. + +The secretary drew aside to allow Madame de Montrevel to pass +out. Fifteen minutes later they had reached the Luxembourg. + +Bonaparte occupied the suite of rooms on the ground floor to +the right. Josephine's chamber and boudoir were on the first +floor; a stairway led from the First Consul's study to her room. + +She was expecting Madame de Montrevel, for as soon as she saw +her she opened her arms as to a friend. Madame de Montrevel had +stopped respectfully at the door. + +"Oh! come in, come in, madame!" said Josephine. "To-day is not +the first that I know you; I have long known you through your +excellent son, Roland. Shall I tell you what comforts me when +Bonaparte leaves me? It is that Roland goes with him; for I fancy +that, so long as Roland is with him, no harm will befall him. +Well, won't you kiss me?" + +Madame de Montrevel was confused by so much kindness. + +"We are compatriots, you know," continued Josephine. "Oh! how +well I remember M. de la Clémencière, and his beautiful gardens +with the splendid fruit. I remember having seen a young girl who +seemed its queen. You must have married very young, madame?" + +"At fourteen." + +"Yes, you could not have been older to have a son of Roland's +age. But pray sit down." + +She led the way, making a sign to Madame de Montrevel to sit beside +her. + +"And that charming boy," she said, pointing to Edouard, "is he +also your son?" And she gave a sigh. "God has been prodigal to +you, madame, and as He has given you all you can desire, will +you not implore Him to send me a son." + +She pressed her lips enviously to Edouard's forehead. + +"My husband will be delighted to see you, he is so fond of your +son, madame! You would not have been brought to me in the first +instance, if he were not engaged with the minister of police. +For that matter," she added, laughing, "you have arrived at an +unfortunate moment; he is furious!" + +"Oh!" cried Madame de Montrevel, frightened; "if that is so, I +would rather wait." + +"No, no! On the contrary, the sight of you will calm him. I don't +know just what is the matter; but it seems a diligence was stopped +on the outskirts of the Black Forest in broad daylight. Fouché +will find his credit in danger if the thing goes on." + +Madame de Montrevel was about to answer when the door opened and +an usher appeared. + +"The First Consul awaits Madame de Montrevel," he said. + +"Go," said Josephine; "Bonaparte's time is so precious that he +is almost as impatient as Louis XV., who had nothing to do. He +does not like to wait." + +Madame de Montrevel rose hastily and turned to take Edouard with her. + +"No," said Josephine; "leave this beautiful boy with me. You will +stay and dine with us, and Bonaparte can see him then. Besides, +if my husband takes a fancy to see him, he can send for him. +For the time, I am his second mamma. Come, what shall we do to +amuse ourselves?" + +"The First Consul must have a fine lot of weapons, madame," replied +the boy. + +"Yes, very fine ones. Well, I will show you the First Consul's arms." + +Josephine, leading the child, went out of one door, and Madame +de Montrevel followed the usher through the other. + +On the way the countess met a fair man, with a pale face and +haggard eye, who looked at her with an uneasiness that seemed +habitual to him. She drew hastily aside to let him pass. The +usher noticed her movement. + +"That is the minister of police," he said in a low voice. Madame de +Montrevel watched him as he disappeared, with a certain curiosity. +Fouché was already at that time fatally celebrated. Just then the +door of Bonaparte's study opened and his head was seen through +the aperture. He caught sight of Madame de Montrevel. + +"Come in, madame," he said; "come in." + +Madame de Montrevel hastened her steps and entered the study. + +"Come in," said Bonaparte, closing the door himself. "I have +kept you waiting much against my will; but I had to give Fouché +a scolding. You know I am very well satisfied with Roland, and +that I intend to make a general of him at the first opportunity. +When did you arrive?" + +"This very moment, general." + +"Where from? Roland told me, but I have forgotten." + +"From Bourg." + +"What road?" + +"Through Champagne." + +"Champagne! Then when did you reach Châtillon?" + +"Yesterday morning at nine o'clock." + +"In that case, you must have heard of the stoppage of the diligence." + +"General--" + +"Yes, a diligence was stopped at ten in the morning, between +Châtillon and Bar-sur-Seine." + +"General, it was ours." + +"Yours?" + +"Yes." + +"You were in the diligence that was stopped?" + +"I was." + +"Ah! now I shall get the exact details! Excuse me, but you understand +my desire for correct information, don't you? In a civilized +country which has General Bonaparte for its chief magistrate, +diligences can't be stopped in broad daylight on the highroads +with impunity, or--" + +"General, I can tell you nothing, except that those who stopped +it were on horseback and masked." + +"How many were there?" + +"Four." + +"How many men were there in the diligence?" + +"Four, including the conductor." + +"And they didn't defend themselves?" + +"No, general." + +"The police report says, however, that two shots were fired." + +"Yes, general, but those two shots--" + +"Well?" + +"Were fired by my son." + +"Your son? Why, he is in Vendée!" + +"Roland, yes; but Edouard was with me." + +"Edouard! Who is Edouard?" + +"Roland's brother." + +"True, he spoke of him; but he is only a child." + +"He is not yet twelve, general." + +"And it was he who fired the two shots?" + +"Yes, general." + +"Why didn't you bring him with you?" + +"I did." + +"Where is he?" + +"I left him with Madame Bonaparte." + +Bonaparte rang, and an usher appeared. + +"Tell Josephine to bring the boy to me." Then, walking up and +down his study, he muttered, "Four men! And a child taught them +courage! Were any of the robbers wounded?" + +"There were no balls in the pistols." + +"What I no balls?" + +"No; they belonged to the conductor, and he had taken the precaution +to load them with powder only." + +"Very good; his name shall be known." + +Just then the door opened, and Madame Bonaparte entered, leading +the boy by the hand. + +"Come here," Bonaparte said to him. + +Edouard went up to him without hesitation and made a military salute. + +"So you fired at the robbers twice, did you?" + +"There, you see, mamma, they were robbers!" interrupted the child. + +"Of course they were robbers; I should like to hear any one declare +they were not! Was it you who fired at them, when the men were +afraid?" + +"Yes, it was I, general. But unfortunately that coward of a conductor +had loaded his pistols only with powder; otherwise I should have +killed their leader." + +"Then you were not afraid?" + +"I?" replied the boy. "No, I am never afraid." + +"You ought to be named Cornelia, madame," exclaimed Bonaparte, +turning to Madame de Montrevel, who was leaning on Josephine's +arm. Then he said to the child, kissing him: "Very good; we will +take care of you. What would you like to be?" + +"Soldier first." + +"What do you mean by first?" + +"Why, first a soldier, then later a colonel like my brother, and +then a general like my father." + +"It won't be my fault if you are not," answered the First Consul. + +"Nor mine," retorted the boy. + +"Edouard!" exclaimed Madame de Montrevel, timidly. + +"Now don't scold him for answering properly;" and Bonaparte, lifting +the child to the level of his face, kissed him. + +"You must dine with us," said he, "and to-night Bourrienne, who +met you at the hotel, will install you in the Rue de la Victoire. +You must stay there till Roland gets back; he will then find +you suitable lodgings. Edouard shall go to the Prytanée, and I +will marry off your daughter." + +"General!" + +"That's all settled with Roland." Then, turning to Josephine, +he said: "Take Madame de Montrevel with you, and try not to let +her be bored.--And, Madame de Montrevel, if _your friend_ +(he emphasized the words) wishes to go to a milliner, prevent +it; she can't want bonnets, for she bought thirty-eight last +month." + +Then, giving Edouard a friendly tap, he dismissed the two women +with a wave of the hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE SON OF THE MILLER OF LEGUERNO + +We have said that at the very moment when Morgan and his three +companions stopped the Geneva diligence between Bar-sur-Seine +and Châtillon, Roland was entering Nantes. + +If we are to know the result of his mission we must not grope +our way, step by step, through the darkness in which the Abbé +Bernier wrapped his ambitious projects, but we must join him +later at the village of Muzillac, between Ambon and Guernic, six +miles above the little bay into which the Vilaine River falls. + +There we find ourselves in the heart of the Morbihan; that is +to say, in the region that gave birth to the Chouannerie. It +was close to Laval, on the little farm of the Poiriers, that the +four Chouan brothers were born to Pierre Cottereau and Jeanne +Moyné. One of their ancestors, a misanthropical woodcutter, a +morose peasant, kept himself aloof from the other peasants as +the _chat-huant_ (screech-owl) keeps aloof from the other +birds; hence the name Chouan, a corruption of _chat-huant_. + +The name became that of a party. On the right bank of the Loire +they said Chouans when they meant Bretons, just as on the left +bank they said brigands when they meant Vendéans. + +It is not for us to relate the death and destruction of that +heroic family, nor follow to the scaffold the two sisters and a +brother, nor tell of battlefields where Jean and René, martyrs +to their faith, lay dying or dead. Many years have elapsed since +the executions of Perrine, René and Pierre, and the death of Jean; +and the martyrdom of the sisters, the exploits of the brothers +have passed into legends. We have now to do with their successors. + +It is true that these gars (lads) are faithful to their traditions. +As they fought beside la Rouërie, Bois-Hardy and Bernard de +Villeneuve, so did they fight beside Bourmont, Frotté, and Georges +Cadoudal. Theirs was always the same courage, the same devotion--that +of the Christian soldier, the faithful royalist. Their aspect is +always the same, rough and savage; their weapons, the same gun +or cudgel, called in those parts a "ferte." Their garments are +the same; a brown woollen cap, or a broad-brimmed hat scarcely +covering the long straight hair that fell in tangles on their +shoulders, the old _Aulerci Cenomani_, as in Cæsar's day, +_promisso capillo_; they are the same Bretons with wide +breeches of whom Martial said: + + _Tam laxa est..._ + _Quam veteres braccoe Britonis pauperis._ + +To protect themselves from rain and cold they wore goatskin garments, +made with the long hair turned outside; on the breasts of which, +as countersign, some wore a scapulary and chaplet, others a heart, +the heart of Jesus; this latter was the distinctive sign of a +fraternity which withdrew apart each day for common prayer. + +Such were the men, who, at the time we are crossing the borderland +between the Loire-Inférieure and Morbihan, were scattered from +La Roche-Bernard to Vannes, and from Quertemberg to Billiers, +surrounding consequently the village of Muzillac. + +But it needed the eye of the eagle soaring in the clouds, or +that of the screech-owl piercing the darkness, to distinguish +these men among the gorse and heather and underbrush where they +were crouching. + +Let us pass through this network of invisible sentinels, and +after fording two streams, the affluents of a nameless river +which flows into the sea near Billiers, between Arzal and Dangau, +let us boldly enter the village of Muzillac. + +All is still and sombre; a single light shines through the blinds +of a house, or rather a cottage, which nothing distinguishes +from its fellows. It is the fourth to the right on entering the +village. + +Let us put our eye to one of these chinks and look in. + +We see a man dressed like the rich peasants of Morbihan, except +that gold lace about a finger wide stripes the collar and buttonholes +of his coat and also the edges of his hat. The rest of his dress +consists of leathern trousers and high-topped boots. His sword +is thrown upon a chair. A brace of pistols lies within reach +of his hand. Within the fireplace the barrels of two or three +muskets reflect the light of a blazing fire. + +The man is seated before a table; a lamp lights some papers which +he is reading with great attention, and illuminates his face at +the same time. + +The face is that of a man of thirty. When the cares of a partisan +warfare do not darken it, its expression must surely be frank and +joyous. Beautiful blond hair frames it; great blue eyes enliven +it; the head, of a shape peculiarly Breton, seems to show, if +we believe in Gall's system, an exaggerated development of the +organs of self-will. And the man has two names. That by which he +is known to his soldiers, his familiar name, is Round-head; and +his real name, received from brave and worthy parents, Georges +Cadudal, or rather Cadoudal, tradition having changed the orthography +of a name that is now historic. + +Georges was the son of a farmer of the parish of Kerléano in +the commune of Brech. The story goes that this farmer was once a +miller. Georges had just received at the college of Vannes--distant +only a few leagues from Brech--a good and solid education when the +first appeals for a royalist insurrection were made in Vendée. +Cadoudal listened to them, gathered together a number of his +companions, and offered his services to Stofflet. But Stofflet +insisted on seeing him at work before he accepted him. Georges +asked nothing better. Such occasions were not long to seek in +the Vendéan army. On the next day there was a battle; Georges +went into it with such determination and made so desperate a rush +that M. de Maulevrier's former huntsman, on seeing him charge +the Blues, could not refrain from saying aloud to Bonchamp, who +was near him: + +"If a cannon ball doesn't take off that _Big Round Head_, +it will roll far, I warrant you." + +The name clung to Cadoudal--a name by which, five centuries earlier, +the lords of Malestroit, Penhoël, Beaumanoir and Rochefort designated +the great Constable, whose ransom was spun by the women of Brittany. + +"There's the Big Round Head," said they; "now we'll exchange some +good sword-play with the English." + +Unfortunately, at this time it was not Breton sword-thrusts against +English, but Frenchmen against Frenchmen. + +Georges remained in Vendée until after the defeat of Savenay. +The whole Vendéan army was either left upon the battlefield or +vanished in smoke. For three years, Georges had performed prodigies +of valor, strength and dexterity; he now crossed the Loire and +re-entered Morbihan with only one man left of all who had followed +him. + +That man became his aide-de-camp, or rather his brother-in-arms. +He never left him, and in memory of the hard campaign they had +made together he changed his name from Lemercier to Tiffauges. We +have seen him at the ball of the Victims charged with a message +to Morgan. + +As soon as Cadoudal returned to his own part of the country, he +fomented insurrection on his own responsibility. Bullets respected +that big round head, and the big round head justified Stofflet's +prediction. He succeeded La Rochejacquelin, d'Elbée, Bonchamp, +Lescure, even Stofflet himself, and became their rival for fame, +their superior in power; for it happened (and this will give +an idea of his strength) that Cadoudal, almost single-handed, +had been able to resist the government of Bonaparte, who had +been First Consul for the last three months. The two leaders +who continued with him, faithful to the Bourbon dynasty, were +Frotté and Bourmont. + +At the time of which we are now speaking, that is to say, the +26th of January, 1800, Cadoudal commanded three or four thousand +men with whom he was preparing to blockade General Hatry in Vannes. + +During the time that he awaited the First Consul's answer to the +letter of Louis XVIII. he had suspended hostilities; but Tiffauges +had arrived a couple of days before with it. + +That letter was already on the way to England, whence it would be +sent to Mittau; and since the First Consul would not accept peace +on the terms dictated by Louis XVIII., Cadoudal, commander-in-chief +of Louis XVIII. in the West, renewed his warfare against Bonaparte, +intending to carry it on alone, if necessary, with his friend +Tiffauges. For the rest, the latter was at Pouancé, where conferences +were being held between Châtillon, d'Autichamp, the Abbé Bernier, +and General Hédouville. + +He was reflecting--this last survivor of the great warriors of +the civil war--and the news he had just received was indeed a +matter for deep reflection. + +General Brune, the conqueror of Alkmaar and Castricum, the savior +of Holland, had just been appointed to the command of the Republican +forces in the West. He had reached Nantes three days previous, +intending, at any cost, to annihilate Cadoudal and his Chouans. + +At any cost, therefore, Cadoudal and his Chouans must prove to +the commander-in-chief that they knew no fear, and had nothing +to expect from intimidation. + +Just then the gallop of a horse was heard; the rider no doubt +had the countersign, for he passed without difficulty the various +patrols stationed along the toad to La Roche-Bernard, and entered +the village of Muzillac, also without difficulty. + +He stopped before the door of the cottage in which Georges was +sitting. The latter raised his head, listened, and, by way of +precaution, laid his hands on his pistols, though it was probable +that the new-comer was a friend. + +The rider dismounted, strode up the path, and opened the door +of the room where Georges was waiting. + +"Ah! it's you, Coeur-de-Roi," said Cadoudal. "Where do you come +from?" + +"From Pouancé, general." + +"What news?" + +"A letter from Tiffauges." + +"Give it to me." + +Georges snatched the letter hastily from Coeur-de-Roi's hand and +read it. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed. + +Then he read it a second time, + +"Have you seen the man whose coming he speaks of?" inquired Cadoudal. + +"Yes, general," replied the courier. + +"What sort of a man is he?" + +"A handsome young fellow of twenty-six or seven." + +"What manner?" + +"Determined." + +"That's it. When does he arrive?" + +"Probably to-night." + +"Did you safe-guard him along the road?" + +"Yes; he'll come safely." + +"Do it again. Nothing must happen to him; he is protected by Morgan." + +"That's understood, general." + +"Anything more to say?" + +"The advanced guard of the Republicans has reached La Roche-Bernard." + +"How many men?" + +"About a thousand. They have a guillotine with them, and the +commissioner of the executive power, Millière." + +"Are you sure?" + +"I met them on the road. The commissioner was riding near the +colonel, and I recognized him perfectly. He executed my brother, +and I have sworn he shall die by my own hand." + +"And you'll risk your life to keep your oath?" + +"At the first opportunity." + +"Perhaps it won't be long coming." + +The gallop of a horse echoed through the street. + +"Ah!" said Coeur-de-Roi, "that is probably the man you expect." + +"No," replied Cadoudal, "this rider comes from the direction of +Vannes." + +The sound became more distinct, and it proved that Cadoudal was right. + +The second horseman, like the first, halted at the gate, dismounted, +and came into the room. The royalist leader recognized him at +once, in spite of the large cloak in which he was wrapped. + +"Is it you, Bénédicité?" he asked. + +"Yes, general." + +"Where do you come from?" + +"From Vannes, where you sent me to watch the Blues. + +"Well, what are the Blues doing?" + +"Scaring themselves about dying of hunger if you blockade the +town. In order to procure provisions General Hatry intends to +carry off the supplies at Grandchamp. The general is to command +the raid in person; and, to act more quickly, only a hundred +men are to go." + +"Are you tired, Bénédicité?" + +"Never, general." + +"And your horse?" + +"He came fast, but he can do twelve or fifteen miles more without +killing himself." + +"Give him two hours' rest, a double feed of oats, and make him +do thirty." + +"On those conditions he can do them." + +"Start in two hours. Be at Grandchamp by daybreak. Give the order +in my name to evacuate the village. I'll take care of General +Hatry and his column. Is that all you have to say?" + +"No, I heard other news." + +"What is it?" + +"That Vannes has a new bishop." + +"Ha! so they are giving us back our bishops?" + +"So it seems; but if they are all like this one, they can keep them." + +"Who is he?" + +"Audrein!" + +"The regicide?" + +"Audrein the renegade." + +"When is he coming?" + +"To-night or to-morrow." + +"I shall not go to meet him; but let him beware of falling into +my men's hands." + +Bénédicité and Coeur-de-Roi burst into a laugh which completed +Cadoudal's thought. + +"Hush!" cried Cadoudal. + +The three men listened. + +"This time it is probably he," observed Georges. + +The gallop of a horse could be heard coming from the direction +of La Roche-Bernard. + +"It is certainly he," repeated Coeur-de-Roi. + +"Then, my friends, leave me alone. You, Bénédicité, get to Grandchamp +as soon as possible. You, Coeur-de-Roi, post thirty men in the +courtyard; I want messengers to send in different directions. +By the way, tell some one to bring the best that can be got for +supper in the village." + +"For how many, general?" + +"Oh! two." + +"Are you going out?" + +"No, only to meet the man who is coming." + +Two or three men had already taken the horses of the messengers +into the courtyard. The messengers themselves disappeared. + +Georges reached the gate on the street just as a horseman, pulling +up his horse, looked about him and seemed to hesitate. + +"He is here, sir," said Georges. + +"Who is here?" + +"He whom you seek." + +"How do you know whom I am seeking?" + +"I presume it is Georges Cadoudal, otherwise called Round-head." + +"Exactly." + +"Then I bid you welcome, Monsieur Roland de Montrevel, for I am +the person you seek." + +"Ah, ah!" exclaimed the young man, amazed. + +Then, dismounting, he looked about as if for some one to take +his mount. + +"Throw the bridle over your horse's neck, and don't be uneasy +about him. You will find him when you want him. Nothing is ever +lost in Brittany; you are in the land of honesty." + +The young man made no remark, threw the bridle over his horse's neck +as he had been told, and followed Cadoudal, who walked before him. + +"Only to show you the way, colonel," said the leader of the Chouans. + +They both entered the cottage, where an invisible hand had just +made up the fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +WHITE AND BLUE + +Roland entered, as we have said, behind Georges, and as he entered +cast a glance of careless curiosity around him. That glance sufficed +to show him that they were alone. + +"Are these your quarters, general?" asked Roland with a smile, +turning the soles of his boots to the blaze. + +"Yes, colonel." + +"They are singularly guarded." + +Georges smiled in turn. + +"Do you say that because you found the road open from La +Roche-Bernard here?" he asked. + +"I did not meet a soul." + +"That does not prove that the road was not guarded." + +"Unless by the owls, who seemed to fly from tree to tree, and +accompanied me all the way, general. In that case, I withdraw +my assertion." + +"Exactly," replied Cadoudal. "Those owls were my sentinels, sentinels +with good eyes, inasmuch as they have this advantage over the +eyes of men, they can see in the dark." + +"It is not the less true that I was fortunate in having inquired +my way at La Roche-Bernard; for I didn't meet even a cat who +could have told me where to find you." + +"But if you had raised your voice at any spot on the road and +asked: 'Where shall I find Georges Cadoudal?' a voice would have +answered: 'At the village of Muzillac, fourth house to the right.' +You saw no one, colonel; but at that very moment fifteen hundred +men, or thereabout, knew that Colonel Roland, the First Consul's +aide-de-camp, was on his way to a conference with the son of +the miller of Leguerno." + +"But if they knew that I was a colonel in the Republican service +and aide-de-camp to the First Consul, how came they to let me pass?" + +"Because they were ordered to do so." + +"Then you knew that I was coming?" + +"I not only knew that you were coming, but also why you have come." + +Roland looked at him fixedly. + +"Then it is useless for me to tell you; and you will answer me +even though I say nothing?" + +"You are about right." + +"The deuce! I should like to have a proof of this superiority +of your police over ours." + +"I will supply it, colonel." + +"I shall receive it with much satisfaction, especially before +this excellent fire, which also seems to have been expecting me." + +"You say truer than you know, colonel; and it is not the fire +only that is striving to welcome you warmly." + +"Yes, but it does not tell me, any more than you have done, the +object of my mission." + +"Your mission, which you do me the honor to extend to me, was +primarily intended for the Abbé Bernier alone. Unhappily the +Abbé Bernier, in the letter he sent his friend Martin Duboys, +presumed a little on his strength. He offered his mediation to +the First Consul." + +"Pardon me," interrupted Roland, "you tell me something I did +not know; namely that the Abbé Bernier had written to General +Bonaparte." + +"I said he wrote to his friend Martin Duboys, which is very +different. My men intercepted the letter and brought it to me. +I had it copied, and forwarded the original, which I am certain +reached the right hands. Your visit to General Hédouville proves it." + +"You know that General Hédouville is no longer in command at Nantes. +General Brune has taken his place." + +"You may even say that General Brune commands at La Roche-Bernard, +for a thousand Republican soldiers entered that town to-night +about six o'clock, bringing with them a guillotine and the citizen +commissioner-general Thomas Millière. Having the instrument, it +was necessary to have the executioner." + +"Then you say, general, that I came to see the Abbé Bernier?" + +"Yes; the Abbé Bernier had offered his mediation. But he forgot +that at the present there are two Vendées--the Vendée of the +left bank, and the Vendée of the right bank--and that, after +treating with d'Autichamp, Châtillon, and Suzannet at Pouancé, +it would still be necessary to negotiate with Frotté, Bourmont +and Cadoudal--and where? That no one could tell--" + +"Except you, general." + +"So, with the chivalry that is the basis of your nature, you +undertook to bring me the treaty signed on the 25th. The Abbé +Bernier, d'Autichamp, Châtillon, and Suzannet signed your pass, +and here you are." + +"On my word, general, I must admit that you are perfectly +well-informed. The First Consul desires peace with all his heart. +He knows that in you he has a brave and honorable adversary, and +being unable to meet you himself, since you were not likely to +come to Paris, he expedited me to you in his behalf." + +"That is to say, to the Abbé Bernier." + +"That can hardly matter to you, general, if I bind myself to make +the First Consul ratify what may be agreed upon between you and +me. What are your conditions of peace?" + +"They are very simple, colonel: that the First Consul shall restore +his Majesty Louis XVIII. to the throne; that he himself be constable, +lieutenant-general, general-in-chief by land and sea, and I his +first subordinate." + +"The First Consul has already replied to that demand." + +"And that is why I have decided to reply myself to his response." + +"When?" + +"This very night, if occasion offers." + +"In what way?" + +"By resuming hostilities." + +"But are you aware that Châtillon, d'Autichamp and Suzannet have +laid down their arms?" + +"They are the leaders of the Vendéans, and in the name of the +Vendéans they can do as they see fit. I am the leader of the +Chouans, and in the name of the Chouans I shall do what suits me." + +"Then you condemn this unhappy land to a war of extermination, +general!" + +"It is a martyrdom to which I summon all Christians and royalists." + +"General Brune is at Nantes with the eight thousand prisoners +just returned to us by the English after their defeats at Alkmaar +and Castricum." + +"That is the last time they will have the chance. The Blues have +taught us the bad habit of not making prisoners. As for the number +of our enemies, we don't care for that; it is a mere detail." + +"If General Brune with his eight thousand men, joined to the +twenty thousand he has received from General Hédouville, is not +sufficient, the First Consul has decided to march against you +in person with one hundred thousand men." + +Cadoudal smiled. + +"We will try to prove to him," he said, "that we are worthy to +fight against him." + +"He will burn your towns." + +"We shall retire to our huts." + +"He will burn your huts." + +"We will live in the woods." + +"Reflect, general." + +"Do me the honor to remain here forty-eight hours, colonel, and +you will see that my reflections are already made." + +"I am tempted to accept." + +"Only, colonel, don't ask for more than I can give; a night's +sleep beneath a thatched roof or wrapped in a cloak under an +oak tree, a horse to follow me, and a safe-guard when you leave me." + +"I accept." + +"Have I your word, colonel, that you will not interfere with +any orders I give, and will do nothing to defeat the surprises +I may attempt?" + +"I am too curious to see for that. You have my word, general." + +"Whatever takes place before your eyes?" + +"Whatever takes place before my eyes, I renounce the rôle of +actor and confine myself wholly to that of spectator. I wish to +say to the First Consul: 'I have seen.'" + +Cadoudal smiled. + +"Well, you shall see," said he. + +At that moment the door opened, and two peasants brought in a +table all laid, on which stood a smoking bowl of cabbage-soup and +a piece of lard; an enormous pot of cider, just drawn from the +cask, was foaming over the edges of the jug between two glasses. +A few buckwheat cakes served as a desert to this modest repast. +The table was laid for two. + +"You see, Monsieur de Montrevel, that my lads hoped you would +do me the honor to sup with me." + +"Faith! they were not far wrong. I should have asked for supper, +had you not invited me; and I might have been forced to seize +some had you not invited me." + +"Then fall to!" + +The young colonel sat down gayly. + +"Excuse the repast I offer you," said Cadoudal; "unlike your +generals, I don't make prize money; my soldiers feed me. Have +you anything else for us, Brise-Bleu?" + +"A chicken fricassee, general." + +"That's your dinner, Monsieur de Montrevel." + +"A feast! Now, I have but one fear, general." + +"What is it?" + +"All will go well for the eating, but when it comes to drinking--" + +"Don't you like cider? The devil! I'm sorry; cider or water, that's +my cellar." + +"Oh! that's not it; but whose health are we going to drink?" + +"Is that all, sir?" said Cadoudal, with great dignity. "We will +drink to the health of our common mother, France. We are serving +her with different minds, but, I hope, the same hearts. To +_France_, Monsieur," said Cadoudal, filling the two glasses. + +"To _France_, general!" replied Roland, clinking his glass +against that of Georges. + +And both gayly reseated themselves, their consciences at rest, +and attacked the soup with appetites that were not yet thirty +years old. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE LAW OF RETALIATION + +"Now, general," said Roland, when supper was over and the two young +men, with their elbows on the table and their legs stretched out +before the blazing fire, began to feel that comfortable sensation +that comes of a meal which youth and appetite have seasoned. +"Now for your promise to show me things which I can report to +the First Consul." + +"You promised, remember, not to object to them." + +"Yes, but I reserve the right, in case you wound my conscience +too severely, to withdraw." + +"Only give time to throw a saddle on the back of your horse, +or of mine, if yours is too tired, colonel, and you are free." + +"Very good." + +"As it happens," said Cadoudal, "events will serve you. I am +here, not only as general, but as judge, though it is long since +I have had a case to try. You told me, colonel, that General +Brune was at Nantes; I knew it. You told me his advanced guard +was only twelve miles away, at La Roche-Bernard; I knew that +also. But a thing you may not know is that this advanced guard +is not commanded by a soldier like you and me, but by citizen +Thomas Millière, Commissioner of the Executive authorities. Another +thing of which you may perhaps be ignorant is that citizen Thomas +Millière does not fight like us with cannon, guns, bayonets, +pistols and swords, but with an instrument invented by your +Republican philanthropists, called the guillotine." + +"It is impossible, sir," cried Roland, "that under the First Consul +any one can make that kind of war," + +"Ah! let us understand each other, colonel. I don't say that the +First Consul makes it; I say it is made in his name." + +"And who is the scoundrel that abuses the authority given him, +to make war with a staff of executioners?" + +"I have told you his name; he is called Thomas Millière. Question +whom you please, colonel, and throughout all Vendée and Brittany +you'll hear but one voice on that man. From the day of the rising +in Vendée and Brittany, now six years ago, Millière has been, +always and everywhere, the most active agent of the Terror. For +him the Terror did not end with Robespierre. He denounced to +his superiors, or caused to be denounced to himself, the Breton +and Vendéan soldiers, their parents, friends, brothers, sisters, +wives, even the wounded and dying; he shot or guillotined them +all without a trial. At Daumeray, for instance, he left a trail +of blood behind him which is not yet, can never be, effaced. +More than eighty of the inhabitants were slaughtered before his +eyes. Sons were killed in the arms of their mothers, who vainly +stretched those bloody arms to Heaven imploring vengeance. The +successive pacifications of Brittany and Vendée have never slaked +the thirst for murder which burns his entrails. He is the same +in 1800 that he was in 1793. Well, this man--" + +Roland looked at the general. + +"This man," continued the general, with the utmost calmness, "is +to die. Seeing that society did not condemn him, I have condemned him." + +"What! Die at La Roche-Bernard, in the midst of the Republicans; +in spite of his bodyguard of assassins and executioners?" + +"His hour has struck; he is to die." + +Cadoudal pronounced these words with such solemnity that no doubt +remained in Roland's mind, not only as to the sentence, but also +the execution of it. He was thoughtful for an instant. + +"And you believe that you have, the right to judge and condemn +that man, guilty as he is?" + +"Yes; for that man has judged and condemned, not the guilty but +the innocent." + +"If I said to you: 'On my return to Paris I will demand the arrest +and trial of that man,' would you not trust my word?" + +"I would trust your word; but I should say to you: 'A maddened +wild beast escapes from its cage, a murderer from his prison; +men are men, subject to error. They have sometimes condemned +the innocent, they might spare the guilty.' My justice is more +certain than yours, colonel, for it is the justice of God. The +man will die." + +"And by what right do you claim that your justice, the justice +of a man liable to error like other men, is the justice of God?" + +"Because I have made God a sharer in that justice. Oh! my +condemnation of that man is not of yesterday." + +"How do you mean?" + +"In the midst of a storm when thunder roared without cessation, +and the lightning flashed from minute to minute, I raised my +arms to heaven, and I said to God: 'O God! whose look is that +lightning, whose voice is that thunder, if this man ought to die, +extinguish that lightning, still the thunder for ten minutes. +The silence of the skies, the darkness of the heavens shall be +thy answer!' Watch in hand, I counted eleven minutes without a +flash or a sound. I saw at the point of a promontory a boat, +tossed by a terrible tempest, a boat with but one man in it, in +danger every minute of sinking; a wave lifted it as the breath +of an infant lifts a plume, and cast it on the rocks. The boat +flew to pieces; the man clung to the rock, and all the people +cried out: 'He is lost!' His father was there, his two brothers +were there, but none dared to succor him. I raised my arms to +the Lord and said: 'If Millière is condemned by Thee as by me, +O God, let me save that man; with no help but thine let me save +him!' I stripped, I knotted a rope around my arm, and I swam to +the rock. The water seemed to subside before my breast. I reached +the man. His father and brothers held the rope. He gained the +land. I could have returned as he did, fastening the rope to the +rocks. I flung it away from me; I trusted to God and cast myself +into the waves. They floated me gently and surely to the shore, +even as the waters of the Nile bore Moses' basket to Pharaoh's +daughter. The enemy's outposts were stationed around the village +of Saint-Nolf; I was hidden in the woods of Grandchamp with fifty +men. Recommending my soul to God, I left the woods alone. 'Lord +God,' I said, 'if it be Thy will that Millière die, let that +sentry fire upon me and miss me; then I will return to my men +and leave that sentry unharmed, for Thou wilt have been with +him for an instant.' I walked to the Republican; at twenty paces +he fired and missed me. Here is the hole in my hat, an inch from +my head; the hand of God had aimed that weapon. That happened +yesterday. I thought that Millière was at Nantes. To-night they +came and told me that Millière and his guillotine were at La +Roche-Bernard. Then I said: 'God has brought him to me; he shall +die.'" + +Roland listened with a certain respect to the superstitious narrative +of the Breton leader. He was not surprised to find such beliefs +and such poetry in a man born in face of a savage sea, among the +Druid monuments of Karnac. He realized that Millière was indeed +condemned, and that God, who had thrice seemed to approve his +judgment, alone could save him. But one last question occurred to +him. + +"How will you strike him?" he asked. + +"Oh!" said Georges, "I do not trouble myself about that; he will +be executed." + +One of the two men who had brought in the supper table now entered +the room. + +"Brise-Bleu," said Cadoudal, "tell Coeur-de-Roi that I wish to +speak to him." + +Two minutes later the Breton presented himself. + +"Coeur-de-Roi," said Cadoudal, "did you not tell me that the murderer +Thomas Millière was at Roche-Bernard?" + +"I saw him enter the town side by side with the Republican colonel, +who did not seem particularly flattered by such companionship." + +"Did you not add that he was followed by his guillotine?" + +"I told you his guillotine followed between two cannon, and I +believe if the cannon could have got away the guillotine would +have been left to go its way alone." + +"What precautions does Millière take in the towns he visits?" + +"He has a special guard about him, and the streets around his +house are barricaded. He carries pistols always at hand." + +"In spite of that guard, in spite of that barricade and the pistols, +will you undertake to reach him?" + +"I will, general." + +"Because of his crimes, I have condemned that man; he must die." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Coeur-de-Roi, "the day of justice has come at last!" + +"Will you undertake to execute my sentence, Coeur-de-Roi?" + +"I will, general." + +"Go then, Coeur-de-Roi. Take the number of men you need; devise +what stratagem you please, but reach the man, and strike." + +"If I die, general--" + +"Fear not; the curate of Leguerno shall say enough masses in +your behalf to keep your poor soul out of purgatory. But you will +not die, Coeur-de-Roi." + +"That's all right, general. Now that I am sure of the masses, +I ask nothing more. I have my plan." + +"When will you start?" + +"To-night." + +"When will he die?" + +"To-morrow." + +"Go. See that three hundred men are ready to follow me in half +an hour." + +Coeur-de-Roi went out as simply as he had entered. + +"You see," said Cadoudal, "the sort of men I command. Is your +First Consul as well served as I, Monsieur de Montrevel?" + +"By some, yes." + +"Well, with me it is not some, but all." + +Bénédicité entered and questioned Georges with a look. + +"Yes," replied Georges, with voice and nod. + +Bénédicité went out. + +"Did you see any one on your way here?" asked Cadoudal. + +"Not one." + +"I asked for three hundred men in half an hour, and they will +be here in that time. I might have asked for five hundred, a +thousand, two thousand, and they would have responded as promptly." + +"But," said Roland, "you have, in number at least, a limit you +cannot exceed." + +"Do you want to know my effective? It is easily told, I won't +tell you myself, for you wouldn't believe me. Wait. I will have +some one tell you." + +He opened the door and called out: "Branche-d'Or!" + +Two seconds later Branche-d'Or appeared. + +"This is my major-general," said Cadoudal, laughing. "He fulfils +the same functions for me that General Berthier does for the +First Consul. Branche-d'Or--" + +"General." + +"How many men are stationed along the road from here to La +Roche-Bernard, which the gentleman followed in coming to see me?" + +"Six hundred on the Arzal moor, six hundred among the Marzan gorse, +three hundred at Péaule, three hundred at Billiers." + +"Total, eighteen hundred. How many between Noyal and Muzillac?" + +"Four hundred." + +"Two thousand two hundred. How many between here and Vannes?" + +"Fifty at Theix, three hundred at the Trinité, six hundred between +the Trinité and Muzillac." + +"Three thousand two hundred. And from Ambon to Leguerno?" + +"Twelve hundred." + +"Four thousand four hundred. And in the village around me, in +the houses, the gardens, the cellars?" + +"Five to six hundred, general." + +"Thank you, Bénédicité." + +He made a sign with his head and Bénédicité went out. + +"You see," said Cadoudal, simply, "about five thousand. Well, +with those five thousand men, all belonging to this country, +who know every tree, every stone, every bush, I can make war +against the hundred thousand men the First Consul threatens to +send against me." + +Roland smiled. + +"You think that is saying too much, don't you?" + +"I think you are boasting a little, general; boasting of your +men, rather." + +"No; for my auxiliaries are the whole population. None of your +generals can make a move unknown to me; send a despatch without +my intercepting it; find a retreat where I shall not pursue him. +The very soil is royalist and Christian! In default of the +inhabitants, it speaks and tells me: 'The Blues passed here; +the slaughterers are hidden there!' For the rest, you can judge +for yourself." + +"How?" + +"We are going on an expedition about twenty-four miles from here. +What time is it?" + +Both young men looked at their watches. + +"Quarter to twelve," they said together. + +"Good!" said Georges, "our watches agree; that is a good sign. +Perhaps some day our hearts will do the same." + +"You were saying, general?" + +"I was saying that it was a quarter to twelve, colonel; and that +at six o'clock, before day, we must be twenty miles from here. +Do you want to rest?" + +"I!" + +"Yes; you can sleep an hour." + +"Thanks; it's unnecessary." + +"Then we will start whenever you are ready." + +"But your men?" + +"Oh! my men are ready." + +"Where?" + +"Everywhere." + +"I should like to see them." + +"You shall." + +"When?" + +"Whenever agreeable to you. My men are very discreet, and never +show themselves till I make the signal." + +"So that whenever I want to see them--" + +"You will tell me; I shall give the signal and they'll appear." + +"Let us start, general." + +"Yes, let us start." + +The two young men wrapped themselves in their cloaks and went +out. At the door Roland collided against a small group of five +men. These five men wore Republican uniforms; one of them had +sergeant stripes on his sleeve. + +"What is all this?" asked Roland. + +"Nothing," replied Cadoudal, laughing. + +"But who are these men?" + +"Coeur-de-Roi and his party; they are starting on that expedition +you know of." + +"Then they expect by means of this uniform--" + +"Oh! you shall know all, colonel; I have no secrets from you." +Then, turning to the little group, Cadoudal called: "Coeur-de-Roi!" + +The man with the stripes on his sleeves left the group, and came +to Cadoudal. + +"Did you call me, general?" asked the pretended sergeant. + +"Yes, I want to know your plan." + +"Oh! general, it is very simple." + +"Let me judge of that." + +"I put this paper in the muzzle of my gun." Coeur-de-Roi showed +a large envelope with an official red seal, which had once, no +doubt, contained some Republican despatch intercepted by the +Chouans. "I present myself to the sentries, saying: 'Despatch +from the general of division.' I enter the first guardhouse and +ask to be shown the house of the citizen-commissioner; they show +me, I thank them; always best to be polite. I reach the house, +meet a second sentry to whom I tell the same tale as to the first; +I go up or down to citizen Millière accordingly as he lives in +the cellar or the garret. I enter without difficulty, you +understand--'Despatch from the general of division'. I find him +in his study or elsewhere, present my paper, and while he opens +it, I kill him with this dagger, here in my sleeve." + +"Yes, but you and your men?" + +"Ah, faith! In God's care; we are defending his cause, it is for +him to take care of us." + +"Well, you see, colonel," said Cadoudal, "how easy it all is. +Let us mount, colonel! Good luck, Coeur-de-Roi!" + +"Which of these two horses am I to take?" asked Roland. + +"Either; one is as good as the other; each has an excellent pair +of English pistols in its holsters." + +"Loaded?" + +"And well-loaded, colonel; that's a job I never trust to any one." + +"Then we'll mount." + +The two young men were soon in their saddles, and on the road +to Vannes; Cadoudal guiding Roland, and Branche-d'Or, the +major-general of the army, as Georges called him, following about +twenty paces in the rear. + +When they reached the end of the village, Roland darted his eyes +along the road, which stretches in a straight line from Muzillac +to the Trinité. The road, fully exposed to view, seemed absolutely +solitary. + +They rode on for about a mile and a half, then Roland said: "But +where the devil are your men?" + +"To right and left, before and behind us." + +"Ha, what a joke!" + +"It's not a joke, colonel; do you think I should be so rash as +to risk myself thus without scouts?" + +"You told me, I think, that if I wished to see your men I had +only to say so." + +"I did say so." + +"Well, I wish to see them." + +"Wholly, or in part?" + +"How many did you say were with you?" + +"Three hundred." + +"Well, I want to see one hundred and fifty." + +"Halt!" cried Cadoudal. + +Putting his hands to his mouth he gave the hoot of the screech-owl, +followed by the cry of an owl; but he threw the hoot to the right +and the cry to the left. + +Almost instantly, on both sides of the road, human forms could +be seen in motion, bounding over the ditch which separated the +bushes from the road, and then ranging themselves beside the +horses. + +"Who commands on the right?" asked Cadoudal. + +"I, Moustache," replied a peasant, coming near. + +"Who commands on the left?" repeated the general. + +"I, Chante-en-hiver," replied another peasant, also approaching +him. + +"How many men are with you, Moustache?" + +"One hundred." + +"How many men are with you, Chante-en-hiver?" + +"Fifty." + +"One hundred and fifty in all, then?" asked Georges. + +"Yes," replied the two Breton leaders. + +"Is that your number, colonel?" asked Cadoudal laughing. + +"You are a magician, general." + +"No; I am a poor peasant like them; only I command a troop in +which each brain knows what it does, each heart beats singly for +the two great principles of this world, religion and monarchy." +Then, turning to his men, Cadoudal asked: "Who commands the advanced +guard?" + +"Fend-l'air," replied the two Chouans. + +"And the rear-guard?" + +"La Giberne." + +The second reply was made with the same unanimity as the first. + +"Then we can safely continue our way?" + +"Yes, general; as if you were going to mass in your own village." + +"Let us ride on then, colonel," said Cadoudal to Roland. Then +turning to his men he cried: "Be lively, my lads." + +Instantly every man jumped the ditch and disappeared. For a few +seconds the crackling of twigs on the bushes, and the sound of +steps among the underbrush, was heard. Then all was silent. + +"Well," asked Cadoudal, "do you think that with such men I have +anything to fear from the Blues, brave as they may be?" + +Roland heaved a sigh; he was of Cadoudal's opinion. + +They rode on. About three miles from Trinité they caught sight +of a black spot approaching along the road with great rapidity. +As it became more distinct this spot stopped suddenly. + +"What is that?" asked Roland. + +"As you see, a man," replied Cadoudal. + +"Of course; but who is this man?" + +"You might have guessed from the rapidity of his coming; he is +a messenger." + +"Why does he stop?" + +"Because he has seen us, and does not know whether to advance +or retreat." + +"What will he do?" + +"Wait before deciding." + +"For what?" + +"A signal." + +"Will he answer the signal?" + +"He will not only answer but obey it. Will you have him advance +or retreat; or will you have him step aside." + +"I wish him to advance; by that means we shall know the news he +brings." + +Cadoudal gave the call of the cuckoo with such perfection that +Roland looked about him for the bird. + +"It was I," said Cadoudal, "you need not look for it." + +"Is the messenger going to come?" + +"Not-going to, he is coming." + +The messenger had already started, and was rapidly approaching; +in a few seconds he was beside his general. + +"Ah!" said the latter, "is that you, Monte-à-l'assaut?" + +The general stooped, and Monte-à-l'assaut said a few words in +his ear. + +"Bénédicité has already warned me," said Georges. Then turning +to Roland, he said, "Something of importance is to happen in +the village of the Trinité in a quarter of an hour, which you +ought to see. Come, hurry up." + +And, setting the example, he put his horse to a gallop. Roland +did the same. + +When they reached the village they could see from a distance, by +the light of some pine torches, a tumultuous mob in the market +square. The cries and movements of this mob bespoke some grave +occurrence. + +"Fast, fast!" cried Cadoudal. + +Roland asked no better; he dug his spurs in his horse's belly. + +At the clatter of horses' hoofs the peasants scattered. There +were five or six hundred of them at least, all armed. + +Cadoudal and Roland found themselves in a circle of light in the +midst of cries and agitation. + +The crowd was pressing more particularly toward the opening of a +street which led to the village of Tridon. A diligence was coming +down that street escorted by a dozen Chouans; two on either side +of the postilion, ten others guarding the doors. The carriage +stopped in the middle of the market-square. All were so intent +upon the diligence that they paid but scant attention to Cadoudal. + +"Hola," shouted Georges. "What is all this?" + +At this well known voice, everyone turned round, and heads were +uncovered. + +"The Big Round Head!" they murmured. + +"Yes," said Cadoudal. + +A man went up to Georges. + +"Didn't Bénédicité and Monte-à-l'assaut notify you?" he inquired. + +"Yes. Is that the diligence from Ploermel to Vannes that you are +bringing back?" + +"Yes, general. It was stopped between Tréfléon and Saint-Nolf." + +"Is he in it?" + +"We think so." + +"Act according to your consciences; if it is a crime toward God, +take it on yourselves; I take only the responsibility toward +men. I will be present at what takes place; but I will not share +in it--either to hinder or help." + +"Well," demanded a hundred voices, "what does he say, Sabre-tout?" + +"He says we must act according to our consciences, and that he +washes his hands of it." + +"Long live the Big Round Head!" cried all the people, rushing +toward the diligence. + +Cadoudal remained motionless in the midst of this crowd. Roland +stood near him, also motionless, but full of curiosity; for he +was completely ignorant of who, or what, was in question. + +The man who had just spoken to Cadoudal, and whom his companions +called Sabre-tout, opened the door. The travellers were huddled +together and trembling in the darkness within. + +"If you have nothing to reproach yourselves with against God or +the king," said Sabre-tout in a full sonorous voice, "descend +without fear. We are not brigands, we are Christians and royalists." + +This declaration no doubt reassured the travellers, for a man +got out, then two women, then a mother pressing her child in +her arms, and finally another man. The Chouans examined them +attentively as they came down the carriage steps; not finding +the man they wanted, they said to each traveller, "Pass on." + +One man alone remained in the coach. A Chouan thrust a torch in +the vehicle, and by its light they could see he was a priest. + +"Minister of the Lord," said Sabre-tout, "why did you not descend +with the others? Did you not hear me say we were Christians and +royalists?" + +The priest did not move; but his teeth chattered. + +"Why this terror?" continued Sabre-tout. "Does not your cloth +plead for you? The man who wears a cassock can have done nothing +against royalty or religion." + +The priest crouched back, murmuring: "Mercy! mercy!" + +"Why mercy?" demanded Sabre-tout, "do you feel that you are guilty, +wretch?" + +"Oh! oh!" exclaimed Roland, "is that how you royalists and Christians +speak to a man of God!" + +"That man," said Cadoudal, "is not a man of God, but a man of +the devil." + +"Who is he, then?" + +"Both an atheist and a regicide; he denied his God and voted +for the death of the king. That is the Conventional Audrein." + +Roland shuddered. "What will they do?" he asked. + +"He gave death, he will receive death," answered Cadoudal. + +During this time the Chouans had pulled Audrein out of the diligence. + +"Ha! is it you, bishop of Vannes?" cried Sabre-tout. + +"Mercy!" begged the bishop. + +"We were informed of your arrival, and were waiting for you." + +"Mercy!" repeated the bishop for the third time. + +"Have you your pontifical robes with you?" + +"Yes, my friends, I have." + +"Then dress yourself as a prelate; it is long since we have seen one." + +A trunk marked with the prelate's name was taken from the diligence +and opened. They took the bishop's robes from it, and handed them +to Audrein, who put them on. Then, when every vestment was in +its place, the peasants ranged themselves in a circle, each with +his musket in his hand. The glare of the torches was reflected on +the barrels, casting evil gleams. + +Two men took the priest and led him into the circle, supporting +him beneath his arms. He was pale as death. There was a moment +of lugubrious silence. + +A voice broke it. It was that of Sabre-tout. + +"We are about to judge you," said the Chouan. "Priest of God, +you have betrayed the Church; child of France, you have condemned +your king to death." + +"Alas! alas!" stammered the priest. + +"Is it true?" + +"I do not deny it." + +"Because it is impossible to deny. What have you to say in +justification?" + +"Citizens--" + +"We are not citizens," cried Sabre-tout, in a voice thunder, "we +are royalists." + +"Gentlemen--" + +"We are not gentlemen; we are Chouans." + +"My friends--" + +"We are not your friends; we are your judges. You judges are +questioning you; answer." + +"I repent of what I did, and I ask pardon of God and men." + +"Men cannot pardon you," replied the same implacable voice; "for, +pardoned to-day, you would sin to-morrow. You may change your +skin, but never your heart. You have nothing to expect from men +but death; as for God, implore his mercy." + +The regicide bowed his head; the renegade bent his knee. But +suddenly drawing himself up, he cried: "I voted the king's death, +it is true, but with a reservation--" + +"What reservation?" + +"The time of the execution." + +"Sooner or later, it was still the king's death which you voted, +and the king was innocent." + +"True, true," said the priest, "but I was afraid." + +"Then you are not only a regicide, and an apostate, but also +a coward. We are not priests, but we are more just than you. +You voted the death of the innocent; we vote the death of the +guilty. You have ten minutes in which to prepare to meet your +God." + +The bishop gave a cry of terror and fell upon both knees; the +church bells rang, as if of their own impulse, and two of the +men present, accustomed to the offices of the church, intoned +the prayers for the dying. It was some time before the bishop +found words with which to respond. He turned affrighted glances +in supplication to his judges one after the other, but, not one +face met his with even the consolation of mere pity. The torches, +flickering in the wind, lent them, on the contrary, a savage +and terrible expression. Then at last he mingled his voice with +the voices that were praying for him. + +The judges allowed him time to follow the funeral prayer to its +close. In the meantime others were preparing a pile of wood. + +"Oh!" cried the priest, beholding these preparations with growing +terror; "would you have the cruelty to kill me thus?" + +"No," replied his inflexible accuser, "flames are the death of +martyrs; you are not worthy of such a death. Apostate, the hour +has come!" + +"Oh, my God! my God!" cried the priest, raising his arms to heaven. + +"Stand up!" said the Chouan. + +The priest tried to obey, but his strength failed him, and he +fell again to his knees. + +"Will yon let that murder be done before your eyes?" Roland asked +Cadoudal. + +"I said that I washed my hands of it," replied the latter. + +"Pilate said that, and Pilate's hands are to this day red with +the blood of Jesus Christ." + +"Because Jesus Christ was a righteous man; this man is a Barabbas." + +"Kiss your cross! kiss your cross!" cried Sabre-tout. + +The prelate looked at him with a terrified air, but without obeying. +It was evident that he no longer saw, no longer heard. + +"Oh!" cried Roland, making an effort to dismount, "it shall never +be said that I let a man be murdered before me, and did not try +to, save him." + +A threatening murmur rose around him; his words had been overheard. +That was all that was needed to excite the young man. + +"Ah! is that the way of it?" he cried, carrying his hand to one +of his holsters. + +But with a movement rapid as thought, Cadoudal seized his hand, +and, while Roland struggled vainly to free himself from this +grip of iron, he shouted: "Fire!" + +Twenty shots resounded instantly, and the bishop fell, an inert +mass. + +"Ah!" cried Roland. "What have you done?" + +"Forced you to keep your promise," replied Cadoudal; "you swore +to see all and hear all without offering any opposition." + +"So perish all enemies of God and the king," said Sabre-tout, +in a solemn voice. + +"Amen!" responded the spectators with one voice of sinister +unanimity. + +Then they stripped the body of its sacerdotal ornaments, which +they flung upon the pile of wood, invited the other travellers +to take their places in the diligence, replaced the postilion +in his saddle, and, opening their ranks to give passage to the +coach, cried: "Go with God!" + +The diligence rolled rapidly away. + +"Come, let us go," cried Cadoudal, "we have still twelve miles +to do, and we have lost an hour here." Then, addressing the +executioners, he said: "That man was guilty; that man is punished. +Human justice and divine justice are satisfied. Let prayers for +the dead be said over his body, and give him Christian burial; +do you hear?" And sure of being obeyed, Cadoudal put his horse +to a gallop. + +Roland seemed to hesitate for a moment whether to follow him +or not; then, as if resolving to accomplish a duty, he said: "I +will go to the end." + +Spurring his horse in the direction taken by Cadoudal he reached +the Chouan leader in a few strides. Both disappeared in the darkness, +which grew thicker and thicker as the men left the place where +the torches were illuminating the dead priest's face and the +fire was consuming his vestments. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THE DIPLOMACY OF GEORGES CADOUDAL + +The feeling that Roland experienced as he followed Georges Cadoudal +resembled that of a man half-awakened, who is still under the +influence of a dream, and returns gradually from the confines +which separate night from day. He strives to discover whether +the ground he walks on is that of fiction or reality, and the +more he burrows in the dimness of his brain the further he buries +himself in doubt. + +A man existed for whom Roland felt a worship almost divine. +Accustomed to live in the atmosphere of glory which surrounded that +man, to see others obey his orders, and to obey them himself with +a promptness and abnegation that were almost Oriental, it seemed +amazing to him to encounter, at the opposite ends of France, two +organized powers, enemies of the power of that man, and prepared +to struggle against it. Suppose a Jew of Judas Maccabeus, a +worshipper of Jehovah, having, from his infancy, heard him called +the King of kings, the God of strength, of vengeance, of armies, +the Eternal, coming suddenly face to face with the mysterious +Osiris of the Egyptians, or the thundering Jupiter of the Greeks. + +His adventures at Avignon and Bourg with Morgan and the Company +of Jehu, his adventures in the villages of Muzillac and the Trinité +with Cadoudal and his Chouans, seemed to him some strange initiation +in an unknown religion; but like those courageous neophytes who +risk death to learn the secrets of initiation, he resolved to +follow to the end. + +Besides he was not without a certain admiration for these exceptional +characters; nor did he measure without a certain amazement these +revolted Titans, challenging his god; he felt they were in no +sense common men--neither those who had stabbed Sir John in the +Chartreuse of Seillon, nor those who had shot the bishop of Vannes +at the village of the Trinité. + +And now, what was he to see? He was soon to know, for they had +ridden five hours and a half and the day was breaking. + +Beyond the village of Tridon they turned across country; leaving +Vannes to the left, they reached Tréfléon. At Tréfléon, Cadoudal, +still followed by his major-general, Branche-d'Or, had found +Monte-à-l'assaut and Chante-en-hiver. He gave them further orders, +and continued on his way, bearing to the left and skirting the +edges of a little wood which lies between Grandchamp and Larré. +There Cadoudal halted, imitated, three separate times in succession, +the cry of an owl, and was presently surrounded by his three +hundred men. + +A grayish light was spreading through the sky beyond Tréfléon +and Saint-Nolf; it was not the rising of the sun, but the first +rays of dawn. A heavy mist rose from the earth and prevented +the eye from seeing more than fifty feet beyond it. + +Cadoudal seemed to be expecting news before risking himself further. + +Suddenly, about five hundred paces distant, the crowing of a +cock was heard. Cadoudal pricked up his ears; his men looked at +each other and laughed. + +The cock crowed again, but nearer. + +"It is he," said Cadoudal; "answer him." + +The howling of a dog came from within three feet of Roland, but +so perfectly imitated that the young man, although aware of what +it was, looked about him for the animal that was uttering such +lugubrious plaints. Almost at the same moment he saw a man coming +rapidly through the mist, his form growing more and more distinct +as he approached. The new-comer saw the two horsemen, and went +toward them. + +Cadoudal rode forward a few paces, putting his finger to his lips, +as if to request the man to speak low. The latter, therefore, +did not pause until he was close beside his general. + +"Well, Fleur-d'épine," asked Georges, "have we got them?" + +"Like a mouse in a trap; not one can re-enter Vannes, if you say +the word." + +"I desire nothing better. How many are there?" + +"One hundred men, commanded by the general himself." + +"How many wagons?" + +"Seventeen." + +"When did they start?" + +"They must be about a mile and three-quarters from here." + +"What road have they taken?" + +"Grandchamp to Vannes." + +"So that, if I deploy from Meucon to Plescop--" + +"You'll bar the way." + +"That's all." + +Cadoudal called his four lieutenants, Chante-en-hiver, +Monte-à-l'assaut, Fend-l'air, and La Giberne, to him, gave each +of them fifty men, and each with his men disappeared like shadows +in the heavy mist, giving the well-known hoot, as they vanished. +Cadoudal was left with a hundred men, Branche-d'Or and Fleur-d'épine. +He returned to Roland. + +"Well, general," said the latter, "is everything satisfactory?" + +"Yes, colonel, fairly so," replied the Chouan; "but you can judge +for yourself in half an hour." + +"It will be difficult to judge of anything in that mist." + +Cadoudal looked about him. + +"It will lift in half an hour," said he. "Will you utilize the +time by eating a mouthful and drinking a glass?" + +"Faith!" said the young man, "I must admit that the ride has +hollowed me." + +"I make a point," said Georges, "of eating the best breakfast +I can before fighting." + +"Then you are going to fight?" + +"I think so." + +"Against whom?" + +"Why, the Republicans, and as we have to do with General Hatry, +I doubt if he surrenders without resistance." + +"Do the Republicans know they are going to fight you?" + +"They haven't the least idea." + +"So it is to be a surprise?" + +"Not exactly, inasmuch as when the fog lifts they will see us +as soon as we see them." Then, turning to the man who seemed +to be in charge of the provisions, Cadoudal added, "Brise-Bleu, +is there anything for breakfast?" + +Brise-Bleu nodded affirmatively, went into the wood, and came out +dragging after him a donkey loaded with two baskets. He spread a +cloak on a rise of the ground, and placed on it a roast chicken, +a bit of cold salt pork, some bread and buckwheat cakes. This +time Brise-Bleu had provided luxury in the shape of a bottle +of wine and a glass. + +Cadoudal motioned Roland to the table and the improvised repast. +The young man sprang from his horse, throwing the bridle to a +Chouan. Cadoudal did likewise. + +"Now," said the latter, turning to his men, "you have half an +hour to do as we do. Those who have not breakfasted in half an +hour are notified that they must fight on empty stomachs." + +The invitation seemed equivalent to an order, so promptly and +precisely was it executed. Every man pulled from his bag or his +pocket a bit of bread or a buckwheat cake, and followed the example +of his general, who had already divided the chicken between Roland +and himself. As there was but one glass, both officers shared it. + +While they were thus breakfasting, side by side, like two friends +on a hunt, the sun rose, and, as Cadoudal had predicted, the +mist became less and less dense. Soon the nearest trees could +be distinguished; then the line of the woods, stretching to the +right from Meucon to Grand-champ, while to the left the plain of +Plescop, threaded by a rivulet, sloped gradually toward Vannes. +This natural declivity of the ground became more and more perceptible +as it neared the ocean. + +On the road from Grandchamp to Plescop, a line of wagons were +now visible, the tail of which was still hidden in the woods. +This line was motionless; evidently some unforeseen obstacle +had stopped it. + +In fact, about a quarter of a mile before the leading wagon they +perceived the two hundred Chouans, under Monte-à-l'assaut, +Chante-en-hiver, Fend-l'air, and Giberne, barring the way. + +The Republicans, inferior in number--we said that there were but +a hundred--had halted and were awaiting the complete dispersion +of the fog to determine the number and character of the men they +were about to meet. Men and wagons were now in a triangle, of +which Cadoudal and his hundred men formed one of the angles. + +At sight of this small number of men thus surrounded by triple +forces, and of the well-known uniform, of which the color had +given its name to the Republican forces, Roland sprang hastily to +his feet. As for Cadoudal, he remained where he was, nonchalantly +finishing his meal. Of the hundred men surrounding the general, +not one seemed to perceive the spectacle that was now before their +eyes; it seemed almost as if they were waiting for Cadoudal's +order to look at it. + +Roland had only to cast his eyes on the Republicans to see that +they were lost. Cadoudal watched the various emotions that succeeded +each other on the young man's face. + +"Well," asked the Chouan, after a moment's silence, "do you think +my dispositions well taken?" + +"You might better say your precautions, general," replied Roland, +with a sarcastic smile. + +"Isn't it the First Consul's way to make the most of his advantages +when he gets them?" asked Cadoudal. + +Roland bit his lips; then, instead of replying to the royalist +leader's question, he said: "General, I have a favor to ask which +I hope you will not refuse." + +"What is it?" + +"Permission to let me go and be killed with my comrades." + +Cadoudal rose. "I expected that request," he said. + +"Then you will grant it?" cried Roland, his eyes sparkling with joy. + +"Yes; but, first, I have a favor to ask of you," said the royalist +leader, with supreme dignity. + +"Ask it, sir." + +"To bear my flag of truce to General Hatry." + +"For what purpose?" + +"I have several proposals to make to him before the fight begins." + +"I presume that among those proposals which you deign to intrust +to me you do not include that of laying down his arms?" + +"On the contrary, colonel, you understand that that is the first +of my proposals." + +"General Hatry will refuse it." + +"That is probable." + +"And then?" + +"Then I shall give him his choice between two others, either +of which he can, I think, accept without forfeiting his honor." + +"What are they?" + +"I will tell you in due time. Begin with the first." + +"State it." + +"General Hatry and his hundred men are surrounded by a triple +force. I offer them their lives; but they must lay down their +arms, and make oath not to serve again in the Vendée for five +years." + +Roland shook his head. + +"Better that than to see his men annihilated." + +"Maybe so; but he would prefer to have his men annihilated, and +be annihilated with them." + +"Don't you think," asked Cadoudal, laughing, "that it might be +as well, in any case, to ask him?" + +"True," said Roland. + +"Well, colonel, be so good as to mount your horse, make yourself +known to him, and deliver my proposal." + +"Very well," replied Roland. + +"The colonel's horse," said Cadoudal, motioning to the Chouan +who was watching it. The man led it up. The young man sprang +upon it, and rapidly covered the distance which separated him +from the convoy. + +A group of men were gathered on its flank, evidently composed of +General Hatry and his officers. Roland rode toward them, scarcely +three gunshots distant from the Chouans. General Hatry's astonishment +was great when he saw an officer in the Republican uniform +approaching him. He left the group and advanced three paces to +meet the messenger. + +Roland made himself known, related how he came to be among the +Whites, and transmitted Cadoudal's proposal to General Hatry. + +As he has foreseen, the latter refused it. Roland returned to +Cadoudal with a proud and joyful heart. "He refuses!" he cried, +as soon as his voice could be heard. + +Cadoudal gave a nod that showed he was not surprised by the refusal. + +"Then, in that case," he answered, "go back with my second +proposition. I don't wish to have anything to reproach myself +with in answering to such a judge of honor as you." + +Roland bowed. "What is the second proposition?" + +"General Hatry shall meet me in the space that separates the two +troops, he shall carry the same arms as I--that is, his sabre and +pistols--and the matter shall be decided between us. If I kill +him, his men are to submit to the conditions already named, for +we cannot take prisoners; if he kills me his men shall pass free +and be allowed to reach Vannes safely. Come, I hope that's a +proposition you would accept, colonel?" + +"I would accept it myself," replied Roland. + +"Yes," exclaimed Cadoudal, "but you are not General Hatry. Content +yourself with being a negotiator this time, and if this proposition, +which, if I were he, I wouldn't let escape me, does not please +him, come to me. I'm a good fellow, and I'll make him a third." + +Roland rode off a second time; his coming was awaited by the +Republicans with visible impatience. He transmitted the message +to General Hatry. + +"Citizen," replied the general, "I must render account of my +conduct to the First Consul. You are his aide-de-camp, and I +charge you on your return to Paris to bear testimony on my behalf +to him. What would you do in my place? Whatever you would do, +that I shall do." + +Roland started; his face assumed the grave expression of a man +who is arguing a point of honor in his own mind. Then, at the +end of a few seconds, he said: "General, I should refuse." + +"Your reasons, citizen?" demanded the general. + +"The chances of a duel are problematic; you cannot subject the +fate of a hundred brave men to a doubtful chance. In an affair +like this, where all are concerned, every man had better defend +his own skin as best he can." + +"Is that your opinion, colonel?" + +"On my honor." + +"It is also mine; carry my reply to the royalist general." + +Roland galloped back to Cadoudal, and delivered General Hatry's +reply. + +Cadoudal smiled. "I expected it," he said. + +"You couldn't have expected it, because it was I who advised him +to make it." + +"You thought differently a few moments ago." + +"Yes; but you yourself reminded me that I was not General Hatry. +Come, what is your third proposition?" said Roland impatiently; +for he began to perceive, or rather he had perceived from the +beginning, that the noble part in the affair belonged to the +royalist general. + +"My third proposition," said Cadoudal, "is not a proposition +but an order; an order for two hundred of my men to withdraw. +General Hatry has one hundred men; I will keep one hundred. My +Breton forefathers were accustomed to fight foot to foot, breast +to breast, man to man, and oftener one to three than three to +one. If General Hatry is victorious, he can walk over our bodies +and tranquilly enter Vannes; if he is defeated, he cannot say +it is by numbers. Go, Monsieur de Montrevel, and remain with +your friends. I give them thus the advantage of numbers, for you +alone are worth ten men." + +Roland raised his hat. + +"What are you doing, sir?" demanded Cadoudal. + +"I always bow to that which is grand, general; I bow to you." + +"Come, colonel," said Cadoudal, "a last glass of wine; let each +of us drink to what we love best, to that which we grieve to +leave behind, to that we hope to meet in heaven." + +Taking the bottle and the one glass, he filled it half full, +and offered it to Roland. "We have but one glass, Monsieur de +Montrevel; drink first." + +"Why first?" + +"Because, in the first place, you are my guest, and also because +there is a proverb that whoever drinks after another knows his +thought." Then, he added, laughing: "I want to know your thought, +Monsieur de Montrevel." + +Roland emptied the glass and returned it to Cadoudal. The latter +filled his glass half full, as he bad done for Roland, and emptied +it in turn. + +"Well," asked Roland, "now do you know my thought, general?" + +"My thought," said Roland, with his usual frankness, "is that +you are a brave man, general. I shall feel honored if, at this +moment when we are going to fight against each other, you will +give me your hand." + +The two young men clasped hands, more like friends parting for a +long absence than two enemies about to meet on the battlefield. +There was a simple grandeur, full of majesty, in this action. +Each raised his hat. + +"Good luck!" said Roland to Cadoudal; "but allow me to doubt +it. I must even confess that it is from my lips, not my heart." + +"God keep you, sir," said Cadoudal, "and I hope that my wish +will be realized. It is the honest expression of my thoughts." + +"What is to be the signal that you are ready?" inquired Roland. + +"A musket shot fired in the air, to which you will reply in the +same way." + +"Very good, general," replied Roland. And putting his horse to +a gallop, he crossed the space between the royalist general and +the Republican general for the third time. + +"Friends," said Cadoudal, pointing to Roland, "do you see that +young man?" + +All eyes were bent upon Roland. "Yes," came from every mouth. + +"He came with a safe-guard from our brothers in the Midi; his life +is sacred to you; he may be captured, but it must be living--not +a hair of his head must be touched." + +"Very good, general," replied the Chouans. + +"And now, my friends, remember that you are the sons of those +thirty Bretons who fought the thirty British between Ploermel +and Josselin, ten leagues from here, and conquered them." Then, +in a low voice, he added with a sigh, "Unhappily we have not +to do with the British this time." + +The fog had now lifted completely, and, as usually happens, a +few rays of the wintry sun tinged the plain of Plescop with a +yellow light. + +It was easy therefore to distinguish the movements of the two +troops. While Roland was returning to the Republicans, Branche-d'Or +galloped toward the two hundred men who were blocking the way. +He had hardly spoken to Cadoudal's four lieutenants before a +hundred men were seen to wheel to the right and a hundred more +to wheel to the left and march in opposite directions, one toward +Plumergat, the other toward Saint-Ave, leaving the road open. +Each body halted three-quarters of a mile down the road, grounded +arms and remained motionless. Branche-d'Or returned to Cadoudal. + +"Have you any special orders to give me, general?" he asked. + +"Yes, one," answered Cadoudal, "take eight men and follow me. +When you see the young Republican, with whom I breakfasted, fall +under his horse, fling yourself upon him, you and your eight men, +before he has time to free himself, and take him prisoner." + +"Yes, general." + +"You know that I must have him safe and sound." + +"That's understood, general" + +"Choose your eight men. Monsieur de Montrevel once captured, and +his parole given, you can do as you like." + +"Suppose he won't give his parole?" + +"Then you must surround him so that he can't escape, and watch +him till the fight is over." + +"Very well," said Branche-d'Or, heaving a sigh; "but it'll be +a little hard to stand by with folded arms while the others are +having their fun." + +"Pooh! who knows?" said Cadoudal; "there'll probably be enough +for every body." + +Then, casting a glance over the plain and seeing his own men +stationed apart, and the Republicans massed for battle, he cried: +"A musket!" + +They brought one. Cadoudal raised it above his head and fired +in the air. Almost at the same moment, a shot fired in the same +manner from the midst of the Republicans answered like an echo +to that of Cadoudal. + +Two drums beating the advance and a bugle were heard. Cadoudal +rose in his stirrups. + +"Children," he cried, "have you all said your morning prayers?" + +"Yes, yes!" answered almost every voice. "If any of you forgot +them, or did not have time, let them pray now." + +Five or six peasants knelt down and prayed. + +The drums and bugle drew nearer. + +"General, general," cried several voices impatiently, "they are +coming." + +The general motioned to the kneeling peasants. + +"True," replied the impatient ones. + +Those who prayed rose one by one, according as their prayers +had been long or short. By the time they were all afoot, the +Republicans had crossed nearly one-third of the distance. They +marched, bayonets fixed, in three ranks, each rank three abreast. + +Roland rode at the head of the first rank, General Hatry between +the first and second. Both were easily recognized, being the +only men on horseback. Among the Chouans, Cadoudal was the only +rider, Branche-d'Or having dismounted to take command of the +eight men who were to follow Georges. + +"General," said a voice, "the prayer is ended, and every one is +standing." + +Cadoudal looked around him to make sure it was true; then he cried +in a loud voice: "Forward! Enjoy yourselves, my lads!" + +This permission, which to Vendéans and Chouans, was equivalent to +sounding a charge, was scarcely given before the Chouans spread +over the fields to cries of "Vive le roi!" waving their hats +with one hand and their guns with the other. + +Instead of keeping in rank like the Republicans, they scattered +like sharpshooters, forming an immense crescent, of which Georges +and his horse were the centre. + +A moment later the Republicans were flanked and the firing began. +Cadoudal's men were nearly all poachers, that is to say, excellent +marksmen, armed with English carbines, able to carry twice the +length of the army musket. Though the first shots fired might +have seemed wide of range, these messengers of death nevertheless +brought down several men in the Republican ranks. + +"Forward!" cried the general. + +The soldiers marched on, bayonets fixed; but in a few moments +there was no enemy before them. Cadoudal's hundred men had turned +skirmishers; they had separated, and fifty men were harassing +both of the enemy's flanks. General Hatry ordered his men to +wheel to the right and left. Then came the order: "Fire!" + +Two volleys followed with the precision and unanimity of well +disciplined troops; but they were almost without result, for +the Republicans were firing upon scattered men. Not so with the +Chouans, who fired on a mass; with them every shot told. + +Roland saw the disadvantage of the position. He looked around +and, amid the smoke, distinguished Cadoudal, erect and motionless +as an equestrian statue. He understood that the royalist leader +was waiting for him. + +With a cry he spurred his horse toward him. As if to save him part +of the way, Cadoudal put his horse to a gallop. But a hundred feet +from Cadoudal he drew rein. "Attention!" he said to Branche-d'Or +and his companions. + +"Don't be alarmed, general; here we are," said Branche-d'Or. + +Cadoudal drew a pistol from his holster and cocked it. Roland, +sabre in hand, was charging, crouched on his horse's neck. When +they were twenty paces apart, Cadoudal slowly raised his hand +in Roland's direction. At ten paces he fired. + +The horse Roland was riding had a white star on its forehead. +The ball struck the centre of that star, and the horse, mortally +wounded, rolled over with its rider at Cadoudal's feet. + +Cadoudal put spurs to his own horse and jumped both horse and +rider. + +Branche-d'Or and his men were ready. They sprang, like a pack +of jaguars, upon Roland, entangled under the body of his horse. +The young man dropped his sword and tried to seize his pistols, +but before he could lay hand upon the holsters two men had him +by the arms, while the four others dragged his horse from between +his legs. The thing was done with such unanimity that it was +easy to see the manoeuvre had been planned. + +Roland roared with rage. Branche-d'Or came up to him and put his +hat in his hand. + +"I do not surrender!" shouted Roland. + +"Useless to do so, Monsieur de Montrevel," replied Branche-d'Or +with the utmost politeness. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Roland, exhausting his strength in +a struggle as desperate as it was useless. + +"Because you are captured, sir." + +It was so true that there could be no answer. + +"Then kill me!" cried Roland. + +"We don't want to kill you, sir," replied Branche-d'Or. + +"Then what do you want?" + +"Give us your parole not to fight any more, and you are free." + +"Never!" exclaimed Roland. + +"Excuse me, Monsieur de Montrevel," said Branche-d'Or, "but that +is not loyal!" + +"What!" shrieked Roland, in a fury, "not loyal! You insult me, +villain, because you know I can't defend myself or punish you." + +"I am not a villain, and I didn't insult you, Monsieur de Montrevel; +but I do say that by not giving your word, you deprive the general +of nine men, who might be useful to him and who are obliged to +stay here to guard you. That's not the way the Big Round Head +acted toward you. He had two hundred men more than you, and he +sent them away. Now we are only eighty-nine against one hundred." + +A flame crossed Roland's face; then almost as suddenly he turned +pale as death. + +"You are right, Branche-d'Or," he replied. "Succor or no succor, +I surrender. You and your men can go and fight with your comrades." + +The Chouans gave a cry of joy, let go their hold of Roland, and +rushed toward the Republicans, brandishing their hats and muskets, +and shouting: "Vive le roi!" + +Roland, freed from their grip, but disarmed physically by his +fall, morally by his parole, went to the little eminence, still +covered by the cloak which had served as a tablecloth for their +breakfast, and sat down. From there he could see the whole combat; +not a detail was lost upon him. + +Cadoudal sat erect upon his horse amid fire and smoke, like the +Demon of War, invulnerable and implacable. + +Here and there the bodies of a dozen or more Chouans lay stretched +upon the sod. But it was evident that the Republicans, still +massed together, had lost double that number. Wounded men dragged +themselves across the open space, meeting, rearing their bodies +like mangled snakes, to fight, the Republicans with their bayonets, +and the Chouans with their knives. Those of the wounded Chouans +who were too far off to fight their wounded enemies hand to hand, +reloaded their guns, and, struggling to their knees, fired and +fell again. + +On either side the struggle was pitiless, incessant, furious; +civil war--that is war without mercy or compassion--waved its +torch above the battlefield. + +Cadoudal rode his horse around these living breastworks, firing +at twenty paces, sometimes his pistols, sometimes a musket, which +he discharged, cast aside, and picked up again reloaded. At each +discharge a man fell. The third time he made this round General +Hatry honored him with a fusillade. He disappeared in the flame +and smoke, and Roland saw him go down, he and his horse, as if +annihilated. Ten or a dozen Republicans sprang from the ranks +and met as many Chouans; the struggle was terrible, hand to hand, +body to body, but the Chouans, with their knives, were sure of +the advantage. + +Suddenly Cadoudal appeared, erect, a pistol in each hand; it +was the death of two men; two men fell. Then through the gap +left by these ten or twelve he flung himself forward with thirty +men. He had picked up an army musket, and, using it like a club, +he brought down a man with each blow. He broke his way through +the battalion, and reappeared at the other side. Then, like a boar +which returns upon the huntsman he has ripped up and trampled, he +rushed back through the gaping wound and widened it. From that +moment all was over. + +General Hatry rallied a score of men, and, with bayonets down, +they fell upon the circle that enveloped them. He marched at +the head of his soldiers on foot; his horse had been killed. +Ten men had fallen before the circle was broken, but at last he +was beyond it. The Chouans wanted to pursue them, but Cadoudal, +in a voice of thunder, called them back. + +"You should not have allowed him to pass," he cried, "but having +passed he is free to retreat." + +The Chouans obeyed with the religious faith they placed in the +words of their chief. + +"And now," said Cadoudal, "cease firing; no more dead; make +prisoners." + +The Chouans drew together and surrounded the heaps of dead, and +the few living men, more or less wounded, who lay among the dead. + +Surrendering was still fighting in this fatal war, where on both +sides the prisoners were shot--on the one side, because Chouans +and Vendéans were considered brigands; on the other, because +they knew not where to put the captives. + +The Republicans threw their guns away, that they might not be +forced to surrender them. When their captors approached them +every cartridge-box was open; every man had fired his last shot. + +Cadoudal walked back to Roland. + +During the whole of this desperate struggle the young man had +remained on the mound. With his eyes fixed on the battle, his hair +damp with sweat, his breast heaving, he waited for the result. +Then, when he saw the day was lost, his head fell upon his hands, +and he still sat on, his forehead bowed to the earth. + +Cadoudal reached him before he seemed to hear the sound of footsteps. +He touched the young man's shoulder. Roland raised his head slowly +without attempting to hide the two great tears that were rolling +down his cheeks. + +"General," said Roland, "do with me what you will. I am your +prisoner." + +"I can't make the First Consul's ambassador a prisoner," replied +Cadoudal, laughing, "but I can ask him to do me a service." + +"Command me, general." + +"I need a hospital for the wounded, and a prison for prisoners; +will you take the Republican soldiers, wounded and prisoners, +back to Vannes." + +"What do you mean, general?" exclaimed Roland. + +"I give them, or rather I confide them to you. I regret that +your horse was killed; so is mine. But there is still that of +Brise-Bleu; accept it." + +The young man made a motion of rejection. + +"Until you can obtain another, of course," added Cadoudal, bowing. + +Roland felt that he must put himself, at least in simplicity, +on a level with the man with whom he was dealing. + +"Shall I see you again, general?" he asked, rising. + +"I doubt it, sir. My operations call me to the coast near Port-Louis; +your duty recalls you to the Luxembourg." + +"What shall I tell the First Consul, general?" + +"What you have seen, sir. He must judge between the Abbé Bernier's +diplomacy and that of Georges Cadoudal." + +"After what I have seen, sir, I doubt if you ever have need of +me," said Roland; "but in any case remember that you have a friend +near the First Consul." + +And he held out his hand to Cadoudal. The royalist took it with +the same frankness and freedom he had shown before the battle. + +"Farewell, Monsieur de Montrevel," said he, "I need not ask you +to justify General Hatry. A defeat like that is fully as glorious +as a victory." + +During this time Brise-Bleu's horse had been led up for the +Republican colonel. + +He sprang into the saddle. + +"By the bye," said Cadoudal, "as you go through La Roche-Bernard, +just inquire what has happened to citizen Thomas Millière." + +"He is dead," said a voice. + +Coeur-de-Roi and his four men, covered with mud and sweat, had +just arrived, but too late for the battle. + +Roland cast a last glance at the battlefield, sighed, and, waving +a last farewell to Cadoudal, started at a gallop across the fields +to await, on the road to Vannes, the wagon-load of wounded and +the prisoners he was asked to deliver to General Hatry. + +Cadoudal had given a crown of six sous to each man. + +Roland could not help reflecting that the gift was made with +the money of the Directory sent to the West by Morgan and the +Companions of Jehu. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +A PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE + +Roland's first visit on arriving in Paris was to the First Consul. +He brought him the twofold news of the pacification of the Vendée, +and the increasingly bitter insurrection in Brittany. + +Bonaparte knew Roland; consequently the triple narrative of Thomas +Millière's murder, the execution of Bishop Audrein, and the fight +at Grandchamp, produced a deep impression upon him. There was, +moreover, in the young man's manner a sombre despair in which he +could not be mistaken. + +Roland was miserable over this lost opportunity to get himself +killed. An unknown power seemed to watch over him, carrying him +safe and sound through dangers which resulted fatally to others. +Sir John had found twelve judges and a death-warrant, where he +had seen but a phantom, invulnerable, it is true, but inoffensive. + +He blamed himself bitterly for singling out Cadoudal in the fight, +thus exposing himself to a pre-arranged plan of capture, instead +of flinging himself into the fray and killing or being killed. + +The First Consul watched him anxiously as he talked; the longing +for death still lingered in his mind, a longing he hoped to cure +by this return to his native land and the endearments of his +family. + +He praised and defended General Hatry, but, just and impartial +as a soldier should be, he gave full credit to Cadoudal for the +courage and generosity the royalist general had displayed. + +Bonaparte listened gravely, almost sadly; ardent as he was for +foreign war with its glorious halo, his soul revolted at the +internecine strife which drained the life-blood of the nation +and rent its bowels. It was a case in which, to his thinking, +negotiation should be substituted for war. But how negotiate +with a man like Cadoudal? + +Bonaparte was not unaware of his own personal seductions when he +chose to exercise them. He resolved to see Cadoudal, and without +saying anything on the subject to Roland, he intended to make use +of him for the interview when the time came. In the meantime he +wanted to see if Brune, in whose talent he had great confidence, +would be more successful than his predecessors. + +He dismissed Roland, after telling him of his mother's arrival +and her installation in the little house in the Rue de la Victoire. + +Roland sprang into a coach and was driven there at once. He found +Madame de Montrevel as happy and as proud as a woman and a mother +could be. Edouard had gone, the day before, to the Prytanée Français, +and she herself was preparing to return to Amélie, whose health +continued to give her much anxiety. + +As for Sir John, he was not only out of danger, but almost well +again. He was in Paris, had called upon Madame de Montrevel, +and, finding that she had gone with Edouard to the Prytanée, +he had left his card. It bore his address, Hôtel Mirabeau, Rue +de Richelieu. + +It was eleven o'clock, Sir John's breakfast hour, and Roland had +every chance of finding him at that hour. He got back into his +carriage, and ordered the coachman to stop at the Hôtel Mirabeau. + +He found Sir John sitting before an English breakfast, a thing +rarely seen in those days, drinking large cups of tea and eating +bloody chops. + +As soon as the Englishman saw Roland he gave a cry of joy and +ran to meet him. Roland himself had acquired a deep affection +for that exceptional nature, where the noblest qualities of the +heart seemed striving to hide themselves beneath national +eccentricities. + +Sir John was pale and thin, but in other respects he was well. His +wound had completely healed, and except for a slight oppression, +which was diminishing daily and would soon disappear altogether, +he had almost recovered his former health. He now welcomed Roland +with a tenderness scarcely to be expected from that reserved +nature, declaring that the joy he felt in seeing him again was +all he wanted for his complete recovery. + +He begged Roland to share the meal, telling him to order his own +breakfast, a la Française. Roland accepted. Like all soldiers +who had fought the hard wars of the Revolution, when bread was +often lacking, Roland cared little for what he ate; he had acquired +the habit of eating whatever was put before him as a precaution +against the days when there might be nothing at all. Sir John's +attention in asking him to make a French breakfast was scarcely +noticed by him at all. + +But what Roland did notice was Sir John's preoccupation of mind. +It was evident that Sir John had something on his lips which he +hesitated to utter. Roland thought he had better help him. + +So, when breakfast was nearly over, Roland, with his usual frankness, +which almost bordered upon brutality at times, leaned his elbows +on the table, settled his chin in his hands, and said: "Well, my +dear Sir John, you have something to say to your friend Roland +that you don't dare put into words." + +Sir John started, and, from pale as he was, turned crimson. + +"Confound it!" continued Roland, "it must be hard to get out; +but, Sir John, if you have many things to ask me, I know but few +that I have the right to refuse you. So, go on; I am listening." + +And Roland closed his eyes as if to concentrate all his attention +on what Sir John was about to say. But the matter was evidently, +from Sir John's point of view, so extremely difficult to make +known, that at the end of a dozen seconds, finding that Sir John +was still silent, Roland opened his eyes. + +The Englishman was pale again; but this time he was paler than +before. Roland held out his hand to him. + +"Why," he said, "I see you want to make some compliment about +the way you were treated at the Château des Noires-Fontaines." + +"Precisely, my friend; for the happiness or misery of my life +will date from my sojourn at the château." + +Roland looked fixedly at Sir John. "The deuce!" he exclaimed, +"can I be so fortunate--" Then he stopped, remembering that what +he was about to say was most unconventional from the social point +of view. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Sir John, "my dear Roland, finish what you were +saying." + +"You wish it?" + +"I implore you." + +"But if I am mistaken; if I should say something nonsensical." + +"My friend, my friend, go on." + +"Well, as I was saying, my lord, can I be so fortunate as to find +your lordship in love with my sister?" + +Sir John gave a cry of joy, and with a rapid movement, of which +so phlegmatic a man might have been thought incapable, he threw +himself in Roland's arms. + +"Your sister is an angel, my dear Roland," he exclaimed, "and +I love her with all my heart." + +"Are you entirely free to do so, my lord?" + +"Entirely. For the last twelve years, as I told you, I have had +my fortune under my own control; it amounts to twenty-five thousand +pounds sterling a year." + +"Too much, my dear fellow, for a woman who can only bring you +fifty thousand francs." + +"Oh!" said the Englishman, with that national accent that returned +to him occasionally in moments of strong excitement, "if I must +get rid of a part of it, I can do so." + +"No," replied Roland, laughing, "that's not necessary. You're rich; +it's unfortunate, but what's to be done?--No, that's not the +question. Do you love my sister?" + +"I adore her." + +"And she," resumed Roland, "does she love you?" + +"Of course you understand," returned Sir John, "that I have not +asked her. I was bound, my dear Roland, to speak to you first, +and if the matter were agreeable, to beg you to plead my cause +with your mother. After I have obtained the consent of both, I +shall make my offer. Or rather, you will make it for me, for I +should never dare." + +"Then I am the first to receive your confidence?" + +"You are my best friend, and it ought to be so." + +"Well, my dear friend, as far as I am concerned, your suit is +won--naturally." + +"Your mother and sister remain." + +"They will be one. You understand that my mother will leave Amélie +free to make her own choice; and I need not tell you that if +it falls upon you she will be delighted. But there is a person +whom you have forgotten." + +"Who is that?" said Sir John, in the tone of a man who, having +weighed all chances for and against, believes he knows them all, +and is met by an obstacle he has never thought of. + +"The First Consul," said Roland. + +"God--" ejaculated the Englishman, swallowing the last words of +the national oath. + +"He spoke to me just before I left for the Vendée of my sister's +marriage," continued Roland; "saying that it no longer concerned +my mother and myself, for he would take charge of it." + +"Then," said Sir John, "I am lost." + +"Why so?" + +"The First Consul does not like the English." + +"Say rather that the English do not like the First Consul." + +"But who will present my wishes to the First Consul?" + +"I will." + +"And will you speak of them as agreeable to yourself?" + +"I'll turn you into a dove of peace between the two nations," +said Roland, rising. + +"Oh! thank you," cried Sir john, seizing the young man's hand. +Then he added, regretfully, "Must you leave me?" + +"My friend, I have only a few hours' leave. I have given one +to my mother, two to you, and I owe one to your friend Edouard. +I want to kiss him and ask his masters to let him scuffle as he +likes with his comrades. Then I must get back to the Luxembourg." + +"Well, take him my compliments, and tell him I have ordered another +pair of pistols for him, so that the next time he is attacked by +bandits he needn't use the conductor's." + +Roland looked at Sir John. + +"Now, what is it?" he asked. + +"What! Don't you know?" + +"No. What is it I don't know?" + +"Something that nearly killed our poor Amélie?" + +"What thing?" + +"The attack on the diligence." + +"But what diligence?" + +"The one which your mother was in." + +"The diligence my mother was in?" + +"Yes." + +"The diligence my mother was in was attacked?" + +"You have seen Madame de Montrevel, and she didn't tell you?" + +"Not a word about that, anyway." + +"Well, my dear Edouard proved a hero; as no one else defended +the coach, he did. He took the conductor's pistols and fired." + +"Brave boy!" exclaimed Roland. + +"Yes, but, unluckily or luckily the conductor had taken the +precaution to remove the bullets. Edouard was praised and petted +by the Companions of Jehu as the bravest of the brave; but he +neither killed nor wounded them." + +"Are you sure of what you are telling me?" + +"I tell you your sister almost died of fright." + +"Very good," said Roland. + +"How very good?" exclaimed Sir John. + +"I mean, all the more reason why I should see Edouard." + +"What makes you say that." + +"A plan." + +"Tell me what it is." + +"Faith! no. My plans don't turn out well for you." + +"But you know, my dear Roland, that if there are any reprisals +to make--" + +"I shall make them for both. You are in love, my dear fellow; +live in your love." + +"You promise me your support?" + +"That's understood! I am most anxious to call you brother." + +"Are you tired of calling me friend?" + +"Faith, yes; it is too little." + +"Thanks." + +They pressed each other's hands and parted. + +A quarter of an hour later Roland reached the Prytanée Français, +which stood then on the present site of the Lyceum of Louis- +le-Grand--that is to say, at the head of the Rue Saint-Jacques, +behind the Sorbonne. At the first words of the director, Roland +saw that his young brother had been especially recommended to +the authorities. The boy was sent for. Edouard flung himself +into the arms of his "big brother" with that passionate adoration +he had for him. + +After the first embraces were over, Roland inquired about the +stoppage of the diligence. Madame de Montrevel had been chary +of mentioning it; Sir John had been sober in statement, but not +so Edouard. It was his Iliad, his very own. He related it with +every detail--Jérôme's connivance with the bandits, the pistols +loaded with powder only, his mother's fainting-fit, the attention +paid to her by those who had caused it, his own name known to +the bandits, the fall of the mask from the face of the one who +was restoring his mother, his certainty that she must have seen +the man's face. + +Roland was above all struck with this last particular. Then the +boy related their audience with the First Consul, and told how +the latter had kissed and petted him, and finally recommended +him to the director of the Prytanée Français. + +Roland learned from the child all that he wished to know, and +as it took but five minutes to go from the Rue Saint Jacques +to the Luxembourg, he was at the palace in that time. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +SCULPTURE AND PAINTING + +When Roland returned to the Luxembourg, the clock of the palace +marked one hour and a quarter after mid-day. + +The First Consul was working with Bourrienne. + +If we were merely writing a novel, we should hasten to its close, +and in order to get there more expeditiously we should neglect +certain details, which, we are told, historical figures can do +without. That is not our opinion. From the day we first put pen +to paper--now some thirty years ago--whether our thought were +concentrated on a drama, or whether it spread itself into a novel, +we have had a double end--to instruct and to amuse. + +And we say instruct first, for amusement has never been to our +mind anything but a mask for instruction. Have we succeeded? We +think so. Before long we shall have covered with our narratives +an enormous period of time; between the "Comtesse de Salisbury" +and the "Comte de Monte-Cristo" five centuries and a half are +comprised. Well, we assert that we have taught France as much +history about those five centuries and a half as any historian. + +More than that; although our opinions are well known; although, +under the Bourbons of the elder branch as under the Bourbons +of the younger branch, under the Republic as under the present +government, we have always proclaimed them loudly, we do not +believe that that opinion has been unduly manifested in our books +and dramas. + +We admire the Marquis de Posa in Schiller's "Don Carlos"; but, in +his stead, we should not have anticipated the spirit of that age +to the point of placing a philosopher of the eighteenth century +among the heroes of the sixteenth, an encyclopedist at the court +of Philippe II. Therefore, just as we have been--in literary +parlance--monarchical under the Monarchy, republican under the +Republic, we are to-day reconstructionists under the Consulate. + +That does not prevent our thought from hovering above men, above +their epoch, and giving to each the share of good and evil they +do. Now that share no one, except God, has the right to award +from his individual point of view. The kings of Egypt who, at +the moment they passed into the unknown, were judged upon the +threshold of their tombs, were not judged by a man, but by a +people. That is why it is said: "The judgment of a people is +the judgment of God." + +Historian, novelist, poet, dramatic author, we are nothing more +than the foreman of a jury who impartially sums up the arguments +and leaves the jury to give their verdict. The book is the summing +up; the readers are the jury. + +That is why, having to paint one of the most gigantic figures, +not only of modern times but of all times; having to paint the +period of his transition, that is to say the moment when Bonaparte +transformed himself into Napoleon, the general into an emperor--that +is why we say, in the fear of becoming unjust, we abandon +interpretations and substitute facts. + +We are not of those who say with Voltaire that, "no one is a hero +to his valet." + +It may be that the valet is near-sighted or envious--two infirmities +that resemble each other more closely than people think. We maintain +that a hero may become a kind man, but a hero, for being kind, +is none the less a hero. + +What is a hero in the eyes of the public? A man whose genius is +momentarily greater than his heart. What is a hero in private +life? A man whose heart is momentarily greater than his genius. + +Historians, judge the genius! + +People, judge the heart! + +Who judged Charlemagne? The historians. Who judged Henri IV.? +The people. Which, in your opinion, was the most righteously +judged? + +Well, in order to render just judgment, and compel the court +of appeals, which is none other than posterity, to confirm +contemporaneous judgments, it is essential not to light up one +side only of the figure we depict, but to walk around it, and +wherever the sunlight does not reach, to hold a torch, or even +a candle. + +Now, let us return to Bonaparte. + +He was working, as we said, with Bourrienne. Let us inquire into +the usual division of the First Consul's time. + +He rose at seven or eight in the morning, and immediately called +one of his secretaries, preferably Bourrienne, and worked with him +until ten. At ten, breakfast was announced; Josephine, Hortense +and Eugène either waited or sat down to table with the family, +that is with the aides-de-camp on duty and Bourrienne. After +breakfast he talked with the usual party, or the invited guests, +if there were any; one hour was devoted to this intercourse, +which was generally shared by the First Consul's two brothers, +Lucien and Joseph, Regnault de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, Boulay (de +la Meurthe), Monge, Berthollet, Laplace and Arnault. Toward noon +Cambacérès arrived. As a general thing Bonaparte devoted half +an hour to his chancellor; then suddenly, without warning, he +would rise and say: "Au revoir, Josephine! au revoir, Hortense! +Come, Bourrienne, let us go to work." + +This speech, which recurred almost regularly in the same words, +was no sooner uttered than Bonaparte left the salon and returned +to his study. There, no system of work was adopted; it might be +some urgent matter or merely a caprice. Either Bonaparte dictated +or Bourrienne read, after which the First Consul went to the +council. + +In the earlier months of the Consulate, he was obliged to cross +the courtyard of the little Luxembourg to reach the council-chamber, +which, if the weather were rainy, put him in bad humor; but toward +the end of December he had the courtyard covered; and from that +time he almost always returned to his study singing. Bonaparte +sang almost as false as Louis XV. + +As soon as he was back he examined the work he had ordered done, +signed his letters, and stretched himself out in his armchair, +the arms of which he stabbed with his penknife as he talked. +If he was not inclined to talk, he reread the letters of the +day before, or the pamphlets of the day, laughing at intervals +with the hearty laugh of a great child. Then suddenly, as one +awakening from a dream, he would spring to his feet and cry out: +"Write, Bourrienne!" + +Then he would sketch out the plan for some building to be erected, +or dictate some one of those vast projects which have amazed--let +us say rather, terrified the world. + +At five o'clock he dined; after dinner the First Consul ascended +to Josephine's apartments, where he usually received the visits +of the ministers, and particularly that of the minister of foreign +affairs, M. de Talleyrand. At midnight, sometimes earlier, but +never later, he gave the signal for retiring by saying, brusquely: +"Let us go to bed." + +The next day, at seven in the morning, the same life began over +again, varied only by unforeseen incidents. + +After these details of the personal habits of the great genius +we are trying to depict under his first aspect, his personal +portrait ought, we think, to come. + +Bonaparte, First Consul, has left fewer indications of his personal +appearance than Napoleon, Emperor. Now, as nothing less resembles +the Emperor of 1812 than the First Consul of 1800; let us endeavor, +if possible, to sketch with a pen those features which the brush +has never fully portrayed, that countenance which neither bronze +nor marble has been able to render. Most of the painters and +sculptors who flourished during this illustrious period of art--Gros, +David, Prud'hon, Girodet and Bosio--have endeavored to transmit to +posterity the features of the Man of Destiny, at the different +epochs when the vast providential vistas which beckoned him first +revealed themselves. Thus, we have portraits of Bonaparte, +commander-in-chief, Bonaparte, First Consul, and Napoleon, Emperor; +and although some painters and sculptors have caught more or less +successfully the type of his face, it may be said that there +does not exist, either of the general, the First Consul, or the +emperor, a single portrait or bust which perfectly resembles him. + +It was not within the power of even genius to triumph over an +impossibility. During the first part of Bonaparte's life it was +possible to paint or chisel Bonaparte's protuberant skull, his +brow furrowed by the sublime line of thought, his pale elongated +face, his granite complexion, and the meditative character of his +countenance. During the second part of his life it was possible to +paint or to chisel his broadened forehead, his admirably defined +eyebrows, his straight nose, his close-pressed lips, his chin +modelled with rare perfection, his whole face, in short, like a +coin of Augustus. But that which neither his bust nor his portrait +could render, which was utterly beyond the domain of imitation, +was the mobility of his look; that look which is to man what +the lightning is to God, namely, the proof of his divinity. + +In Bonaparte, that look obeyed his will with the rapidity of +lightning; in one and the same minute it dared from beneath his +eyelids, now keen and piercing as the blade of a dagger violently +unsheathed, now soft as a sun ray or a kiss, now stern as a +challenge, or terrible as a threat. + +Bonaparte had a look for every thought that stirred his soul. +In Napoleon, this look, except in the momentous circumstances of +his life, ceased to be mobile and became fixed, but even so it +was none the less impossible to render; it was a drill sounding +the heart of whosoever he looked upon, the deepest, the most +secret thought of which he meant to sound. Marble or painting +might render the fixedness of that look, but neither the one nor +the other could portray its life--that is to say, its penetrating +and magnetic action. Troubled hearts have veiled eyes. + +Bonaparte, even in the days of his leanness, had beautiful hands, +and he displayed them with a certain coquetry. As he grew stouter +his hands became superb; he took the utmost care of them, and +looked at them when talking, with much complacency. He felt the +same satisfaction in his teeth, which were handsome, though not +with the splendor of his hands. + +When he walked, either alone or with some one, whether in a room +or in a garden, he always bent a little forward, as though his +head were heavy to carry, and crossed his hands behind his back. +He frequently made an involuntary movement with the right shoulder, +as if a nervous shudder had passed through it, and at the same time +his mouth made a curious movement from right to left, which seemed +to result from the other. These movements, however, had nothing +convulsive about them, whatever may have been said notwithstanding; +they were a simple trick indicative of great preoccupation, a +sort of congestion of the mind. It was chiefly manifested when +the general, the First Consul, or the Emperor, was maturing vast +plans. It was after such promenades, accompanied by this twofold +movement of the shoulders and lips, that he dictated his most +important notes. On a campaign, with the army, on horseback, +he was indefatigable; he was almost as much so in ordinary life, +and would often walk five or six hours in succession without +perceiving it. + +When he walked thus with some one with whom he was familiar, he +commonly passed his arm through that or his companion and leaned +upon him. + +Slender and thin as he was at the period when we place him before +our readers' eyes, he was much concerned by the fear of future +corpulence; it was to Bourrienne that he usually confided this +singular dread. + +"You see, Bourrienne, how slim and abstemious I am. Well, nothing +can rid me of the idea that when I am forty I shall be a great +eater and very fat. I foresee that my constitution will undergo +a change. I take exercise enough, but what will you!--it's a +presentiment; and it won't fail to happen." + +We all know to what obesity he attained when a prisoner at Saint +Helena. + +He had a positive passion for baths, which no doubt contributed +not a little to make him fat; this passion became an irresistible +need. He took one every other day, and stayed in it two hours, +during which time the journals and pamphlets of the day were +read to him. As the water cooled he would turn the hot-water +faucet until he raised the temperature of his bathroom to such a +degree that the reader could neither bear it any longer, nor see +to read. Not until then would he permit the door to be opened. + +It has been said that he was subject to epileptic attacks after +his first campaign in Italy. Bourrienne was with him eleven years, +and never saw him suffer from an attack of this malady. + +Bonaparte, though indefatigable when necessity demanded it, required +much sleep, especially during the period of which we are now +writing. Bonaparte, general or First Consul, kept others awake, +but he slept, and slept well. He retired at midnight, sometimes +earlier, as we have said, and when at seven in the morning they +entered his room to awaken him he was always asleep. Usually +at the first call he would rise; but occasionally, still half +asleep, he would mutter: "Bourrienne, I beg of you, let me sleep +a little longer." + +Then, if there was nothing urgent, Bourrienne would return at +eight o'clock; if it was otherwise, he insisted, and then, with +much grumbling, Bonaparte would get up. He slept seven, sometimes +eight, hours out of the twenty-four, taking a short nap in the +afternoon. He also gave particular instruction for the night. + +"At night," he would say, "come in my room as seldom as possible. +Never wake me if you have good news to announce--good news can +wait; but if there is bad news, wake me instantly, for then there +is not a moment to be lost in facing it." + +As soon as Bonaparte had risen and made his morning ablutions, +which were very thorough, his valet entered and brushed his hair +and shaved him; while he was being shaved, a secretary or an +aide-de-camp read the newspapers aloud, always beginning with +the "Moniteur." He gave no real attention to any but the English +and German papers. + +"Skip that," he would say when they read him the French papers; +"_I know what they say, because they only say what I choose._" + +His toilet completed, Bonaparte went down to his study. We have +seen above what he did there. At ten o'clock the breakfast as +announced, usually by the steward, in these words: "The general +is served." No title, it will be observed, not even that of First +Consul. + +The repast was a frugal one. Every morning a dish was served +which Bonaparte particularly liked--a chicken fried in oil with +garlic; the same dish that is now called on the bills of fare +at restaurants "Chicken à la Marengo." + +Bonaparte drank little, and then only Bordeaux or Burgundy, +preferably the latter. After breakfast, as after dinner, he drank +a cup of black coffee; never between meals. When he chanced to work +until late at night they brought him, not coffee, but chocolate, +and the secretary who worked with him had a cup of the same. +Most historians, narrators, and biographers, after saying that +Bonaparte drank a great deal of coffee, add that he took snuff +to excess. + +They are doubly mistaken. From the time he was twenty-four, Bonaparte +had contracted the habit of taking snuff: but only enough to keep +his brain awake. He took it habitually, not, as biographers have +declared, from the pocket of his waistcoat, but from a snuff-box +which he changed almost every day for a new one--having in this +matter of collecting snuff-boxes a certain resemblance to the great +Frederick. If he ever did take snuff from his waistcoat pocket, it +was on his battle days, when it would have been difficult, while +riding at a gallop under fire, to hold both reins and snuff-box. +For those days he had special waistcoats, with the right-hand +pocket lined with perfumed leather; and, as the sloping cut of +his coat enabled him to insert his thumb and forefinger into +this pocket without unbuttoning his coat, he could, under any +circumstances and at any gait, take snuff when he pleased. + +As general or First Consul, he never wore gloves, contenting +himself with holding and crumpling them in his left hand. As +Emperor, there was some advance in this propriety; he wore one +glove, and as he changed his gloves, not once, but two or three +times a day, his valet adopted the habit of giving him alternate +gloves; thus making one pair serve as two. + +Bonaparte had two great passions which Napoleon inherited--for +war and architectural monuments to his fame. + +Gay, almost jolly in camp, he was dreamy and sombre in repose. +To escape this gloom he had recourse to the electricity of art, +and saw visions of those gigantic monumental works of which he +undertook many, and completed some. He realized that such works are +part of the life of peoples; they are history written in capitals, +landmarks of the ages, left standing long after generations are +swept away. He knew that Rome lives in her ruins, that Greece +speaks by her statues, that Egypt, splendid and mysterious spectre, +appeared through her monuments on the threshold of civilized +existence. + +What he loved above everything, what he hugged in preference +to all else, was renown, heroic uproar; hence his need of war, +his thirst for glory. He often said: + +"A great reputation is a great noise; the louder it is, the further +it is heard. Laws, institutions, monuments, nations, all fall; but +sound remains and resounds through other generations. Babylon and +Alexandria are fallen; Semiramis and Alexander stand erect, greater +perhaps through the echo of their renown, waxing and multiplying +through the ages, than they were in their lifetimes." Then he +added, connecting these ideas with himself: "My power depends +on my fame and on the battles I win. Conquest has made me what +I am, and conquest alone can sustain me. A new born government +must dazzle, must amaze. The moment it no longer flames, it dies +out; once it ceases to grow, it falls." + +He was long a Corsican, impatient under the conquest of his country; +but after the 13th Vendemiaire he became a true Frenchman, and +ended by loving France with true passion. His dream was to see +her great, happy, powerful, at the head of the nations in glory +and in art. It is true that, in making France great, he became +great with her, and attached his name indissolubly to her grandeur. +To him, living eternally in this thought, actuality disappeared +in the future; wherever the hurricane of war may have swept him, +France, above all things else, above all nations, filled his +thoughts. "What will my Athenians think?" said Alexander, after +Issus and Arbela. "I hope the French will be content with me," +said Bonaparte, after Rivoli and the Pyramids. + +Before battle, this modern Alexander gave little thought to what +he should do in case of victory, but much in case of defeat. He, +more than any man, was convinced that trifles often decide the +greatest events; he was therefore more concerned in foreseeing +such events than in producing them. He watched them come to birth, +and ripen; then, when the right time came, he appeared, laid his +hand on them, mastered and guided them, as an able rider roasters +and guides a spirited horse. + +His rapid rise in the midst of revolutions and political changes +he had brought about, or seen accomplished, the events which +he had controlled, had given him a certain contempt for men; +moreover, he was not inclined by nature to think well of them. +His lips were often heard to utter the grievous maxim--all the +more grievous because he personally knew its truth--"There are +two levers by which men are moved, fear and self-interest." + +With such opinions Bonaparte did not, in fact, believe in friendship. + +"How often," said Bourrienne, "has he said to me, 'Friendship +is only a word; I love no one, not even my brothers--Joseph a +little possibly; but if I love him it is only from habit, and +because he is my elder. Duroc, yes, I love him; but why? Because +his character pleases me; because he is stern, cold, resolute; +besides, Duroc never sheds a tear. But why should I love any +one? Do you think I have any true friends? As long as I am what +I am, I shall have friends--apparently at least; but when my +luck ceases, you'll see! Trees don't have leaves in winter. I +tell you, Bourrienne, we must leave whimpering to the women, +it's their business; as for me, no feelings. I need a vigorous +hand and a stout heart; if not, better let war and government +alone.'" + +In his familiar intercourse, Bonaparte was what schoolboys call +a tease; but his teasings were never spiteful, and seldom unkind. +His ill-humor, easily aroused, disappeared like a cloud driven +by the wind; it evaporated in words, and disappeared of its own +will. Sometimes, however, when matters of public import were +concerned, and his lieutenants or ministers were to blame, he +gave way to violent anger; his outbursts were then hard and cruel, +and often humiliating. He gave blows with a club, under which, +willingly or unwillingly, the recipient had to bow his head; +witness his scene with Jomini and that with the Duc de Bellune. + +Bonaparte had two sets of enemies, the Jacobins and the royalists; +he detested the first and feared the second. In speaking of the +Jacobins, he invariably called them the murderers of Louis XVI.; +as for the royalists, that was another thing; one might almost +have thought he foresaw the Restoration. He had about him two +men who had voted the death of the king, Fouché and Cambacérès. + +He dismissed Fouché, and, if he kept Cambacérès, it was because +he wanted the services of that eminent legist; but he could not +endure him, and he would often catch his colleague, the Second +Consul, by the ear, and say: "My poor Cambacérès, I'm so sorry +for you; but your goose is cooked. If ever the Bourbons get back +they will hang you." + +One day Cambacérès lost his temper, and with a twist of his head +he pulled his ear from the living pincers that held it. + +"Come," he said, "have done with your foolish joking." + +Whenever Bonaparte escaped any danger, a childish habit, a Corsican +habit, reappeared; he always made a rapid sign of the cross on his +breast with the thumb. + +Whenever he met with any annoyance, or was haunted with a +disagreeable thought, he hummed--what air? An air of his own +that was no air at all, and which nobody ever noticed, he sang so +false. Then, still singing, he would sit down before his writing +desk, tilting in his chair, tipping it back till he almost fell +over, and mutilating, as we have said, its arms with a penknife, +which served no other purpose, inasmuch as he never mended a +pen himself. His secretaries were charged with that duty, and +they mended them in the best manner possible, mindful of the +fact that they would have to copy that terrific writing, which, +as we know, was not absolutely illegible. + +The effect produced on Bonaparte by the ringing of bells is known. +It was the only music he understood, and it went straight to +his heart. If he was seated when the vibrations began he would +hold up his hand for silence, and lean toward the sound. If he +was walking, he would stop, bend his head, and listen. As long +as the bell rang he remained motionless; when the sound died +away in space, he resumed his work, saying to those who asked him +to explain this singular liking for the iron voice: "It reminds +me of my first years at Brienne; I was happy then!" + +At the period of which we are writing, his greatest personal +interest was the purchase he had made of the domain of Malmaison. +He went there every night like a schoolboy off for his holiday, +and spent Sunday and often Monday there. There, work was neglected +for walking expeditions, during which he personally superintended +the improvements he had ordered. Occasionally, and especially +at first, he would wander beyond the limits of the estate; but +these excursions were thought dangerous by the police, and given +up entirely after the conspiracy of the Aréna and the affair +of the infernal machine. + +The revenue derived from Malmaison, calculated by Bonaparte himself, +on the supposition that he should sell his fruits and vegetables, +did not amount to more than six thousand francs. + +"That's not bad," he said to Bourrienne; "but," he added with a +sigh, "one must have thirty thousand a year to be able to live +here." + +Bonaparte introduced a certain poesy in his taste for the country. +He liked to see a woman with a tall flexible figure glide through +the dusky shrubberies of the park; only that woman must be dressed +in white. He hated gowns of a dark color and had a horror of +stout women. As for pregnant women, he had such an aversion for +them that it was very seldom he invited one to his soirées or +his fêtes. For the rest, with little gallantry in his nature, +too overbearing to attract, scarcely civil to women, it was rare +for him to say, even to the prettiest, a pleasant thing; in fact, +he often produced a shudder by the rude remarks he made even to +Josephine's best friends. To one he remarked: "Oh! what red arms +you have!" To another, "What an ugly headdress you are wearing!" +To a third, "Your gown is dirty; I have seen you wear it twenty +times"; or, "Why don't you change your dressmaker; you are dressed +like a fright." + +One day he said to the Duchesse de Chevreuse, a charming blonde, +whose hair was the admiration of everyone: + +"It's queer how red your hair is!" + +"Possibly," replied the duchess, "but this is the first time any +man has told me so." + +Bonaparte did not like cards; when he did happen to play it was +always vingt-et-un. For the rest, he had one trait in common +with Henry IV., he cheated; but when the game was over he left +all the gold and notes he had won on the table, saying: + +"You are ninnies! I have cheated all the time we've been playing, +and you never found out. Those who lost can take their money back." + +Born and bred in the Catholic faith, Bonaparte had no preference +for any dogma. When he re-established divine worship it was done +as a political act, not as a religious one. He was fond, however, +of discussions bearing on the subject; but he defined his own part +in advance by saying: "My reason makes me a disbeliever in many +things; but the impressions of my childhood and the inspirations +of my early youth have flung me back into uncertainty." + +Nevertheless he would never hear of materialism; he cared little +what the dogma was, provided that dogma recognized a Creator. +One beautiful evening in Messidor, on board his vessel, as it +glided along between the twofold azure of the sky and sea, certain +mathematicians declared there was no God, only animated matter. +Bonaparte looked at the celestial arch, a hundred times more +brilliant between Malta and Alexandria than it is in Europe, +and, at a moment when they thought him unconscious of the +conversation, he exclaimed, pointing to the stars: "You may say +what you please, but it was a God who made all that." + +Bonaparte, though very exact in paying his private debts, was +just the reverse about public expenses. He was firmly convinced +that in all past transactions between ministers and purveyors +or contractors, that if the minister who had made the contract +was not a dupe, the State at any rate was robbed; for this reason +he delayed the period of payment as long as possible; there were +literally no evasions, no difficulties he would not make, no +bad reasons he would not give. It was a fixed idea with him, an +immutable principle, that every contractor was a cheat. + +One day a man who had made a bid that was accepted was presented +to him. + +"What is your name?" he asked, with his accustomed brusqueness. + +"Vollant, citizen First Consul." + +"Good name for a contractor." + +"I spell it with two l's, citizen." + +"To rob the better, sir," retorted Bonaparte, turning his back +on him. + +Bonaparte seldom changed his decisions, even when he saw they +were unjust. No one ever heard him say: "I was mistaken." On +the contrary, his favorite saying was: "I always believe the +worst"--a saying more worthy of Simon than Augustus. + +But with all this, one felt that there was more of a desire in +Bonaparte's mind to seem to despise men than actual contempt for +them. He was neither malignant nor vindictive. Sometimes, it is +true, he relied too much upon necessity, that iron-tipped goddess; +but for the rest, take him away from the field of politics and +he was kind, sympathetic, accessible to pity, fond of children +(great proof of a kind and pitying heart), full of indulgence for +human weakness in private life, and sometimes of a good-humored +heartiness, like that of Henri IV. playing with his children in +the presence of the Spanish ambassador. + +If we were writing history we should have many more things to +say of Bonaparte without counting those which--after finishing +with Bonaparte--we should still have to say of Napoleon. But we +are writing a simple narrative, in which Bonaparte plays a part; +unfortunately, wherever Bonaparte shows himself, if only for a +moment, he becomes, in spite of himself, a principal personage. + +The reader must pardon us for having again fallen into digression; +that man, who is a world in himself, has, against our will, swept +us along in his whirlwind. + +Let us return to Roland, and consequently to our legitimate tale. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE AMBASSADOR + +We have seen that Roland, on returning to the Luxembourg, asked +for the First Consul and was told that he was engaged with Fouché, +the minister of police. + +Roland was a privileged person; no matter what functionary was +with Bonaparte, he was in the habit, on his return from a journey, +or merely from an errand, of half opening the door and putting +in his head. The First Consul was often so busy that he paid no +attention to this head. When that was the case, Roland would +say "General!" which meant, in the close intimacy which still +existed between the two schoolmates: "General, I am here; do +you need me? I'm at your orders." If the First Consul did not +need him, he replied: "Very good." If on the contrary he did +need him, he said, simply: "Come in." Then Roland would enter, +and wait in the recess of a window until the general told him +what he wanted. + +On this occasion, Roland put his head in as usual, saying: "General!" + +"Come in," replied the First Consul, with visible satisfaction; +"come in, come in!" + +Roland entered. Bonaparte was, as he had been told, busy with +the minister of police. The affair on which the First Consul +was engaged, and which seemed to absorb him a great deal, had +also its interest for Roland. + +It concerned the recent stoppages of diligences by the Companions +of Jehu. + +On the table lay three _procès-verbaux_ relating the stoppage +of one diligence and two mail-coaches. Tribier, the paymaster of +the Army of Italy, was in one of the latter. The stoppages had +occurred, one on the highroad between Meximieux and Montluel, on +that part of the road which crosses the commune of Bellignieux; the +second, at the extremity of the lake of Silans, in the direction +of Nantua; the third, on the highroad between Saint-Etienne and +Bourg, at a spot called Les Carronnières. + +A curious fact was connected with these stoppages. A sum of four +thousand francs and a case of jewelry had been mixed up by mistake +with the money-bags belonging to the government. The owners of +the money had thought them lost, when the justice of the peace +at Nantua received an unsigned letter telling him the place where +these objects had been buried, and requesting him to return them +to their rightful owners, as the Companions of Jehu made war +upon the government and not against private individuals. + +In another case; that of the Carronnières--where the robbers, +in order to stop the mail-coach, which had continued on its way +with increased speed in spite of the order to stop, were forced +to fire at a horse--the Companions of Jehu had felt themselves +obliged to make good this loss to the postmaster, who had received +five hundred francs for the dead horse. That was exactly what +the animal had cost eight days before; and this valuation proved +that they were dealing with men who understood horses. + +The _procès-verbaux_ sent by the local authorities were +accompanied by the affidavits of the travellers. + +Bonaparte was singing that mysterious tune of which we have spoken; +which showed that he was furious. So, as Roland might be expected +to bring him fresh information, he had called him three times +to come in. + +"Well," said he, "your part of the country is certainly in revolt +against me; just look at that." + +Roland glanced at the papers and understood at once. + +"Exactly what I came to speak to you about, general," said he. + +"Then begin at once; but first go ask Bourrienne for my department +atlas." + +Roland fetched the atlas, and, guessing what Bonaparte desired +to look at, opened it at the department of the Ain. + +"That's it," said Bonaparte; "show me where these affairs happened." + +Roland laid his finger on the edge of the map, in the neighborhood +of Lyons. + +"There, general, that's the exact place of the first attack, near +the village of Bellignieux." + +"And the second?" + +"Here," said Roland, pointing to the other side of the department, +toward Geneva; "there's the lake of Nantua, and here's that of +Silans." + +"Now the third?" + +Roland laid his finger on the centre of the map. + +"General, there's the exact spot. Les Carronnières are not marked +on the map because of their slight importance." + +"What are Les Carronnières?" asked the First Consul. + +"General, in our part of the country the manufactories of tiles +are called _carronnières_; they belong to citizen Terrier. +That's the place they ought to be on the map." + +And Roland made a pencil mark on the paper to show the exact spot +where the stoppage occurred. + +"What!" exclaimed Bonaparte; "why, it happened less than a mile +and a half from Bourg!" + +"Scarcely that, general; that explains why the wounded horse was +taken back to Bourg and died in the stables of the Belle-Alliance." + +"Do you hear all these details, sir!" said Bonaparte, addressing +the minister of police. + +"Yes, citizen First Consul," answered the latter. + +"You know I want this brigandage to stop?" + +"I shall use every effort--" + +"It's not a question of your efforts, but of its being done." + +The minister bowed. + +"It is only on that condition," said Bonaparte, "that I shall +admit you are the able man you claim to be." + +"I'll help you, citizen," said Roland. + +"I did not venture to ask for your assistance," said the minister. + +"Yes, but I offer it; don't do anything that we have not planned +together." + +The minister looked at Bonaparte. + +"Quite right," said Bonaparte; "you can go. Roland will follow +you to the ministry." + +Fouché bowed and left the room. + +"Now," continued the First Consul, "your honor depends upon your +exterminating these bandits, Roland. In the first place, the +thing is being carried on in your department; and next, they +seem to have some particular grudge against you and your family." + +"On the contrary," said Roland, "that's what makes me so furious; +they spare me and my family." + +"Let's go over it again, Roland. Every detail is of importance; +it's a war of Bedouins over again." + +"Just notice this, general. I spend a night in the Chartreuse of +Seillon, because I have been told that it was haunted by ghosts. +Sure enough, a ghost appears, but a perfectly inoffensive one. +I fire at it twice, and it doesn't even turn around. My mother +is in a diligence that is stopped, and faints away. One of the +robbers pays her the most delicate attentions, bathes her temples +with vinegar, and gives her smelling-salts. My brother Edouard +fights them as best he can; they take him in their arms, kiss +him, and make him all sorts of compliments on his courage; a +little more and they would have given him sugar-plums as a reward +for his gallant conduct. Now, just the reverse; my friend Sir +John follows my example, goes where I have been; he is treated +as a spy and stabbed, as they thought, to death." + +"But he didn't die." + +"No. On the contrary, he is so well that he wants to marry my +sister." + +"Ah ha! Has he asked for her?" + +"Officially." + +"And you answered?" + +"I answered that the matter depended on two persons." + +"Your mother and you; that's true." + +"No; my sister herself--and you." + +"Your sister I understand; but I?" + +"Didn't you tell me general, that you would take charge of marrying +her?" + +Bonaparte walked up and down the room with his arms crossed; +then, suddenly stopping before Roland, he said: "What is your +Englishman like?" + +"You have seen him, general." + +"I don't mean physically; all Englishmen are alike--blue eyes, +red hair, white skin, long jaws." + +"That's their _th_," said Roland, gravely. + +"Their _th_?" + +"Yes. Did yon ever learn English, general?" + +"Faith! I tried to learn it." + +"Your teacher must have told you that the _th_ was sounded +by pressing the tongue against the teeth. Well, by dint of punching +their teeth with their tongues the English have ended by getting +those elongated jaws, which, as you said just now, is one of +the distinctive characteristics of their physiognomy." + +Bonaparte looked at Roland to see if that incorrigible jester +were laughing or speaking seriously. Roland was imperturbable. + +"Is that your opinion?" said Bonaparte. + +"Yes, general, and I think that physiologically it is as good +as any other. I have a lot of opinions like it, which I bring +to light as the occasion offers." + +"Come back to your Englishman." + +"Certainly, general." + +"I asked you what he was like." + +"Well, he is a gentleman; very brave, very calm, very impassible, +very noble, very rich, and, moreover--which may not be a +recommendation to you--a nephew of Lord Grenville, prime minister +to his Britannic Majesty." + +"What's that?" + +"I said, prime minister to his Britannic Majesty." + +Bonaparte resumed his walk; then, presently returning to Roland, +he said: "Can I see your Englishman?" + +"You know, general, that you can do anything." + +"Where is he?" + +"In Paris." + +"Go find him and bring him here." + +Roland was in the habit of obeying without reply; he took his +hat and went toward the door. + +"Send Bourrienne to me," said the First Consul, just as Roland +passed into the secretary's room. + +Five minutes later Bourrienne appeared. + +"Sit down there, Bourrienne," said the First Consul, "and write." + +Bourrienne sat down, arranged his paper, dipped his pen in the +ink, and waited. + +"Ready?" asked the First Consul, sitting down upon the writing +table, which was another of his habits; a habit that reduced +his secretary to despair, for Bonaparte never ceased swinging +himself back and forth all the time he dictated--a motion that +shook the table as much as if it had been in the middle of the +ocean with a heaving sea. + +"I'm ready," replied Bourrienne, who had ended by forcing himself to +endure, with more or less patience, all Bonaparte's eccentricities. + +"Then write." And he dictated: + + Bonaparte, First Consul of the Republic, to his Majesty the King + of Great Britain and Ireland. + + Called by the will of the French nation to the chief magistracy + of the Republic, I think it proper to inform your Majesty + personally of this fact. + + Must the war, which for two years has ravaged the four quarters + of the globe, be perpetuated? Is there no means of staying it? + + How is it that two nations, the most enlightened of Europe, + more powerful and strong than their own safety and + independence require; how is it that they sacrifice to their + ideas of empty grandeur or bigoted antipathies the welfare + of commerce, eternal prosperity, the happiness of families? + How is it that they do not recognize that peace is the first + of needs and the first of a nation's glories? + + These sentiments cannot be foreign to the heart of a king who + governs a free nation with the sole object of rendering it happy. + + Your Majesty will see in this overture my sincere desire to + contribute efficaciously, for the second time, to a general + pacification, by an advance frankly made and free of those + formalities which, necessary perhaps to disguise the dependence + of feeble states, only disclose in powerful nations a mutual + desire to deceive. + + France and England can, for a long time yet, by the abuse of + their powers, and to the misery of their people, carry on the + struggle without exhaustion; but, and I dare say it, the fate + of all the civilized nations depends on the conclusion of a + war which involves the universe. + +Bonaparte paused. "I think that will do," said he. "Read it over, +Bourrienne." + +Bourrienne read the letter he had just written. After each paragraph +the First Consul nodded approvingly; and said: "Go on." + +Before the last words were fairly uttered, he took the letter +from Bourrienne's hands and signed it with a new pen. It was +a habit of his never to use the same pen twice. Nothing could +be more disagreeable to him than a spot of ink on his fingers. + +"That's good," said he. "Seal it and put on the address: 'To Lord +Grenville.'" + +Bourrienne did as he was told. At the same moment the noise of +a carriage was heard entering the courtyard of the Luxembourg. +A moment later the door opened and Roland appeared. + +"Well?" asked Bonaparte. + +"Didn't I tell you you could have anything you wanted, general?" + +"Have you brought your Englishman?" + +"I met him in the Place de Buci; and, knowing that you don't +like to wait, I caught him just as he was, and made him get into +the carriage. Faith! I thought I should have to drive round to +the Rue Mazarine, and get a guard to bring him. He's in boots +and a frock-coat." + +"Let him come in," said Bonaparte. + +"Come in, Sir John," cried Roland, turning round. + +Lord Tanlay appeared on the threshold. Bonaparte had only to +glance at him to recognize a perfect gentleman. A trifling +emaciation, a slight pallor, gave Sir John the characteristics +of great distinction. He bowed, awaiting the formal introduction, +like the true Englishman he was. + +"General," said Roland, "I have the honor to present to you Sir +John Tanlay, who proposed to go to the third cataract for the +purpose of seeing you, but who has, to-day, obliged me to drag +him by the ear to the Luxembourg." + +"Come in, my lord; come in," said Bonaparte. "This is not the +first time we have seen each other, nor the first that I have +expressed the wish to know you; there was therefore positive +ingratitude in trying to evade my desire." + +"If I hesitated," said Sir John, in excellent French, as usual, +"it was because I could scarcely believe in the honor you do me." + +"And besides, very naturally, from national feeling, you detest +me, don't you, like the rest of your countrymen?" + +"I must confess, general," answered Sir John, smiling, "that they +have not got beyond admiration." + +"And do you share the absurd prejudice that claims that national +honor requires you to hate to-day the enemy who may be a friend +to-morrow?" + +"France has been almost a second mother country to me, and my +friend Roland will tell you that I long for the moment when, +of my two countries, the one to which I shall owe the most will +be France." + +"Then you ought to see France and England shaking hands for the +good of the world, without repugnance." + +"The day when I see that will be a happy day for me." + +"If you could contribute to bring it about would you do so?" + +"I would risk my life to do it." + +"Roland tells me you are a relative of Lord Grenville." + +"His nephew." + +"Are you on good terms with him?" + +"He was very fond of my mother, his eldest sister." + +"Have you inherited the fondness he bore your mother?" + +"Yes; only I think he holds it in reserve till I return to England." + +"Will you deliver a letter for me?" + +"To whom?" + +"King George III." + +"I shall be greatly honored." + +"Will you undertake to say to your uncle that which cannot be +written in a letter?" + +"Without changing a syllable; the words of General Bonaparte are +history." + +"Well, tell him--" but, interrupting himself, he turned to +Bourrienne, saying: "Bourrienne, find me the last letter from +the Emperor of Russia." + +Bourrienne opened a box, and, without searching, laid his hand +on a letter that he handed to Bonaparte. + +The First Consul cast his eye over the paper and then gave it +to Lord Tanlay. + +"Tell him," said he, "first and before all, that you have read +this letter." + +Sir John bowed and read as follows: + + CITIZEN FIRST CONSUL--I have received, each armed and newly + clothed in the uniform of his regiment, the nine thousand + Russians, made prisoners in Holland, whom you have returned + to me without ransom, exchange, or condition of any kind. + + This is pure chivalry, and I boast of being chivalrous. + + I think that which I can best offer you in exchange for this + magnificent present, citizen First Consul, is my friendship. + Will you accept it? + + As an earnest of that friendship, I am sending his passports + to Lord Whitworth, the British Ambassador to Saint Petersburg. + + Furthermore, if you will be, I do not say my second, but my + witness, I will challenge personally every king who will not + take part against England and close his ports to her. + + I begin with my neighbor the King of Denmark, and you will + find in the "Gazette de la Cour" the ultimatum I have sent him. + + What more can I say to you? Nothing, unless it be that you and + I together can give laws to the world. + + I am your admirer and sincere friend, PAUL. + +Lord Tanlay turned to the First Consul. "Of course you know," +said he, "that the Emperor of Russia is mad." + +"Is it that letter that makes you think so, my lord?" asked +Bonaparte. + +"No; but it confirms my opinion." + +"It was a madman who gave Henry VI. of Lancaster the crown of +Saint-Louis, and the blazon of England still bears--until I scratch +them out with my sword--the fleur-de-lis of France." + +Sir John smiled; his national pride revolted at this assumption +in the conqueror of the Pyramids. + +"But," said Bonaparte, "that is not the question to-day; everything +in its own time." + +"Yes," murmured Sir John, "we are too near Aboukir." + +"Oh, I shall never defeat you at sea," said Bonaparte; "it would +take fifty years to make France a maritime nation; but over there," +and he motioned with his hand to the East, "at the present moment, +I repeat, that the question is not war but peace. I must have +peace to accomplish my dream, and, above all, peace with England. +You see, I play aboveboard; I am strong enough to speak frankly. +If the day ever comes when a diplomatist tells the truth, he will +be the first diplomatist in the world; for no one will believe +him, and he will attain, unopposed, his ends." + +"Then I am to tell my uncle that you desire peace." + +"At the same time letting him know that I do not fear war. If +I can't ally myself with King George, I can, as you see, do so +with the Emperor Paul; but Russia has not reached that point +of civilization that I desire in an ally." + +"A tool is sometimes more useful than an ally." + +"Yes; but, as you said, the Emperor is mad, and it is better to +disarm than to arm a madman. I tell you that two nations like +France and England ought to be inseparable friends or relentless +enemies; friends, they are the poles of the world, balancing its +movements with perfect equilibrium; enemies, one must destroy +the other and become the world's sole axis." + +"But suppose Lord Grenville, not doubting your genius, still +doubts your power; if he holds the opinion of our poet Coleridge, +that our island needs no rampart, no bulwark, other than the +raucous murmur of the ocean, what shall I tell him?" + +"Unroll the map of the world, Bourrienne," said Bonaparte. + +Bourrienne unrolled a map; Bonaparte stepped over to it. + +"Do you see those two rivers?" said he, pointing to the Volga +and the Danube. "That's the road to India," he added. + +"I thought Egypt was, general," said Sir John. + +"So did I for a time; or, rather, I took it because I had no +other. But the Czar opens this one; your government can force +me to take it. Do you follow me?" + +"Yes; citizen; go on." + +"Well, if England forces me to fight her, if I am obliged to +accept this alliance with Catherine's successor, this is what I +shall do: I shall embark forty thousand Russians on the Volga; +I shall send them down the river to Astrakhan; they will cross +the Caspian and await me at Asterabad." + +Sir John bowed in sign of deep attention. Bonaparte continued: +"I shall embark forty thousand Frenchmen on the Danube." + +"Excuse me, citizen First Consul, but the Danube is an Austrian +river." + +"I shall have taken Vienna." + +Sir John stared at Bonaparte. + +"I shall have taken Vienna," continued the latter. "I shall then +embark forty thousand Frenchmen on the Danube; I find Russian +vessels at its mouth ready to transport them to Taganrog; I march +them by land along the course of the Don to Pratisbianskaïa, +whence they move to Tzaritsin; there they descend the Volga in +the same vessels that have transported the forty thousand Russians +to Asterabad; fifteen days later I have eighty thousand men in +western Persia. From Asterabad, these united corps will march to +the Indus; Persia, the enemy of England, is our natural ally." + +"Yes; but once in the Punjab, the Persian alliance will do you +no good; and an army of eighty thousand men cannot drag its +provisions along with it." + +"You forget one thing," said Bonaparte, as if the expedition were +already under way, "I have left bankers at Teheran and Caboul. +Now, remember what happened nine years ago in Lord Cornwallis' war +with Tippo Saïb. The commander-in-chief fell short of provisions, +and a simple captain--I forget his name." + +"Captain Malcolm," said Lord Tanlay. + +"That's it!" cried Bonaparte. "You know the story! Captain Malcolm +had recourse to the Brinjaries, those Bohemians of India, who +cover the whole Hindostan peninsula with their encampments, and +control the grain supplies. Well, those Bohemians are faithful +to the last penny to those who pay them; they will feed me." + +"You must cross the Indus." + +"What of that!" exclaimed Bonaparte, "I have a hundred and eighty +miles of bank between Déra-Ismaël-Khan and Attok to choose from. +I know the Indus as well as I do the Seine. It is a slow current +flowing about three miles an hour; its medium depth is, I should +say, at the point I mentioned, from twelve to fifteen feet, and +there are ten or more fords on the line of my operations." + +"Then your line is already traced out?" asked Sir John smiling. + +"Yes, in so far as it follows a broad uninterrupted stretch of +fertile, well-watered provinces; that I avoid the sandy deserts +which separate the lower valley of the Indus from Rajputana; +and also that I follow the general bases of all invasions of +India that have had any success, from Mahmoud of Ghazni, in the +year 1000, to Nadir Shah, in 1739. And how many have taken the +route I mean to take between the two epochs! Let us count them. +After Mahmoud of Ghazni came Mohammed Ghori, in 1184, with one +hundred and twenty thousand men; after him, Timur Tang, or Timur +the Lame, whom we call Tamerlane, with sixty thousand men; after +Tamerlane, Babar; after Babar, Humajan, and how many more I can't +remember. Why, India is there for whoever will go and take it!" + +"You forget, citizen First Consul, that all the conquerors you +have named had only the aboriginal populations to deal with, +whereas you have the English. We hold India--" + +"With from twenty to twenty-two thousand men." + +"And a hundred thousand Sepoys." + +"I have counted them all, and I regard England and India, the +one with the respect, the other with the contempt, they merit. +Wherever I meet European infantry, I prepare a second, a third, +and if necessary, a fourth line of reserves, believing that the +first three might give way before the British bayonets; but wherever +I find the Sepoys, I need only the postilion's whip to scatter +the rabble. Have you any other questions to put to me, my lord?" + +"One, citizen First Consul: are you sincerely desirous of peace?" + +"Here is the letter in which I ask it of your king, my lord, +and it is to be quite sure that it reaches his Britannic Majesty +that I ask Lord Grenville's nephew to be my messenger." + +"It shall be done as you desire, citizen; and were I the uncle, +instead of the nephew, I should promise more." + +"When can you start?" + +"In an hour I shall be gone." + +"You have no wish to express to me before leaving?" + +"None. In any case, if I have any, I leave my affairs to my friend, +Roland." + +"Shake hands with me, my lord; it will be a good omen, as you +represent England and I France." + +Sir John accepted the honor done him by Bonaparte, with the exact +measure of cordiality that indicated both his sympathy for France, +and his mental reserves for the honor of his own nation. + +Then, having pressed Roland's hand with fraternal effusion, he +bowed again to the First Consul and went out. Bonaparte followed +him reflectively with his eyes; then he said suddenly: "Roland, +I not only consent to your sister's marriage with Lord Tanlay, +but I wish it. Do you understand? _I wish it_." + +He laid such emphasis upon those three words, that to any one +who knew him they signified plainly, not "I wish," but "I will." + +The tyranny was sweet to Roland, and he accepted it with grateful +thanks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE TWO SIGNALS + +Let us now relate what happened at the Château des Noires-Fontaines +three days after the events we have just described took place +in Paris. + +Since the successive departures of Roland, then Madame de Montrevel +and her son, and finally Sir John--Roland to rejoin his general, +Madame de Montrevel to place Edouard in school, and Sir John to +acquaint Roland with his matrimonial plans--Amélie had remained +alone with Charlotte at the Château des Noires-Fontaines. We +say _alone_, because Michel and his son Jacques did not +live in the house, but in the little lodge at the gate where he +added the duties of porter to those of gardener. + +It therefore happened that at night all the windows, excepting +those of Amélie, which, as we have said, were on the first floor +overlooking the garden, and that of Charlotte in the attic, were +left in darkness. + +Madame de Montrevel had taken the second chambermaid with her. +The two young girls were perhaps rather isolated in their part of +the house, which consisted of a dozen bedrooms on three floors, +especially at a time when so many rumors of robberies on the +highroads reached them. Michel, therefore, proposed to his young +mistress that he sleep in the main building, so as to be near +her in case of need. But she, in a firm voice, assured him that +she felt no fear, and desired no change in the customary routine +of the château. + +Michel did not insist, and retired, saying that Mademoiselle +might, in any case, sleep in peace, for he and Jacques would make +the rounds of the house during the night. + +Amélie at first seemed anxious about those rounds; but she soon +noticed that Michel and Jacques contented themselves with watching +on the edge of the forest of Seillon, and the frequent appearance +of a jugged hare, or a haunch of venison on the table, proved +to her that Michel kept his word regarding the promised rounds. + +She therefore ceased to trouble about Michel's rounds, which +were always on the side of the house opposite to that where she +feared them. + +Now, as we have said, three days after the events we have just +related, or, to speak more correctly, during the night following +the third day, those who were accustomed to see no light save in +Amélie's windows on the first floor and Charlotte's on the third, +might have observed with surprise that, from eleven o'clock until +midnight, the four windows on the first floor were illuminated. It +is true that each was lighted by a single wax-candle. They might +also have seen the figure of a young girl through the shades, +staring in the direction of the village of Ceyzeriat. + +This young girl was Amélie, pale, breathing with difficulty, and +seeming to watch anxiously for a signal. + +At the end of a few minutes she wiped her forehead and drew a +joyous breath. A fire was lighted in the direction she had been +watching. Then she passed from room to room, putting out the +three candles one after the other, leaving only the one which +was burning in her own room. As if the fire awaited this return +signal, it was now extinguished. + +Amélie sat down by her window and remained motionless, her eyes +fixed on the garden. The night was dark, without moon or stars, +and yet at the end of a quarter of an hour she saw, or rather +divined, a shadow crossing the lawn and approaching the window. +She placed her single candle in the furthest corner of her room, +and returned to open her window. + +He whom she was awaiting was already on the balcony. + +As on the first night when we saw him climb it, the young man +put his arm around the girl's waist and drew her into the room. +She made but slight resistance; her hand sought the cord of the +Venetian blind, unfastened it from the hook that held it, and +let it fall with more noise than prudence would have counselled. + +Behind the blind, she closed the window; then she fetched the candle +from the corner where she had hidden it. The light illuminated her +face, and the young man gave a cry of alarm, for it was covered +with tears. + +"What has happened?" he asked. + +"A great misfortune!" replied the young girl. + +"Oh, I feared it when I saw the signal by which you recalled me +after receiving me last night. But is it irreparable?" + +"Almost," answered Amélie. + +"I hope, at least, that it threatens only me." + +"It threatens us both." + +The young man passed his hand over his brow to wipe away the sweat +that covered it. + +"Tell me," said he; "you know I am strong." + +"If you have the strength to hear it," said she, "I have none +to tell it." Then, taking a letter from the chimney-piece, she +added: "Read that; that is what I received by the post to-night." + +The young man took the letter, opened it, and glanced hastily +at the signature. + +"From Madame de Montrevel," said he. + +"Yes, with a postscript from Roland." + +The young man read: + + MY DEAREST DAUGHTER--I hope that the news I announce will give + you as much joy as it has already given our dear Roland and me. + Sir John, whose heart you doubted, claiming that it was only a + mechanical contrivance, manufactured in the workshops at + Vaucanson, admits that such an opinion was a just one until the + day he saw you; but he maintains that since that day he has a + heart, and that that heart adores you. + + Did you suspect it, my dear Amélie, from his aristocratic and + polished manners, when your mother's eyes failed to discern this + tenderness. + + This morning, while breakfasting with your brother, he formally + asked your hand. Your brother received the offer with joy, but + he made no promises at first. The First Consul, before Roland's + departure for the Vendée, had already spoken of making himself + responsible for your establishment. But since then he has asked to + see Lord Tanlay, and Sir John, though he maintained his national + reserve, was taken into the first Consul's good graces at once, to + such a degree that he received from him, at their first interview, + a mission to his uncle, Lord Grenville. Sir John started for + England immediately. + + I do not know how many days Sir John will be absent, but on his + return he is certain to present himself to you as your betrothed. + + Lord Tanlay is still young, pleasing in appearance, and immensely + rich; he is highly connected in England, and Roland's friend. I + do not know a man who has more right, I will not say to your love, + but to your profound esteem. + + The rest of my news I can tell you in two words. The First Consul + is still most kind to me and to your two brothers, and Madame + Bonaparte has let me know that she only awaits your marriage to + place you near her. + + There is talk of leaving the Luxembourg, and removing to the + Tuileries. Do you understand the full meaning of this change of + domicile? + + Your mother, who loves you, + CLOTILDE DE MONTREVEL. + +Without pausing, the young man turned to Roland's postscript. +It was as follows: + + You have read, my dear little sister, what our good mother has + written. This marriage is a suitable one under all aspects. It + is not a thing to be childish about; the First Consul _wishes_ + you to become Lady Tanlay; that is to say, he _wills_ it. + + I am leaving Paris for a few days. Though you may not see me, + you will hear of me. + + I kiss you, ROLAND. + +"Well, Charles," asked Amélie, when the young man had finished +reading, "what do you think of that?" + +"That it is something we had to expect from day to day, my poor +angel, but it is none the less terrible." + +"What is to be done?" + +"There are three things we can do." + +"Tell me." + +"In the first place, resist if you have the strength; it is the +shortest and surest way." + +Amélie dropped her head. + +"You will never dare, will you?" + +"Never." + +"And yet you are my wife, Amélie; a priest has blessed our union." + +"But they say that marriage before a priest is null before the law." + +"Is it not enough for you, the wife of a proscribed man?" asked +Morgan, his voice trembling as he spoke. + +Amélie flung herself into his arms. + +"But my mother," said she; "our marriage did not have her presence +and blessing." + +"Because there were too many risks to run, and we wished to run +them alone." + +"But that man--Did you notice that my brother says he _wills_ +it?" + +"Oh, if you loved me, Amélie, that man would see that he may +change the face of the State, carry war from one end of the world +to the other, make laws, build a throne, but that he cannot force +lips to say yes when the heart says no." + +"If I loved you!" said Amélie, in a tone of soft reproach. "It +is midnight, you are here in my room, I weep in your arms--I, the +daughter of General de Montrevel and the sister of Roland--and +you say, 'If you loved me.'" + +"I was wrong, I was wrong, my darling Amélie. Yes, I know that +you were brought up in adoration of that man; you cannot understand +that any one should resist him, and whoever does resist him is +a rebel in your eyes." + +"Charles, you said there were three things that we could do. What +is the second?" + +"Accept apparently the marriage they propose to you, and gain +time, by delaying under various pretexts. The man is not immortal." + +"No; but is too young for us to count on his death. The third +way, dear friend?" + +"Fly--but that is a last resource, Amélie; there are two objections: +first, your repugnance." + +"I am yours, Charles; I will surmount my repugnance." + +"And," added the young man, "my engagements." + +"Your engagements?" + +"My companions are bound to me, Amélie; but I, too, am bound to +them. We also have a man to whom we have sworn obedience. That +man is the future king of France. If you accept your brother's +devotion to Bonaparte, accept ours to Louis XVIII." + +Amélie let her face drop into her hands with a sigh. + +"Then," said she, "we are lost." + +"Why so? On various pretexts, your health above all, you can gain +a year. Before the year is out Bonaparte will probably be forced +to begin another war in Italy. A single defeat will destroy his +prestige; in short, a great many things can happen in a year." + +"Did you read Roland's postscript, Charles?" + +"Yes; but I didn't see anything in it that was not in your mother's +letter." + +"Read the last sentence again." And Amélie placed the letter before +him. He read: + + I am leaving Paris for a few days; though you may not see me, + you will hear of me. + +"Well?" + +"Do you know what that means?" + +"No." + +"It means that Roland is in pursuit of you." + +"What does that matter? He cannot die by the hand of any of us." + +"But you, unhappy man, you can die by his!" + +"Do you think I should care so very much if he killed me, Amélie?" + +"Oh! even in my gloomiest moments I never thought of that." + +"So you think your brother is on the hunt for us?" + +"I am sure of it." + +"What makes you so certain?" + +"Because he swore over Sir John's body, when he thought him dead, +to avenge him." + +"If he had died," exclaimed the young man, bitterly, "we should +not be where we are, Amélie." + +"God saved him, Charles; it was therefore good that he did not die." + +"For us?" + +"I cannot fathom the ways of the Lord. I tell you, my beloved +Charles, beware of Roland; Roland is close by." + +Charles smiled incredulously. + +"I tell you that he is not only near here, but he has been seen." + +"He has been seen! Where? Who saw him?" + +"Who saw him?" + +"Yes." + +"Charlotte, my maid, the jailer's daughter. She asked permission +to visit her parents yesterday, Sunday; you were coming, so I +told her she could stay till this morning." + +"Well?" + +"She therefore spent the night with her parents. At eleven o'clock +the captain of the gendarmerie brought in some prisoners. While +they were locking them up, a man, wrapped in a cloak, came in +and asked for the captain. Charlotte thought she recognized the +new-comer's voice. She looked at him attentively; his cloak slipped +from his face, and she saw that it was my brother," + +The young man made a movement. + +"Now do you understand, Charles? My brother comes to Bourg, +mysteriously, without letting me know; he asks for the captain +of the gendarmerie, follows him into the prison, speaks only +to him, and disappears. Is that not a threatening outlook for +our love? Tell me, Charles!" + +As Amélie spoke, a dark cloud spread slowly over her lover's face. + +"Amélie," said he, "when my companions and I bound ourselves +together, we did not deceive ourselves as to the risks we ran." + +"But, at least," said Amélie, "you have changed your place of +refuge; you have abandoned the Chartreuse of Seillon?" + +"None but our dead are there now." + +"Is the grotto of Ceyzeriat perfectly safe?" + +"As safe as any refuge can be that has two exit." + +"The Chartreuse of Seillon had two exits; yet, as you say, you +left your dead there." + +"The dead are safer than the living; they are sure not to die +on the scaffold." + +Amélie felt a shudder go through her. + +"Charles!" she murmured. + +"Listen," said the young man. "God is my witness, and you too, that +I have always put laughter and gayety between your presentiments +and my fears; but to-day the aspect of things has changed; we are +coming face to face with the crisis. Whatever the end brings +us, it is approaching. I do not ask of you, my Amélie, those +selfish, unreasonable things that lovers in danger of death exact +from their mistresses; I do not ask you to bind your heart to +the dead, your love to a corpse--" + +"Friend," said the young girl, laying her hand on his arm, "take +care; you are doubting me." + +"No; I do you the highest honor in leaving you free to accomplish +the sacrifice to its full extent; but I do not want you to be +bound by an oath; no tie shall fetter you." + +"So be it," said Amélie. + +"What I ask of you," continued the young man, "and I ask you +to swear it on our love, which has been, alas! so fatal to you, +is this: if I am arrested and disarmed, if I am imprisoned and +condemned to death, I implore you, Amélie, I exact of you, that +in some way you will send me arms, not only for myself, but for +my companions also, so that we may still be masters of our lives." + +"But in such a case, Charles, may I not tell all to my brother? +May I not appeal to his tenderness; to the generosity of the +First Consul?" + +Before the young girl had finished, her lover seized her violently +by the wrist. + +"Amélie," said he, "it is no longer one promise I ask of you, +there are two. Swear to me, in the first place, and above all +else, that you will not solicit my pardon. Swear it, Amélie; +swear it!" + +"Do I need to swear, dear?" asked the young girl, bursting into +tears. "I promise it." + +"Promise it on the hour when I first said I loved you, on the +hour when you answered that I was loved!" + +"On your life, on mine, on the past, on the future, on our smiles, +on our tears." + +"I should die in any case, you see, Amélie, even though I had to +beat my brains out against the wall; but I should die dishonored." + +"I promise you, Charles." + +"Then for my second request, Amélie: if we are taken and condemned, +send me arms--arms or poison, the means of dying, any means. Coming +from you, death would be another joy." + +"Far or near, free or a prisoner, living or dead, you are my master, +I am your slave; order and I obey." + +"That is all, Amélie; it is simple and clear, you see, no pardon, +and the means of death." + +"Simple and clear, but terrible." + +"You will do it, will you not?" + +"You wish me to?" + +"I implore you." + +"Order or entreaty, Charles, your will shall be done." + +The young man held the girl, who seemed on the verge of fainting, +in his left arm, and approached his mouth to hers. But, just +as their lips were about to touch, an owl's cry was heard, so +close to the window that Amélie started and Charles raised his +head. The cry was repeated a second time, and then a third. + +"Ah!" murmured Amélie, "do you hear that bird of ill-omen? We +are doomed, my friend." + +But Charles shook his head. + +"That is not an owl, Amélie," he said; "it is the call of our +companions. Put out the light." + +Amélie blew it out while her lover opened the window. + +"Even here," she murmured; "they seek you even here!" + +"It is our friend and confidant, the Comte de Jayat; no one else +knows where I am." Then, leaning from the balcony, he asked: +"Is it you, Montbar?" + +"Yes; is that you, Morgan?" + +"Yes." + +A man came from behind a clump of trees. + +"News from Paris; not an instant to lose; a matter of life and +death to us all." + +"Do you hear, Amélie?" + +Taking the young girl in his arms, he pressed her convulsively +to his heart. + +"Go," she said, in a faint voice, "go. Did you not hear him say +it was a matter of life and death for all of you?" + +"Farewell, my Amélie, my beloved, farewell!" + +"Oh! don't say farewell." + +"No, no; au revoir!" + +"Morgan, Morgan!" cried the voice of the man waiting below in +the garden. + +The young man pressed his lips once more to Amélie's; then, rushing +to the window, he sprang over the balcony at a bound and joined +his friend. + +Amélie gave a cry, and ran to the balustrade; but all she saw +was two moving shadows entering the deepening shadows of the +fine old trees that adorned the park. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE GROTTO OF CEYZERIAT + +The two young men plunged into the shadow of the trees. Morgan +guided his companion, less familiar than he with the windings +of the park, until they reached the exact spot where he was in +the habit of scaling the wall. It took but an instant for both +of them to accomplish that feat. The next moment they were on +the banks of the Reissouse. + +A boat was fastened to the foot of a willow; they jumped into +it, and three strokes of the oar brought them to the other side. +There a path led along the bank of the river to a little wood +which extends from Ceyzeriat to Etrez, a distance of about nine +miles, and thus forms, on the other side of the river, a pendant +to the forest of Seillon. + +On reaching the edge of the wood they stopped. Until then they +had been walking as rapidly as it was possible to do without +running, and neither of them had uttered a word. The whole way +was deserted; it was probable, in fact certain, that no one had +seen them. They could breathe freely. + +"Where are the Companions?" asked Morgan. + +"In the grotto," replied Montbar. + +"Why don't we go there at once?" + +"Because we shall find one of them at the foot of that beech, +who will tell us if we can go further without danger." + +"Which one?" + +"D'Assas." + +A shadow came from behind the tree. + +"Here I am," it said. + +"Ah! there you are," exclaimed the two young men. + +"Anything new?" inquired Montbar. + +"Nothing; they are waiting for you to come to a decision." + +"In that case, let us hurry." + +The three young men continued on their way. After going about +three hundred yards, Montbar stopped again, and said softly: +"Armand!" + +The dry leaves rustled at the call, and a fourth shadow stepped +from behind a clump of trees, and approached his companions. + +"Anything new?" asked Montbar. + +"Yes; a messenger from Cadoudal." + +"The same one who came before?" + +"Yes." + +"Where is he?" + +"With the brothers, in the grotto." + +"Come." + +Montbar rushed on ahead; the path had grown so narrow that the +four young men could only walk in single file. It rose for about +five hundred paces with an easy but winding slope. Coming to an +opening, Montbar stopped and gave, three times, the same owl's +cry with which he had called Morgan. A single hoot answered him; +then a man slid down from the branches of a bushy oak. It was +the sentinel who guarded the entrance to the grotto, which was +not more than thirty feet from the oak. The position of the trees +surrounding it made it almost impossible of detection. + +The sentinel exchanged a few whispered words with Montbar, who +seemed, by fulfilling the duties of leader, desirous of leaving +Morgan entirely to his thoughts. Then, as his watch was probably +not over, the bandit climbed the oak again, and was soon so +completely blended with the body of the tree that those he had +left might have looked for him in vain in that aerial bastion. + +The glade became narrower as they neared the entrance to the +grotto. Montbar reached it first, and from a hiding-place known +to him he took a flint, a steel, some tinder, matches, and a +torch. The sparks flew, the tinder caught fire, the match cast a +quivering bluish flame, to which succeeded the crackling, resinous +flames of the torch. + +Three or four paths were then visible. Montbar took one without +hesitation. The path sank, winding into the earth, and turned +back upon itself, as if the young men were retracing their steps +underground, along the path that had brought them. It was evident +that they were following the windings of an ancient quarry, probably +the one from which were built, nineteen hundred years earlier, +the three Roman towns which are now mere villages, and Cæsar's +camp which overlooked them. + +At intervals this subterraneous path was cut entirely across by +a deep ditch, impassable except with the aid of a plank, that +could, with a kick, be precipitated into the hollow beneath. Also, +from place to place, breastworks could still be seen, behind +which men could intrench themselves and fire without exposing +their persons to the sight or fire of the enemy. Finally, at +five hundred yards from the entrance, a barricade of the height +of a man presented a final obstacle to those who sought to enter +a circular space in which ten or a dozen men were now seated +or lying around, some reading, others playing cards. + +Neither the readers nor the players moved at the noise made by +the new-comers, or at the gleam of their light playing upon the +walls of the quarry, so certain were they that none but friends +could reach this spot, guarded as it was. + +For the rest, the scene of this encampment was extremely picturesque; +wax candles were burning in profusion (the Companions of Jehu +were too aristocratic to make use of any other light) and cast +their reflection upon stands of arms of all kinds, among which +double-barrelled muskets and pistols held first place. Foils +and masks were hanging here and there upon the walls; several +musical instruments were lying about, and a few mirrors in gilt +frames proclaimed the fact that dress was a pastime by no means +unappreciated by the strange inhabitants of that subterranean +dwelling. + +They all seemed as tranquil as though the news which had drawn +Morgan from Amélie's arms was unknown to them, or considered +of no importance. + +Nevertheless, when the little group from outside approached, +and the words: "The captain! the captain!" were heard, all rose, +not with the servility of soldiers toward their approaching chief, +but with the affectionate deference of strong and intelligent +men for one stronger and more intelligent than they. + +Then Morgan shook his head, raised his eyes, and, passing before +Montbar, advanced to the centre of the circle which had formed +at his appearance, and said: + +"Well, friends, it seems you have had some news." + +"Yes, captain," answered a voice; "the police of the First Consul +does us the honor to be interested in us." + +"Where is the messenger?" asked Morgan. + +"Here," replied a young man, wearing the livery of a cabinet courier, +who was still covered with mud and dust. + +"Have you any despatches?" + +"Written, no, verbal, yes." + +"Where do they come from?" + +"The private office of the minister of police." + +"Can they be trusted?" + +"I'll answer for them; they are positively official," + +("It's a good thing to have friends everywhere," observed Montbar, +parenthetically.) + +"Especially near M. Fouché," resumed Morgan; "let us hear the +news." + +"Am I to tell it aloud, or to you privately?" + +"I presume we are all interested, so tell it aloud." + +"Well, the First Consul sent for citizen Fouché at the Louvre, +and lectured him on our account." + +"Capital! what next?" + +"Citizen Fouché replied that we were clever scamps, very difficult +to find, and still more difficult to capture when we had been +found, in short, he praised us highly." + +"Very amiable of him. What next?" + +"Next, the First Consul replied that that did not concern him, +that we were brigands, and that it was our brigandage which +maintained the war in Vendée, and that the day we ceased sending +money to Brittany there would be no more Brittany." + +"Excellent reasoning, it seems to me." + +"He said the West must be fought in the East and the Midi." + +"Like England in India." + +"Consequently he gave citizen Fouché full powers, and, even if +it cost a million and he had to kill five hundred men, he must +have our heads." + +"Well, he knows his man when he makes his demand; remains to be +seen if we let him have them." + +"So citizen Fouché went home furious, and vowed that before eight +days passed there should not be a single Companion of Jehu left +in France." + +"The time is short." + +"That same day couriers started for Lyons, Mâcon, Sons-le-Saulnier, +Besançon and Geneva, with orders to the garrison commanders to +do personally all they could for our destruction; but above all +to obey unquestioningly M. Roland de Montrevel, aide-de-camp +to the First Consul, and to put at his disposal as many troops +as he thought needful." + +"And I can add," said Morgan, "that M. Roland de Montrevel is +already in the field. He had a conference with the captain of +the gendarmerie, in the prison at Bourg, yesterday." + +"Does any one know why?" asked a voice. + +"The deuce!" said another, "to engage our cells." + +"Do you still mean to protect him?" asked d'Assas. + +"More than ever." + +"Ah! that's too much!" muttered a voice. + +"Why so," retorted Morgan imperiously, "isn't it my right as a +Companion?" + +"Certainly," said two other voices. + +"Then I use it; both as a Companion and as your leader." + +"But suppose in the middle of the fray a stray ball should take +him?" said a voice. + +"Then, it is not a right I claim, nor an order that I give, but +an entreaty I make. My friends, promise me, on your honor, that +the life of Roland de Montrevel will be sacred to you." + +With unanimous voice, all stretching out their hands, they replied: +"We swear on our honor!" + +"Now," resumed Morgan, "let us look at our position under its +true aspect, without deluding ourselves in any way. Once an +intelligent police force starts out to pursue us, and makes actual +war against us, it will be impossible for us to resist. We may +trick them like a fox, or double like a boar, but our resistance +will be merely a matter of time, that's all. At least that is +my opinion." + +Morgan questioned his companions with his eyes, and their +acquiescence was unanimous, though it was with a smile on their +lips that they recognized their doom. But that was the way in +those strange days. Men went to their death without fear, and +they dealt it to others without emotion. + +"And now," asked Montbar, "have you anything further to say?" + +"Yes," replied Morgan, "I have to add that nothing is easier +than to procure horses, or even to escape on foot; we are all +hunters and more or less mountaineers. It will take us six hours +on horse back to get out of France, or twelve on foot. Once in +Switzerland we can snap our fingers at citizen Fouché and his +police. That's all I have to say." + +"It would be very amusing to laugh at citizen Fouché," said Montbar, +"but very dull to leave France." + +"For that reason, I shall not put this extreme measure to a vote +until after we have talked with Cadoudal's messenger." + +"Ah, true," exclaimed two or three voices; "the Breton! where +is the Breton?" + +"He was asleep when I left," said Montbar. + +"And he is still sleeping," said Adler, pointing to a man lying +on a heap of straw in a recess of the grotto. + +They wakened the Breton, who rose to his knees, rubbing his eyes +with one hand and feeling for his carbine with the other. + +"You are with friends," said a voice; "don't be afraid." + +"Afraid!" said the Breton; "who are you, over there, who thinks +I am afraid?" + +"Some one who probably does not know what fear is, my dear +Branche-d'Or," said Morgan, who recognized in Cadoudal's messenger +the same man whom they had received at the Chartreuse the night +he himself arrived from Avignon. "I ask pardon on his behalf." + +Branche-d'Or looked at the young men before him with an air that +left no doubt of his repugnance for a certain sort of pleasantry; +but as the group had evidently no offensive intention, their +gayety having no insolence about it, he said, with a tolerably +gracious air: "Which of you gentlemen is captain? I have a letter +for him from my captain." + +Morgan advanced a step and said: "I am." + +"Your name?" + +"I have two." + +"Your fighting name?" + +"Morgan." + +"Yes, that's the one the general told me; besides, I recognize +you. You gave me a bag containing sixty thousand francs the night +I saw the monks. The letter is for you then." + +"Give it to me." + +The peasant took off his hat, pulled out the lining, and from +between it and the felt he took a piece of paper which resembled +another lining, and seemed at first sight to be blank. Then, with +a military salute, he offered the paper to Morgan, who turned it +over and over and could see no writing; at least none was apparent. + +"A candle," he said. + +They brought a wax light; Morgan held the paper to the flame. +Little by little, as the paper warmed, the writing appeared. +The experience appeared familiar to the young men; the Breton +alone seemed surprised. To his naive mind the operation probably +seemed like witchcraft; but so long as the devil was aiding the +royalist cause the Chouan was willing to deal with him. + +"Gentlemen," said Morgan, "do you want to know what the master +says?" + +All bowed and listened, while the young man read: + + MY DEAR MORGAN--If you hear that I have abandoned the cause, and + am in treaty with the government of the First Consul and the + Vendéan leaders, do not believe it. I am a Breton of Brittany, + and consequently as stubborn as a true Breton. The First Consul + sent one of his aides-de-camp to offer me an amnesty for all my + men, and the rank of colonel for myself. I have not even consulted + my men, I refused for them and for me. + + Now, all depends on us; as we receive from the princes neither + money nor encouragement, you are our only treasurer; close your + coffers, or rather cease to open those of the government for us, + and the royalist opposition, the heart of which beats only in + Brittany, will subside little by little, and end before long. + + I need not tell you that my life will have ended first. + + Our mission is dangerous; probably it will cost us our heads; but + what can be more glorious than to hear posterity say of us, if + one can hear beyond the grave: "All others despaired; but they, + never!" + + One of us will survive the other, but only to succumb later. Let + that survivor say as he dies: _Etiamsi omnes, ego non._ + + Count on me as I count on you. CADOUDAL. + + P.S.--You know that you can safely give Branche-d'Or all the money + you have for the Cause. He has promised me not to let himself be + taken, and I trust his word. + +A murmur of enthusiasm ran through the group, as Morgan finished +the last words of the letter. + +"You have heard it, gentlemen?" he said. + +"Yes, yes, yes," repeated every voice. + +"In the first place, how much money have we to give to Branche-d'Or?" + +"Thirteen thousand francs from the Lake of Silans, twenty-two +thousand from Les Carronnières, fourteen thousand from Meximieux, +forty-nine thousand in all," said one of the group. + +"You hear, Branche-d'Or?" said Morgan; "it is not much--only +half what we gave you last time, but you know the proverb: 'The +handsomest girl in the world can only give what she has.'" + +"The general knows what you risk to obtain this money, and he +says that, no matter how little you send, he will receive it +gratefully." + +"All the more, that the next will be better," said a young man +who had just joined the group, unperceived, so absorbed were +all present in Cadoudal's letter. "More especially if we say two +words to the mail-coach from Chambéry next Saturday." + +"Ah! is that you, Valensolle?" said Morgan. + +"No real names, if you please, baron; let us be shot, guillotined, +drawn and quartered, but save our family honor. My name is Adler; +I answer to no other." + +"Pardon me, I did wrong--you were saying?" + +"That the mail-coach from Paris to Chambéry will pass through +Chapelle-de-Guinchay and Belleville next Saturday, carrying fifty +thousand francs of government money to the monks of Saint-Bernard; +to which I may add that there is between those two places a spot +called the Maison-Blanche, which seems to me admirably adapted +for an ambuscade." + +"What do you say, gentlemen?" asked Morgan, "Shall we do citizen +Fouché the honor to worry about his police? Shall we leave France? +Or shall we still remain faithful Companions of Jehu?" + +There was but one reply--"We stay." + +"Right!" said Morgan. "Brothers, I recognize you there. Cadoudal +points out our duty in that admirable letter we have just received. +Let us adopt his heroic motto: _Etiamsi omnes, ego non._" Then +addressing the peasant, he said, "Branche-d'Or, the forty-nine +thousand francs are at your disposal; you can start when you +like. Promise something better next time, in our name, and tell +the general for me that, wherever he goes, even though it be to +the scaffold, I shall deem it an honor to follow, or to precede +him. Au revoir, Branche-d'Or." Then, turning to the young man who +seemed so anxious to preserve his incognito, "My dear Adler," +he said, like a man who has recovered his gayety, lost for an +instant, "I undertake to feed and lodge you this night, if you +will deign to accept me as a host." + +"Gratefully, friend Morgan," replied the new-comer. "Only let +me tell you that I could do without a bed, for I am dropping +with fatigue, but not without supper, for I am dying of hunger." + +"You shall have a good bed and an excellent supper." + +"Where must I go for them." + +"Follow me." + +"I'm ready." + +"Then come on. Good-night, gentlemen! Are you on watch, Montbar?" + +"Yes." + +"Then we can sleep in peace." + +So saying, Morgan passed his arm through that of his friend, +took a torch in his other hand, and passed into the depths of +the grotto, where we will follow him if our readers are not too +weary of this long session. + +It was the first time that Valensolle, who came, as we have said, +from the neighborhood of Aix, had had occasion to visit the grotto +of Ceyzeriat, recently adopted as the meeting-place of the Companions +of Jehu. At the preceding meetings he had occasion to explore +only the windings and intricacies of the Chartreuse of Seillon, +which he now knew so well that in the farce played before Roland +the part of ghost was intrusted to him. Everything was, therefore, +curious and unknown to him in this new domicile, where he now +expected to take his first sleep, and which seemed likely to be, +for some days at least, Morgan's headquarters. + +As is always the case in abandoned quarries--which, at the first +glance, partake somewhat of the character of subterranean cities--the +different galleries excavated by the removal of the stone end in a +cul de sac; that is to say, at a point in the mine where the work +stops. One of these streets seemed to prolong itself indefinitely. +Nevertheless, there came a point where the mine would naturally +have ended, but there, in the angle of the tunnelled way, was +cut (For what purpose? The thing remains a mystery to this day +among the people of the neigbborhood) an opening two-thirds the +width of the gallery, wide enough, or nearly so, to give passage +to two men abreast. + +The two friends passed through this opening. The air there became +so rarefied that their torch threatened to go out at every step. +Vallensolle felt drops of ice-cold water falling on his hands +and face. + +"Bless me," said he, "does it rain down here?" + +"No," replied Morgan, laughing; "only we are passing under the +Reissouse." + +"Then we are going to Bourg?" + +"That's about it." + +"All right; you are leading me; you have promised me supper and +a bed, so I have nothing to worry about--unless that light goes +out," added the young man, looking at the paling flame of the +torch. + +"That wouldn't matter; we can always find ourselves here." + +"In the end!" said Valensolle. "And when one reflects that we +are wandering through a grotto under rivers at three o'clock in +the morning, sleeping the Lord knows where, with the prospect +of being taken, tried, and guillotined some fine morning, and +all for princes who don't even know our names, and who if they +did know them one day would forget them the next--I tell you, +Morgan, it's stupid!" + +"My dear fellow," said Morgan, "what we call stupid, what ordinary +minds never do understand in such a case, has many a chance to +become sublime." + +"Well, well," said Valensolle, "I see that you will lose more +than I do in this business; I put devotion into it, but you put +enthusiasm." + +Morgan sighed. + +"Here we are," said he, letting the conversation drop, like a +burden too heavy to be carried longer. In fact, his foot had +just struck against the first step of a stairway. + +Preceding Valensolle, for whom he lighted the way, Morgan went +up ten steps and reached the gate. Taking a key from his pocket, +he opened it. They found themselves in the burial vault. On each +side of the vault stood coffins on iron tripods: ducal crowns and +escutcheons, blazoned azure, with the cross argent, indicated +that these coffins belonged to the family of Savoy before it +came to bear the royal crown. A flight of stairs at the further +end of the cavern led to an upper floor. + +Valensolle cast a curious glance around him, and by the vacillating +light of the torch, he recognized the funereal place he was in. + +"The devil!" said he, "we are just the reverse of the Spartans, +it seems." + +"Inasmuch as they were Republicans and we are royalists?" asked +Morgan. + +"No; because they had skeletons at the end of their suppers, and +we have ours at the beginning." + +"Are you sure it was the Spartans who proved their philosophy +in that way?" asked Morgan, closing the door. + +"They or others--what matter?" said Vallensolle. "Faith! My citation +is made, and like the Abbé Vertot, who wouldn't rewrite his siege, +I'll not change it." + +"Well, another time you had better say the Egyptians." + +"Well," said Valensolle, with an indifference that was not without +a certain sadness, "I'll probably be a skeleton myself before I +have another chance to display my erudition. But what the devil +are you doing? Why did you put out the torch? You're not going +to make me eat and sleep here I hope?" + +Morgan had in fact extinguished the torch at the foot of the steps +leading to the upper floor. + +"Give me your hand," said the young man. + +Valensolle seized his friend's band with an eagerness that showed +how very slight a desire he had to make a longer stay in the +gloomy vaults of the dukes of Savoy, no matter what honor there +might be in such illustrious companionship. + +Morgan went up the steps. Then, by the tightening of his hand, +Valensolle knew he was making an effort. Presently a stone was +raised, and through the opening a trembling gleam of twilight +met the eyes of the young men, and a fragrant aromatic odor came +to comfort their sense of smell after the mephitic atmosphere +of the vaults. + +"Ah!" cried Valensolle, "we are in a barn; I prefer that." + +Morgan did not answer; he helped his companion to climb out of +the vault, and then let the stone drop back in its place. + +Valensolle looked about him. He was in the midst of a vast building +filled with hay, into which the light filtered through windows +of such exquisite form that they certainly could not be those +of a barn. + +"Why!" said Valensolle, "we are not in a barn!" + +"Climb up the hay and sit down near that window," replied Morgan. + +Valensolle obeyed and scrambled up the hay like a schoolboy in +his holidays; then he sat down, as Morgan had told him, before +a window. The next moment Morgan placed between his friend's +legs a napkin containing a paté, bread, a bottle of wine, two +glasses, two knives and two forks. + +"The deuce!" cried Valensolle, "'Lucullus sups with Lucullus.'" + +Then gazing through the panes at a building with numberless windows, +which seemed to be a wing of the one they were in, and before +which a sentry was pacing, he exclaimed: "Positively, I can't +eat my supper till I know where we are. What is this building? +And why that sentry at the door?" + +"Well," said Morgan, "since you absolutely must know, I will +tell you. We are in the church of Brou, which was converted into +a fodder storehouse by a decree of the Municipal Council. That +adjoining building is now the barracks of the gendarmerie, and +that sentry is posted to prevent any one from disturbing our +supper or surprising us while we sleep." + +"Brave fellows," said Valensolle, filling his glass; "their health, +Morgan!" + +"And ours!" said the young man, laughing; "the devil take me if +any one could dream of finding us here." + +Morgan had hardly drained his glass, when, as if the devil had +accepted the challenge, the sentinel's harsh, strident voice +cried: "_Qui vive!_" + +"Hey!" exclaimed the two young men, "what does this mean?" + +A body of thirty men came from the direction of Pont d'Ain, and, +after giving the countersign to the sentry, at once dispersed; +the larger number, led by two men, who seemed to be officers, +entered the barracks; the others continued on their way. + +"Attention!" said Morgan. + +And both young men, on their knees, their ears alert, their eyes +at the window, waited. + +Let us now explain to the reader the cause of this interruption +of a repast which, though taken at three o'clock in the morning, +was not, as we have seen, over-tranquil. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +A FALSE SCENT + +The jailer's daughter had not been mistaken; it was indeed Roland +whom she had seen in the jail speaking to the captain of the +gendarmerie. Neither was Amélie wrong in her terror. Roland was +really in pursuit of Morgan. + +Although he avoided going to the Château des Noires-Fontaines, +it was not that he had the slightest suspicion of the interest +his sister had in the leader of the Companions of Jehu; but he +feared the indiscretion of one of his servants. He had recognized +Charlotte at the jail, but as the girl showed no astonishment, +he believed she had not recognized him, all the more because, +after exchanging a few words with the captain, he went out to +wait for the latter on the Place du Bastion, which was always +deserted at that hour. + +His duties over, the captain of gendarmerie joined him. He found +Roland impatiently walking back and forth. Roland had merely +made himself known at the jail, but here he proceeded to explain +the matter, and to initiate the captain into the object of his +visit. + +Roland had solicited the First Consul, as a favor to himself, +that the pursuit of the Companions of Jehu be intrusted to him +personally, a favor he had obtained without difficulty. An order +from the minister of war placed at his disposal not only the +garrison of Bourg, but also those of the neighboring towns. An +order from the minister of police enjoined all the officers of +the gendarmerie to render him every assistance. + +He naturally applied in the first instance to the captain of +the gendarmerie at Bourg, whom he had long known personally as +a man of great courage and executive ability. He found what he +wanted in him. The captain was furious against the Companions +of Jehu, who had stopped diligences within a mile of his town, +and on whom he was unable to lay his hand. He knew of the reports +relating to the last three stoppages that had been sent to the +minister of police, and he understood the latter's anger. But +Roland brought his amazement to a climax when he told him of +the night he had spent at the Chartreuse of Seillon, and of what +had happened to Sir John at that same Chartreuse during the +succeeding night. + +The captain had heard by common rumor that Madame de Montrevel's +guest had been stabbed; but as no one had lodged a complaint, +he did not think he had the right to investigate circumstances +which it seemed to him Roland wished to keep in the dark. In +those troublous days more indulgence was shown to officers of +the army than they might have received at other times. + +As for Roland, he had said nothing because he wished to reserve +for himself the satisfaction of pursuing the assassins and sham +ghosts of the Chartreuse when the time came. He now arrived with +full power to put that design into execution, firmly resolved +not to return to the First Consul until it was accomplished. +Besides, it was one of those adventures he was always seeking, +at once dangerous and picturesque, an opportunity of pitting his +life against men who cared little for their own, and probably +less for his. Roland had no conception of Morgan's safe-guard +which had twice protected him from danger--once on the night +he had watched at the Chartreuse, and again when he had fought +against Cadoudal. How could he know that a simple cross was drawn +above his name, and that this symbol of redemption guaranteed +his safety from one end of France to the other? + +For the rest, the first thing to be done was to surround the +Chartreuse of Seillon, and to search thoroughly into its most +secret places--a thing Roland believed himself perfectly competent +to do. + +The night was now too far advanced to undertake the expedition, +and it was postponed until the one following. In the meantime +Roland remained quietly in hiding in the captain's room at the +barracks that no one might suspect his presence at Bourg nor +its cause. The following night he was to guide the expedition. +In the course of the morrow, one of the gendarmes, who was a +tailor, agreed to make him a sergeant's uniform. He was to pass +as a member of the brigade at Sons-le-Saulnier, and, thanks to +the uniform, could direct the search at the Chartreuse without +being recognized. + +Everything happened as planned. Roland entered the barracks with +the captain about one o'clock, ascended to the latter's room, where +he slept on a bed on the floor like a man who has just passed two +days and two nights in a post-chaise. The next day he restrained +his impatience by drawing a plan of the Chartreuse of Seillon for +the captain's instruction, with which, even without Roland's +help, that worthy officer could have directed the expedition +without going an inch astray. + +As the captain had but eighteen men under him, and it was not +possible to surround the monastery completely with that number, +or rather, to guard the two exits and make a thorough search +through the interior, and, as it would have taken three or four +days to bring in all the men of the brigade scattered throughout +the neighborhood, the officer, by Roland's order, went to the +colonel of dragoons, garrisoned at Bourg, told him of the matter +in hand, and asked for twelve men, who, with his own, made thirty +in all. + +The colonel not only granted the twelve men, but, learning that +the expedition was to be commanded by Colonel Roland de Montrevel, +aide-de-camp to the First Consul, he proposed that he himself +should join the party at the head of his twelve men. + +Roland accepted his co-operation, and it was agreed that the +colonel (we employ the words colonel and chief of brigade +indifferently, both being interchangeable terms indicating the +same rank) and his twelve dragoons should pick up Roland, the +captain, and his eighteen men, the barracks being directly on +their road to the Chartreuse. The time was set for eleven that +night. + +At eleven precisely, with military punctuality, the colonel of +dragoons and his twelve men joined the gendarmes, and the two +companies, now united in one, began their march. Roland, in his +sergeant's uniform, made himself known to his brother colonel; +but to the dragoons and gendarmes he remained, as agreed upon, +a sergeant detached from the brigade at Sons-le-Saulnier. Only, +as it might otherwise have seemed extraordinary that a sergeant, +wholly unfamiliar with these localities, should be their guide, +the men were told that Roland had been in his youth a novice at +Seillon, and was therefore better acquainted than most persons +with the mysterious nooks of the Chartreuse. + +The first feeling of these brave soldiers had been a slight +humiliation at being guided by an ex-monk; but, on the other +hand, as that ex-monk wore the three-cornered hat jauntily, and +as his whole manner and appearance was that of a man who has +completely forgotten that he formerly wore a cowl, they ended +by accepting the humiliation, and reserved their final judgment +on the sergeant until they could see how he handled the musket +he carried on his arm, the pistols he wore in his belt, and the +sword that hung at his side. + +The party was supplied with torches, and started in perfect silence. +They were divided into three squads; one of eight men, led by +the captain of gendarmerie, another of ten, commanded by the +colonel, and the third of twelve men, with Roland at its head. +On leaving the town they separated. + +The captain of the gendarmerie, who knew the localities better +than the colonel of dragoons, took upon himself to guard the +window of La Correrie, giving upon the forest of Seillon, with +his eight men. The colonel of dragoons was commissioned by Roland +to watch the main entrance of the Chartreuse; with him were five +gendarmes and five dragoons. Roland was to search the interior, +taking with him five gendarmes and seven dragoons. + +Half an hour was allowed each squad to reach its post; it was +more than was needed. Roland and his men were to scale the orchard +wall when half-past eleven was ringing from the belfry at Péronnaz. +The captain of gendarmerie followed the main road from Pont d'Ain +to the edge of the woods, which he skirted until he reached his +appointed station. The colonel of dragoons took the crossroad +which branches from the highway of Pont d'Ain and leads to the +great portal of the Chartreuse. Roland crossed the fields to the +orchard wall which, as the reader will remember, he had already +climbed on two occasions. + +Punctually at half-past eleven he gave the signal to his men +to scale the wall. By the time they reached the other side the +men, if they did not yet know that Roland was brave, were at +least sure that he was active. + +Roland pointed in the dusk to a door--the one that led from the +orchard into the cloister. Then he sprang ahead through the rank +grasses; first, he opened the door; first, he entered the cloister. + +All was dark, silent and solitary. Roland, still guiding his +men, reached the refectory. Absolute solitude; utter silence. + +They crossed the hall obliquely, and returned to the garden without +alarming a living creature except the owls and the bats. There +still remained the cistern, the mortuary vault, and the pavilion, +or rather, the chapel in the forest, to be searched. Roland crossed +the open space between the cistern and the monastery. After +descending the steps, he lighted three torches, kept one, and +handed the other two, one to a dragoon, the other to a gendarme; +then he raised the stone that concealed the stairway. + +The gendarmes who followed Roland began to think him as brave +as he was active. + +They followed the subterranean passage to the first gate; it +was closed but not locked. They entered the funereal vault. Here +was more than solitude, more than silence; here was death. The +bravest felt a shiver in the roots of their hair. + +Roland went from tomb to tomb, sounding each with the butt of +the pistol he held in his hand. Silence everywhere. They crossed +the vault, reached the second gate, and entered the chapel. The +same silence, the same solitude; all was deserted, as it seemed, +for years. Roland went straight to the choir; there lay the blood +on the stones; no one had taken the trouble to efface it. Here +was the end of his search, which had proved futile. Roland could +not bring himself to retreat. He fancied he was not attacked +because of his numerous escort; he therefore left ten men and a +torch in the chapel, told them to put themselves in communication, +through the ruined window, with the captain of the gendarmerie, +who was ambushed in the forest within a few feet of the window, +while he himself, with two men, retraced his steps. + +This time the two men who followed Roland thought him more than +brave, they considered him foolhardy. But Roland, caring little +whether they followed or not, retraced his own steps in default +of those of the bandits. The two men, ashamed, followed him. + +Undoubtedly the Chartreuse was deserted. When Roland reached the +great portal, he called to the colonel of dragoons; he and his +men were at their post. Roland opened the door and joined them. +They had seen nothing, heard nothing. The whole party entered +the monastery, closing and barricading the door behind them to +cut off the bandits' retreat, if they were fortunate enough to +meet any. Then they hastened to rejoin their comrades, who, on +their side, had united with the captain and his eight men, and +were waiting for them in the choir. + +There was nothing for it but to retire. Two o'clock had just +struck; nearly three hours had been spent in fruitless search. +Roland, rehabilitated in the estimation of the gendarmes and +the dragoons, who saw that the ex-novice did not shirk danger, +regretfully gave the signal for retreat by opening the door of +the chapel which looked toward the forest. + +This time Roland merely closed the door behind him, there being +no longer any hope of encountering the brigands. Then the little +troop returned to Bourg at a quick step. The captain of gendarmerie, +with his eighteen men and Roland, re-entered the barracks, while +the colonel and his twelve men continued on their way toward the +town. + +It was the sentinel's call, as he challenged the captain and +his party, which had attracted the attention of Morgan and +Valensolle; and it was the noise of their return to the barracks +which interrupted the supper, and caused Morgan to cry out at +this unforeseen circumstance: "Attention!" + +In fact, in the present situation of these young men, every +circumstance merited attention. So the meal was interrupted. +Their jaws ceased to work to give the eyes and ears full scope. +It soon became evident that the services of their eyes were alone +needed. + +Each gendarme regained his room without light. The numerous barrack +windows remained dark, so that the watchers were able to concentrate +their attention on a single point. + +Among those dark windows, two were lighted. They stood relatively +back from the rest of the building, and directly opposite to +the one where the young men were supping. These windows were +on the first floor, but in the position the watchers occupied +at the top of bales of hay, Morgan and Valensolle were not only +on a level, but could even look down into them. These windows +were those of the room of the captain of gendarmes. + +Whether from indifference on the worthy captain's part, or by +reason of State penury, the windows were bare of curtains, so +that, thanks to the two candles which the captain had lighted +in his guest's honor, Morgan and Valensolle could see everything +that took place in this room. + +Suddenly Morgan grasped Valensolle's arm, and pressed it with +all his might. + +"Hey" said Valensolle "what now?" + +Roland had just thrown his three-cornered hat on a chair and Morgan +had recognized him. + +"Roland de Montrevel!" he exclaimed, "Roland in a sergeant's +uniform! This time we are on his track while he is still seeking +ours. It behooves us not to lose it." + +"What are you going to do?" asked Valensolle, observing that his +friend was preparing to leave him. + +"Inform our companions. You stay here and do not lose sight of +him. He has taken off his sword, and laid his pistols aside, +therefore it is probable he intends to spend the night in the +captain's room. To-morrow I defy him to take any road, no matter +which, without one of us at his heels." + +And Morgan sliding down the declivity of the hay, disappeared +from sight, leaving his companion crouched like a sphinx, with +his eyes fixed on Roland de Montrevel. + +A quarter of an hour later Morgan returned. By this time the +officer's windows were dark like all the others of the barracks. + +"Well?" asked Morgan. + +"Well," replied Valensolle, "it ended most prosaically. They +undressed themselves, blew out the candles, and lay down, the +captain on his bed, Roland on a mattress. They are probably trying +to outsnore each other at the present moment." + +"In that case," said Morgan, "good-night to them, and to us also." + +Ten minutes later the wish was granted, and the two young men +were sleeping, as if they did not have danger for a bed-fellow. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE HÔTEL DE LA POSTE + +That same morning, about six o'clock, at the cold gray breaking +of a February day, a rider, spurring a post-hack and preceded +by a postilion who was to lead back the horse, left Bourg by +the road to Mâcon or Saint-Julien. + +We say Mâcon _or_ Saint-Julien, because about three miles +from the capital of Bresse the road forks; the one to the right +keeping straight on to Saint-Julien, the other, which deviates +to the left, leading to Mâcon. + +When the rider reached this bifurcation, he was about to take +the road leading to Mâcon, when a voice, apparently coming from +beneath an upset cart, implored his pity. The rider called to +the postilion to see what the matter was. + +A poor market-man was pinned down under a load of vegetables. +He had evidently attempted to hold up the cart just as the wheel, +sinking into the ditch, overbalanced the vehicle. The cart had +fallen on him, but fortunately, he said, he thought no limbs +were broken, and all he wanted was to get the cart righted, and +then he could recover his legs. + +The rider was compassionate to his fellow being, for he not only +allowed the postilion to stop and help the market-man, but he +himself dismounted, and with a vigor one would hardly have expected +from so slight a man, he assisted the postilion not only to right +the cart, but to replace it on the roadbed. After which he offered +to help the man to rise; but the latter had said truly; he really +was safe and sound, and if there were a slight shaking of the +legs, it only served to prove the truth of the proverb that God +takes care of drunkards. The man was profuse in his thanks, and +took his horse by the bridle, as much, it was evident, to hold +himself steady as to lead the animal. + +The riders remounted their homes, put them to a gallop, and soon +disappeared round a bend which the road makes a short distance +before it reaches the woods of Monnet. + +They had scarcely disappeared when a notable change took place in +the demeanor of our market-man. He stopped his horse, straightened +up, put the mouthpiece of a tiny trumpet to his lips, and blew +three times. A species of groom emerged from the woods which +line the road, leading a gentleman's horse by the bridle. The +market-man rapidly removed his blouse, discarded his linen trousers, +and appeared in vest and breeches of buckskin, and top boots. +He searched in his cart, drew forth a package which he opened, +shook out a green hunting coat with gold braidings, put it on, +and over it a dark-brown overcoat; took from the servant's hands +a hat which the latter presented him, and which harmonized with +his elegant costume, made the man screw his spurs to his boots, +and sprang upon his horse with the lightness and skill of an +experienced horseman. + +"To-night at seven," he said to the groom, "be on the road between +Saint-Just and Ceyzeriat. You will meet Morgan. Tell him that +he _whom he knows of_ has gone to Mâcon, but that I shall +be there before him." + +Then, without troubling himself about his cart and vegetables, +which he left in his servant's charge, the ex-marketman, who +was none other than our old acquaintance Montbar, turned his +horse's head toward the Monnet woods, and set out at a gallop. +His mount was not a miserable post hack, like that on which Roland +was riding. On the contrary, it was a blooded horse, so that +Montbar easily overtook the two riders, and passed them on the +road between the woods of Monnet and Polliat. The horse, except +for a short stop at Saint-Cyr-sur-Menthon, did the twenty-eight +or thirty miles between Bourg and Mâcon, without resting, in +three hours. + +Arrived at Mâcon, Montbar dismounted at the Hôtel de la Poste, +the only one which at that time was fitted to receive guests +of distinction. For the rest, from the manner in which Montbar +was received it was evident that the host was dealing with an +old acquaintance. + +"Ah! is it you, Monsieur de Jayat?" said the host. "We were wondering +yesterday what had become of you. It's more than a month since +we've seen you in these parts." + +"Do you think it's as long as that, friend?" said the young man, +affecting to drop his r's after the fashion of the day. "Yes, +on my honor, that's so! I've been with friends, the Trefforts +and the Hautecourts. You know those gentlemen by name, don't +you?" + +"By name, and in person." + +"We hunted to hounds. They're finely equipped, word of honor! +Can I breakfast here this morning?" + +"Why not?" + +"Then serve me a chicken, a bottle of Bordeaux, two cutlets, +fruit--any trifle will go." + +"At once. Shall it be served in your room, or in the common room?" + +"In the common room, it's more amusing; only give me a table to +myself. Don't forget my horse. He is a fine beast, and I love +him better than I do certain Christians, word of honor!" + +The landlord gave his orders. Montbar stood before the fire, his +coat-tails drawn aside, warming his calves. + +"So you still keep to the posting business?" he said to the landlord, +as if desirous of keeping up the conversation. + +"I should think so!" + +"Then you relay the diligences?" + +"Not the diligences, but the mail-coaches." + +"Ah! tell me--I want to go to Chambéry some of these days--how +many places are there in the mail-coach?" + +"Three; two inside, and one out with the courier." + +"Do I stand any chance of finding a vacant seat?" + +"It may happen; but the safest way is to hire your own conveyance." + +"Can't I engage a place beforehand?" + +"No; for don't you see, Monsieur de Jayat, that if travellers +take places from Paris to Lyons, they have the first right." + +"See, the aristocrats!" said Montbar, laughing. "Apropos of +aristocrats, there is one behind me posting here. I passed him +about a mile the other side of Polliat. I thought his hack a +little wind-broken." + +"Oh!" exclaimed the landlord, "that's not astonishing; my brothers +in the business have a poor lot of horses." + +"Why, there's our man!" continued Montbar; "I thought I had more +of a lead of him." + +Roland was, in fact, just passing the windows at a gallop. + +"Do you still want chamber No. 1, Monsieur de Jayat?" asked the +landlord. + +"Why do you ask?" + +"Because it is the best one, and if you don't take it, I shall +give it to that man, provided he wants to make any stay." + +"Oh! don't bother about me; I shan't know till later in the day +whether I go or stay. If the new-comer means to remain give him +No. l. I will content myself with No. 2." + +"The gentleman is served," said the waiter, looking through the +door which led from the kitchen to the common room. + +Montbar nodded and accepted the invitation. He entered the common +room just as Roland came into the kitchen. The dinner was on +the table. Montbar changed his plate and sat down with his back +to the door. The precaution was useless. Roland did not enter +the common room, and Montbar breakfasted without interruption. +When dessert was over, however, the host himself brought in his +coffee. Montbar understood that the good man was in talkative +humor; a fortunate circumstance, for there were certain things +he was anxious to hear about. + +"Well," said Montbar, "what became of our man? Did he only change +horses?" + +"No, no, no," said the landlord; "as you said, he's an aristocrat. +He ordered breakfast in his own room." + +"His room or my room?" asked Montbar; "for I'm certain you put +him in that famous No. 1." + +"Confound it! Monsieur de Jayat, it's your own fault. You told +me I could do as I liked." + +"And you took me at my word; that was right. I shall be satisfied +with No. 2." + +"You'll be very uncomfortable. It's only separated from No. 1 +by a partition, and you can hear everything that happens from +one room to the other." + +"Nonsense, my dear man, do you think I've come here to do improper +things, or sing seditious songs, that you are afraid the stranger +should hear or see what I do?" + +"Oh! that's not it." + +"What is it then?" + +"I'm not afraid you'll disturb others. I'm afraid they'll disturb +you." + +"So your new guest is a roisterer?" + +"No; he looks to me like an officer." + +"What makes you think so?" + +"His manner, in the first place. Then he inquired what regiment +was in garrison at Mâcon; and when I told him it was the 7th +mounted Chasseurs, he said: 'Good! the colonel is a friend of +mine. Can a waiter take him my card and ask him to breakfast +with me?'" + +"Ah, ha!" + +"So you see how it is. When officers get together they make so +much racket and noise. Perhaps they'll not only breakfast, but +dine and sup together." + +"I've told you already, my good man, that I am not sure of passing +the night here. I am expecting letters from Paris, _paste +restante_, which will decide me. In the meantime, light a +fire in No. 2, and make as little noise as possible, to avoid +annoying my neighbors. And, at the same time, send me up pen +and ink, and some paper. I have letters to write." + +Montbar's orders were promptly executed, and he himself followed +the waiter to see that Roland was not disturbed by his proximity. + +The chamber was just what the landlord had said. Not a movement +could be made, not a word uttered in the next room, that was not +heard. Consequently Montbar distinctly heard the waiter announce +Colonel Saint-Maurice, then the resounding steps of the latter in +the corridor, and the exclamations of the two friends, delighted +to meet again. + +On the other hand, Roland, who had been for a moment disturbed +by the noise in the adjoining room, forgot it as soon as it had +ceased, and there was no danger of its being renewed. Montbar, +left alone, seated himself at the table, on which were paper, +pen and ink, and remained perfectly motionless. + +The two officers had known each other in Italy, where Roland +was under the command of Saint-Maurice, the latter being then +a captain and Roland a lieutenant. At present their rank was +equal, but Roland had beside a double commission from the First +Consul and the minister of police, which placed all officers +of his own rank under his command, and even, within the limits +of his mission, those of a higher rank. + +Morgan had not been mistaken in supposing that Amélie's brother +was in pursuit of the Companions of Jehu. If Roland's nocturnal +search at the Chartreuse of Seillon was not convincing, the +conversation between the young officer and his colleague was +proof positive. In it, it developed that the First Consul was +really sending fifty thousand francs as a gift to the monks of +Saint-Bernard, by post; but that this money was in reality a +trap devised for the capture of the Companions of Jehu, if all +means failed to surprise them in the Chartreuse of Seillon or +some other refuge. + +It now-remained to be seen how these bandits should be captured. +The case was eagerly debated between the two officers while they +had breakfast. By the time dessert was served they were both +agreed upon a plan. + +That same evening, Morgan received the following letter: + + Just as Adler told us, next Friday at five o'clock the mail-coach + will leave Paris with fifty thousand francs for the fathers of + Saint-Bernard. + + The three places, the one in the coupé and the two in the interior, + are already engaged by three travellers who will join the coach, + one at Sens, the other two at Tonnerre. The travellers are, in the + coupé, one of citizen Fouché's best men: in the interior M. Roland + de Montrevel and the colonel of the 7th Chasseurs, garrisoned at + Mâcon. They will be in civilians' clothes not to excite suspicion, + but armed to the teeth. + + Twelve mounted Chasseurs, with muskets, pistols, and sabres, will + escort the coach, but at some distance behind it, so as to arrive + during the fray. The first pistol fired will be the signal for + putting their horses to a gallop and falling upon us. + + Now my advice is that, in spite of these precautions, in fact + because of these precautions, the attack should be made at the + place agreed upon, namely the Maison-Blanche. If that is also the + opinion of the comrades, let me know it. I will myself take the + coach, as postilion, from Mâcon to Belleville. I will undertake + to settle the colonel, and one of you must be responsible for + Fouché's agent. + + As for M. Roland de Montrevel, no harm will befall him, for I + have a means, known to me alone and by me invented, by which he + can be prevented from leaving the coach. + + The precise day and hour at which the mail to Chambéry will pass + the Maison-Blanche is Saturday at six in the evening. Answer in + these words, "Saturday, six of the evening," and all will go on + rollers. MONTBAR. + +At midnight Montbar, who had complained of the noise his neighbor +made, and had removed to a room at the opposite end of the inn, +was awakened by a courier, who was none other than the groom +who had brought him his horse ready bridled and saddled in the +morning. The letter contained only these words, followed by a +postscript: + + Saturday, six of the evening. MORGAN. + + P.S.--Do not forget, even when fighting, above all when fighting, + that Roland de Montrevel's life is safeguarded. + +The young man read this reply with visible satisfaction. The +matter was no longer a mere stoppage of a diligence, but a species +of affair of honor among men of differing opinions, with clashes +of courage and bravery. It was no longer a matter of gold spilled +upon the highroad, but of blood to be shed--not of pistols loaded +with powder, and wielded by a child's hands, but of deadly weapons +handled by soldiers accustomed to their use. + +For the rest, as Montbar had all the day that was dawning and +the morrow before him in which to mature his plans, he contented +himself with asking his groom to inquire which postilion would +take the coach at Mâcon at five o'clock for the two stages between +Mâcon and Belleville. He also sent him to buy four screw-rings +and two padlocks fastening with keys. + +He already knew that the mail was due at Mâcon at half past four, +waited for the travellers to dine, and started again punctually +at five. No doubt all his plans were previously laid, for, after +giving these directions, Montbar dismissed his servant and went +to sleep like a man who has long arrears of slumber to make up. + +The next morning he did not wake, or rather did not come downstairs +until nine o'clock. He asked casually what had become of his +noisy neighbor, and was told that he had started in the Lyons +mail at six in the morning, with his friend the colonel of the +Chasseurs; but the landlord thought they had only engaged places +as far as Tonnerre. + +If Monsieur de Jayat had interested himself in the young officer, +the latter, in turn, had made inquiries about him, asking who +he was, whether he came habitually to the hotel, and whether +he would be willing to sell his horse. The landlord had replied +that he knew Monsieur de Jayat well, for he was in the habit +of coming to the hotel whenever business brought him to Mâcon, +and that, as for the horse, he did not believe, considering the +affection the young gentleman showed for the animal, that he would +consent to part with him for any price. On which the traveller +had departed without saying any more. + +After breakfast M. de Jayat, who seemed to find time hanging +heavily on his hands, ordered his horse, mounted it, and rode +out from Mâcon by the Lyons road. As long as he was in the town +he allowed his horse to take the pace his fancy dictated, but +once beyond it, he gathered up the reins and pressed the animal +with his knees. The hint sufficed, and the animal broke into +a gallop. + +Montbar passed through the villages of Varennes, La Crèche, and +Chapelle-de-Guinchay, and did not stop until he reached the +Maison-Blanche. The spot was exactly as Valensolle had described +it, and was admirably adapted for an ambuscade. + +The Maison-Blanche stood in a tiny valley between a sharp declivity +and a rise in the ground. A little rivulet without a name flowed +past the corner of the garden and made its way to the Saône just +above Challe. Tall bushy trees followed the course of the little +stream, and described a half-circle, inclosing the house on three +sides. The house itself was formerly an inn which proved unproductive +to the innkeeper. It had been closed for seven or eight years, +and was beginning to fall into decay. Before reaching it, the +main road coming from Mâcon made a sharp turn. + +Montbar examined the locality with the care of an engineer choosing +his ground for a battlefield. He drew a pencil and a note-book +from his pocket and made an accurate plan of the position. Then +he returned to Mâcon. + +Two hours later his groom departed, carrying the plan to Morgan, +having informed his master that Antoine was the name of the postilion +who was to take the coach from Mâcon to Belleville. The groom +also gave him the four screw-rings and the two padlocks he had +purchased. + +Montbar ordered up a bottle of old Burgundy, and sent for Antoine. + +Ten minutes later Antoine appeared. He was a fine, handsome fellow, +twenty-five or six years of age, about Montbar's height; a fact +which the latter, in looking him over from head to foot, remarked +with satisfaction. The postilion paused at the threshold, and, +carrying his hand to his hat in a military salute, he said: "Did +the citizen send for me?" + +"Are you the man they call Antoine?" asked Montbar. + +"At your service, and that of your company." + +"Well, you can serve me, friend. But close the door and come here." + +Antoine closed the door, came within two steps of Montbar, saluted +again, and said: "Ready, master." + +"In the first place," said Montbar, "if you have no objections, +we'll drink a glass of wine to the health of your mistress." + +"Oh! oh! My mistress!" cried Antoine. "Can fellows like me afford +mistresses? They're all very well for gentlemen such as you." + +"Come, you scamp!" said Montbar. "You can't make me believe that, +with your make-up, you've made a vow of chastity." + +"Oh! I don't say I'm a monk in that particular. I may have a bit +of a love-affair here and there along the high-road." + +"Yes, at every tavern; and that's why we stop so often with our +return horses to drink a drop or fill a pipe." + +"Confound it!" said Antoine, with an indescribable twist of the +shoulders. "A fellow must have his fun." + +"Well, taste the wine, my lad. I'll warrant it won't make you +weep." And filling a glass, Montbar signed to the postilion to +fill the other. + +"A fine honor for me! To your health and that of your company!" + +This was an habitual phrase of the worthy postilion, a sort of +extension of politeness which did not need the presence of others +to justify it in his eyes. + +"Ha!" said he, after drinking and smacking his lips, "there's +vintage for you--and I have gulped it down at a swallow as if +it were heel-taps!" + +"That was a mistake, Antoine." + +"Yes, it was a mistake." + +"Luckily," said Montbar, refilling his glass, "you can repair it." + +"No higher than my thumb, citizen," said the facetious postilion, +taking care that his thumb touched the rim of the glass. + +"One minute," said Montbar, just as Antoine was putting his glass +to his lips. + +"Just in time," said the postilion; "it was on its way. What is it?" + +"You wouldn't let me drink to the health of your mistress, but +I hope you won't refuse to drink to mine." + +"Oh! that's never refused, especially with such wine. To the health +of your mistress and her company." + +Thereupon citizen Antoine swallowed the crimson liquor, tasting +and relishing it this time. + +"Hey!" exclaimed Montbar, "you're in too much of a hurry, my friend." + +"Pooh!" retorted the postilion. + +"Yes. Suppose I have several mistresses. If I don't name the one +we drink to what good will it do her?" + +"Why, that's true!" + +"Sad; but you'll have to try again, my friend." + +"Ha! Try again, of course! Can't do things half-way with a man +like you. The sin's committed; we'll drink again." And Antoine +held out his glass. Montbar filled it to the brim. + +"Now," said Antoine, eying the bottle, and making sure it was +empty, "there must be no mistake. Her name?" + +"To the beautiful Josephine!" said Montbar. + +"To the beautiful Josephine!" repeated Antoine. + +And he swallowed the Burgundy with increasing satisfaction. Then, +after drinking, and wiping his lips on his sleeve, he said, as +he set the glass on the table: "Hey! one moment, citizen." + +"What now?" exclaimed Montbar. "Anything wrong this time?" + +"I should say so. We've made a great blunder but it's too late +now." + +"Why so?" + +"The bottle is empty." + +"That one, yes; but not this one." + +So saying, Montbar took from the chimney corner another bottle, +already uncorked. + +"Ah! ah!" exclaimed Antoine, a radiant smile lighting his face. + +"Is there any remedy for it?" asked Montbar. + +"There is," replied Antoine, holding out his glass. + +Montbar filled it as scrupulously full as he had the first three. + +"Well," said the postilion, holding the ruby liquid to the light +and admiring its sparkle, "as I was saying, we drank to the health +of the beautiful Josephine--" + +"Yes," said Montbar. + +"But," said Antoine, "there are a devilish lot of Josephines in +France." + +"True. How many do you suppose there are, Antoine?" + +"Perhaps a hundred thousand." + +"Granted. What then?" + +"Well, out of that hundred thousand a tenth of them must be +beautiful." + +"That's a good many." + +"Say a twentieth." + +"All right." + +"That makes five thousand." + +"The devil! You're strong in arithmetic!" + +"I'm the son of a schoolmaster." + +"Well?" + +"Well, to which of those five thousand did we drink, hey?" + +"You're right, Antoine. The family name must follow. To the beautiful +Josephine--" + +"Stop. This glass was begun; it won't do. If the health is to +do her any good, we'll have to empty it and fill it again." + +He put the glass to his lips. + +"There, it's empty," he said. + +"And full," added Montbar, putting the bottle to the glass. + +"I'm ready. To the beautiful Josephine--" + +"To the beautiful Josephine--Lollier!" + +And Montbar emptied his glass. + +"By the Lord!" exclaimed Antoine. "Wait a moment. Josephine Lollier! +Why, I know her." + +"I didn't say you didn't." + +"Josephine Lollier! Why, she's the daughter of the man who keeps +the post-horses at Belleville." + +"Exactly." + +"Damn it!" exclaimed the postilion, "you're not to be pitied--a +pretty slip of a girl! To the health of beautiful Josephine Lollier." + +And he swallowed his fifth glass of Burgundy. + +"Now," asked Montbar, "do you understand why I had you sent up +here, my lad?" + +"No; but I don't bear you any grudge for it, all the same." + +"That's very kind of you." + +"Oh! I'm a pretty good devil." + +"Well, I'll tell you why I sent for you." + +"I'm all ears." + +"Wait. You'll hear better if your glass is full than if it's empty." + +"Are you a doctor for deaf folk?" asked the postilion, banteringly. + +"No; but I've lived a good deal among drunkards," replied Montbar, +filling Antoine's glass again. + +"A man is not a drunkard because he likes wine," said Antoine. + +"I agree with you, my good fellow," replied Montbar. "A man is +only a drunkard when he can't carry his liquor." + +"Well said," cried Antoine, who seemed to carry his pretty well. +"I'm listening." + +"You told me that you didn't understand why I had sent for you." + +"That's what I said." + +"Still, you must have suspected that I had an object?" + +"Every man has an object, good or bad, according to our priest," +observed Antoine, sententiously. + +"Well, my friend," resumed Montbar, "mine is to make my way by +night, without being recognized, into the courtyard of Master +Nicolas-Denis Lollier, postmaster at Belleville." + +"At Belleville," repeated Antoine, who had followed Montbar's +words with all the attention he was capable of. "You wish to make +your way by night, without being recognized, into the courtyard +of Master Nicolas-Denis Lollier, postmaster at Belleville, in +order to see the beautiful Josephine? Ah, ha! my sly dog!" + +"You have it, my dear Antoine; and I wish to get in without being +recognized, because Father Lollier has discovered everything, +and has forbidden his daughter to see me." + +"You don't say so. Well, what can I do about it?" + +"Your wits are still muddled, Antoine. Drink another glass of +wine to brighten them up." + +"Right you are," exclaimed Antoine. + +And he swallowed his sixth glass of wine. + +"You ask what you can do, Antoine?" + +"Yes, what can I do? That's what I ask." + +"Everything, my friend." + +"I?" + +"You." + +"Ha! I'm curious to know what. Clear it up, clear it up!" And +he held out his glass. + +"You drive the mail to Chambéry to-morrow, don't you?" + +"Yes; at six o'clock." + +"Well, suppose that Antoine is a good fellow?" + +"No supposing about it; he is!" + +"Well, this is what Antoine does--" + +"Go on; what does he do?" + +"In the first place, he empties his glass." + +"Done! that's not difficult." + +"Then he takes these ten louis." + +Montbar spread ten louis on the table. + +"Ah, ha!" exclaimed Antoine, "yellow boys, real ones. I thought +those little devils had all emigrated." + +"You see there are some left." + +"And what is Antoine to do to put them in his pocket?" + +"Antoine must lend me his best postilion's suit." + +"To you?" + +"And let me take his place to-morrow night." + +"Ah, yes; so that you can see the beautiful Josephine to-morrow +night." + +"Of course. I reach Belleville at eight, drive into the courtyard, +and say the horses are tired and must rest from eight till ten, +and from eight to ten--" + +"You can fool Père Lollier." + +"Well, there you are, Antoine!" + +"There I am! When a fellow's young he goes with the young 'uns; +when he's a bachelor he's in with the bachelors; when he's old +and a papa, he can go with the papas, and cry, 'Long live the +papas.'" + +"Then, my good Antoine, you'll lend me your best jacket and +breeches?" + +"I've just got a new jacket and breeches that I've never worn." + +"And you'll let me take your place?" + +"With pleasure." + +"Then I'll give you five louis for earnest money." + +"And the rest?" + +"Tomorrow, when I pull on the boots; only--there's one precaution +you must take." + +"What is it?" + +"There's talk of brigands robbing diligences; you'll be careful +to put the holsters on the saddle." + +"What for?" + +"For pistols." + +"No, no! Don't you go and shoot those fine young fellows." + +"What! do you call robbers who pillage diligences fine young men?" + +"A man's not a robber because he takes government money." + +"Is that your opinion?" + +"I should say so; besides, it's the opinion of a good many other +people, too. As for me, if I were a judge, I'd never in the world +condemn them." + +"Perhaps you would drink to their health?" + +"Of course, if the wine was good." + +"I dare you to do it," said Montbar, emptying the last of the +second bottle into Antoine's glass. + +"You know the proverb?" said the postilion. + +"What is it?" + +"Never defy a fool to commit his folly. To the health of the +Companions of Jehu." + +"Amen!" responded Montbar. + +"And the five louis?" asked Antoine, putting his glass on the +table. + +"There they are." + +"Thank you; you shall have the holsters on your saddle; but take +my advice and don't put pistols in 'em; or if you do, follow Père +Jérôme's example--he's the conductor of the Geneva diligence--and +put powder and no balls in 'em." + +And with that philanthropic advice, the postilion took his leave, +and went down the stairway singing a postilion's song in a vinous +voice. + +Montbar followed the song conscientiously through two verses, +then, as the voice died away in the distance, he was obliged +to forego the rest of the song, however interesting he may have +found it. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +THE CHAMBÉRY MAIL-COACH + +The next day, at five in the afternoon, Antoine, anxious, no +doubt, not to be late, was in the courtyard of the Hôtel de la +Poste, harnessing the three horses which were to relay the +mail-coach. + +Shortly after, the coach rumbled into the courtyard at a gallop, +and was pulled up under the windows of a room close to the servants' +stairway, which had seemed greatly to occupy Antoine's attention. +If any one had paid attention to so slight a detail it might have +been observed that the window-curtain was somewhat imprudently +drawn aside to permit the occupant of the room to see the persons +who got out of the coach. There were three men, who, with the haste +of famished travellers, made their way toward the brilliantly +lighted windows of the common room. + +They had scarcely entered, when a smart postilion came down the +kitchen staircase, shod simply with thin pumps over which he +intended to pull his heavy riding-boots, These he received from +Antoine, slipping five louis into his hand at the same time, and +turned for the man to throw his riding cape over his shoulders, +a protection rendered necessary by the severity of the weather. + +This completed, Antoine returned hastily to the stables and hid +in the darkest corner. As for the man who had taken his place, +reassured no doubt by the high collar of the cape that concealed +half of his face, he went straight to the horses which stood +ready harnessed, slipped his pistols into the holsters, and, +profitting by the moment when the other horses were being led +into the stable by their postilion, he took a gimlet, which might +in case of need serve as a dagger, from his pocket, and screwed +the four rings into the woodwork of the coach, one into each +door, and the other two into the body of the coach. After which +he put the horses to with a rapidity and skill which bespoke +in him a man familiar from childhood with all the details of +an art pushed to extremes in our day by that honorable class of +society which we call "gentlemen riders." + +That done, he waited, quieting his restless horses by voice and +whip, judiciously combined, or used in turn. + +Everyone knows the rapidity with which the meals of the unhappy +beings condemned to travel by mail are hurried through. The half-hour +was not up, when the voice of the conductor was heard, calling: + +"Come, citizen travellers, take your places." + +Montbar placed himself close to the carriage door and recognized +Roland and the colonel of the 7th Chasseurs, perfectly, in spite of +their disguise, as they jumped into the coach, paying no attention +whatever to the postilion. + +The latter closed the door upon them, slipped the padlock through +the two rings and turned the key. Then, walking around the coach, +he pretended to drop his whip before the other door, and, in +stooping for it, slipped the second padlock through the rings, +deftly turned the key as he straightened up, and, assured that +the two officers were securely locked in, he sprang upon his +horse, grumbling at the conductor who had left him to do his +work. In fact the conductor was still squabbling with the landlord +over his bill when the third traveller got into his place in +the coupé. + +"Are you coming this evening, to-night, or to-morrow morning, +Père François?" cried the pretended postilion, imitating Antoine +as best he could. + +"All right, all right, I'm coming," answered the conductor; then, +looking around him: "Why, where are the travellers?" he asked. + +"Here," replied the two officers from the interior and the agent +from the coupé. + +"Is the door properly closed?" persisted Père François. + +"I'll answer for that," said Montbar. + +"Then off you go, baggage!" cried the conductor, as he climbed +into the coupé and closed the door behind him. + +The postilion did not wait to be told twice; he started his horses, +digging his spurs into the belly of the one he rode and lashing +the others vigorously. The mail-coach dashed forward at a gallop. + +Montbar drove as if he had never done anything else in his life; +as he crossed the town the windows rattled and the houses shook; +never did real postilion crack his whip with greater science. + +As he left Mâcon he saw a little troop of horse; they were the +twelve chasseurs told off to follow the coach without seeming +to escort it. The colonel passed his head through the window +and made a sign to the sergeant who commanded them. + +Montbar did not seem to notice anything; but after going some +four or five hundred yards, he turned his head, while executing +a symphony with his whip, and saw that the escort had started. + +"Wait, my babes!" said Montbar, "I'll make you see the country." +And he dug in his spurs and brought down his whip. The horses +seemed to have wings, and the coach flew over the cobblestones +like the chariot of thunder rumbling past. The conductor became +alarmed. + +"Hey, Master Antoine," cried he, "are you drunk?" + +"Drunk? fine drinking!" replied Montbar; "I dined on a beetroot +salad." + +"Damn him! If he goes like that," cried Roland, thrusting his +head through the window, "the escort can't keep up." + +"You hear what he says!" shrieked the conductor. + +"No," replied Montbar, "I don't." + +"Well, he says that if you keep this up the escort can't follow." + +"Is there an escort?" asked Montbar. + +"Of course; we're carrying government money." + +"That's different; you ought to have said so at first." + +But instead of slacking his pace the coach was whirled along +as before; if there was any change, it was for greater velocity +than before. + +"Antoine, if there's an accident, I'll shoot you through the head," +shouted the conductor. + +"Run along!" exclaimed Montbar; "everybody knows those pistols +haven't any balls in them." + +"Possibly not; but mine have!" cried the police agent. + +"That remains to be seen," replied Montbar, keeping on his way +at the same pace without heed to these remonstrances. + +On they went with the speed of lightning through the village +of Varennes, then through that of La Crêche and the little town +of Chapelle-de-Guinchay; only half a mile further and they would +reach the Maison-Blanche. The horses were dripping, and tossed +the foam from their mouths as they neighed with excitement. + +Montbar glanced behind him; more than a mile back the sparks were +flying from the escort's horses. Before him was the mountainous +declivity. Down it he dashed, gathering the reins to master his +horses when the time came. + +The conductor had ceased expostulating, for he saw that the hand +which guided the horses was firm and capable. But from time to +time the colonel thrust his head through the window to look for +his men. + +Half-way down the slope Montbar had his horses under control, +without, however, seeming to check their course. Then he began +to sing, at the top of his voice, the "Réveil du Peuple," the +song of the royalists, just as the "Marseillaise" was the song +of the Jacobins. + +"What's that rogue about?" cried Roland, putting his head through +the window. "Tell him to hold his tongue, conductor, or I'll +put a ball through his loins." + +Perhaps the conductor might have repeated Roland's threat to +Montbar, but he suddenly saw a black line blocking the road. "Halt, +conductor!" thundered a voice the next moment. + +"Postilion, drive over the bellies of those bandits!" shouted +the police agent. + +"Drive on yourself!" said Montbar. "Do you suppose I'm going over +the stomachs of friends? Who-o-ah!" + +The mail coach stopped as if by magic. + +"Go on! go on!" cried Roland and the colonel, aware that the escort +was too far behind to help them. + +"Ha! You villain of a postilion," cried the police agent, springing +out of the coupé, and pointing his pistol at Montbar, "you shall +pay for this." + +The words were scarcely uttered when Montbar, forestalling him, +fired, and the agent rolled, mortally wounded, under the wheels +of the coach. His fingers, convulsed by death, touched the trigger +and the pistol went off, but the ball touched no one. + +"Conductor," shouted the two officers, "by all the powers of heaven, +open, open, open quickly!" + +"Gentlemen," said Morgan, advancing, "we are not attacking your +persons, we merely want the government money. Conductor! that +fifty thousand francs, and quickly too!" + +Two shots from the interior made answer for the officers, who, +after vainly shaking the doors, were still more fruitlessly +attempting to force themselves through the windows. No doubt +one of their shots took effect, for a cry of rage was heard and +a flash illuminated the road. The colonel gave a sigh, and fell +back against Roland. He was killed outright. + +Roland fired again, but no one replied to him. His pistols were +both discharged; locked in as he was he could not use his sabre, +and he howled with rage. + +Meantime the conductor was forced, with a pistol at his throat, +to give up the money. Two men took the bags containing the fifty +thousand francs, and fastened them on Montbar's horse, which his +groom had brought ready saddled and bridled, as if to a meet. +Montbar kicked off his heavy boots and sprang into the saddle. + +"My compliments to the First Consul, Monsieur de Montrevel!" +cried Morgan. Then, turning to his companions, he cried: "Scatter +which way you will, you know the rendezvous for to-morrow night." + +"Yes, yes," replied ten or a dozen voices. + +And the band dispersed like a flock of birds, disappearing down +the valley into the shadow of the trees that lined the banks +of the little river and surrounded the Maison-Blanche. + +At that moment the gallop of horses was heard, and the escort, +alarmed by the pistol shots, appeared on the crest of the hill +and came down the slope like an avalanche. But it came too late; +it found only the conductor sitting dazed by the roadside, the +bodies of the colonel and of Fouché's agent, and Roland a prisoner, +roaring like a lion gnawing at the bars of its cage. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +LORD GRENVILLE'S REPLY + +While the events we have just recorded were transpiring, and +occupying the minds and newspapers of the provinces, other events, +of very different import, were maturing in Paris, which were +destined to occupy the minds and newspapers of the whole world. + +Lord Tanlay had returned, bringing the reply of his uncle, Lord +Grenville. This reply consisted of a letter addressed to M. de +Talleyrand, inclosing a memorandum for the First Consul. The +letter was couched in the following terms: + + DOWNING STREET, February 14, 1800 + + Sir--I have received and placed before the King the letter + which you transmitted to me through my nephew, Lord Tanlay. + His Majesty, seeing no reason to depart from the + long-established customs of Europe in treating with foreign + states, directs me to forward you in his name the official + reply which is herewith inclosed. + + I have the honor to be, with the highest esteem, your very + humble and obedient servant, GRENVILLE. + +The letter was dry; the memorandum curt. Moreover, the First +Consul's letter to King George was autographic, and King George, +not "departing from the long-established customs of Europe in +treating with foreign States," replied by a simple memorandum +written by a secretary. + +True, the memorandum was signed "Grenville." It was a long +recrimination against France; against the spirit of disorder, +which disturbed the nation; against the fears which that spirit +of disorder inspired in all Europe; and on the necessity imposed +on the sovereigns of Europe, for the sake of their own safety, to +repress it. In short, the memorandum was virtually a continuation +of the war. + +The reading of such a dictum made Bonaparte's eyes flash with the +flame which, in him, preceded his great decisions, as lightning +precedes thunder. + +"So, sir," said he, turning to Lord Tanlay, "this is all you have +obtained?" + +"Yes, citizen First Consul." + +"Then you did not repeat verbally to your uncle all that I charged +you to say to him?" + +"I did not omit a syllable." + +"Did you tell him that you had lived in France three years, that +you had seen her, had studied her; that she was strong, powerful, +prosperous and desirous of peace while prepared for war?" + +"I told him all that." + +"Did you add that the war which England is making against France +is a senseless war; that the spirit of disorder of which they +speak, and which, at the worst, is only the effervescence of +freedom too long restrained, which it were wiser to confine to +France by means of a general peace; that that peace is the sole +_cordon sanitaire_ which can prevent it from crossing our +frontiers; and that if the volcano of war is lighted in France, +France will spread like lava over foreign lands. Italy is delivered, +says the King of England; but from whom? From her liberators. +Italy is delivered, but why? Because I conquered Egypt from the +Delta to the third Cataract; Italy is delivered because I was no +longer in Italy. But--I am here: in a month I can be in Italy. +What do I need to win her back from the Alps to the Adriatic? A +single battle. Do you know what Masséna is doing in defending +Genoa? Waiting for me. Ha! the sovereigns of Europe need war +to protect their crowns? Well, my lord, I tell you that I will +shake Europe until their crowns tremble on their heads. Want +war, do they? Just wait--Bourrienne! Bourrienne!" + +The door between the First Consul's study and the secretary's +office opened precipitately, and Bourrienne rushed in, his face +terrified, as though he thought Bonaparte were calling for help. +But when he saw him highly excited, crumpling the diplomatic +memorandum in one hand and striking with the other on his desk, +while Lord Tanlay was standing calm, erect and silent near him, +he understood immediately that England's answer had irritated +the First Consul. + +"Did you call me, general?" he asked. + +"Yes," said the First Consul, "sit down there and write." + +Then in a harsh, jerky voice, without seeking his words, which, +on the contrary, seemed to crowd through the portal of his brain, +he dictated the following proclamation: + + SOLDIERS!--In promising peace to the French people, I was your + mouthpiece; I know your power. + + You are the same men who conquered the Rhine, Holland and Italy, + and granted peace beneath the walls of astounded Vienna. + + Soldiers, it is no longer our own frontiers that you have to + defend; it is the enemy's country you must now invade. + + Soldiers, when the time comes, I shall be among you, and + astounded Europe shall remember that you belong to the race + of heroes! + +Bourrienne raised his head, expectant, after writing the last +words. + +"Well, that's all," said Bonaparte. + +"Shall I add the sacramental words: 'Vive la République!'?" + +"Why do you ask that?" + +"Because we have issued no proclamation during the last four +months, and something may be changed in the ordinary formulas." + +"The proclamation will do as it is," said Bonaparte, "add nothing +to it." + +Taking a pen, he dashed rather than wrote his signature at the +bottom of the paper, then handing it to Bourrienne, he said: +"See that it appears in the 'Moniteur' to-morrow." + +Bourrienne left the room, carrying the proclamation with him. + +Bonaparte, left alone with Lord Tanlay, walked up and down the +room for a moment, as though he had forgotten the Englishman's +presence; then he stopped suddenly before him. + +"My lord," he asked, "do you think you obtained from your uncle +all that another man might have obtained in your place?" + +"More, citizen First Consul." + +"More! more! Pray, what have you obtained?" + +"I think that the citizen First Consul did not read the royal +memorandum with all the attention it deserves." + +"Heavens!" exclaimed Bonaparte, "I know it by heart." + +"Then the citizen First Consul cannot have weighed the meaning +and the wording of a certain paragraph." + +"You think so?" + +"I am sure of it; and if the citizen First Consul will permit +me to read him the paragraph to which I allude--" + +Bonaparte relaxed his hold upon the crumpled note, and handed +it to Lord Tanlay, saying: "Read it." + +Sir John cast his eyes over the document, with which he seemed +to be familiar, paused at the tenth paragraph, and read: + + The best and surest means for peace and security, and for their + continuance, would be the restoration of that line of princes who + for so many centuries have preserved to the French nation its + internal prosperity and the respect and consideration of foreign + countries. Such an event would have removed, and at any time will + remove, the obstacles which are now in the way of negotiations + and peace; it would guarantee to France the tranquil possession + of her former territory, and procure for all the other nations of + Europe, through a like tranquillity and peace, that security which + they are now obliged to seek by other means. + +"Well," said Bonaparte, impatiently, "I have read all that, and +perfectly understood it. Be Monk, labor for another man, and +your victories, your renown, your genius will be forgiven you; +humble yourself, and you shall be allowed to remain great!" + +"Citizen First Consul," said Lord Tanlay, "no one knows better +than I the difference between you and Monk, and how far you surpass +him in genius and renown." + +"Then why do you read me that?" + +"I only read that paragraph," replied Sir John, "to lead you +to give to the one following its due significance." + +"Let's hear it," said Bonaparte, with repressed impatience. + +Sir John continued: + + But, however desirable such an event may be for France and for + the world, it is not to this means alone that his Majesty + restricts the possibility of a safe and sure pacification. + +Sir John emphasized the last words. + +"Ah! ah!" exclaimed Bonaparte, stepping hastily to Sir John's +side. + +The Englishman continued: + + His Majesty does not presume to prescribe to France her form + of government, nor the hands into which she may place the + necessary authority to conduct the affairs of a great and + powerful nation. + +"Read that again, sir," said Bonaparte, eagerly. + +"Read it yourself," replied Sir John. + +He handed him the note, and Bonaparte re-read it. + +"Was it you, sir," he asked, "who added that paragraph?" + +"I certainly insisted on it." + +Bonaparte reflected. + +"You are right," he said; "a great step has been taken; the return +of the Bourbons is no longer a condition _sine quâ non_. +I am accepted, not only as a military, but also as a political +power." Then, holding out his hand to Sir John, he added: "Have +you anything to ask of me, sir?" + +"The only thing I seek has been asked of you by my friend Roland." + +"And I answered, sir, that I shall be pleased to see you the +husband of his sister. If I were richer, or if you were less +so, I would offer to dower her"--Sir John made a motion--"but +as I know your fortune will suffice for two," added Bonaparte, +smiling, "or even more, I leave you the joy of giving not only +happiness, but also wealth to the woman you love. Bourrienne!" +he called. + +Bourrienne appeared. + +"I have sent it, general," he said. + +"Very good," replied the First Consul; "but that is not what I +called you for." + +"I await your orders." + +"At whatever hour of the day or night Lord Tanlay presents himself, +I shall be happy to receive him without delay; you hear me, my dear +Bourrienne? You hear me, my lord?" + +Lord Tanlay bowed his thanks. + +"And now," said Bonaparte, "I presume you are in a hurry to be +off to the Château des Noires-Fontaines. I won't detain you, +but there is one condition I impose." + +"And that is, general?" + +"If I need you for another mission--" + +"That is not a condition, citizen First Consul; it is a favor." + +Lord Tanlay bowed and withdrew. + +Bourrienne prepared to follow him, but Bonaparte called him back. +"Is there a carriage below?" he asked. + +Bourrienne looked into the courtyard. "Yes, general." + +"Then get ready and come with me." + +"I am ready, general; I have only my hat and overcoat to get, +and they are in the office." + +"Then let us go," said Bonaparte. + +He took up his hat and coat, went down the private staircase, and +signed to the carriage to come up. Notwithstanding Bourrienne's +haste, he got down after him. A footman opened the door; Bonaparte +sprang in. + +"Where are we going, general?" asked Bourrienne. + +"To the Tuileries," replied Bonaparte. + +Bourrienne, amazed, repeated the order, and looked at the First +Consul as if to seek an explanation; but the latter was plunged +in thought, and the secretary, who at this time was still the +friend, thought it best not to disturb him. + +The horses started at gallop--Bonaparte's usual mode of +progression--and took the way to the Tuileries. + +The Tuileries, inhabited by Louis XVI. after the days of the 5th +and 6th of October, and occupied successively by the Convention +and the Council of Five Hundred, had remained empty and devastated +since the 18th Brumaire. Since that day Bonaparte had more than +once cast his eyes on that ancient palace of royalty; but he knew +the importance of not arousing any suspicion that a future king +might dwell in the palace of the abolished monarchy. + +Bonaparte had brought back from Italy a magnificent bust of Junius +Brutus; there was no suitable place for it at the Luxembourg, and +toward the end of November, Bonaparte had sent for the Republican, +David, and ordered him to place the bust in the gallery of the +Tuileries. Who could suppose that David, the friend of Marat, +was preparing the dwelling of a future emperor by placing the +bust of Cæsar's murderer in the gallery of the Tuileries? No one +did suppose, nor even suspect it. + +When Bonaparte went to see if the bust were properly placed, +he noticed the havoc committed in the palace of Catherine of +Medicis. The Tuileries were no longer the abode of kings, it +is true, but they were a national palace, and the nation could +not allow one of its palaces to become dilapidated. Bonaparte +sent for citizen Lecomte, the architect, and ordered him to +_clean_ the Tuileries. The word might be taken in both senses +--moral and physical. + +The architect was requested to send in an estimate of the cost +of the cleaning. It amounted to five hundred thousand francs. +Bonaparte asked if for that sum, the Tuileries could be converted +into a suitable "palace for the government." The architect replied +that the sum named would suffice not only to restore the Tuileries +to their former condition, but to make them habitable. + +A habitable palace, that was all Bonaparte wanted. How should he, +a Republican, need regal luxury? The "palace of the government" +ought to be severely plain, decorated with marbles and statues +only. But what ought those statues to be? It was the First Consul's +duty to select them. + +Accordingly, Bonaparte chose them from the three great ages and +the three great nations: from the Greeks, from the Romans, from +France and her rivals. From the Greeks he chose Alexander and +Demosthenes; the genius of conquest and the genius of eloquence. +From the Romans he chose Scipio, Cicero, Cato, Brutus and Cæsar, +placing the great victim side by side with the murderer, as great +almost as himself. From the modern world he chose Gustavus Adolphus, +Turenne, the great Condé, Duguay-Trouin, Marlborough, Prince +Eugene, and the Maréchal de Saxe; and, finally, the great Frederick +and George Washington--false philosophy upon a throne, and true +wisdom founding a free state. + +To these he added warlike heroes--Dampierre, Dugommier, Joubert--to +prove that, while he did not fear the memory of a Bourbon in the +great Condé, neither was he jealous of his brothers-in-arms, the +victims of a cause already no longer his. + +Matters were in this state at the period of which we are now +speaking; that is, the last of February, 1800. The Tuileries had +been cleaned, the busts were in their niches, the statues were +on their pedestals; and only a favorable occasion was wanting. + +That occasion came when the news of Washington's death was received. +The founder of the liberty of the United States had ceased to +breathe on the 14th of December, 1799. + +It was that event of which Bonaparte was thinking, when Bourrienne +saw by the expression of his face that he must be left entirely +to the reflections which absorbed him. + +The carriage stopped before the Tuileries. Bonaparte sprang out +with the same haste with which he had entered it; went rapidly +up the stairs, and through the apartments, examining more +particularly those which had been inhabited by Louis XVI. and +Marie-Antoinette. In the private study of Louis XVI. he stopped +short. + +"Here's where we will live, Bourrienne," he said, suddenly, as +if the latter had followed him through the mental labyrinth in +which he wandered, following the thread of Ariadne which we call +thought. "Yes, we will lodge here; the Third Consul can have the +Pavilion of Flora, and Cambacérès will remain at the Chancellerie." + +"In that way," said Bourrienne, "when the time comes, you will +have only one to turn out." + +"Come, come," said Bonaparte, catching Bourrienne by the ear, +"that's not bad." + +"When shall we move in, general?" asked Bourrienne. + +"Oh, not to-morrow; it will take at least a week to prepare the +Parisians to see me leave the Luxembourg for the Tuileries." + +"Eight days," exclaimed Bourrienne; "that will do." + +"Especially if we begin at once. Come, Bourrienne, to the +Luxembourg." + +With the rapidity that characterized all his movements when serious +matters were in question, he passed through the suites of apartments +he had already visited, ran down the stairs, and sprang into the +carriage, calling out: "To the Luxembourg!" + +"Wait, wait," cried Bourrienne, still in the vestibule; "general, +won't you wait for me?" + +"Laggard!" exclaimed Bonaparte. And the carriage started, as it +had come, at a gallop. + +When Bonaparte re-entered his study he found the minister of police +awaiting him. + +"Well, what now, citizen Fouché? You look upset. Have I, perchance, +been assassinated?" + +"Citizen First Consul," said the minister, "you seemed to attach +the utmost importance to the destruction of those bands who call +themselves the Companions of Jehu." + +"Evidently, since I sent Roland himself to pursue them. Have you +any news of them?" + +"We have." + +"From whom?" + +"Their leader himself." + +"Their leader?" + +"He has had the audacity to send me a report of their last exploit." + +"Against whom?" + +"The fifty thousand francs you sent to the Saint-Bernard fathers." + +"What became of them?" + +"The fifty thousand francs?" + +"Yes." + +"They are in the possession of those brigands, and their leader +informs me he will transfer them shortly to Cadoudal." + +"Then Roland is killed?" + +"No." + +"How do you mean, no?" + +"My agent is killed; Colonel Maurice is killed; but your aide-de-camp +is safe and sound." + +"Then he will hang himself," said Bonaparte. + +"What good would that do? The rope would break; you know his luck." + +"Or his misfortune, yes--Where is the report?" + +"You mean the letter?" + +"Letter, report, thing--whatever it was that told you this news." + +The minister handed the First Consul a paper inclosed in a perfumed +envelope. + +"What's this?" + +"The thing you asked for." + +Bonaparte read the address: "To the citizen Fouché, minister +of police. Paris." Then he opened the letter, which contained +the following. + + CITIZEN MINISTER--I have the honor to inform you that the fifty + thousand francs intended for the monks of Saint-Bernard came + into our hands on the night of February 25, 1800 (old style), + and that they will reach those of citizen Cadoudal within the + week. + + The affair was well-managed, save for the deaths of your agent + and Colonel Saint-Maurice. As for M. Roland de Montrevel, I have + the satisfaction of informing you that nothing distressing has + befallen him. I did not forget that he was good enough to receive + me at the Luxembourg. + + I write you, citizen minister, because I presume that M. Roland + de Montrevel is just now too much occupied in pursuing us to + write you himself. But I am sure that at his first leisure moment + you will receive from him a report containing all the details + into which I cannot enter for lack of time and facilities for + writing. + + In exchange for the service I render you, citizen minister, I + will ask you to do one for me; namely, inform Madame de Montrevel, + without delay, that her son is in safety. MORGAN. + + Maison-Blanche, on the road from Mâcon to Lyons, Saturday, 9 P.M. + +"Ha, the devil!" said Bonaparte; "a bold scamp!" Then he added, +with a sigh: "What colonels and captains those men would make me!" + +"What are your orders, citizen First Consul?" asked the minister +of police. + +"None; that concerns Roland. His honor is at stake; and, as he +is not killed, he will take his revenge." + +"Then the First Consul will take no further notice of the affair?" + +"Not for the present, at any rate." Then, turning to his secretary, +he added, "We have other fish to fry, haven't we, Bourrienne?" + +Bourrienne nodded affirmatively. + +"When does the First Consul wish to see me again?" asked the +minister. + +"To-night, at ten o'clock. We move out in eight days." + +"Where are you going?" + +"To the Tuileries." + +Fouché gave a start of amazement. + +"Against your opinion, I know," said the First Consul; "but I'll +take the whole business on myself; you have only to obey." + +Fouché bowed, and prepared to leave the room. + +"By the way!" exclaimed Bonaparte. + +Fouché turned round. + +"Don't forget to notify Madame de Montrevel that her son is safe +and sound; that's the least you can do for citizen Morgan after +the service he has rendered you." + +And he turned his back on the minister of police, who retired, +biting his lips till the blood came. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +CHANGE OF RESIDENCE + +That same day, the First Consul, left alone with Bourrienne, +dictated the following order, addressed to the Consulate guard +and to the army at large: + + Washington is dead! That great man fought against tyranny. He + consolidated the liberty of America. His memory will ever be dear + to the French people, to all free men in both hemispheres, but + especially to the French soldiers, who, like Washington and his + soldiers, have fought for Liberty and Equality. Consequently, the + First Consul orders that the flags and banners of the Republic + shall be hung with crape for ten days. + +But the First Consul did not intend to confine himself to this +order of the day. + +Among the means he took to facilitate his removal from the Luxembourg +to the Tuileries was one of those fêtes by which he knew, none better, +how to amuse the eyes and also direct the minds of the spectator. This +fête was to take place at the Invalides, or, as they said in those +days, the Temple of Mars. A bust of Washington was to be crowned, and +the flags of Aboukir were to be received from the hands of General +Lannes. + +It was one of those combinations which Bonaparte thoroughly +understood--a flash of lightning drawn from the contact of +contrasting facts. He presented the great man of the New World, +and a great victory of the old; young America coupled with the +palms of Thebes and Memphis. + +On the day fixed for the ceremony, six thousand cavalry were +in line from the Luxembourg to the Invalides. At eight o'clock, +Bonaparte mounted his horse in the main courtyard of the Consular +palace; issuing by the Rue de Tournon he took the line of the +quays, accompanied by a staff of generals, none of whom were +over thirty-five years of age. + +Lannes headed the procession; behind him were sixty Guides +bearing the sixty captured flags; then came Bonaparte about +two horse's-lengths ahead of his staff. + +The minister of war, Berthier, awaited the procession under the +dome of the temple. He leaned against a statue of Mars at rest, +and the ministers and councillors of state were grouped around +him. The flags of Denain and Fontenoy, and those of the first +campaign in Italy, were already suspended from the columns which +supported the roof. Two centenarian "Invalids" who had fought +beside Maréchal Saxe were standing, one to the right and one +to the left of Berthier, like caryatides of an ancient world, +gazing across the centuries. To the right, on a raised platform, +was the bust of Washington, which was now to be draped with the +flags of Aboukir. On another platform, opposite to the former, +stood Bonaparte's armchair. + +On each side of the temple were tiers of seats in which was gathered +all the elegant society of Paris, or rather that portion of it which +gave its adhesion to the order of ideas then to be celebrated. + +When the flags appeared, the trumpets blared, their metallic sounds +echoing through the arches of the temple, + +Lannes entered first. At a sign from him, the Guides mounted +two by two the steps of the platform and placed the staffs of +the flags in the holders prepared for them. During this time +Bonaparte took his place in the chair, + +Then Lannes advanced to the minister of war, and, in that voice +that rang out so clearly on the battlefield, crying "Forward!" +he said: + +"Citizen minister, these are the flags of the Ottoman army, destroyed +before your eyes at Aboukir. The army of Egypt, after crossing +burning deserts, surviving thirst and hunger, found itself before +an enemy proud of his numbers and his victories, and believing +that he saw an easy prey in our troops, exhausted by their march +and incessant combats. He had yet to learn that the French soldier +is greater because he knows how to suffer than because he knows how +to vanquish, and that his courage rises and augments in danger. +Three thousand Frenchmen, as you know, fell upon eighteen thousand +barbarians, broke their ranks, forced them back, pressed them +between our lines and the sea; and the terror of our bayonets +is such that the Mussulmans, driven to choose a death, rushed +into the depths of the Mediterranean. + +"On that memorable day hung the destinies of Egypt, France and +Europe, and they were saved by your courage, + +"Allied Powers! if you dare to violate French territory, and if +the general who was given back to us by the victory of Aboukir +makes an appeal to the nation--Allied Powers! I say to you, that +your successes would be more fatal to you than disasters! What +Frenchman is there who would not march to victory again under +the banners of the First Consul, or serve his apprenticeship to +fame with him?" + +Then, addressing the "Invalids," for whom the whole lower gallery +had been reserved, he continued in a still more powerful voice: + +"And you, brave veterans, honorable victims of the fate of battles, +you will not be the last to flock under the orders of him who +knows your misfortunes and your glory, and who now delivers to +your keeping these trophies won by your valor. Ah, I know you, +veterans, you burn to sacrifice the half of your remaining lives +to your country and its freedom!" + +This specimen of the military eloquence of the conqueror of +Montebello was received with deafening applause. Three times +the minister of war endeavored to make reply; and three times +the bravos cut him short. At last, however, silence came, and +Berthier expressed himself as follows: + +"To raise on the banks of the Seine these trophies won on the +banks of the Nile; to hang beneath the domes of our temples, +beside the flags of Vienna, of Petersburg, of London, the banners +blessed in the mosques of Byzantium and Cairo; to see them here, +presented by the same warriors, young in years, old in glory, +whom Victory has so often crowned--these things are granted only +to Republican France. + +"Yet this is but a part of what he has done, that hero, in the +flower of his age covered with the laurels of Europe, he, who +stood a victor before the Pyramids, from the summits of which +forty centuries looked down upon him while, surrounded by his +warriors and learned men, he emancipated the native soil of art +and restored to it the lights of civilization. + +"Soldiers, plant in this temple of the warrior virtues those +ensigns of the Crescent, captured on the rocks of Canopus by +three thousand Frenchmen from eighteen thousand Ottomans, as +brave as they were barbarous. Let them bear witness, not to the +valor of the French soldier--the universe itself resounds to +that--but to his unalterable constancy, his sublime devotion. +Let the sight of these banners console you, veteran warriors, +you, whose bodies, gloriously mutilated on the field of honor, +deprive your courage of other exercise than hope and prayer. +Let them proclaim from that dome above us, to all the enemies +of France, the influence of genius, the value of the heroes who +captured them; forewarning of the horrors of war all those who +are deaf to our offers of peace. Yes, if they will have war, +they shall have it--war, terrible and unrelenting! + +"The nation, satisfied, regards the Army of the East with pride. + +"That invincible army will learn with joy that the First Consul is +watchful of its glory. It is the object of the keenest solicitude +on the part of the Republic. It will hear with pride that we have +honored it in our temples, while awaiting the moment when we +shall imitate, if need be, on the fields of Europe, the warlike +virtues it has displayed on the burning sands of Africa and Asia. + +"Come, in the name of that army, intrepid general, come in the +name of those heroes among whom you now appear, and receive an +embrace in token of the national gratitude. + +"And in the moment when we again take up our arms in defence of +our independence (if the blind fury of kings refuses the peace we +offer), let us cast a branch of laurel on the ashes of Washington, +that hero who freed America from the yoke of our worst and most +implacable enemy. Let his illustrious shade tell us of the glory +which follows a nation's liberator beyond the grave!" + +Bonaparte now came down from his platform, and in the name of +France was embraced by Berthier. + +M. de Fontanes, who was appointed to pronounce the eulogy on +Washington, waited courteously until the echoes of the torrent +of applause, which seemed to fall in cascades through the vast +amphitheatre, had died away. In the midst of these glorious +individualities, M. de Fontanes was a curiosity, half political, +half literary. After the 18th Fructidor he was proscribed with +Suard and Laharpe; but, being perfectly hidden in a friend's +house, and never going out except at night, he managed to avoid +leaving France. Nevertheless, an accident, impossible to foresee, +had betrayed him. He was knocked down one night on the Place du +Carrousel by a runaway horse, and was recognized by a policeman, +who ran to his assistance. But Fouché, who was at once informed, +not only of his presence in France, but also of his actual +hiding-place, pretended to know nothing of him. + +A few days after the 18th Brumaire, Maret, who became later the +Duc de Bassano, Laplace, who continued to be simply a man of +science, and Regnault de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, who died mad, spoke +to the First Consul of M. de Fontanes and of his presence in +Paris, + +"Present him to me," replied the First Consul simply. + +M. de Fontanes was presented to Bonaparte, who, recognizing his +supple nature and the unctuous flattery of his eloquence, chose +him to deliver the eulogy on Washington, and perhaps something +of his own at the same time. + +M. de Fontanes' address was too long to be reported here; all that +we shall say about it is, that it was precisely what Bonaparte +desired. + +That evening there was a grand reception at the Luxembourg. During +the ceremony a rumor was spread that the First Consul contemplated +removing to the Tuileries. Persons who were either bold or curious +ventured on a few words to Josephine. She, poor woman, who still +saw before her the tumbrel and the scaffold of Marie Antoinette, +had an instinctive horror of all that might connect her with +royalty; she therefore hesitated to reply and referred all questions +to her husband. + +Then another rumor began to be bruited about which served as a +counterpoise to the former. Murat, it was said, had asked the +hand of Mademoiselle Caroline Bonaparte in marriage. But this +marriage was not without its obstacles; Bonaparte had had a quarrel, +lasting over a year, with the man who aspired to the honor of +becoming his brother-in-law. The cause of this quarrel will seem +rather strange to our readers. + +Murat, the lion of the army; Murat, whose courage had become +proverbial; Murat, who might well have been taken by a sculptor +as a model for the god of war; Murat, on one occasion, when he +must have slept ill or breakfasted badly, had a moment of weakness. + +It happened before Mantua, in which city Wurmser, after the battle +of Rivoli, was forced to shut himself up with twenty-eight thousand +men; General Miollis, with four thousand only, was investing +the place. During a sortie attempted by the Austrians, Murat, +at the head of five hundred men, received an order to charge +three thousand. Murat charged, but feebly. Bonaparte, whose +aide-de-camp he then was, was so irritated that he would not +suffer him to remain about him. This was a great blow to Murat, +all the more because he was at that time desirous of becoming +the general's brother-in-law; he was deeply in love with Caroline +Bonaparte. + +How had that love come about? It can be told in two words. Perhaps +those who read our books singly are surprised that we sometimes +dwell on certain details which seem somewhat long drawn out for +the book in which they appear. The fact is, we are not writing +isolated books, but, as we have already said, we are filling, +or trying to fill, an immense frame. To us, the presence of our +characters is not limited to their appearance in one book. The +man you meet in one book may be a king in a second volume, and +exiled or shot in a third. + +Balzac did a great and noble work with a hundred aspects, and +he called it the "Comédie Humaine." Our work, begun at the same +time as his--although, be it understood, we do not praise it--may +fitly be called "The Drama of France." + +Now, let us return to Murat, and tell how this love, which had +so glorious and, possibly, so fatal an influence on his destiny, +came to him. + +In 1796, Murat was sent to Paris, charged with the duty of presenting +to the Directory the flags and banners taken by the French army at +the battles of Dego and Mondovi. During this voyage he made the +acquaintance of Madame Bonaparte and Madame Tallien. At Madame +Bonaparte's house he again met Mademoiselle Caroline Bonaparte. +We say _again_, for that was not the first time he had met +the woman who was to share the crown of Naples with him. They +had met in Rome, at her brother's house, and, in spite of the +rivalry of a young and handsome Roman prince, she had shown him +a marked preference. + +The three women combined to obtain for him the rank of general of +brigade from the Directory. Murat returned to the Army of Italy, +more in love than ever, and, in spite of his new rank, he solicited +and obtained the favor of remaining with the general-in-chief +as aide-de-camp. Unhappily, the fatal sortie took place soon +after, in consequence of which he fell in disgrace with Bonaparte. +This disgrace had for awhile all the characteristics of actual +enmity. Bonaparte dismissed him from his service as aide-de-camp, +and transferred him to Neille's division, and then to that of +Baraguey-d'Hilliers. The result was, that when Bonaparte returned +to Paris after the treaty of Tolentino, Murat did not accompany +him. + +This did not at all suit the female triumvirate, who had taken +the young general under its direction. The beautiful intriguers +entered into the campaign, and as the expedition to Egypt was +then preparing, they induced the minister of war to send Murat +with it. He embarked in the same ship as Bonaparte, namely the +"Orient," but the latter did not address a single word to him +during the voyage. After they reached Alexandria, Murat was at +first unable to break the icy barrier opposed to him by the general, +who, more to put him at a distance from his own person than to +give him an opportunity to distinguish himself, confronted him +with Mourad Bey. But, during that campaign, Murat performed such +prodigies of valor that he effaced, by such bravery, the memory +of that momentary weakness; he charged so intrepidly, so madly +at Aboukir, that Bonaparte had not the heart to bear him further +malice. + +Consequently Murat had returned to France with Bonaparte. He +had powerfully co-operated with him on the 18th and especially +on the 19th Brumaire. He was, therefore, restored to full favor, +and, as a proof of that favor, had received the command of the +Consular guard. + +He thought this the moment to declare his love, a love already +well-known to Josephine, who favored it; for which she had two +reasons. In the first place, she was a woman in the most charming +acceptation of the word; that is to say, all the gentler passions +of women were attractive to her. Joachim loved Caroline, Caroline +loved Joachim; that was enough to make her wish to protect their +love. In the second place, Bonaparte's brothers detested Josephine; +Joseph and Lucien were her bitterest enemies, and she was not +sorry to make herself two ardent friends in Caroline and Murat. +She therefore encouraged the latter to approach Bonaparte on +the subject. + +Three days before the ceremony we have just described, Murat +had entered Bonaparte's study, and, after endless hesitation and +circumlocution, had proffered his request. + +It is probable that the love of the young pair was no news to +Bonaparte, who, however, received it with stern gravity, and +contented himself with replying that he would think it over. +The matter, in fact, required thinking over. Bonaparte came of +a noble family, Murat was the son of an innkeeper. The alliance +at such a moment might have great significance. Was the First +Consul, in spite of his noble birth, in spite of the exalted +rank to which he had raised himself, not only sufficiently +republican, but also sufficiently democratic to mingle his blood +with that of the common people. + +He did not reflect long; his strong, good sense, and his logical +mind, told him that he had every interest in allowing the marriage, +and he gave his consent to it the same day. + +The double news of this marriage and of the removal to the Tuileries +was launched on the public at the same time; the one was to +counterpoise the other. The First Consul was about to occupy the +palace of the former kings, to sleep in the bed of the Bourbons, +as they said at that time, but he gave his sister to the son of +an innkeeper! + +And now, it may be asked, what dowry did the future Queen of +Naples bring to the hero of Aboukir? Thirty thousand francs and +a diamond necklace, which the First Consul took from his wife, +being too poor to buy one. Josephine, who was very fond of her +necklace, pouted a little; but the gift, thus obtained, was a +triumphant reply to those who claimed that Bonaparte had made +a fortune in Italy; besides, why had she taken the interests +of the young couple so to heart? She had insisted on marrying +them, and she ought to contribute to the dowry. + +The result of this clever combination was that on the day when +the Consuls left the Luxembourg for the "palace of the government," +escorted by the _son of an innkeeper_, soon to be Bonaparte's +brother-in-law, it did not occur to those who saw the procession +pass to do otherwise than admire and applaud. And, in truth, +what could be more admirable and worthy of applause than those +processions, which had at their head such men as Murat, Moreau, +Junot, Duroc, Augereau, and Masséna? + +A grand review had been ordered to take place that same day in the +square of the Carrousel. Madame Bonaparte was to be present--not, +to be sure, in the balcony of the clock-tower, that being evidently +too royal, but at the window of Lebrun's apartment in the Pavilion +of Flora. + +Bonaparte started at one o'clock precisely from the Luxembourg, +escorted by three thousand picked men, among them the splendid +regiment of the Guides, created three years earlier as a bodyguard +to Bonaparte during the Italian campaign, in consequence of a +great danger he had escaped on one occasion. He was resting in +a small château, after the exhaustion attendant upon the passage +of the Mincio, and was preparing to take a bath, when a retreating +Austrian detachment, losing its way, invaded the château, which +had no other guard than the sentries. Bonaparte had barely time +to escape in his shirt. + +A curious difficulty, which deserves to be recorded, arose on the +morning of this removal, which took place the 30th Pluviose, year +VIII. The generals, of course, had their horses and the ministers +their carriages, but the other functionaries had not yet judged +it expedient to go to such an expense. Carriages were therefore +lacking. They were supplied from the hackney coach-stands, and +slips of paper of the same color as the carriages were pasted +over their numbers. + +The carriage of the First Consul alone was harnessed with six +white horses, but as the three consuls were in the same carriage, +Bonaparte and Cambacérès on the front seat, and Lebrun on the +back, it was, after all, but two horses apiece. Besides, were +not these six white horses given to the commander-in-chief by +the Emperor Francis himself, after the treaty of Campo-Formio, +a trophy in themselves? + +The carriage crossed a part of Paris, following the Rue de +Thionville, the Quai Voltaire, and the Pont-Royal. From the archway +of the Carrousel to the great portal of the Tuileries the Consular +guard lined the way. As Bonaparte passed through the archway, he +raised his head and read the inscription it bore. That inscription +was as follows: + + AUGUST 10, 1792. + ROYALTY IS ABOLISHED IN FRANCE + AND SHALL NEVER RISE AGAIN. + +An almost imperceptible smile flickered on the First Consul's +lips. + +At the door of the Tuileries, Bonaparte left the carriage and +sprang into the saddle to review the troops. When he appeared +on his war-horse the applause burst forth wildly on all sides. + +After the review was over, he placed himself in front of the +clock-tower, with Murat on his right, Lannes at his left, and +the glorious staff of the Army of Italy behind him. Then began +the march past. + +And now it was that one of those inspirations came to him which +engrave themselves forever on the hearts of soldiers. As the +flags of the 30th, the 96th, and the 33d demi-brigades were borne +past him, and he saw that, of those banners, there remained but +a stick and a few rags, riddled with balls and blackened with +powder, he took his hat from his head and bowed. + +Then, when the march was over, he dismounted from his horse, +and, with a firm step, he walked up the grand stairway of the +Valois and the Bourbons. + +That night, when he was alone with Bourrienne, the latter asked: +"Well, general, are you satisfied?" + +"Yes," replied Bonaparte, dreamily, "everything went off nicely, +didn't it?" + +"Wonderfully well." + +"I saw you standing near Madame Bonaparte at the ground-floor +window of the Pavilion of Flora." + +"I saw you, too, general; you were reading the inscription on +the arch of the Carrousel." + +"Yes," said Bonaparte, "'August 10,1792. Royalty is abolished +in France, and shall never rise again.'" + +"Shall I have it removed?" asked Bourrienne. + +"Useless," replied the First Consul, "it will fall of itself." +Then, with a sigh, he added: "Bourrienne, do you know whom I +missed to-day?" + +"No, general." + +"Roland. What the devil is he doing that he doesn't give me any +news of himself?" + +We are about to see what Roland was doing. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +THE FOLLOWER OF TRAILS + +The reader will not have forgotten the situation in which the +escort of chasseurs found the Chambéry mail-coach. + +The first thing they did was to look for the obstacle which prevented +Roland from getting out. They found the padlock and wrenched off +the door. + +Roland bounded from the coach like a tiger from its cage. We have +said that the ground was covered with snow. Roland, hunter and +soldier, had but one idea--to follow the trail of the Companions +of Jehu. He had seen them disappear in the direction of Thoissy; +but he believed they were not likely to continue in that direction +because, between them and the little town ran the Saône, and +there were no bridges across the river between Belleville and +Mâcon. He ordered the escort and the conductor to wait for him +on the highroad, and alone and on foot, without even waiting +to reload his pistols, he started on the tracks of Morgan and +his companions. + +He was not mistaken. A mile from the highroad the fugitives had +come to the river; there they had halted, probably deliberating, +for the trampling of their horses' hoofs was plainly visible; then +they had separated into two troops, one going up the river to +Mâcon, and the other descending it in the direction of Belleville. + +This separation was doubtless intended to puzzle their pursuers, +if they were pursued. Roland had heard the parting call of the +leader: "To-morrow night, you know where!" He had no doubt, +therefore, that whichever trail he followed, whether up or down--if +the snow did not melt too fast--would lead him to the rendezvous, +where, either together or singly, the Companions of Jehu were +certain to assemble. + +He returned upon his own tracks, ordered the conductor to put +on the boots thrown aside by the pretended postilion, mount the +horse and take the coach to the next relay, namely Belleville. +The sergeant of chasseurs and four of his men, who knew how to +write, were to accompany the conductor and sign his report of +what had occurred. Roland forbade all mention of himself and +where he had gone, lest the brigands should get word of his future +plans. The rest of the escort were to carry back their colonel's +body, and make deposition on their own account, along the same +lines as the conductor, to the authorities, and equally without +mention of Roland. + +These orders given, the young man dismounted a chasseur and took +his horse, selecting the one he thought most serviceable. Then +he reloaded his pistols, and put them in the holsters in place +of the regulation weapons of the dismounted chasseur. Having +done this, and promised the conductor and the chasseurs a speedy +vengeance, conditioned, however, on their keeping his present +proceedings secret, he mounted the horse and rode off in the +direction he had already investigated. + +When he reached the spot where the two troops had separated, +he had to decide between the different trails. He chose that +which descended the Saône toward Belleville. He had excellent +reason for making this choice, although it might possibly take +him out of his way for six or eight miles. In the first place he +was nearer Belleville than Mâcon; then he had spent twenty-four +hours at Mâcon, and might be recognized there, whereas he had +never stopped at Belleville longer than the time required to +change horses when accident brought him there by post. + +The events we have just recorded had taken barely an hour to +happen. Eight o'clock was striking from the church clock at +Thoissy when Roland started in pursuit of the fugitives. The +way was plain; five or six horses had left their imprint on +the snow; one of these horses had paced. + +Roland jumped the two or three brooks which watered the space +he had to cross to reach Belleville. A hundred yards from the +town he paused, for here the trail separated again; two of the +six travellers had turned to the right, that is to say, they +had struck away from the river, the four others to the left, +continuing on their way to Belleville. At the outskirts of the +town, another secession had taken place; three of the riders +had gone round the town, one had entered it. + +Roland followed the latter, sure that he could recover the traces +of the others. The one who had entered the town and followed +the main street had stopped at a pretty house between court and +garden, numbered 67. He had rung and some one had let him in; +for through the iron grating could be seen traces of footsteps, +and beside them the tracks of a horse being led to the stable. + +It was quite evident that one, at least, of the Companions of Jehu +had stopped there. By going to the mayor of the town, exhibiting +his authority, and asking for gendarmes, Roland could have arrested +him at once. But that was not his object; he did not wish to arrest +a solitary individual; he wanted to catch the whole company in +a trap. + +He made a note in his mind of No. 67, and continued on his way. +He crossed the entire town and rode a few hundred paces beyond +it without meeting any fresh traces. He was about to return, +when it occurred to him that, if the tracks of the three riders +reappeared anywhere, it would be at the head of the bridge. And +there, sure enough, he found the hoof-prints of three horses, +which were undoubtedly those he sought, for one of them paced. + +Roland galloped in pursuit. On reaching Monceaux--same precaution, +the riders had skirted the village; but Roland was too good a +scout to trouble himself about that. He kept on his way, and at +the other end of Monceaux he recovered the fugitives' tracks. Not +far from Châtillon one of the three horses had left the highroad, +turning to the right toward a little château, standing on a hill +a short distance from the road between Châtillon and Trévoux. +This time the three remaining riders, evidently believing they +had done enough to mislead any one who might be following, had +kept straight on through Châtillon and taken the road to Neuville. + +The direction taken by the fugitives was eminently satisfactory +to Roland; they were undoubtedly on their way to Bourg; if they +had not intended to go there they would have taken the road to +Marlieux. Now, Bourg was the headquarters Roland had himself +chosen for the centre of his own operations; it was his own town, +and he knew, with the minuteness of boyish knowledge, every bush, +every ruin, every cavern in the neighborhood. + +At Neuville the riders had skirted the village. Roland did not +trouble himself about a ruse, already known and thwarted; but on +the other side he found but one trail. He could not be mistaken +in that horse, however; it was the pacer. Certain of recovering +the trail again, Roland retraced his steps. The two riders had +separated at a road leading off to Vannes; one had taken that +road, the other had skirted the village, which, as we have said, +was on the road to Bourg. This was the one to follow; besides, +the gait of the horse made it easier, as it could not be confused +with any other. Moreover, he was on his way to Bourg, and between +Neuville and Bourg there was but one other village, that of +Saint-Denis. For the rest, it was not probable that the solitary +rider intended to go further than Bourg. + +Roland continued on his way with more eagerness than ever, convinced +that he was nearing the end. In fact the rider had not skirted +Bourg, but had boldly entered the town. There, it seemed to Roland +that the man had hesitated, unless this hesitation were a last ruse +to hide his tracks. But after ten minutes spent in following his +devious tracks Roland was sure of his facts; it was not trickery +but hesitation. + +The print of a man's steps came from a side street; the traveller +and the pedestrian had conferred together for a moment, and then +the former had evidently employed the latter as a guide. From +that point on, the footsteps of a man went side by side with +those of the horse. Both came to an end at the hôtel de la +Belle-Alliance. Roland remembered that the horse wounded in the +attack at Les Carronnières had been brought to this inn. In all +probability there was some connivance between the inn-keeper +and the Companion of Jehu. For the rest, in all probability the +rider would stay there until the next evening. Roland felt by +his own fatigue that the man he was following must need rest. +And Roland, in order not to force his horse and the better to +reconnoitre the tracks he was following, had taken six hours +to do thirty miles. + +Three o'olock was striking from the truncated bell-tower of +Nôtre-Dame. Roland debated what to do. Should he stop at some +inn in the town? Impossible, he was too well known in Bourg; +besides, his horse with its cavalry saddle-cloth would excite +suspicion. It was one of the conditions of success that his presence +at Bourg should remain unknown. + +He could hide at the Château des Noires-Fontaines and keep on +the watch, but could he trust the servants? Michel and Jacques +would hold their tongues, Roland was sure of them; but Charlotte, +the jailer's daughter, she might gossip. However, it was three +o'clock in the morning, every one was asleep, and the safest +plan was certainly to put himself in communication with Michel. +Michel would find some way of concealing his presence. + +To the deep regret of his horse, who had no doubt scented a stable, +Roland wheeled about and rode off in the direction of Pont-d'Ain. +As he passed the church of Brou he glanced at the barrack of the +gendarmes, where, in all probability, they and their captain +were sleeping the sleep of the righteous. + +Roland cut through the little strip of forest which jutted into the +road. The snow deadened the sound of his horse's hoofs. Branching +into the road from the other side, he saw two men slinking along in +the ditch, carrying a deer slung by its forelegs to a sapling. He +thought he recognized the cut of the two men, and he spurred his +horse to overtake them. The men were on the watch; they turned, +saw the rider, who was evidently making for them, flung the animal +into the ditch, and made for the shelter of the forest of Seillon. + +"Hey, Michel!" cried Roland, more and more convinced that he had +to do with his own gardener. + +Michel stopped short; the other man kept on his way across the +fields. + +"Hey, Jacques!" shouted Roland. + +The other man stopped. If they were recognized, it was useless +to fly; besides, there was nothing hostile in the call; the voice +was friendly, rather than threatening. + +"Bless me!" said Jacques, "it sounds like M. Roland." + +"I do believe it is he," said Michel. + +And the two men, instead of continuing their flight, returned +to the highroad. + +Roland had not heard what the two poachers had said, but he had +guessed. + +"Hey, the deuce! of course it is I," he shouted. + +A minute more and Michel and Jacques were beside him. The questions +of father and son were a crossfire, and it must be owned they +had good reason for amazement. Roland, in civilian's dress, on +a cavalry horse, at three in the morning, on the road from Bourg +to the château! The young officer cut short all questions. + +"Silence, poachers!" said he, "put that deer behind me and be off +at trot to the château. No one must know of my presence there, +not even my sister." + +Roland spoke with military precision, and both men knew that +when he gave an order there was no replying. They picked up the +deer, put it behind his saddle, and followed the gentle trot +of the horse at a run. There was less than a mile to do, and +it took but ten minutes. At a short distance from the château, +Roland pulled up. The two men went forward as scouts to see if +all were quiet. Satisfied on that point, they made a sign to +Roland to advance. + +Roland came, dismounted, found the door of the lodge open, and +entered. Michel took the horse to the stable and carried the deer +to the kitchen; for Michel belonged to that honorable class of +poachers, who kill game for the pleasure of killing, and not for +the selfish interest of sale. There was no need for precaution, +either for horse or deer; for Amélie took no more notice of what +went on in the stable than of what they served her to eat. + +During this time Jacques lighted the fire. When Michel returned +he brought the remains of a leg of mutton and some eggs for an +omelet. Jacques made up a bed in the office. + +Roland warmed himself and ate his supper without saying a word. +The two men looked at each other with an astonishment that was not +devoid of a certain degree of anxiety. A rumor of the expedition +to Seillon had got about, and it was whispered that Roland had led +it. Apparently, he had returned for another similar expedition. + +When Roland had finished his supper he looked up and saw Michel. + +"Ah! so there you are?" he exclaimed. + +"I am waiting for Monsieur's orders." + +"Here they are; listen carefully." + +"I'm all ears." + +"It's a question of life or death; of more than that, of my honor." + +"Speak, Monsieur Roland." + +Roland pulled out his watch. + +"It is now five o'clock. When the inn of the Belle-Alliance opens, +be there, as if you were just sauntering by; then stop a minute +to chat with whoever opens it." + +"That will probably be Pierre." + +"Pierre or another; find out from him who the traveller is who +arrived last night on a pacing horse. You know what pacing is, +don't you?" + +"The deuce! You mean a horse that goes like a bear, both feet +forward at the same time." + +"Bravo! You can also find out whether the traveller is leaving +this morning, or whether he proposes to spend the day at the +hotel, can't you?" + +"Of course I can find that out." + +"Well, when you have found out all that, come and tell me; but +remember, not a word about my being here. If any one asks about +me, say that they had a letter from me yesterday, and that I +was in Paris with the First Consul." + +"That's understood." + +Michel departed. Roland went to bed and to sleep, leaving Jacques +to guard the building. + +When Roland awoke Michel had returned. He had found out all that +his master desired to know. The horseman who had arrived in the +night was to leave the next morning, and on the travellers' register, +which every innkeeper was obliged by law to keep in those days, +was entered: "Saturday, 30th Pluviose, _ten at night_; the +citizen Valensolle, from Lyons going to Geneva." Thus the alibi +was prepared; for the register would prove that the citizen +Valensolle had arrived at ten o'clock, and it was impossible +that he could have assisted in robbing the mail-coach near the +Maison-Blanche at half-past eight and yet have reached the Hotel +de la Belle-Alliance at ten. + +But what impressed Roland the most was that the man he had followed +through the night, and whose name and retreat he had just discovered, +was none other than the second of Alfred de Barjols, whom he +himself had killed in a duel near the fountain of Vaucluse; and +that that second was, in all probability, the man who had played +the part of ghost at the Chartreuse of Seillon. + +So, then, the Companions of Jehu were not mere thieves, but, +on the contrary, as rumor said, gentlemen of good family, who, +while the noble Bretons were laying down their lives for the +royalist cause in the West, were, here in the East, braving the +scaffold to send to the combatants the money they took from the +government. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +AN INSPIRATION + +We have seen that during the pursuit of the preceding night Roland +could have arrested one or two of the men he was pursuing. He +could now do the same with M. de Valensolle, who was probably, +like Roland himself, taking a day's rest after a night of great +fatigue. + +To do it he had only to write a line to the captain of gendarmes, +or to the colonel of dragoons, who had assisted him during that +ineffectual search at Seillon. Their honor was concerned in the +affair. They could instantly surprise M. de Valensolle in bed, +and at the cost of two pistol shots--two men killed or wounded--he +would be taken. + +But M. de Valensolle's arrest would give warning to the rest of +the band, who would instantly put themselves in safety beyond +the frontier. It was better, therefore, to keep to his first +idea; to go slowly, to follow the different trails which must +converge to one centre, and, at the risk of a general engagement, +throw a net over the whole company. + +To do that, M. de Valensolle must not be arrested. It was better +to follow him on his pretended journey to Geneva, which was probably +but a blind to foil investigation. It was therefore agreed that +Roland, whose disguise, however good, was liable to be penetrated, +should remain at the lodge, and Michel and Jacques should head +off the game. In all probabilities, M. de Valensolle would not +set out from the inn before nightfall. + +Roland made inquiries of Michel about the life his sister had +led since her mother's departure. He learned that she had never +once left the grounds during that time. Her habits were still the +same, except for the walks and visits she had made with Madame +de Montrevel. + +She rose at seven or eight in the morning, sketched or practiced +her music till breakfast, and afterward read or employed herself +at some kind of embroidery, or took advantage of the sunshine to +go out with Charlotte to the river. Sometimes she bade Michel +unfasten the little boat, and then, well wrapped in furs, would +row up the Reissouse as far as Montagnac or down to Saint-Just. +During these trips she spoke to no one. Then she dined. After +dinner, she retired to her bedroom and did not appear again. + +By half-past six, therefore, Michel and Jacques could decamp +without arousing any suspicion as to their where-about; and, +accordingly, at that hour they took their blouses, game-bags +and guns, and started. Roland had given them their instructions. +They were to follow the pacing horse until they had ascertained +his destination, or until they had lost all trace of him. Michel +was to lie in wait opposite the inn of the Belle-Alliance; Jacques +was to station himself outside of Bourg, just where the main road +divides into three branches, one going to Saint-Amour, another +to Saint-Claude, and the third to Nantua. This last was at the +same time the highroad to Geneva. It was evident that unless M. +de Valensolle returned upon his steps, which was not probable, +he would take one or another of these three roads. + +The father started in one direction, the son in another. Michel +went toward the town by the road to Pont-d'Ain, passing the church +of Brou. Jacques crossed the Reissouse, followed the right bank of +the little river, and found himself, after walking a few hundred +yards beyond the town, at the sharp angle made by the parting of +the three roads. Father and son reached their separate posts +at about the same time. + +At this particular moment, that is to say, about seven o'clock, the +stillness and solitude surrounding the Château des Noires-Fontaines +was broken by the arrival of a post-chaise, which stopped before +the iron gate. A servant in livery got off the box and pulled +the chain of the bell. + +It was Michel's business to open the gate, but Michel was away, +as we know. Amélie and Charlotte probably counted on him, for +the bell was rung three times before any one answered it. At +last the maid appeared at the head of the stairs calling Michel. +Michel made no reply. Finally, protected by the locked gates, +Charlotte ventured to approach them. In spite of the obscurity +she recognized the servant. + +"Ah, is it you, Monsieur James?" she cried, somewhat reassured. +James was Sir John's confidential valet. + +"Yes, mademoiselle, it is I, or rather it is Sir John." + +The carriage door opened at this moment, and his master's voice +was heard saying: "Mademoiselle Charlotte, will you tell your +mistress that I have just arrived from Paris, that I have called +to leave my card, and to ask permission, not to be received this +evening, but to be allowed to call to-morrow, if she will grant +me that favor. Ask her at what hour I shall least inconvenience +her." + +Mademoiselle Charlotte had a high opinion of Sir John, consequently +she acquitted herself of the commission with the utmost alacrity. +Five minutes later she returned to announce that Sir John would +be received the next day between twelve and one o'clock. + +Roland knew what the Englishman had come for. In his mind the +marriage was an accomplished fact, and he regarded Sir John already +as his brother-in-law. He hesitated a moment as to whether he +should or should not make himself known to Sir John, and tell +his friend about his projects; but he reflected that Sir John +was not a man to let him work them out alone. He, too, had a +revenge to take on the Companions of Jehu; he would certainly +insist on taking part in the expedition, whatever it was. And that +expedition, however it might result, was certain to be dangerous, +and another disaster might befall him. Roland's luck, as Roland +well knew, did not extend to his friends. Sir John, grievously +wounded, had barely escaped with his life, and the colonel of +dragoons had been killed outright. He therefore allowed Sir John +to drive away without giving any sign of his own proximity. + +As for Charlotte, she did not seem in the least surprised that +Michel was not there to open the gate. Evidently they were accustomed +to his absences, and they did not disturb either the mistress +or the maid. For the rest, Roland knew his sister well enough +to understand this indifference. Amélie, feeble under a moral +suffering wholly unsuspected by Roland, who attributed to simple +nervous crises the fluctuations of his sister's character, Amélie +was strong and brave before real danger. That was no doubt why +she felt no fear about remaining with Charlotte alone in the +lonely house, without other protection than that afforded by the +two gardeners, who spent their nights in poaching. + +As for ourselves, we know that Michel and his son did really +serve their mistress' desire more in absenting themselves thus +frequently from the château than in staying [near] it. Their +absence left the coast clear for Morgan, [and that] was all Amélie +really cared about. + +That evening and part of the night went by without bringing Roland +any news. He tried to sleep, but succeeded ill. He fancied every +minute that he heard some one at the door. The day was just beginning +to glimmer through the shutters when the door did actually open. +Michel and Jacques were returning, and this is what had happened +to them: + +They had each gone to his post, Michel at the inn door, Jacques +to the junction of the roads. Twenty paces from the door Michel +had met Pierre, and three words sufficed to show him that M. de +Valensolle was still at the inn. The latter had announced that, +as he had a long journey before him, he would let his horse rest +and would not start until nightfall. Pierre did not doubt that +he was going to Geneva, as he said. + +Michel proposed a glass of wine to Pierre. Pierre accepted. After +that, Michel was sure of being warned of any change. Pierre was +the hostler, and nothing could be done in the stable without +his knowledge. A lad attached to the inn promised to convey the +news to Michel, in return for which Michel gave him three charges +of powder with which to make firecrackers. + +At midnight the traveller had not yet started; they had drunk +four bottles of wine, but Michel had partaken sparingly of them. +He had found means to pour three of the four bottles into Pierre's +glass, where they did not long remain. At midnight the wine-shop +closed, and Michel having nowhere to go for the four hours that +still remained until daybreak, Pierre offered him a bed of straw in +the stable. Michel accepted. The two friends went back arm-in-arm; +Pierre staggering, Michel pretending to stagger. + +At three o'clock in the morning the servant of the hotel awakened +Michel. The traveller wanted his horse. Michel, pretending that +he must be off to see to his game, also rose. His toilet was not +long in making; he had only to shake the straw from his hair, +game-bag, and blouse, after which he took leave of his friend +Pierre and hid himself at the corner of the street. + +Fifteen minutes later the gate opened and a man rode out on a +pacing horse. It was M. de Valensolle. He took the street that +led to the Geneva road. Michel followed without concealment, +whistling a hunting air. Only, as Michel could not run for fear +of attracting the rider's notice, he lost sight of him before +long. But Jacques was there, thought he, waiting at the fork of +the roads. Yes, Jacques had been there, but he had been there +for over six hours of a winter's night, in five degrees of cold. +Had he the courage to stand six hours in the snow and kick his +soles against a tree? + +Thinking thus, Michel took a short cut through the streets and +lanes, running at full speed; but horse and rider, in spite of +his haste, had gone faster than he. He reached the fork of the +roads. All was silent and solitary. The snow, trampled the day +before, a Sunday, no longer showed distinct tracks. The steps +of the horse were lost in the mud of the road. Nor did he waste +further time in vain searching. He wondered what had become of +Jacques; but his poacher's eye soon told him. + +Jacques had stood on watch at the foot of a tree. For how long? +It was difficult to say, but long enough to become very cold. +The snow was well beaten down by his heavy hunting-boots. He +had evidently tried to keep warm by walking up and down. Then +suddenly he must have remembered a little mud hut on the other +side of the road, such as the road-menders build as a shelter +against the rain. He had gone down the ditch and crossed the +road. His trail, lost for a moment in the centre of the road, was +visible on the snow at either side. This trail formed a diagonal +line, making straight for the hut. It was evidently in the hut +that Jacques had passed the night. But when had he left it? And +why had he left it? The first question was unanswerable. But to +the most inexperienced scout the second was plain enough. He had +left it to follow M. de Valensolle. The same footsteps that had +approached the hut were to be seen going, as they left it, in +the direction of Ceyzeriat. + +The traveller had really taken the road to Geneva. Jacques' footsteps +showed it plainly. The stride was long, like that of a man running, +and he had followed the road behind the trees, evidently to conceal +himself from the rider. At a wretched tavern, one of those with +the legend inscribed over its door: "Here we give food and drink, +equestrian and pedestrian lodgings," the trail stopped. It was +clear that the rider had stopped before this inn, for Jacques +had also paused behind a tree some twenty feet distant, where +the snow was-trampled. Then, probably after the gate had closed +on horse and rider, Jacques had left his tree, crossed the road, +this time with hesitation, his short steps leading, not to the +door, but to the window. + +Michel put his own feet in his son's footprints and reached the +window. Through the chinks in the shutter the interior, when +lighted, could be seen; but now all was dark, and Michel could see +nothing. But Jacques had certainly looked through the window; no +doubt it was then lighted, and he had been able to see something. + +Where had he gone on leaving the window? Round the house, close +to the wall. This excursion was easy to follow. The snow was +virgin. As for his purpose in going round the house that was +not difficult to make out. Jacques, like a lad of sense, had +concluded that the traveller had not left a good hotel, saying +that he was going to Geneva, to put up at a miserable tavern +a mile from the town. + +He must have ridden through the yard and gone out by some other +exit. Jacques had, therefore, skirted the house in the hope of +recovering the trail, if not of the horse, at least of the rider +on the other side. + +Sure enough, from a small gate in the rear, opening toward the +forest that extends from Coterz to Ceyzeriat, footsteps could +be seen advancing in a straight line to the edge of the woods. +They were those of a man elegantly shod, wearing spurs on his +heels, for the spurs had left their marks upon the snow. + +Jacques had not hesitated to follow these marks. The track of +his heavy shoes could be seen near the prints of the delicate +boot--the large foot of the peasant near the slender foot of +the city man. + +It was now five o'clock. Day was breaking, and Michel resolved +to go no further. Jacques was on the trail, and the young poacher +was worth as much as the old one. Michel circled the open as if +he were returning from Ceyzeriat, resolving to enter the inn +and wait for Jacques' return; certain that his son would know he +had followed him and had stopped short at this isolated house. + +Michel knocked on the window-shutter and was soon admitted. He +knew the landlord, who was well accustomed to his nocturnal habits, +asked for a bottle, complaining bitterly of his poor luck, and +asked permission to wait for his son, who was in the woods on +the other side, and who, he hoped, had been more successful in +tracking the game. It goes without saying that this permission +was readily accorded. Michel opened the window-shutters, in order +to look out on the road. + +It was not long before some one knocked on the glass. It was Jacques. +His father called him. + +Jacques had been as unfortunate as his father. No game; and he +was frozen. An armful of wood was thrown on the fire and a second +bottle of wine was brought. Jacques warmed himself and drank. + +Then, as it was necessary that the two poachers should be back +at the château before daylight, that their absence might not be +noticed, Michel paid for the wine and the wood, and the pair +departed. + +Neither had said one word before the landlord of the subject +that filled their minds. He was not to suspect that they were on +other trail than that of game. But no sooner were they outside +of the house than Michel drew close to his son. Jacques recounted +how he had followed the tracks until they had reached a crossroad +in the forest. There a man, armed with a gun, had suddenly appeared +and asked him what he was doing in the forest at that hour. Jacques +replied that he was watching for game. "Then go further," said +the man; "don't you see that this place is taken?" + +Jacques admitted the justice of this claim, and went on about a +hundred rods further, but, just as he was slanting to the left +to return to the crossroad, another man, armed like the first, had +suddenly started up with the same inopportune question. Jacques +gave him the same answer: "Watching for game." The man had then +pointed to the edge of the woods, saying in a threatening manner: +"If I have any advice to give you, my young friend, it is to go +over there. It will be safer for you than here." + +Jacques had taken this advice, or at least had pretended to take +it, for as soon as he had reached the edge of the woods he had +crept along in the ditch, until, convinced that it would be +impossible to recover M. de Valensolle's track, he had struck +into the open, and returned by fields and the highroad to the +tavern, where he hoped to, and in fact did, find his father. + +They reached the Château des Noires-Fontaines, as we have seen, +just as day was breaking. + +All that we have related was repeated to Roland with a multiplicity +of detail which we must omit, and convinced the young officer +that the two armed men, who had warned off Jacques, were not +poachers as they seemed, but Companions of Jehu. But where was +their haunt located? + +There was no deserted convent, no ruin, in that direction. + +Suddenly Roland clapped his hand to his head. "Idiot that I am!" +he cried, "why did I never think of that?" + +A smile of triumph crossed his lips, and addressing the two men, +who were mortified at having brought him no more definite news, +he cried: "My lads, I know all I want to know. Go to bed and +sleep sound; my word, you deserve to!" He himself, setting the +example, slept like a man whose brain has solved a problem of +the utmost importance which has long harassed it. + +The thought had just flashed through his mind that the Companions +of Jehu had abandoned the Chartreuse of Seillon for the grottoes +of Ceyzeriat; and at the same time he recalled the subterranean +passage leading from these grottoes to the church of Brou. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +A RECONNOISSANCE + +That same day, Sir John, making use of the permission accorded +him the night before, presented himself at the Château des +Noires-Fontaines between twelve and one o'clock. + +Everything occurred as Morgan had advised. Sir John was received as +the friend of the family, Lord Tanlay as a suitor whose attentions +were most flattering. Amélie made no opposition to the wishes of her +mother and brother, and to the commands of the First Consul, further +than to dwell on the state of her health and to ask for delay on +that account. Sir John bowed and submitted; he had obtained more +than he had hoped to obtain. He was accepted. + +He felt that his presence in Bourg, if prolonged, would be an +impropriety, Amélie being (still on the plea of ill-health) parted +from her mother and brother. He therefore announced that he would +pay her a second visit on the morrow, and leave Bourg that same +evening. He would delay further visits until Amélie came to Paris, +or until Madame de Montrevel returned to Bourg. The latter +arrangement was the more probable of the two, for Amélie assured +him she needed the country air and the spring-like weather to +assist her in recovering her health. + +Thanks to Sir John's considerate delicacy, the plan arranged +between Amélie and Morgan was thus carried out, and the two lovers +had before them a period of solitude and a respite in which to +form their plans. + +Michel learned these details from Charlotte and imparted them +in turn to Roland. The latter determined to await Sir John's +departure before he took any decisive steps against the Companions +of Jehu. But this did not prevent him from endeavoring to set at +rest any remaining doubts. + +When night came he put on a hunting-suit, and over it Michel's +blouse, concealed his face beneath a broad-brimmed hat, slipped +a pair of pistols in his knife-belt, hidden by the blouse, and +boldly took the road from Noires-Fontaines to Bourg. He stopped +at the barracks of the gendarmerie and asked to see the captain. + +The captain was in his room. Roland went up and made himself +known. Then, as it was only eight o'clock, and some one passing +might recognize him, he blew out the light, and the two men talked +in the dark. The captain knew already what had happened on the +Lyons road three days earlier, and, certain that Roland was not +killed, was expecting him. To his great astonishment, Roland +asked him for only one, or rather for two things: the key of the +church of Brou and a crowbar. + +The captain gave him the required articles, and offered to accompany +him, but Roland refused. It was evident to his mind that he had +been betrayed by some one connected with the affair of the +Maison-Blanche, and he would not expose himself to a second defeat. +He therefore begged the captain to tell no one of his presence +in Bourg, and to await his return, even if it were delayed some +hours. The captain agreed. + +Roland, the key in his right hand, the crowbar in his left, reached +the side door of the church without making any noise. This he +unlocked, entered, relocked it behind him, and found himself facing +a wall of hay. He listened. The most profound silence reigned. + +He remembered his boyish habits, took his bearings, put the key +in his pocket, and scrambled up the wall of hay, which was about +fifteen feet high and formed a sort of platform. When he reached +the top he slid down on the other side, as though he were descending +the scarp of a fortification, and reached the flooring of the +church, which was almost wholly composed of mortuary stones. + +The choir was empty, thanks to a rood-screen which protected it +on one side, and also to the walls which inclosed it to right +and left. The door of the screen was open and Roland entered the +choir without difficulty. He came face to face with the monument +of Philippe le Beau. At the head of the tomb was a large square +flagstone. It covered the steps which led to the burial vaults. + +Roland must have known the way, for as soon as he reached the +stone he knelt down and felt with his hand for the edge of it. +When he found it he stood up, inserted his lever and raised the +slab. With one hand he held it up while he went down the steps. +Then he lowered it slowly. It seemed as though this nocturnal +visitor were voluntarily separating himself from the land of the +living, and descending into the world of the dead. And strange +indeed to him, who sees by night as by day, on the earth and +beneath it, must the impassibility of this young man have seemed, +who passed among the dead in search of the living, and who, in +spite of darkness and solitude, did not shudder at the touch +of the mortuary marbles. + +He walked on, feeling his way among the tombs, until he came +to the iron gate leading to the subterranean passage. He looked +for the lock. It was only bolted. He inserted the end of his +lever between the bolt and the staple, and pushed it gently. +The gate opened. He drew it close after him, but did not lock +it, so as to avoid delay on his return. The crowbar he left at +the corner of the gate. + +Then, with straining ears, dilated pupils, every sense tense +with this effort to hear, the need to breathe, the impossibility +of seeing, he advanced slowly, a pistol in one hand, touching +the wall with the other to guide himself. He walked thus for +fifteen minutes. A few drops of ice-cold water fell through the +roof on his hands and shoulders, and told him he was passing +under the river. + +At the end of this time he found the door which opened from the +passage into the quarry. There he halted a moment. He could now +breathe more freely, and, moreover, he fancied that he heard distant +sounds, and could see flickering lights, like will-o'-the-wisps, +on the pillars that supported the roof. An observer might have +thought, not distinguishing the face of the silent listener, +that he showed hesitation; but the moment his countenance was +seen, no one could have mistaken its expression of hope. + +He then resumed his way, heading toward the light he thought he +had seen. As he advanced, the lights and the noises grew more +distinct. It was evident that the quarry was inhabited. By whom? +He did not yet know, but he would know. + +He was already within ten feet of that open clearing in the midst +of the granite walls which we described on our first visit to +the grotto of Ceyzeriat. Roland clung closely to the wall, and +moved forward almost imperceptibly. In the dim half-light he +looked like a gliding bass-relief. + +At last his head passed beyond an angle of the wall, and his +glance rested upon what we may call the camp of the Companions +of Jehu. + +A dozen or more of the members sat there at supper. Roland was +seized with a wild desire to precipitate himself into their midst, +attacking them singly, and fighting until he died. But he repressed +the insensate thought, withdrew his head as slowly as he had +advanced it, and, with beaming eyes and heart full of joy, returned, +unseen and unsuspected, along the way he had come. Everything +was now explained; the deserted Chartreuse, M. de Valensolle's +disappearance, and the counterfeit poachers near the entrance +to the grotto of Ceyzeriat. + +This time he was sure of his vengeance, his deadly, terrible +vengeance--deadly, because, in like manner as he had been spared +(he suspected intentionally), he meant to spare others; with +this difference that, whereas he had been spared for life, he +would order these men spared for death, death on the scaffold. + +Half-way back he thought he heard a noise behind him. He turned +and was certain he saw a gleam of light. He quickened his steps. +The gate once passed, there was no danger of losing his way. It +was no longer a quarry with a thousand windings; it was a straight +and narrow vaulted passage leading to the mortuary grating. At the +end of ten minutes he again passed under the river; a couple of +minutes later, his outstretched hand touched the iron gate. + +He took the crowbar from the place where he had left it, entered +the vault, pulled the gate to, closed it gently and noiselessly, +and, guiding himself by the tombs, he regained the staircase, +pushed up the flagstone with his head, and stood once more in +the land of the living. + +There it was comparative daylight. He left the choir, closed the +door of the screen as he had found it, scaled the hay, crossed +the platform, and slid down the other side. The key was still +in his pocket. He unlocked the door and stepped out into the +street. + +The captain of gendarmerie was anxiously awaiting him. They conferred +together for a few moments, and then they returned to Bourg by +the outer road to avoid being seen. Here they entered the town +through the market-gate, and followed the Rue de la Révolution, +the Rue de la Liberté, and the Rue d'Espagne, since called the +Rue Simonneau. There Roland ensconced himself in a corner of the +Rue du Greffe and waited. The captain continued on his way alone. +He went down the Rue des Ursules (for the last seven years called +the Rue des Casernes). This was where the colonel of dragoons +lived. He had just gone to bed when the captain of the gendarmerie +entered his room; in two words the latter told all, and he rose +at once and dressed in haste. + +When the colonel of dragoons and the captain of gendarmerie appeared +in the square, a shadow detached itself from the opposite wall +and came up to them. That shadow was Roland. The three men stood +talking for about ten minutes, Roland giving his orders, the +other two listening and approving. + +Then they separated. The colonel returned home. Roland and the +captain followed the Rue de l'Etoile, climbed the steps of the +Jacobins, passed down the Rue du Bourgneuf, and reached the outer +road once more. Then they struck diagonally across to the highroad +of Pont-d'Ain. The captain stopped at the barracks, which were +on the way, and Roland continued alone to the château. + +Twenty minutes later--in order not to awaken Amélie--instead +of ringing the bell he knocked on Michel's window-blind. Michel +opened, and with one bound Roland, devoured by that fever which +took possession of him whenever he incurred, or merely dreamed +of some danger, sprang into the room. + +He would not have awakened Amélie had he rung, for Amélie was +not asleep. Charlotte had been into town ostensibly to see her +father, but really to take a letter from her mistress to Morgan. +She had seen Morgan and brought back his answer. + +Amélie was reading that answer, which was as follows: + + DEAR LOVE OF MINE--Yes, all goes well on your side, for you are + an angel; but I greatly fear that all may go ill on mine, for I + am the demon. + + I must see you, I must hold you in my arms and press you to my + Heart. I know not what presentiment hangs over me; but I am sad, + sad as death. + + Send Charlotte to-morrow to make sure that Sir John is gone, and + then, if you are certain, make the accustomed signal. Do not be + alarmed; do not talk to me of the snow, or tell me that my + footsteps will be seen. This time it is not I who will go to you, + but you who must come to me. Do you understand? You can safely + walk in the park, and no one will notice your footsteps. + + Put on your warmest shawl and your thickest furs. Then we will + spend an hour in the boat under the willows together, and change + our roles for once. Usually I tell you of my hopes and you tell + me of your fears; but to-morrow, you will tell me of your hopes + and I will tell you of my fears, my darling Amélie. + + Only, be sure to come out as soon as you have made the signal. I + will await it at Montagnac, and from Montagnac to the Reissouse + it will not take a love like mine five minutes to reach you. + + Au revoir, my poor Amélie; had you never met me you would have + been the happiest of the happy. Fatality placed me in your path, + and I have made a martyr of you. + + Your CHARLES. + + P.S.--To-morrow without fail, unless some insurmountable obstacle + prevents. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +IN WHICH MORGAN'S PRESENTIMENTS ARE VERIFIED + +It often happens that the skies are never so calm or so serene +as before a storm. The day was beautiful and still; one of those +glorious days of February when, in spite of the tingling cold +of the atmosphere, in spite of a winding-sheet of snow covering +the earth, the sun smiles down upon mankind with a promise of +spring. + +Sir John came at noon to make his farewell visit to Amélie. He +had, or thought he had, her promise, and that satisfied him. +His impatience was altogether personal; but Amélie, in accepting +his suit, even though she relegated the period of her marriage to +the vaguest possible future, had crowned his hopes. He trusted +to the First Consul and to Roland's friendship for the rest. He +therefore returned to Paris to do much of his courting with +Madame de Montrevel, not being able to remain at Bourg and carry +it on with Amélie. + +A quarter of an hour after he had left the Château des +Noires-Fontaines, Charlotte was also on her way to Bourg. At +four o'clock she returned, bringing word that she had seen Sir +John with her own eyes getting into his travelling carriage, +and that he had taken the road to Mâcon. + +Amélie could therefore feel perfectly at ease on that score. She +breathed freer. She had tried to inspire Morgan with a peace of +mind which she herself did not share. Since the day that Charlotte +had brought back the news of Roland's presence at Bourg, she +had had a presentiment, like that of Morgan himself, that they +were approaching some terrible crisis. She knew all that had +happened at the Chartreuse of Seillon. She foresaw the struggle +between her brother and her lover, and, with her mind at rest +about her brother, thanks to Morgan's protection, she, knowing +Roland's character, trembled for her lover's life. + +Moreover, she had heard of the stoppage of the Chambéry mail-coach +and the death of the colonel of Chasseurs. She also knew that her +brother had escaped, but that he had disappeared since that time. +She had received no letter from him herself. This disappearance +and silence, to her who knew her brother so well, was even worse +than open and declared war. + +As for Morgan, she had not seen him since the scene we have narrated, +when she promised to send him arms wherever he might be, in case he +were condemned to death. Amélie therefore awaited this interview, +for which Morgan had asked, with as much impatience as he who had +asked it. As soon as she thought Michel and his son were in bed, +she lighted the four windows with the candles which were to summon +Morgan to her. + +Then, following her lover's injunctions, she wrapped herself +in a cashmere shawl, which Roland had brought her from the +battlefield of the Pyramids, and which he had unwound from the +head of a chieftain whom he had killed. Over this she flung a +fur mantle, left Charlotte behind to keep her informed in case +of eventualities, which she trusted would not be forthcoming, +opened the park gate, and hastened toward the river. + +During the day she had gone to the Reissouse and back several +times to trace a line of footsteps, among which the nocturnal +ones would not be noticed. She now descended, if not tranquilly +at least boldly, the slope leading to the river. Once there, she +looked about her for the boat beneath the willows. A man was +waiting in it--Morgan. With two strokes of the oar he reached +a spot where Amélie could come to him. The young girl sprang +down and he caught her in his arms. + +The first thing the young girl noticed was the joyous radiance +which illuminated, if we may say so, the face of her lover. + +"Oh!" she cried, "you have something nice to tell me." "What +makes you think so, dearest?" asked Morgan with his tenderest +smile. + +"There is something in your face, my darling Charles, something +more than the mere happiness of seeing me." + +"You are right," said Morgan, throwing the boat-chain around a +willow and letting the oars float idly beside the boat. Then, +taking Amélie in his arms, he said, "You were right, my Amélie. +Oh! blind weak beings! It is at the very moment that happiness +knocks at our door that we despair and doubt." + +"Oh, speak, speak!" said Amélie, "tell me what has happened." + +"Do you remember, my Amélie, how you answered me the last time +we met, when I asked you to fly and spoke to you of your probable +repugnance to the step?" + +"Yes, I remember, Charles. I said that I was yours, and that, +though I felt that repugnance, I would conquer it for your sake." + +"And I replied that I had engagements which would prevent my +leaving the country; that I was bound to others, and they to +me; that our duty was to one man to whom we owed absolute +obedience--the future King of France, Louis XVIII." + +"Yes, you told me that." + +"Well, we are now released from our pledges, Amélie, not only +by the King, but by our general, Georges Cadoudal." + +"Oh! my friend, then you will be as other men, only above all +others." + +"I shall become a simple exile, Amélie. There is no hope of our +being included in the Breton or Vendéan amnesty." + +"Why not?" + +"We are not soldiers, my darling child. We are not even rebels. +We are Companions of Jehu." + +Amélie sighed. + +"We are bandits, brigands, highwaymen," said Morgan, dwelling +on the words with evident intention. + +"Hush!" said Amélie, laying her hand on her lover's lips. "Hush! +don't let us speak of that. Tell me how it is that your king +has released you, and your general also." + +"The First Consul wished to see Cadoudal. In the first place, +he sent your brother to him with certain proposals. Cadoudal +refused to come to terms; but, like ourselves, he received orders +from Louis XVIII. to cease hostilities. Coincident with that +order came another message from the First Consul to Cadoudal. +It was a safeguard for the Vendéan general, and an invitation +to come to Paris; an overture from one power to another power. +Cadoudal accepted, and is now on his way to Paris. If it is not +peace, it is at least a truce." + +"Oh, what joy, my Charles!" + +"Don't rejoice too much, my love." + +"Why not?" + +"Do you know why they have issued this order to suspend hostilities?" + +"No." + +"Because M. Fouché is a long-headed man. He realized that, since +he could not defeat us, he must dishonor us. He has organized +false companies of Jehu, which he has set loose in Maine and +Anjou, who don't stop at the government money, but pillage and +rob travellers, and invade the châteaux and farms by night, and +roast the feet of the owners to make them tell where their treasure +is hidden. Well, these men, these bandits, these _roasters_, +have taken our name, and claim to be fighting for the same +principles, so that M. Fouché and his police declare that we are +not only beyond the pale of the law, but beyond that of honor." + +"Oh!" + +"That is what I wished to tell you before I ask you to fly with +me, my Amélie. In the eyes of France, in the eyes of foreigners, +even in the eyes of the prince we have served, and for whom we +have risked the scaffold, we shall be hereafter, and probably +are now, dishonored men worthy of the scaffold." + +"Yes; but to me you are my Charles, the man of devoted convictions, +the firm royalist, continuing to struggle for a cause when other men +have abandoned it. To me you are the loyal Baron de Sainte-Hermine, +or, if you like it better, you are to me the noble, courageous, +invincible Morgan." + +"Ah! that is what I longed to hear, my darling. If you feel thus, +you will not hesitate, in spite of the cloud of infamy that hangs +over our honor, you will not hesitate--I will not say to give +yourself to me, for that you have already done--but to become +my wife." + +"Hesitate! No, not for an instant, not for a second! To do it +is the joy of my soul, the happiness of my life! Your wife? I +am your wife in the sight of God, and God will have granted my +every prayer on the day that he enables me to be your wife before +men." + +Morgan fell on his knees. + +"Then," he said, "here at your feet, with clasped hands and my +whole heart supplicating, I say to you, Amélie, will you fly +with me? Will you leave France with me? Will you be my wife in +other lands?" + +Amélie sprang erect and clasped her head in her hands, as though +her brain were bursting with the force of the blood that rushed +to it. Morgan caught both her hands and looked at her anxiously. + +"Do you hesitate?" he asked in a broken, trembling voice. + +"No, not an instant!" she cried resolutely. "I am yours in the +past, in the present, in the future, here, everywhere. Only the +thought convulses me. It is so unexpected." + +"Reflect well, Amélie. What I ask of you is to abandon country +and family, all that is dear to you, all that is sacred. If you +follow me, you leave the home where you were born, the mother +who nurtured you, the brother who loves you, and who, perhaps, +when he hears that you are the wife of a brigand, will hate you. +He will certainly despise you." + +As he spoke, Morgan's eyes were anxiously questioning Amélie's +face. Over that face a tender smile stole gradually, and then +it turned from heaven to earth, and bent upon Morgan, who was +still on his knees before her. + +"Oh, Charles!" she murmured, in a voice as soft as the clear +limpid river flowing at her feet, "the love that comes direct +from the Divine is very powerful indeed, since, in spite of those +dreadful words you have just uttered, I say to you without +hesitation, almost without regret: Charles, I am here; Charles, +I am yours. Where shall we go?" + +"Amélie, our fate is not one to discuss. If we go, if you follow +me, it must be at once. To-morrow we must be beyond the frontier." + +"How do we go?" + +"I have two horses, ready saddled at Montagnac, one for you, +Amélie, and one for me. I have letters of credit for two hundred +thousand francs on London and Vienna. We will go wherever you +prefer." + +"Wherever you are, Charles. What difference does it make so long +as you are there?" + +"Then come." + +"Can I have five minutes, Charles; is that too much?" + +"Where are you going?" + +"To say good-by to many things, to fetch your precious letters +and the ivory chaplet used at my first communion. Oh! there are +many sacred cherished souvenirs of my childhood which will remind +me over there of my mother, of France. I will fetch them and +return." + +"Amélie!" + +"What is it?" + +"I cannot leave you. If I part with you an instant now I feel +that I shall lose you forever. Amélie, let me go with you." + +"Yes, come. What matter if they see your footsteps now? We shall +be far enough away to-morrow. Come!" The young man sprang from +the boat and gave his hand to Amélie to help her out. Then he +folded his arm about her and they walked to the house. + +On the portico Charles stopped. + +"Go on alone," said he; "memory is a chaste thing. I know that, +and I will not embarrass you by my presence. I will wait here +and watch for you. So long as I know you are close by me I do +not fear to lose you. Go, dear, and come back quickly." + +Amélie answered with a kiss. Then she ran hastily up to her room, +took the little coffer of carved oak clamped with iron, her treasury, +which contained her lover's letters from first to last, unfastened +from the mirror above her bed the white and virginal chaplet +that hung there; put into her belt a watch her father had given +her, and passed into her mother's bedchamber. There she stooped +and kissed the pillow where her mother's head had lain, knelt +before the Christ at the foot of the bed, began a thanksgiving +she dared not finish, changed it to a prayer, and then suddenly +stopped--she fancied she heard Charles calling her. + +She listened and heard her name a second time, uttered in a tone +of agony she could not understand. She quivered, sprang to her +feet, and ran rapidly down the stairs. + +"What is it?" cried Amélie, seizing the young man's hand. + +"Listen, listen!" said he. + +Amélie strained her ears to catch the sound which seemed to her +like musketry. It came from the direction of Ceyzeriat. + +"Oh!" cried Morgan, "I was right in doubting my happiness to the +last. My friends are attacked. Adieu, Amélie, adieu!" + +"Adieu!" cried Amélie, turning pale. "What, will you leave me?" + +The sound of the firing grew more distinct. + +"Don't you hear them? They are fighting, and I am not there to +fight with them." + +Daughter and sister of a soldier, Amélie understood him and she +made no resistance. + +"Go!" she said, letting her hands drop beside her. "You were right, +we are lost." + +The young man uttered a cry of rage, caught her to his breast, and +pressed her to him as though he would smother her. Then, bounding +from the portico, he rushed in the direction of the firing with the +speed of a deer pursued by hunters. + +"I come! I come, my friends!" he cried. And he disappeared like +a shadow beneath the tall trees of the park. + +Amélie fell upon her knees, her hands stretched toward him without +the strength to recall him, or, if she did so, it was in so faint +a voice that Morgan did not stop or even check his speed to answer +her. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +ROLAND'S REVENGE + +It is easy to guess what had happened. Roland had not wasted his +time with the captain of gendarmerie and the colonel of dragoons. +They on their side did not forget that they had their own revenge +to take. + +Roland had informed them of the subterranean passage that led +from the church of Brou to the grotto of Ceyzeriat. At nine in +the evening the captain and the eighteen men under his command +were to go to the church, descend into the burial vault of the +Dukes of Savoy, and prevent with their bayonets all communication +between the subterranean passage and the quarry. + +Roland, at the head of twenty men, was to inclose the woods in +a semicircle, drawing in upon it until the two ends should meet +at the grotto of Ceyzeriat. The first movement of the party was +to be made at nine o'clock, in conjunction with the captain of +the gendarmerie. + +We have seen, from what Morgan told Amélie, the nature of the +present intentions of the Companions of Jehu. The news brought +from Mittau and from Brittany had put them at ease. Each man +felt that he was free, and, knowing that the struggle had been +a hopeless one, he rejoiced in his liberty. + +There was therefore a full meeting at the grotto of Ceyzeriat, +almost a fête. At twelve o'clock the Companions of Jehu were +to separate, and each one, according to his facilities, was to +cross the frontier and leave France. + +We know how their leader employed his last moments. The others, +who had not the same ties of the heart, were supping together in +the broad open space of the quarry, brilliantly illuminated--a +feast of separation and farewell; for, once out of France, the +Vendée and Brittany pacificated, Condé's army destroyed, who +knew when and where they should meet again in foreign lands. + +Suddenly the report of a shot fell upon their ears. + +Every man sprang to his feet as if moved by an electric shock. +A second shot, and then through the depths of the quarry rang +the cry, quivering on the wings of the bird of ill-omen, "To +arms!" + +To the Companions of Jehu, subjected to all the vicissitudes of +life of an outlaw, the occasional rest they snatched was never +that of peace. Pistols, daggers, carbines, were ever near at +hand. At the cry, given no doubt by the sentinel, each man sprang +to his weapons and stood with panting breast and strained ears, +waiting. + +In the midst of the silence a step as rapid as well could be in +the darkness was heard. Then, within the circle of light thrown +by the torches and candles, a man appeared. + +"To arms!" he cried again, "we are attacked!" + +The two shots the Companions of Jehu had heard were from the +double-barrelled gun of the sentry. It was he who now appeared, +his smoking gun in his hand. + +"Where is Morgan?" cried twenty voices. + +"Absent," replied Montbar; "consequently I command. Put out the +lights and retreat to the church. A fight is useless now. It +would only be waste of blood." + +He was obeyed with an alacrity that showed that every one appreciated +the danger. The little company drew together in the darkness. + +Montbar, who knew the windings of the subterranean passage almost +as well as Morgan, directed the troop, and, followed by his +companions, he plunged into the heart of the quarry. Suddenly, +as he neared the gate of the passage, he fancied he heard an +order given in a low tone not fifty feet away, then a sound like +the cocking of guns. He stretched out both arms and muttered +in a low voice: + +"Halt!" At the same instant came the command, this time perfectly +audible: "Fire!" + +It was hardly given before the cavern was lighted with a glare, +followed by a frightful volley. Ten carbines had been discharged +at once into the narrow passage. By their light Montbar and his +companions recognized the uniform of the gendarmes. + +"Fire!" cried Montbar in turn. + +Seven or eight shots answered the command. Again the darkness was +illuminated. Two of the Companions of Jehu lay upon the ground, +one killed outright, the other mortally wounded. + +"Our retreat is cut off, my friends," cried Montbar. "To the +right-about! If we have a chance, it is through the forest." + +The movement was executed with the precision of a military manoeuvre. +Montbar, again at the head of his companions, retraced his steps. +At that moment the gendarmes fired again. But no one replied. +Those who had discharged their guns reloaded them. Those who +had not, reserved their fire for the real struggle which was to +come. One or two sighs alone told that the last volley of the +gendarmes had not been without result. + +At the end of five minutes Montbar stopped. The little party had +reached the open space of the quarry. + +"Are your pistols and guns all loaded?" he asked. + +"Yes," answered a dozen voices. + +"Remember the order for those who fall into the hands of the +police. We belong to the army of M. de Teyssonnet, and we are +here to recruit men for the royalist cause. If they talk to us +of mail-coaches and diligences, we don't know what they mean." + +"Agreed." + +"In either case it will be death. We know that well enough; but +the death of a soldier is better than that of thieves--the volley +of a platoon rather than the guillotine." + +"Yes, yes," cried a mocking voice, "we know what that is--Vive +la fusillade!" + +"Forward, friends!" said Montbar, "and let us sell our lives +for what they are worth; that is to say, as dearly as possible." + +"Forward!" they all cried. + +Then, as rapidly as was possible in the profound darkness, the +little troop resumed its march, still under the guidance of Montbar. +As they advanced, the leader noticed a smell of smoke which alarmed +him. At the same time gleams of light began to flicker on the +granite walls at the angles of the path, showing that something +strange was happening at the opening of the grotto. + +"I believe those scoundrels are smoking us out," exclaimed Montbar. + +"I fear so," replied Adler. + +"They think we are foxes." + +"Oh!" replied the same voice, "they shall know by our claws that +we are lions." + +The smoke became thicker and thicker, the light more and more +vivid. + +They turned the last corner. A pile of dried wood had been lighted +in the quarry about fifty feet from the entrance, not for the +smoke, but for the light it gave. By the blaze of that savage +flame the weapons of the dragoons could be seen gleaming at the +entrance of the grotto. + +Ten steps in advance of the men stood an officer, waiting. He +was leaning on his carbine, not only exposed to attack, but +apparently courting it. It was Roland. He was easily recognized. +He had flung his cap away, his head was bare, and the fitful +light of the flames played upon his features. But that which +should have cost him his life saved him. Montbar recognized him +and stepped backward. + +"Roland de Montrevel!" he said. "Remember Morgan's injunction." + +"Yes," replied the other Companions, in muffled tones. + +"And now," said Montbar, "let us die, but dearly!" + +And he sprang forward into the space illuminated by the fire, +and discharged one barrel of his gun at the dragoons, who replied +with a volley. + +It would be impossible to relate all that followed. The grotto +was filled with smoke, which the flame of each weapon pierced +like a flash of lightning. The two bands clinched and fought +hand to hand, pistols and daggers serving them in turn. At the +noise of the struggle, the gendarmes poured in from the rear--few +more demons added to this fight of devils--but the groups of +friends and enemies were so confused they dared not fire. They +struggled in the red and lurid atmosphere, fell down and rose +again; a roar of rage was heard, then a cry of agony--the death +sigh of a man. The survivor sought another man, and the struggle +was renewed. + +This work of death lasted fifteen minutes, perhaps twenty. At +the end of those twenty minutes twenty corpses could be counted +in the grotto of Ceyzeriat. Thirteen were those of the gendarmes +and the dragoons, nine belonged to the Companions of Jehu. Five +of the latter were still living; overwhelmed by numbers, crippled +by wounds, they were taken alive. The gendarmes and the dragoons, +twenty-five in number, surrounded them. + +The captain of gendarmes had his arm shattered, the colonel of +dragoons was wounded in the thigh. Roland alone, covered with blood +that was not his own, had not a scratch. Two of the prisoners were +so grievously wounded that it was impossible for them to walk, +and the soldiers were obliged to carry them on an improvised +litter. Torches were lighted, and the whole troop, with the +prisoners, took the road to the town. + +As they were leaving the forest to branch into the high-road, +the gallop of a horse was heard. It came on rapidly. "Go on," +said Roland; "I will stay here and find out what this means." + +It was a rider, who, as we have said, was advancing at full speed. + +"Who goes there?" cried Roland, raising his carbine when the rider +was about twenty paces from him. + +"One more prisoner, Monsieur de Montrevel," replied the rider, +"I could not be in at the fight, but I will at least go to the +scaffold. Where are my friends?" + +"There, sir," replied Roland, who had recognized, not the face, +but the voice of the rider, a voice which he now heard for the +third time. As he spoke, he pointed to the little group in the +centre of the soldiers who were making their way along the road +from Ceyzeriat to Bourg. + +"I am glad to see that no harm has befallen you, M. de Montrevel," +said the young man, with great courtesy; "I assure you it gives +me much happiness." And spurring his horse, he was beside the +soldiers and gendarmes in a few strides. "Pardon me, gentlemen," +he said, springing from his horse, "I claim a place among my +three friends, the Vicomte de Jayat, the Comte de Valensolle, +and the Marquis de Ribier." + +The three prisoners gave a cry of admiration and held out their +hands to their friend. The two wounded men lifted themselves +up on their litters, and murmured: "Well done, Sainte-Hermine, +well done!" + +"I do believe, God help me!" cried Roland, "that those brigands +will have the nobler side of the affair!" + + + + +CHAPTER L + +CADOUDAL AT THE TUILERIES + +The day but one after the events which we have just related took +place, two men were walking side by side up and down the grand +salon of the Tuileries. They were talking eagerly, accompanying +their words with hasty and animated gestures. These men were +the First Consul, Bonaparte, and Cadoudal. + +Cadoudal, impelled by the misery that might be entailed by a +prolonged struggle in Brittany, had just signed a peace with +Brune. It was after this signing of the peace that he had released +the Companions of Jehu from their obligations. Unhappily, this +release had reached them, as we have seen, twenty-four hours +too late. + +When treating with Brune, Cadoudal had asked nothing for himself +save the liberty to go immediately to England. But Brune had +been so insistent, that he had consented to an interview with +the First Consul. He had, in consequence, come to Paris. The +very morning of his arrival he went to the Tuileries, sent in +his name, and had been received. It was Rapp who, in Roland's +absence, introduced him. As the aide-de-camp withdrew, he left +both doors open, so as to see everything from Bourrienne's room, +and to be able to go to the assistance of the First Consul if +necessary. + +But Bonaparte, who perfectly understood Rapp's motive, closed +the door. Then, returning hastily to Cadoudal's side, he said: +"Ah! so it is you at last! One of your enemies, my aide-de-camp, +Roland de Montrevel, has told me fine things of you." + +"That does not surprise me," replied Cadoudal. "During the short +time I saw M. de Montrevel, I recognized in him a most chivalrous +nature." + +"Yes; and that touched you?" asked the First Consul, fixing his +falcon eye on the royalist chief. "Listen, Georges. I need energetic +men like you to accomplish the work I have undertaken. Will you +be one of them? I have already offered you the rank of colonel, +but you are worth more than that. I now offer you the rank of +general of division." + +"I thank you from the bottom of my heart, citizen First Consul," +replied Cadoudal; "but you would despise me if I accepted." + +"Why so?" queried Bonaparte, hastily. + +"Because I have pledged myself to the House of Bourbon; and I +shall remain faithful to it under all circumstances." + +"Let us discuss the matter," resumed the First Consul. "Is there +no way to bind you?" + +"General," replied the royalist leader, "may I be permitted to +repeat to you what has been said to me?" + +"Why not?" + +"Because it touches upon the deepest political interests." + +"Pooh! some nonsense," said the First Consul, smiling uneasily. + +Cadoudal stopped short and looked fixedly at his companion. + +"It is said that an agreement was made between you and Commodore +Sidney Smith at Alexandria, the purport of which was to allow +you to return to France on the condition, accepted by you, of +restoring the throne to our former kings." + +Bonaparte burst out laughing. + +"How astonishing you are, you plebeians!" he said, "with your +love for your former kings! Suppose that I did re-establish the +throne (a thing, I assure you, I have not the smallest desire +to do), what return will you get, you who have shed your blood +for the cause? Not even the confirmation of the rank you have +won in it, colonel. Have you ever known in the royalist ranks a +colonel who was not a noble? Did you ever hear of any man rising +by his merits into that class of people? Whereas with me, Georges, +you can attain to what you will. The higher I raise myself, the +higher I shall raise those who surround me. As for seeing me +play the part of Monk, dismiss that from your mind. Monk lived +in an age in which the prejudices we fought and overthrew in +1789 were in full force. Had Monk wished to make himself king, +he could not have done so. Dictator? No! It needed a Cromwell +for that! Richard could not have maintained himself. It is true +that he was the true son of a great man--in other words a fool. +If I had wished to make myself king, there was nothing to hinder +me; and if ever the wish takes me there will be nothing to hinder. +Now, if you have an answer to that, give it." + +"You tell me, citizen First Consul, that the situation in France +in 1800 is not the same as England in 1660. Charles I. was beheaded +in 1649, Louis XVI. in 1793. Eleven years elapsed in England +between the death of the king and the restoration of his son. +Seven years have already elapsed in France since the death of +Louis XVI. Will you tell me that the English revolution was a +religious one, whereas the French revolution was a political +one? To that I reply that a charter is as easy to make as an +abjuration." + +Bonaparte smiled. + +"No," he said, "I should not tell you that. I should say to you +simply this: that Cromwell was fifty years old when Charles I. +died. I was twenty-four at the death of Louis XVI. Cromwell died at +the age of fifty-nine. In ten years' time he was able to undertake +much, but to accomplish little. Besides, his reform was a total +one--a vast political reform by the substitution of a republican +government for a monarchical one. Well, grant that I live to be +Cromwell's age, fifty-nine; that is not too much to expect; I +shall still have twenty years, just the double of Cromwell. And +remark, I change nothing, I progress; I do not overthrow, I build +up. Suppose that Cæsar, at thirty years of age, instead of being +merely the first roué of Rome, had been its greatest citizen; +suppose his campaign in Gaul had been made; that his campaign in +Egypt was over, his campaign in Spain happily concluded; suppose +that he was thirty years old instead of fifty--don't you think +he would have been both Cæsar and Augustus?" + +"Yes, unless he found Brutus, Cassius, and Casca on his path." + +"So," said Bonaparte, sadly, "my enemies are reckoning on +assassination, are they? In that case the thing is easy, and +you, my enemy, have the first chance. What hinders you at this +moment, if you feel like Brutus, from striking me as he struck +Cæsar? I am alone with you, the doors are shut; and you would +have the time to finish me before any one could reach you." + +Cadoudal made a step backward. + +"No," said he, "we do not count upon assassination, and I think +our extremity must be great indeed before any of us would become +a murderer; but there are the chances of war. A single reverse +would destroy your prestige. One defeat would bring the enemy to +the heart of France. The camp-fires of the Austrians can already +be seen from the frontiers of Provence. A cannon-ball may take +off your head, as it did that of Marshal Berwick, and then what +becomes of France? You have no children, and your brothers--" + +"Oh!" cried Bonaparte, "from that point of view you are right +enough; but, if you don't believe in Providence, I do. I believe +that nothing happens by chance. I believe that when, on the 15th +of August, 1769 (one year, day for day, after Louis XV. issued +the decree reuniting Corsica to France), a child was born in +Ajaccio, destined to bring about the 13th Vendémiaire and the +18th Brumaire, and that Providence had great designs, mighty +projects, in view for that child. I am that child. If I have +a mission, I have nothing to fear. My mission is a buckler. If +I have no mission, if I am mistaken, if, instead of living the +twenty-five or thirty years I need to accomplish my work, I am +stabbed to the heart like Cæsar, or knocked over by a cannon-ball +like Berwick, Providence will have had its reasons for acting +so, and on Providence will devolve the duty of providing for +France. We spoke just now of Cæsar. When Rome followed his body, +mourning, and burned the houses of his murderers, when the Eternal +City turned its eyes to the four quarters of the globe, asking +whence would come the genius to stay her civil wars, when she +trembled at the sight of drunken Antony and treacherous Lepidus, +she never thought of the pupil of Apollonius, the nephew of Cæsar, +the young Octavius. Who then remembered that son of the Velletri +banker, whitened with the flour of his ancestors? No one; not +even the far-sighted Cicero. '_Orandum et tollendum_,' he +said. Well, that lad fooled all the graybeards in the Senate, +and reigned almost as long as Louis XIV. Georges, Georges! don't +struggle against the Providence which created me, or that Providence +will destroy you." + +"Then I shall be destroyed while following the path and the religion +of my fathers," replied Cadoudal, bowing; "and I hope that God +will pardon my error, which will be that of a fervent Christian +and a faithful son." + +Bonaparte laid his hands on the shoulders of the young leader. + +"So be it," said he; "but at least remain neuter. Leave events +to complete themselves. Watch the thrones as they topple, the +crowns as they fall. Usually spectators pay for a show; I will +pay you to look on." + +"And what will you pay me for that, citizen First Consul?" asked +Cadoudal, laughing. + +"One hundred thousand francs a year," replied Bonaparte. + +"If you would give a hundred thousand francs to one poor rebel +leader," said Cadoudal, "what would you give to the prince for +whom he fought?" + +"Nothing, sir. I pay you for your courage, not for the principle +for which you fought. I prove to you that I, man of my own works, +judge men solely by theirs. Accept, Georges, I beg of you." + +"And suppose I refuse?" + +"You will do wrong." + +"Will I still be free to depart when I please?" + +Bonaparte went to the door and opened it. + +"The aide-de-camp on duty," he said. + +He waited, expecting to see Rapp. Roland appeared. + +"Ah, is it you!" he cried. Then, turning to Cadoudal, he said: +"Colonel, I do not need to present to you my aide-de-camp, M. +Roland de Montrevel. He is already one of your acquaintances. +Roland, tell the colonel that he is as free in Paris as you were +in his camp at Muzillac, and that if he wishes a passport for +any country in the world, Fouché has orders to give it to him." + +"Your word suffices, citizen First Consul," replied Cadoudal, +bowing. "I leave to-night." + +"May I ask where you are going?" + +"To London, general." + +"So much the better." + +"Why so much the better?" + +"Because there you will be near the men for whom you have fought." + +"And then?" + +"Then, when you have seen them--" + +"What?" + +"You will compare them with those against whom you have fought. +But, once out of France, colonel--" + +Bonaparte paused. + +"I am waiting," said Cadoudal. + +"Do not return without warning me, or, if you do, do not be surprised +if I treat you as an enemy." + +"That would be an honor, general. By treating me so you will show +that you consider me a man to be feared." + +So saying, Georges bowed to the First Consul, and retired. + +"Well, general," asked Roland, after the door had closed on the +Breton leader, "is he the man I represented him to be?" + +"Yes," responded Bonaparte, thoughtfully; "only he sees things +awry. But the exaggeration of his ideas arises from noble sentiments, +which must give him great influence over his own people." Then +he added, in a low voice, "But we must make an end of him. And +now what have you been doing, Roland?" + +"Making an end of my work," replied Roland. + +"Ah, ha! Then the Companions of Jehu--" + +"No longer exist, general. Three-fourths are dead, the rest +prisoners." + +"And you are safe and sound?" + +"Don't speak of it, general. I do verily believe I have a compact +with the devil." + +That same evening Cadoudal, as he said, left Paris for England. +On receiving the news that the Breton leader was in London, Louis +XVIII. wrote him the following letter: + + I have learned with the greatest satisfaction, general, that + you have at last _escaped_ from the bands of the tyrant who + misconceived you so far as to offer you service under him. I + deplore the unhappy circumstances which obliged you to treat + with him; but I did not feel the slightest uneasiness; the + heart of my faithful Bretons, and yours in particular, are + too well known to me. To-day you are free, you are near my + brother, all my hopes revive. I need not say more to such a + Frenchman as you. + + LOUIS. + +To this letter were added a lieutenant-general's commission and +the grand cordon of Saint-Louis. + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +THE ARMY OF THE RESERVES + +The First Consul had reached the point he desired. The Companions +of Jehu were destroyed and the Vendée was pacificated. + +When demanding peace from England he had hoped for war. He understood +very well that, born of war, he could exist only by war. He seemed +to foresee that a poet would arise and call him "The Giant of +War." + +But war--what war? Where should he wage it? An article of the +constitution of the year VIII. forbade the First Consul to command +the armies in person, or to leave France. + +In all constitutions there is inevitably some absurd provision. +Happy the constitutions that have but one! The First Consul found +a means to evade this particular absurdity. + +He established a camp at Dijon. The army which occupied this camp +was called the Army of the Reserves. The force withdrawn from +Brittany and the Vendée, some thirty thousand men in all, formed the +nucleus of this army. Twenty thousand conscripts were incorporated +in it; General Berthier was appointed commander-in-chief. The +plan which Bonaparte explained to Roland in his study one day +was still working in his mind. He expected to recover Italy by +a single battle, but that battle must be a great victory. + +Moreau, as a reward for his co-operation on the 18th Brumaire, +received the command he had so much desired. He was made +commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine, I with eighty thousand +men under him. Augereau, with twenty-five thousand more, was on +the Dutch frontier. And Masséna, commanding the Army of Italy, +had withdrawn to the country about Genoa, where he was tenaciously +maintaining himself against the land forces of the Austrian General +Ott, and the British fleet under Admiral Keith. + +While the latter movements were taking place in Italy, Moreau +had assumed the offensive on the Rhine, and defeated the enemy +at Stockach and Moeskirch. A single victory was to furnish an +excuse to put the Army of Reserves under waiting orders. Two +victories would leave no doubt as to the necessity of co-operation. +Only, how was this army to be transported to Italy? + +Bonaparte's first thought was to march up the Valais and to cross +the Simplon. He would thus turn Piedmont and enter Milan. But the +operation was a long one, and must be done overtly. Bonaparte +renounced it. His plan was to surprise the Austrians and to appear +with his whole army on the plains of Piedmont before it was even +suspected that he had crossed the Alps. He therefore decided to +make the passage of the Great Saint-Bernard. It was for this +purpose that he had sent the fifty thousand francs, seized by +the Companions of Jehu, to the monks whose monastery crowns that +mountain. Another fifty thousand had been sent since, which had +reached their destination safely. By the help of this money the +monastery was to be amply provisioned for an army of fifty thousand +men halting there for a day. + +Consequently, toward the end of April the whole of the artillery +was advanced to Lauzanne, Villeneuve, Martigny, and Saint-Pierre. +General Marmont, commanding the artillery, had already been sent +forward to find a means of transporting cannon over the Alps. +It was almost an impracticable thing to do; and yet it must be +achieved. No precedent existed as a guide. Hannibal with his +elephants, Numidians, and Gauls; Charlemagne with his Franks, +had no such obstacles to surmount. + +During the campaign in Italy in 1796, the army had not crossed +the Alps, but turned them, descending from Nice to Cerasco by +the Corniche road. This time a truly titanic work was undertaken. + +In the first place, was the mountain unoccupied? The mountain +without the Austrians was in itself difficult enough to conquer! +Lannes was despatched like a forlorn hope with a whole division. +He crossed the peak of the Saint-Bernard without baggage or +artillery, and took possession of Châtillon. The Austrians had +left no troops in Piedmont, except the cavalry in barracks and +a few posts of observation. There were no obstacles to contend +with except those of nature. Operations were begun at once. + +Sledges had been made to transport the guns; but narrow as they +might be, they were still too wide for the road. Some other means +must be devised. The trunks of pines were hollowed and the guns +inserted. At one end was a rope to pull them, at the other a +tiller to guide them. Twenty grenadiers took the cables. Twenty +others carried the baggage of those who drew them. An artilleryman +commanded each detachment with absolute power, if need be, over +life and death. The iron mass in such a case was far more precious +than the flesh of men. + +Before leaving each man received a pair of new shoes and twenty +biscuits. Each put on his shoes and hung his biscuits around his +neck. The First Consul, stationed at the foot of the mountain, +gave to each cannon detachment the word to start. + +A man must traverse the same roads as a tourist, on foot or on +mule-back, he must plunge his eye to the depth of the precipice, +before he can have any idea of what this crossing was. Up, always +up those beetling slopes, by narrow paths, on jagged stones, +which cut the shoes first, the feet next! + +From time to time they stopped, drew breath, and then on again +without a murmur. The ice-belt was reached. Before attempting it +the men received new shoes; those of the morning were in shreds. A +biscuit was eaten, a drop of brandy from the canteen was swallowed, +and on they went. No man knew whither he was climbing. Some asked +how many more days it would take; others if they might stop for +a moment at the moon. At last they came to the eternal snows. +There the toil was less severe. The gun-logs slid upon the snow, +and they went faster. + +One fact will show the measure of power given to the artilleryman +who commanded each gun. + +General Chamberlhac was passing. He thought the advance not fast +enough. Wishing to hasten it, he spoke to an artilleryman in a +tone of command. + +"You are not in command here," replied the man; "I am. I am +responsible for the gun; I direct its march. Pass on." + +The general approached the artilleryman as if to take him by +the throat. But the man stepped back, saying: "General, don't +touch me, or I will send you to the bottom of that precipice +with a blow of this tiller." + +After unheard-of toil they reached the foot of the last rise, at +the summit of which stands the convent. There they found traces +of Lannes' division. As the slope was very steep, the soldiers +had cut a sort of stairway in the ice. The men now scaled it. +The fathers of Saint-Bernard were awaiting them on the summit. As +each gun came up the men were taken by squads into the hospice. +Tables were set along the passage with bread and Gruyere cheese +and wine. + +When the soldiers left the convent they pressed the hands of the +monks and embraced the dogs. + +The descent at first seemed easier than the ascent, and the officers +declared it was their turn to drag the guns. But now the cannon +outstripped the teams, and some were dragged down faster than +they wished. General Lannes and his division were still in the +advance. He had reached the valley before the rest of the army, +entered the Aosta, and received his orders to march upon Ivrea, +at the entrance to the plains of Piedmont. There, however, he +encountered an obstacle which no one had foreseen. + +The fortress of Bard is situated about twenty-four miles from +Aosta. On the road to Ivrea, a little behind the village, a small +hill closes the valley almost hermetically. The river Dora flows +between this hill and the mountain on the right. The river, or +rather, the torrent, fills the whole space. The mountain on the +left presents very much the same aspect; only, instead of the +river, it is the highroad which passes between the hill and the +mountain. It is there that the fortress of Bard stands. It is +built on the summit of the hill, and extends down one side of +it to the highroad. + +How was it that no one had thought of this obstacle which was +well nigh insurmountable? There was no way to assault it from +the bottom of the valley, and it was impossible to scale the +rocks above it. + +Yet, by dint of searching, they did find a path that they were +able to level sufficiently for the cavalry and the infantry to +pass; but they tried in vain to get the artillery over it, although +they took the guns apart as at the Mont Saint-Bernard. + +Bonaparte ordered two cannon levelled on the road, and opened +fire on the fortress; but it was soon evident that these guns +made no effect. Moreover, a cannon ball from the fortress struck +one of the two cannon and shattered it. The First Consul then +ordered an assault by storm. + +Columns formed in the village, and armed with ladders dashed +up at a run and reached the fortress at several points; but to +insure success, not only celerity, but silence was needed. It +ought to have been a surprise; but Colonel Dufour, who commanded +one column, ordered the advance to be sounded, and marched boldly +to the assault. The column was repulsed, and the colonel received +a ball through his body. + +Then a company of picked marksmen were chosen. They were supplied +with provisions and cartridges, and crept between the rocks until +they reached a ledge, from which they commanded the fort. From +this ledge they discovered another, not quite so high, but which +also overlooked the fort. To this they contrived, with extreme +difficulty, to hoist two guns, with which they formed a battery. +These two pieces on one side, and the sharpshooters on the other, +began to make the enemy uneasy. + +In the meantime, General Marmont proposed a plan to the First +Consul, so bold that the enemy could not suspect it. It was nothing +less than to move the artillery along the highroad, notwithstanding +that the enemy could rake it. + +Manure and wool from the mattresses were found in the villages +and were spread upon the road. The wheels and chains, and all +the jingling portions of the gun-carriages were swathed in hay. +The horses belonging to the guns and caissons were taken out, +and fifty men supplied their places. This latter precaution had +two advantages: first, the horses might neigh, while the men +had every interest in keeping dead silence; secondly, a dead +horse will stop a whole convoy, whereas a dead man, not being +fastened to the traces, can be pushed aside and his place taken +without even stopping the march. An officer and a subordinate +officer of artillery were placed in charge of each carriage or +caisson, with the promise of six hundred francs for the transport +of each gun or wagon beyond the range of the fort. + +General Marmont, who had proposed the plan, superintended the +first operation himself. Happily, a storm prevailed and made +the night extremely dark. The first six cannon and the first +six caissons passed without a single shot from the fortress. The +men returned, picking their steps silently, one after another, +in single file; but this time the enemy must have heard some +noise, and, wishing to knew the cause, threw hand-grenades. +Fortunately, they fell beyond the road. + +Why should these men, who had once passed, return? Merely to +get their muskets and knapsacks. This might have been avoided +had they been stowed on the caissons; but no one can think of +everything, and, as it happened, no one in the fort at Bard had +thought at all. + +As soon as the possibility of the passage was demonstrated, the +transport of the artillery became a duty like any other; only, +now that the enemy were warned, it was more dangerous. The fort +resembled a volcano with its belching flames and smoke; but, +owing to the vertical direction in which it was forced to fire, +it made more noise than it did harm. Five or six men were killed +to each wagon; that is to say, a tenth of each fifty; but the +cannon once safely past, the fate of the campaign was secure. + +Later it was discovered that the pass of the Little Saint-Bernard +would have been practicable, and that the whole artillery could +have crossed it without dismounting a gun or losing a man. It +is true, however, that the feat would have been less glorious +because less difficult. + +The army was now in the fertile plains of Piedmont. It was reinforced +on the Ticino by a corps of twelve thousand men detached from +the Army of the Rhine by Moreau, who, after the two victories +he had just won, could afford to lend this contingent to the +Army of Italy. He had sent them by the Saint-Gothard. Thus +strengthened, the First Consul entered Milan without striking +a blow. + +By the bye, how came the First Consul, who, according to a provision +of the constitution of the year VIII., could not assume command +of the army, nor yet leave France, to be where he was? We shall +now tell you. + +The evening before the day on which he left Paris--that is to +say, the 15th of May, or, according to the calendars of the time, +the 15th Floreal--he had sent for the two other consuls and all +the ministers, saying to Lucien: "Prepare a circular letter to +the prefects to-morrow." Then he said to Fouché: "You will publish +the circular in all the newspapers. You are to say that I have +left for Dijon to inspect the Army of the Reserves. Add, but +without affirming it positively, that I may go as far as Geneva. +In any case, let it be well impressed on everyone that I shall +not be absent more than a fortnight. If anything unusual happens +I shall return like a thunderclap. I commend to your keeping all +the great interests of France; and I hope you will soon hear +of me by way of Vienna and London." + +On the 6th he started. From that moment his strong determination +was to make his way to the plains of Piedmont, and there to fight +a decisive battle. Then, as he never doubted that he would conquer, +he would answer, like Scipio, to those who accused him of violating +the constitution: "On such a day, at such an hour, I fought the +Carthagenians; let us go to the capitol, and render thanks to +the gods." + +Leaving France on the 6th of May, the First Consul was encamped +with his whole army between Casale and Turin on the 26th of the +same month. It had rained the whole day; but, as often happens +in Italy, toward evening the sky had cleared, changing in a few +moments from murky darkness to loveliest azure, and the stars +came sparkling out. + +The First Consul signed to Roland to follow him, and together +they issued from the little town of Chivasso and walked along +the banks of the river. About a hundred yards beyond the last +house a tree, blown down by the wind, offered a seat to the +pedestrians. Bonaparte sat down and signed to Roland to join +him. He apparently had something to say, some confidence to make +to his young aide-de-camp. + +Both were silent for a time, and then Bonaparte said: "Roland, do +you remember a conversation we had together at the Luxembourg?" + +"General," said Roland, laughing, "we had a good many conversations +together at the Luxembourg; in one of which you told me we were +to cross into Italy in the spring, and fight General Mélas at +Torre di Gallifolo or San-Guiliano. Does that still hold good?" + +"Yes; but that is not the conversation I mean." + +"What was it, general?" + +"The day we talked of marriage." + +"Ah, yes! My sister's marriage. That has probably taken place +by this time, general." + +"I don't mean your sister's marriage; I mean yours." + +"Good!" said Roland, with a bitter smile. "I thought that had +been disposed of, general." And he made a motion as if to rise. +Bonaparte caught him by the arm. + +"Do you know whom I meant you to marry at that time, Roland?" he +said, with a gravity that showed he was determined to be heard. + +"No, general." + +"Well, my sister Caroline." + +"Your sister?" + +"Yes. Does that astonish you?" + +"I had no idea you had ever thought of doing me that honor." + +"Either you are ungrateful, Roland, or you are saying what you +do not mean. You know that I love you." + +"Oh! my general!" + +He took the First Consul's two hands and pressed them with the +deepest gratitude. + +"Yes, I should have liked you for my brother-in-law." + +"Your sister and Murat love each other, general," said Roland. +"It is much better that the plan should have gone no further. +Besides," he added, in muffled tones, "I thought I told you that +I did not care to marry." + +Bonaparte smiled. "Why don't you say offhand that you intend becoming +a Trappist father?" + +"Faith, general, re-establish the cloisters and remove these +opportunities for me to try to get myself killed, which, thank +God! are not lacking, and you have guessed what my end will be." + +"Are you in love? Is this the result of some woman's faithlessness?" + +"Good!" said Roland, "so you think I am in love! That is the last +straw!" + +"Do you complain of my affection when I wished to marry you to +my sister?" + +"But the thing is impossible now! Your three sisters are all +married--one to General Leduc, one to Prince Bacciocchi, and the +third to Murat." + +"In short," said Bonaparte, laughing, "you feel easy and settled +in your mind. You think yourself rid of my alliance." + +"Oh, general!" exclaimed Roland. + +"You are not ambitious, it seems?" + +"General, let me love you for all the good you have done to me, +and not for what you seek to do." + +"But suppose it is for my own interests that I seek to bind you +to me, not by the ties of friendship alone, but also by those +of matrimony. Suppose I say to you: In my plans for the future +I cannot rely upon my two brothers, whereas I could never for +one instant doubt you?" + +"In heart, yes, you are right." + +"In all respects! What can I do with Leclerc--a commonplace man; +with Bacciocchi--who is not French; with Murat--lion-hearted and +feather-brained? And yet some day I shall have to make princes +of them because they are my sisters' husbands. When that time +comes, what can I make of you?" + +"A marshal of France." + +"And afterward?" + +"Afterward? I should say that was enough." + +"And then you would be one of twelve, and not a unity of your own." + +"Let me be simply your friend. Let me always thresh out the truth +with you, and then I'll warrant I shall be out of the crowd." + +"That may be enough for you, Roland, but it is not enough for me," +persisted Bonaparte. Then, as Roland said nothing, he continued, +"I have no more sisters, Roland, it is true; but I have dreamed +that you might be something more to me than a brother." Then, +as Roland still said nothing, he went on: "I know a young girl, +Roland, a charming child, whom I love as a daughter. She is just +seventeen. You are twenty-six, and a brigadier-general _de +facto_. Before the end of the campaign you will be general +of division. Well, Roland, when the campaign is over, we will +return together to Paris, and you shall marry her--" + +"General," interrupted Roland, "I think I see Bourrienne looking +for you." + +And in fact the First Consul's secretary was already within two +feet of the friends. + +"Is that you, Bourrienne?" asked Bonaparte, somewhat impatiently. + +"Yes, general, a courier from France." + +"Ah!" + +"And a letter from Madame Bonaparte." + +"Good!" said the First Consul, rising eagerly, "give it to me." +And he almost snatched the letter from Bourrienne's hand. + +"And for me?" asked Roland. "Nothing for me?" + +"Nothing." + +"That is strange," said the young man, pensively. + +The moon had risen, and by its clear, beautiful light Bonaparte +was able to read his letters. Through the first two pages his +face expressed perfect serenity. Bonaparte adored his wife; the +letters published by Queen Hortense bear witness to that fact. +Roland watched these expressions of the soul on his general's +face. But toward the close of the letter Bonaparte's face clouded; +he frowned and cast a furtive glance at Roland. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the young man, "it seems there is something about +me in the letter." + +Bonaparte did not answer and continued to read. When he had finished, +he folded the letter and put it in the side pocket of his coat. +Then, turning to Bourrienne, he said: "Very well, we will return. +I shall probably have to despatch a courier. Go mend some pens +while you are waiting for me." + +Bourrienne bowed and returned to Chivasso. + +Bonaparte then went up to Roland and laid his hand on his shoulder, +saying: "I have no luck with the marriages I attempt to make." + +"How so?" asked Roland. + +"Your sister's marriage is off." + +"Has she refused?" + +"No; she has not." + +"She has not? Can it be Sir John?" + +"Yes." + +"Refused to marry my sister after asking her of me, of my mother, +of you, of herself?" + +"Come, don't begin to get angry. Try to see that there is some +mystery in all this." + +"I don't see any mystery, I see an insult!" + +"Ah! there you are, Roland. That explains why your mother and +sister did not write to you. But Josephine thought the matter +so serious that you ought to be informed. She writes me this +news and asks me to tell you of it if I think best. You see I +have not hesitated." + +"I thank you sincerely, general. Does Lord Tanlay give any reason +for this refusal?" + +"A reason that is no reason." + +"What is it?" + +"It can't be the true one." + +"But what is it?" + +"It is only necessary to look at the man and to talk with him +for five minutes to understand that." + +"But, general, what reason does he give for breaking his word?" + +"That your sister is not as rich as he thought she was." + +Roland burst into that nervous laugh which was a sign with him +of violent agitation. + +"Ha!" said he, "that was the very first thing I told him." + +"What did you tell him?" + +"That my sister hadn't a penny. How can the children of republican +generals be rich?" + +"And what did he answer?" + +"That he was rich enough for two." + +"You see, therefore, that that was not the real reason for his +refusal." + +"And it is your opinion that one of your aides-de-camp can receive +such an insult, and not demand satisfaction?" + +"In such situations the person who feels affronted must judge +of the matter for himself, my dear Roland." + +"General, how many days do you think it will be before we have +a decisive action?" + +Bonaparte calculated. + +"Not less than fifteen days, or three weeks," he answered. + +"Then, general, I ask you for a furlough of fifteen days." + +"On one condition." + +"What is it?" + +"That you will first go to Bourg and ask your sister from which +side the refusal came." + +"That is my intention." + +"In that case you have not a moment to lose." + +"You see I lose none," said the young man, already on his way +to the village. + +"One moment," said Bonaparte; "you will take my despatches to +Paris, won't you?" + +"Ah! I see; I am the courier you spoke of just now to Bourrienne." + +"Precisely." + +"Come then." + +"Wait one moment. The young men you arrested--" + +"The Companions of Jehu?" + +"Yes. Well, it seems that they were all of noble families. They +were fanatics rather than criminals. It appears that your mother +has been made the victim of some judicial trick or other in +testifying at their trial and has called their conviction." + +"Possibly. My mother was in the coach stopped by them, as you +know, and saw the face of their leader." + +"Well, your mother implores me, through Josephine, to pardon +those poor madmen--that is the very word she uses. They have +appealed their case. You will get there before the appeal can +be rejected, and, if you think it desirable, tell the minister +of Justice for me to suspend matters. After you get back we can +see what is best to be done." + +"Thank you, general. Anything more?" + +"No," said Bonaparte, "except to think over our conversation." + +"What was it about?" + +"Your marriage." + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +THE TRIAL + +"Well, I'll say as you did just now, we'll talk about it when +I return, if I do." + +"Bless me!" exclaimed Bonaparte, "I'm not afraid; you'll kill +him as you have the others; only this time, I must admit, I shall +be sorry to have him die." + +"If you are going to feel so badly about it, general, I can easily +be killed in his stead." + +"Don't do anything foolish, ninny!" cried Bonaparte; hastily; +"I should feel still worse if I lost you." + +"Really, general, you are the hardest man to please that I know +of," said Roland with his harsh laugh. + +And this time he took his way to Chivasso without further delay. + +Half an hour later, Roland was galloping along the road to Ivrae +in a post-chaise. He was to travel thus to Aosta, at Aosta take +a mule, cross the Saint-Bernard to Martigny, thence to Geneva, +on to Bourg, and from Bourg to Paris. + +While he is galloping along let us see what has happened in France, +and clear up the points in the conversation between Bonaparte and +his aide-de-camp which must be obscure to the reader's mind. + +The prisoners which Roland had made at the grotto of Ceyzeriat +had remained but one night in the prison at Bourg. They had been +immediately transferred to that of Besançon, where they were +to appear before a council of war. + +It will be remembered that two of these prisoners were so grievously +wounded that they were carried into Bourg on stretchers. One +of them died that same night, the other, three days after they +reached Besançon. The number of prisoners was therefore reduced +to four; Morgan, who had surrendered himself voluntarily and +who was safe and sound, and Montbar, Adler, and d'Assas, who +were more or less wounded in the fight, though none of them +dangerously. These four aliases hid, as the reader will remember, +the real names of the Baron de Sainte-Hermine, the Comte de Jayat, +the Vicomte de Valensolle, and the Marquis de Ribier. + +While the evidence was being taken against the four prisoners +before the military commission at Besançon, the time expired +when under the law such cases were tried by courts-martial. The +prisoners became accountable therefore to the civil tribunals. +This made a great difference to them, not only as to the penalty +if convicted, but in the mode of execution. Condemned by a +court-martial, they would be shot; condemned by the courts, they +would be guillotined. Death by the first was not infamous; death +by the second was. + +As soon as it appeared that their case was to be brought before +a jury, it belonged by law to the court of Bourg. Toward the +end of March the prisoners were therefore transferred from the +prison of Besançon to that of Bourg, and the first steps toward +a trial were taken. + +But here the prisoners adopted a line of defence that greatly +embarrassed the prosecuting officers. They declared themselves to +be the Baron de Sainte-Hermine, the Comte de Jayat, the Vicomte +de Valensolle, and the Marquis de Ribier, and to have no connection +with the pillagers of diligences, whose names were Morgan, Montbar, +Adler, and d'Assas. They acknowledged having belonged to armed +bands; but these forces belonged to the army of M. de Teyssonnet +and were a ramification of the army of Brittany intended to operate +in the East and the Midi, while the army of Brittany, which had +just signed a peace, operated in the North. They had waited only +to hear of Cadoudal's surrender to do likewise, and the despatch +of the Breton leader was no doubt on its way to them when they +were attacked and captured. + +It was difficult to disprove this. The diligences had invariably +been pillaged by masked, men, and, apart from Madame de Montrevel +and Sir John Tanlay, no one had ever seen the faces of the +assailants. + +The reader will recall those circumstances: Sir John, on the +night they had tried, condemned, and stabbed him; Madame de +Montrevel, when the diligence was stopped, and she, in her nervous +struggle, had struck off the mask of the leader. + +Both had been summoned before the preliminary court and both +had been confronted with the prisoners; but neither Sir John +nor Madame de Montrevel had recognized any of them. How came +they to practice this deception? As for Madame de Montrevel, it +was comprehensible. She felt a double gratitude to the man who +had come to her assistance, and who had also forgiven, and even +praised, Edouard's attack upon himself. But Sir John's silence +was more difficult to explain, for among the four prisoners he +must have recognized at least two of his assailants. + +They had recognized him, and a certain quiver had run through +their veins as they did so, but their eyes were none the less +resolutely fixed upon him, when, to their great astonishment, +Sir John, in spite of the judge's insistence, had calmly replied: +"I have not the honor of knowing these gentlemen." + +Amélie--we have not spoken of her, for there are sorrows no pen +can depict--Amélie, pale, feverish, almost expiring since that +fatal night when Morgan was arrested, awaited the return of her +mother and Sir John from the preliminary trial with dreadful +anxiety. Sir John arrived first. Madame de Montrevel had remained +behind to give some orders to Michel. As soon as Amélie saw him +she rushed forward, crying out: "What happened?" + +Sir John looked behind him, to make sure that Madame de Montrevel +could neither see nor hear him, then he said: "Your mother and +I recognized no one." + +"Ah! how noble you are I how generous! how good, my lord!" cried +the young girl, trying to kiss his hand. + +But he, withdrawing his hand, said hastily: "I have only done +as I promised you; but hush--here is your mother." + +Amélie stepped back. "Ah, mamma!" she said, "so you did not say +anything to compromise those unfortunate men?" + +"What!" replied Madame de Montrevel; "would you have me send to +the scaffold a man who had helped me, and who, instead of punishing +Edouard, kissed him?" + +"And yet," said Amélie, trembling, "you recognized him, did you +not?" + +"Perfectly," replied Madame de Montrevel. "He is the fair man with +the black eyebrows who calls himself the Baron de Sainte-Hermine." + +Amélie gave a stifled cry. Then, making an effort to control +herself, she said: "Is that the end of it for Sir John and you? +Will you be called to testify again?" + +"Probably not," replied Madame de Montrevel. + +"In any case," observed Sir John, "as neither your mother nor +I recognized any one, she will persist in that declaration." + +"Oh I most certainly," exclaimed Madame de Montrevel. "God keep +me from causing the death of that unhappy young man. I should +never forgive myself. It is bad enough that Roland should have +been the one to capture him and his companions." + +Amélie sighed, but nevertheless her face assumed a calmer expression. +She looked gratefully at Sir John, and then went up to her room, +where Charlotte was waiting for her. Charlotte had become more +than a maid, she was now Amélie's friend. Every day since the +four young men had returned to the prison at Bourg she had gone +there to see her father for an hour or so. During these visits +nothing was talked of but the prisoners, whom the worthy jailer, +royalist as he was, pitied with all his heart. Charlotte made him +tell her everything, even to their slightest words, and later +reported all to Amélie. + +Matters stood thus when Madame de Montrevel and Sir John arrived +at Noires-Fontaines. Before leaving Paris, the First Consul had +informed Madame de Montrevel, both through Josephine and Roland, +that he approved of her daughter's marriage, and wished it to +take place during his absence, and as soon as possible. Sir John +had declared to her that his most ardent wishes were for this +union, and that he only awaited Amélie's commands to become the +happiest of men. Matters having reached this point, Madame de +Montrevel, on the morning of the day on which she and Sir John +were to give their testimony, had arranged a private interview +between her daughter and Sir John. + +The interview lasted over an hour, and Sir John did not leave +Amélie until the carriage came to the door which was to take +Madame de Montrevel and himself to the court. We have seen that +his deposition was all in the prisoners' favor, and we have also +seen how Amélie received him on his return. + +That evening Madame de Montrevel had a long conversation with +her daughter. To her mother's pressing inquiries, Amélie merely +replied that the state of her health was such that she desired a +postponement of her marriage, and that she counted on Sir John's +delicacy to grant it. + +The next day Madame de Montrevel was obliged to return to Paris, +her position in Madame Bonaparte's household not admitting of +longer absence. The morning of her departure she urged Amélie to +accompany her; but again the young girl dwelt upon the feebleness +of her health. The sweetest and most reviving months in the year +were just opening, and she begged to be allowed to spend then +in the country, for they were sure, she said, to do her good. + +Madame de Montrevel, always unable to deny Amélie anything, above +all where it concerned her health, granted her request. + +On her return to Paris, Madame de Montrevel travelled as before, +with Sir John. Much to her surprise, during the two days' journey +he did not say anything to her about his marriage to Amélie. +But Madame Bonaparte, as soon as she saw her friend, asked the +usual question: "Well, when shall we marry Amélie and Sir John? +You know how much the First Consul desires it." + +To which Madame de Montrevel replied: "It all depends on Sir John." + +This response furnished Madame Bonaparte with much food for +reflection. Why should a man who had been so eager suddenly grow +cold? Time alone could explain the mystery. + +Time went by, and the trial of the prisoners began. They were +confronted with all the travellers who had signed the various +depositions, which, as we have seen, were in the possession of +the minister of police. No one had recognized them, for no one +had seen their faces uncovered. Moreover, the travellers asserted +that none of their property, either money or jewels, had been +taken. Jean Picot testified that the two hundred louis which +had been taken from him by accident had been returned. + +These preliminary inquiries lasted over two months. At the end +of that time the accused, against whom there was no evidence +connecting them with the pillage of the coaches, were under no +accusation but that of their own admissions; that is to say, +of being affiliated with the Breton and Vendéan insurrection. +They were simply one of the armed bands roaming the Jura under +the orders of M. de Teyssonnet. + +The judges delayed the final trial as long as possible, hoping +that some more direct testimony might be discovered. This hope +was balked. No one had really suffered from the deeds imputed to +these young men, except the Treasury, whose misfortunes concerned +no one. The trial could not be delayed any longer. + +The prisoners, on their side, had made the best of their time. +By means, as we have seen, of an exchange of passports, Morgan +had travelled sometimes as Ribier, and Ribier as Sainte-Hermine, +and so with the others. The result was a confusion in the testimony +of the innkeepers, which the entries in their books only served +to increase. The arrival of travellers, noted on the registers +an hour too early or an hour too late, furnished the prisoners +with irrefutable alibis. The judges were morally convinced of +their guilt; but their conviction was impossible against such +testimony. + +On the other hand, it must be said that public sympathy was wholly +with the prisoners. + +The trial began. The prison at Bourg adjoins the courtroom. The +prisoners could be brought there through the interior passages. +Large as the hall was, it was crowded on the opening day. The +whole population of Bourg thronged about the doors, and persons +came from Mâcon, Sons-le-Saulnier, Besançon, and Nantua, so great +was the excitement caused by the stoppages, and so popular were +the exploits of the Companions of Jehu. + +The entrance of the four prisoners was greeted by a murmur in +which there was nothing offensive. Public sentiment seemed equally +divided between curiosity and sympathy. Their presence, it must +be admitted, was well calculated to inspire both. Very handsome, +dressed in the latest fashion of the day, self-possessed without +insolence, smiling toward the audience, courteous to their judges, +though at times a little sarcastic, their personal appearance +was their best defence. + +The oldest of the four was barely thirty. Questioned as to their +names, Christian and family, their age, and places of birth, +they answered as follows: + +"Charles de Sainte-Hermine, born at Tours, department of the +Indre-et-Loire, aged twenty-four." + +"Louis-André de Jayat, born at Bage-le-Château, department of +the Ain, aged twenty-nine." + +"Raoul-Frederic-Auguste de Valensolle, born at Sainte-Colombe, +department of the Rhone, aged twenty-seven." + +"Pierre-Hector de Ribier, born at Bollène, department of Vaucluse, +aged twenty-six." + +Questioned as to their social condition and state, all four said +they were of noble rank and royalists. + +These fine young men, defending themselves against death on the +scaffold, not against a soldier's death before the guns--who asked +the death they claimed to have merited as insurrectionists, but a +death of honor--formed a splendid spectacle of youth, courage, +and gallant bearing. + +The judges saw plainly that on the accusation of being +insurrectionists, the Vendée having submitted and Brittany being +pacificated, they would have to be acquitted. That was not a +result to satisfy the minister of police. Death awarded by a +council of war would not have satisfied him; he had determined +that these men should die the death of malefactors, a death of +infamy. + +The trial had now lasted three days without proceeding in the +direction of the minister's wishes. Charlotte, who could reach +the courtroom through the prison, was there each day, and returned +each night to Amélie with some fresh word of hope. On the fourth +day, Amélie could bear the suspense no longer. She dressed herself +in a costume similar to the one that Charlotte wore, except that +the black lace of the head-dress was longer and thicker than +is usual with the Bressan peasant woman. It formed a veil and +completely hid her features. + +Charlotte presented Amélie to her father as one of her friends +who was anxious to see the trial. The good man did not recognize +Mademoiselle de Montrevel, and in order to enable the young girls +to see the prisoners well he placed them in the doorway of the +porter's room, which opened upon the passage leading to the +courtroom. This passage was so narrow at this particular point +that the four gendarmes who accompanied the prisoners changed +the line of march. First came two officers, then the prisoners +one by one, then the other two officers. The girls stood in the +doorway. + +When Amélie heard the doors open she was obliged to lean upon +Charlotte's shoulder for support, the earth seemed to give way +under her feet and the wall at her back. She heard the sound +of feet and the rattle of the gendarmes' sabres, then the door +of the prison opened. + +First one gendarme appeared, then another, then Sainte-Hermine, +walking first, as though he were still Morgan, the captain of +the Companions of Jehu. + +As he passed Amélie murmured: "Charles!" + +The prisoner recognized the beloved voice, gave a faint cry, +and felt a paper slip into his hand. He pressed that precious +hand, murmured her name, and passed on. + +The others who followed did not, or pretended not to, notice the +two girls. As for the gendarmes, they had seen and heard nothing. + +As soon as the party stepped into the light, Morgan unfolded the +note and read as follows: + + Do not be anxious, my beloved Charles; I am and ever will be + your faithful Amélie, in life or death. I have told all to Lord + Tanlay. He is the most generous man on earth; he has promised me + to break off the marriage and to take the whole responsibility + on himself. I love you. + +Morgan kissed the note and put it in his breast. Then he glanced +down the corridor and saw the two Bressan women leaning against +the door. Amélie had risked all to see him once more. It is true, +however, that at this last session of the court no additional +witnesses were expected who could injure the accused, and in the +absence of proof it was impossible to convict them. + +The best lawyers in the department, those of Lyons and Besançon, +had been retained by the prisoners for their defence. Each had +spoken in turn, destroying bit by bit the indictment, as, in the +tournaments of the Middle Ages, a strong and dexterous knight +was wont to knock off, piece by piece, his adversary's armor. +Flattering applause had followed the more remarkable points of +their arguments, in spite of the usher's warnings and the +admonitions of the judge. + +Amélie, with clasped hands, was thanking God, who had so visibly +manifested Himself in the prisoners' favor. A dreadful weight +was lifted from her tortured breast. She breathed with joy, and +looked through tears of gratitude at the Christ which hung above +the judge's head. + +The arguments were all made, and the case about to be closed. +Suddenly an usher entered the courtroom, approached the judge, +and whispered something in his ear. + +"Gentlemen," said the judge, "the court is adjourned for a time. +Let the prisoners be taken out." + +There was a movement of feverish anxiety among the audience. +What could have happened? What unexpected event was about to +take place? Every one looked anxiously at his neighbor. Amélie's +heart was wrung by a presentiment. She pressed her hand to her +breast; it was as though an ice-cold iron had pierced it to the +springs of life. + +The gendarmes rose. The prisoners did likewise, and were then +marched back to their cells. One after the other they passed +Amélie. The hands of the lovers touched each other; those of +Amélie were as cold as death. + +"Whatever happens, thank you," said Charles, as he passed. + +Amélie tried to answer, but the words died on her lips. + +During this time the judge had risen and passed into the +council-chamber. There he found a veiled woman, who had just +descended from a carriage at the door of the courthouse, and had +not spoken to any one on her way in. + +"Madame," said the judge, "I offer you many excuses for the way +in which I have brought you from Paris; but the life of a man +depends upon it, and before that consideration everything must +yield." + +"You have no need to excuse yourself, sir," replied the veiled +lady, "I know the prerogatives of the law, and I am here at your +orders." + +"Madame," said the judge, "the court and myself recognize the +feeling of delicacy which prompted you, when first confronted +with the prisoners, to decline to recognize the one who assisted +you when fainting. At that time the prisoners denied their identity +with the pillagers of the diligences. Since then they have confessed +all; but it is our wish to know the one who showed you that +consideration, in order that we may recommend him to the First +Consul's clemency." + +"What!" exclaimed the lady, "have they really confessed?" + +"Yes, madame, but they will not say which of their number helped +you, fearing, no doubt, to contradict your testimony, and thus +cause you embarrassment." + +"What is it you request of me, sir?" + +"That you will save the gentleman who assisted you." + +"Oh! willingly," said the lady, rising; "what am I to do?" + +"Answer a question which I shall ask you." + +"I am ready, sir." + +"Wait here a moment. You will be sent for presently." + +The judge went back into the courtroom. A gendarme was placed +at each door to prevent any one from approaching the lady. The +judge resumed his seat. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "the session is reopened." + +General excitement prevailed. The ushers called for silence, and +silence was restored. + +"Bring in the witness," said the judge. + +An usher opened the door of the council-chamber, and the lady, +still veiled, was brought into court. All eyes turned upon her. +Who was she? Why was she there? What had she come for? Amélie's +eyes fastened upon her at once. + +"O my God!" she murmured, "grant that I be mistaken." + +"Madame," said the judge, "the prisoners are about to be brought +in. Have the goodness to point out the one who, when the Geneva +diligence was stopped, paid you those attentions." + +A shudder ran through the audience. They felt that some fatal +trap had been laid for the prisoners. + +A dozen voices began to shout: "Say nothing!" but the ushers, +at a sign from the judge, cried out imperatively: "Silence!" + +Amélie's heart turned deadly cold. A cold sweat poured from her +forehead. Her knees gave way and trembled under her. + +"Bring in the prisoners," said the judge, imposing silence by +a look as the usher had with his voice. "And you, madame, have +the goodness to advance and raise your veil." + +The veiled lady obeyed. + +"My mother!" cried Amélie, but in a voice so choked that only +those near her heard the words. + +"Madame de Montrevel!" murmured the audience. + +At that moment the first gendarme appeared at the door, then the +second. After him came the prisoners, but not in the same order +as before. Morgan had placed himself third, so that, separated +as he was from the gendarmes by Montbar and Adler in front and +d'Assas behind, he might be better able to clasp Amélie's hand. + +Montbar entered first. + +Madame de Montrevel shook her head. + +Then came Adler. + +Madame de Montrevel made the same negative sign. + +Just then Morgan passed before Amélie. + +"We are lost!" she said. + +He looked at her in astonishment as she pressed his hand +convulsively. Then he entered. + +"That is he," said Madame de Montrevel, as soon as she saw +Morgan--or, if the reader prefers it, Baron Charles de +Sainte-Hermine--who was now proved one and the same man by means +of Madame de Montrevel's identification. + +A long cry of distress burst from the audience. Montbar burst +into a laugh. + +"Ha! by my faith!" he cried, "that will teach you, dear friend, +to play the gallant with fainting women." Then, turning to Madame +de Montrevel, he added: "With three short words, madame, you +have decapitated four heads." + +A terrible silence fell, in the midst of which a groan was heard. + +"Usher," said the judge, "have you warned the public that all +marks of approbation or disapproval are forbidden?" + +The usher inquired who had disobeyed the order of the court. +It was a woman wearing the dress of a Bressan peasant, who was +being carried into the jailer's room. + +From that moment the accused made no further attempt at denial; +but, just as Morgan had united with them when arrested, they +now joined with him. Their four heads should be saved, or fall +together. + +That same day, at ten in the evening, the jury rendered a verdict +of guilty, and the court pronounced the sentence of death. + +Three days later, by force of entreaties, the lawyers obtained +permission for the accused to appeal their case; but they were +not admitted to bail. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +IN WHICH AMÉLIE KEEPS HER WORD + +The verdict rendered by the jury of the town of Bourg had a terrible +effect, not only in the courtroom, but throughout the entire town. +The four prisoners had shown such chivalric brotherhood, such +noble bearing, such deep conviction in the faith they professed, +that their enemies themselves admired the devotion which had made +robbers and highwaymen of men of rank and family. + +Madame de Montrevel, overwhelmed by the part she had been made +to play at the crucial point of this drama, saw but one means of +repairing the evil she had done, and that was to start at once +for Paris and fling herself at the feet of the First Consul, +imploring him to pardon the four condemned men. She did not even +take time to go to the Château des Noires-Fontaines to see Amélie. +She knew that Bonaparte's departure was fixed for the first week +in May, and this was already the 6th. When she last left Paris +everything had been prepared for that departure. + +She wrote a line to Amélie explaining by what fatal deception +she had been instrumental in destroying the lives of four men, +when she intended to save the life of one. Then, as if ashamed +of having broken the pledge she had made to Amélie, and above +all to herself, she ordered fresh post-horses and returned to +Paris. + +She arrived there on the morning of the 8th of May. Bonaparte +had started on the evening of the 6th. He said on leaving that +he was only going to Dijon, possibly as far as Geneva, but in +any case he should not be absent more than three weeks. The +prisoners' appeal, even if rejected, would not receive final +consideration for five or six weeks. All hope need not therefore +be abandoned. + +But, alas! it became evident that the review at Dijon was only +a pretext, that the journey to Geneva had never been seriously +thought of, and that Bonaparte, instead of going to Switzerland, +was really on his way to Italy. + +Then Madame de Montrevel, unwilling to appeal to her son, for +she had heard his oath when Lord Tanlay had been left for dead, +and knew the part he had played in the capture of the Companions +of Jehu--then Madame de Montrevel appealed to Josephine, and +Josephine promised to write to the First Consul. That same evening +she kept her promise. + +But the trial had made a great stir. It was not with these prisoners +as with ordinary men. Justice made haste, and thirty-five days +after the verdict had been rendered the, appeal was rejected. This +decision was immediately sent to Bourg with an order to execute +the prisoners within twenty-four hours. But notwithstanding the +haste of the minister of police in forwarding this decision, +the first intimation of the fatal news was not received by the +judicial authorities at Bourg. While the prisoners were taking +their daily walk in the courtyard a stone was thrown over the +outer wall and fell at their feet. Morgan, who still retained +in relation to his comrades the position of leader, picked it +up, opened the letter which inclosed the stone, and read it. +Then, turning to his friends, he said: "Gentlemen, the appeal +has been rejected, as we might have expected, and the ceremony +will take place in all probability to-morrow." + +Valensolle and Ribier, who were playing a species of quoits with +crown-pieces and louis, left off their game to hear the news. +Having heard it they returned to their game without remark. + +Jayat, who was reading "La Nouvelle Héloise," resumed his book, +saying: "Then, I shall not have time to finish M. Jean-Jacques +Rousseau's masterpiece, and upon my word I don't regret it, for +it is the most utterly false and wearisome book I ever read in +my life!" + +Sainte-Hermine passed his hand over his forehead, murmuring: +"Poor Amélie!" Then observing Charlotte, who was at the window +of the jailer's room overlooking the courtyard, he went to her. +"Tell Amélie that she must keep the promise she made me, to-night." + +The jailer's daughter closed the window, kissed her father, and +told him that in all probability he would see her there again +that evening. Then she returned to Noires-Fontaines, a road she +had taken twice every day for the last two months, once at noon +on her way to the prison, once in the evening on returning to +the château. + +Every night she found Amélie in the same place, sitting at the +window which, in happier days, had given admittance to her beloved +Charles. Since the day she had fainted in the courtroom she had +shed no tears, and, we may almost add, had uttered no word. Unlike +the marble of antiquity awakening into life, she might have been +compared to a living woman petrifying into stone. Every day she +grew paler. + +Charlotte watched her with astonishment. Common minds, always +impressed by noisy demonstrations, that is to say, by cries and +tears, are unable to understand a mute sorrow. Dumbness to them +means indifference. She was therefore astonished at the calmness +with which Amélie received the message she was charged to deliver. +She did not see in the dimness of the twilight that Amélie's face +from being pale grew livid. She did not feel the deadly clutch +which, like an iron wrench, had seized her heart. She did not know +that as her mistress walked to the door an automatic stiffness +was in her limbs. Nevertheless she followed her anxiously. But +at the door Amélie stretched out her hand. + +"Wait for me there," she said. + +Charlotte obeyed. Amélie closed the door behind her, and went +up to Roland's room. + +Roland's room was veritably that of a soldier and a huntsman, +and its chief adornments were trophies and weapons. Arms of all +kinds were here, French and foreign, from the blue-barrelled +pistol of Versailles to the silver-handled pistol of Cairo, from +the tempered blade of Catalonia to the Turkish cimeter. + +Amélie took down from this arsenal four daggers, sharp-edged and +pointed, and eight pistols of different shapes. She put balls +in a bag and powder in a horn. Thus supplied she returned to her +own room. There Charlotte assisted her in putting on the peasant +gown. Then she waited for the night. + +Night comes late in June. Amélie stood motionless, mute, leaning +against the chimney-piece, and looking through the open window at +the village of Ceyzeriat, which was slowly disappearing in the +gathering shades of night. When she could no longer distinguish +anything but the lights which were being lighted one by one, she +said: + +"Come, it is time to go." + +The two young girls went out. Michel paid no attention to Amélie, +supposing her to be some friend of Charlotte's, who had called to +see her and whom the jailer's daughter was now escorting home. + +Ten o'clock was striking as they passed the church of Brou. It +was quarter past when Charlotte knocked at the prison door. Old +Courtois opened it. + +We have already shown the political opinions of the worthy jailer. +He was a royalist. He therefore felt the deepest sympathy for +the four condemned men, and had hoped, like nearly every one in +Bourg--like Madame de Montrevel, whose despair at what she had +done was known to him--that the First Consul would pardon them. +He had therefore mitigated their captivity as much as possible, +without failing in his duty, by relieving them of all needless +restrictions. On the other hand, it is true that he had refused +a gift of sixty thousand francs (a sum which in those days was +worth nearly treble what it is now) to allow them to escape. + +We have seen how, being taken into confidence by his daughter, +he had allowed Amélie, disguised as a Bressan peasant, to be +present at the trial. The reader will also remember the kindness +the worthy man had shown to Amélie and her mother when they +themselves were prisoners. This time, as he was still ignorant +of the rejection of the appeal, he allowed his feelings to be +worked upon. Charlotte had told him that her young mistress was to +start that night for Paris to endeavor to hasten the pardon, and +that she desired before leaving to see the Baron de Sainte-Hermine +and obtain his last instructions. + +There were five doors to break through to reach the street, a +squad of guards in the courtyard, and sentinels within and without +the prison. Consequently Père Courtois felt no anxiety lest his +prisoners escape. He therefore consented that Amélie should see +Morgan. + +We trust our readers will excuse us if we use the names Morgan, +Charles, and the Baron de Sainte-Hermine, interchangeably, since +they are aware that by that triple appellation we intend to designate +the same man. + +Courtois took a light and walked before Amélie. The young girl, +as though prepared to start by the mail-coach at once on leaving +the prison, carried a travelling bag in her hand. Charlotte followed +her mistress. + +"You will recognize the cell, Mademoiselle de Montrevel," said +Courtois. "It is the one in which you were confined with your +mother. The leader of these unfortunate young men, the Baron +Charles de Sainte-Hermine, asked me as a favor to put them in +cage No. 1. You know that's the name we give our cells. I did +not think I ought to refuse him that consolation, knowing how +the poor fellow loved you. Oh, don't be uneasy, Mademoiselle +Amélie, I will never breathe your secret. Then he questioned +me, asking which had been your mother's bed, and which yours. I +told him, and then he wanted his to stand just where yours did. +That wasn't hard, for the bed was not only in the same place, +but it was the very one you had used. So, since the poor fellow +entered your cell, he has spent nearly all his time lying on +your bed." + +Amélie gave a sigh that resembled a groan. She felt--and it +was long since she had done so--a tear moisten her eyelids. Yes! +she was loved as she loved, and the lips of a disinterested +stranger gave her the proof of it. At this moment of eternal +separation this conviction shone like a diamond of light in its +setting of sorrow. + +The doors opened one by one before Père Courtois. When they reached +the last one, Amélie laid her hand on the jailer's shoulder. She +thought she heard a chant. Listening attentively, she became +aware that it was a voice repeating verses. + +But the voice was not Morgan's; it was unknown to her. Here is +what it said: + + I have bared all my heart to the God of the just, + He has witnessed my penitent tears; + He has stilled my remorse, He has armed me with trust, + He has pitied and calmed all my fears. + + My enemies, scoffing, have said in their rage: + "Let him die, be his mem'ry accursed!" + Saith the merciful Father, my grief to assuage, + "Their hatred hath now done its worst. + + "I have heard thy complaints, and I know that the ban + Of remorse hath e'en brought thee so low; + I can pity the soul of the penitent man + That was weak in this valley of woe; + + "I will crown thy lost name with the just acclaim + Of the slow-judging righteous years; + Their pity and justice in time shall proclaim + Thine honor; then layoff thy fears!" + + I bless thee, O God! who hast deigned to restore + Mine honor that Thou hast made whole + From shame and remorse; as I enter Death's door + To Thee I commend my poor soul! + + To the banquet of life, an unfortunate guest, + I came for a day, and I go-- + I die in my vigor; I sought not to rest + In the grave where the weary lie low. + + Farewell to thee, earth! farewell, tender verdure + Of woodland! Farewell, sunny shore! + Green fields that I love, azure skies, smiling Nature, + Farewell! I shall see thee no more. + + May thy beauty still gladden the friends that I love, + Whom I long for--but stern fate denies; + May they pass full of years, though I wait them above; + May a last loving hand close their eyes. + +The voice was silent; no doubt the last verse was finished. Amélie, +who would not interrupt the last meditations of the doomed men, and +who had recognized Gilbert's beautiful ode written on a hospital +bed the night before his death, now signed to the jailer to open +the door. Père Courtois, jailer as he was, seemed to share the +young girl's emotion, for he put the key in the lock and turned +it as softly as he could. The door opened. + +Amélie saw at a glance the whole interior of the cell, and the +persons in it. + +Valensolle was standing, leaning against the wall, and still +holding the book from which he had just read the lines that Amélie +had overheard. Jayat was seated near a table with his head resting +on his hands. Ribier was sitting on the table itself. Near him, +but further back, Sainte-Hermine, his eyes closed as if in sleep, +was lying on the bed. At sight of the young girl, whom they knew +to be Amélie, Ribier and Jayat rose. Morgan did not move; he +had heard nothing. + +Amélie went directly to him, and, as if the love she felt for +him were sanctified by the nearness of death, she gave no heed +to the presence of his friends, but pressed her lips to his, +murmuring: "Awake, my Charles, it is I, Amélie. I have come to +keep my promise." + +Morgan gave a cry of joy and clasped her in his arms. + +"Monsieur Courtois," said Montbar, "you are a worthy man. Leave +those poor young people alone. It would be sacrilege to trouble +their last moments together on earth by our presence." + +Père Courtois, without a word, opened the door of the adjoining +cell. Valensolle, Jayat and Ribier entered it, and the door was +closed upon them. Then, making a sign to Charlotte, Courtois +himself went away. The lovers were alone. + +There are scenes that should not be described, words that must +not be repeated. God, who sees and hears them from his immortal +throne, alone knows what sombre joys, what bitter pleasures they +contain. + +At the end of an hour the two young people heard the key turn +once more in the lock. They were sad but calm. The conviction +that their separation would not be for long gave them a sweet +serenity. The worthy jailer seemed more grieved and distressed +at his second appearance than at his first; but Morgan and Amélie +thanked him with a smile. + +He went to the cell where the others were locked up and opened +it, murmuring to himself: "Faith! It would have been hard if +they couldn't have been alone together on their last night." + +Valensolle, Jayat and Ribier returned. Amélie, with her left +arm wound around Morgan, held out her right hand to them. All +three, one after the other, kissed that cold, damp hand. Then +Morgan led her to the door. + +"Au revoir!" he said. + +"Soon!" she answered. + +And then this parting at the gates of death was sealed by a long +kiss, followed by a groan so terrible that it seemed to rend +their hearts in twain. + +The door closed again, the bolts and bars shot into their places. + +"Well?" cried Valensolle, Jayat and Ribier with one accord. + +"Here!" replied Morgan, emptying the travelling bag upon the table. + +The three young men gave a cry of joy as they saw the shining +pistols and gleaming blades. It was all that they desired next to +liberty--the joy, the dolorous precious joy of knowing themselves +masters of their own lives, and, if need be, that of others. + +During this time the jailer led Amélie to the street. When they +reached it he hesitated a moment, then he touched Amélie's arm, +saying as he did so: "Mademoiselle de Montrevel, forgive me for +causing you so much pain, but it is useless for you to go to +Paris." + +"Because the appeal has been rejected and the execution takes +place to-morrow, I suppose you mean," said Amélie. + +The jailer in his astonishment stepped back a pace. + +"I knew it, my friend," said Amélie. Then turning to Charlotte, she +said: "Take me to the nearest church and come for me to-morrow after +all is over." + +The nearest church was not far off. It was that of Sainte-Claire. +For the last three months it had been opened for public worship +under the decree of the First Consul. As it was now nearly midnight, +the doors were closed; but Charlotte knew where the sexton lived +and she went to wake him. Amélie waited, leaning against the walls +as motionless as the marble figures that adorned its frontal. + +The sexton arrived at the end of half an hour. During that time the +girl had seen a dreadful sight. Three men had passed her, dragging +a cart, which she saw by the light of the moon was painted red. +Within this cart she perceived shapeless objects, long planks and +singular ladders, all painted the same color. They were dragging +it toward the bastion Montrevel, the place used for the executions. +Amélie divined what it was, and, with a cry, she fell upon her +knees. + +At that cry the men in black turned round. They fancied for a +moment that one of the sculptured figures of the porch had descended +from its niche and was kneeling there. The one who seemed to be +the leader stepped close to the young girl. + +"Don't come near me!" she cried. "Don't come near me!" + +The man returned humbly to his place and continued on his way. +The cart disappeared round the corner of the Rue des Prisons; but +the noise of its wheels still sounded on the stones and echoed +in the girl's heart. + +When the sacristan and Charlotte returned they found the young +girl on her knees. The man raised some objections against opening +the church at that hour of the night; but a piece of gold and +Mademoiselle de Montrevel's name dispelled his scruples. A second +gold piece decided him to light a little chapel. It was the one +in which Amélie had made her first communion. There, kneeling +before the altar, she implored them to leave her alone. + +Toward three in the morning she saw the colored window above the +altar of the Virgin begin to lighten. It looked to the east, so +that the first ray of light came direct to her eyes as a messenger +from God. + +Little by little the town awoke. To Amélie the noise seemed louder +than ever before. Soon the vaulted ceiling of the church shook +with the tramp of a troop of horsemen. This troop was on its +way to the prison. + +A little before nine the young girl heard a great noise, and it +seemed to her that the whole town must be rushing in the same +direction. She strove to lose herself in prayer, that she might +not hear these different sounds that spoke to her in an unknown +language of which her anguish told her she understood every word. + +In truth, a terrible thing was happening at the prison. It was +no wonder that the whole town had rushed thither. + +At nine o'clock Père Courtois entered the jail to tell the prisoners +at one and the same time that their appeal had been rejected and +that they must prepare for immediate death. He found the four +prisoners armed to the teeth. + +The jailer, taken unawares, was pulled into the cell and the +door locked behind him. Then the young men, without any defence +on his part, so astonished was he, seized his keys, and passing +through the door opposite to the one by which he had entered +they locked it on him. Leaving him in their cell, they found +themselves in the adjoining one, in which he had placed three +of them during Amélie's interview with Morgan. + +One of the keys on the jailer's bunch opened the other door of +this cell, and that door led to the inner courtyard of the prison. +This courtyard was closed by three massive doors, all of which +led to a sort of lobby, opening upon the porter's lodge, which +in turn adjoined the law-courts. From this lodge fifteen steps +led down into a vast courtyard closed by an iron gate and railing. +Usually this gate was only locked at night. If it should happen to +be open on this occasion it would offer a possibility of escape. + +Morgan found the key of the prisoners' court, opened the door, +and rushed with his companions to the porter's lodge and to the +portico, from which the fifteen steps led down into the courtyard. +From there the three young men could see that all hope was lost. + +The iron gate was closed, and eighty men, dragoons and gendarmes, +were drawn up in front of it. + +When the four prisoners, free and armed to the teeth, sprang +from the porter's lodge to the portico, a great cry, a cry of +astonishment and terror, burst from the crowd in the street beyond +the railing. + +Their aspect was formidable, indeed; for to preserve the freedom +of their movements, perhaps to hide the shedding of blood, which +would have shown so quickly on their white linen, they were naked +to the waist. A handkerchief knotted around their middle bristled +with weapons. + +A glance sufficed to show them that they were indeed masters of +their own lives, but not of their liberty. Amid the clamoring of +the crowd and the clanking of the sabres, as they were drawn from +their scabbards, the young men paused an instant and conferred +together. Then Montbar, after shaking hands with his companions, +walked down the fifteen steps and advanced to the gate. + +When he was within four yards of the gate he turned, with a last +glance at his comrades, bowed graciously to the now silent mob, +and said to the soldiers: "Very well, gentlemen of the gendarmerie! +Very well, dragoons!" + +Then, placing the muzzle of his pistol to his mouth, he blew out +his brains. + +Confused and frantic cries followed the explosion, but ceased +almost immediately as Valensolle came down the steps, holding in +his hand a dagger with a straight and pointed blade. His pistols, +which he did not seem inclined to use, were still in his belt. + +He advanced to a sort of shed supported on three pillars, stopped +at the first pillar, rested the hilt of his dagger upon it, and, +with a last salutation to his friends, clasped the column with +one arm till the blade had disappeared in his breast. For an +instant he remained standing, then a mortal pallor overspread +his face, his arm loosened its hold, and he fell to the ground, +stone-dead. + +The crowd was mute, paralyzed with horror. + +It was now Ribier's turn. He advanced to the gate, and, once +there, aimed the two pistols he held at the gendarmes. He did +not fire, but the gendarmes did. Three or four shots were heard, +and Ribier fell, pierced by two balls. + +Admiration seized upon the spectators at sight of these successive +catastrophes. They saw that the young men were willing to die, +but to die with honor, and as they willed, and also with the +grace of the gladiators of antiquity. Silence therefore reigned +when Morgan, now left alone, came smiling down the steps of the +portico and held up his hand in sign that he wished to speak. +Besides, what more could it want--this eager mob; watching for +blood? + +A greater sight had been given to it than it came to see. Four +dead men had been promised to it; four heads were to be cut off; +but here was variety in death, unexpected, picturesque. It was +natural, therefore, that the crowd should keep silence when Morgan +was seen to advance. + +He held neither pistols nor daggers in his hands; they were in +his belt. He passed the body of Valensolle, and placed himself +between those of Jayat and Ribier. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "let us negotiate." + +The hush that followed was so great that those present seemed +scarcely to breathe. Morgan said: "There lies a man who has blown +out his brains [he pointed to Jayat]; here lies one who stabbed +himself [he designated Valensolle]; a third who has been shot +[he indicated Ribier]; you want to see the fourth guillotined. +I understand that." + +A dreadful shudder passed through the crowd. + +"Well," continued Morgan, "I am willing to give you that +satisfaction. I am ready, but I desire to go to the scaffold in +my own way. No one shall touch me; if any one does come near me +I shall blow out his brains--except that gentleman," continued +Morgan, pointing to the executioner. "This is his affair and +mine only." + +The crowd apparently thought this request reasonable, for from +all sides came the cry, "Yes, yes, yes." + +The officer saw that the quickest way to end the matter was to +yield to Morgan's demand. + +"Will you promise me," he asked, "that if your hands and feet +are not bound you will not try to escape?" + +"I give my word of honor," replied Morgan. + +"Then," said the officer; "stand aside, and let us take up the +bodies of your comrades." + +"That is but right," said Morgan, and he turned aside to a wall +about ten paces distant and leaned against it. + +The gate opened. Three men dressed in black entered the courtyard +and picked up the bodies one after the other. Ribier was not +quite dead; he opened his eyes and seemed to look for Morgan. + +"Here I am," said the latter. "Rest easy, dear friend, I follow." + +Ribier closed his eyes without uttering a word. + +When the three bodies had been removed, the officer of the +gendarmerie addressed Morgan. + +"Are you ready, sir?" he asked. + +"Yes," replied Morgan, bowing with exquisite politeness. + +"Then come." + +"I come." + +And he took his place between a platoon of gendarmerie and a +detachment of dragoons. + +"Will you mount the cart, sir, or go on foot?" asked the captain. + +"On foot, on foot, sir. I am anxious that all shall see it is +my pleasure to be guillotined, and that I am not afraid." + +The sinister procession crossed the Place des Lisses and skirted +the walls of the Hôtel Montbazon. The cart bearing the three +bodies came first, then the dragoons, then Morgan walking alone +in a clear space of some ten feet before and behind him, then +the gendarmes. At the end of the wall they turned to the left. + +Suddenly, through an opening that existed at that time between +the wall and the market-place, Morgan saw the scaffold raising +its two posts to heaven like two bloody arms. + +"Faugh!" he exclaimed, "I have never seen a guillotine, and I +had no idea it was so ugly." + +Then, without further remark, he drew his dagger and plunged it +into his breast up to the hilt. + +The captain of the gendarmerie saw the movement without being in +time to prevent it. He spurred his horse toward Morgan, who, to his +own amazement and that of every one else, remained standing. But +Morgan, drawing a pistol from his belt and cocking it, exclaimed: +"Stop! It was agreed that no one should touch me. I shall die +alone, or three of us will die together." + +The captain reined back his horse. + +"Forward!" said Morgan. + +They reached the foot of the guillotine. Morgan drew out his +dagger and struck again as deeply as before. A cry of rage rather +than pain escaped him. + +"My soul must be riveted to my body," he said. + +Then, as the assistants wished to help him mount the scaffold +on which the executioner was awaiting him, he cried out: "No, +I say again, let no one touch me." + +Then he mounted the three steps without staggering. + +When he reached the platform, he drew out the dagger again and +struck himself a third time. Then a frightful laugh burst from +his lips; flinging the dagger, which he had wrenched from the +third ineffectual wound, at the feet of the executioner, he +exclaimed: "By my faith! I have done enough. It is your turn; +do it if you can." + +A minute later the head of the intrepid young man fell upon the +scaffold, and by a phenomenon of that unconquerable vitality +which he possessed it rebounded and rolled forward beyond the +timbers of the guillotine. + +Go to Bourg, as I did, and they will tell you that, as the head +rolled forward, it was heard to utter the name of Amélie. + +The dead bodies were guillotined after the living one; so that +the spectators, instead of losing anything by the events we have +just related, enjoyed a double spectacle. + + + + +CHAPTER LIV + +THE CONFESSION + +Three days after the events we have just recited, a carriage +covered with dust and drawn by two horses white with foam stopped +about seven of the evening before the gate of the Château des +Noires-Fontaines. To the great astonishment of the person who +was in such haste to arrive, the gates were open, a crowd of +peasants filled the courtyard, and men and women were kneeling +on the portico. Then, his sense of hearing being rendered more +acute by astonishment at what he had seen, he fancied he heard +the ringing of a bell. + +He opened the door of the chaise, sprang out, crossed the courtyard +rapidly, went up the portico, and found the stairway leading to +the first floor filled with people. + +Up the stairs he ran as he had up the portico, and heard what +seemed to him a murmured prayer from his sister's bedroom. He +went to the room. The door was open. Madame de Montrevel and +little Edouard were kneeling beside Amélie's pillow; Charlotte, +Michel, and his son Jacques were close at hand. The curate of +Sainte-Claire was administering the last sacraments; the dismal +scene was lighted only by the light of the wax-tapers. + +The reader has recognized Roland in the traveller whose carriage +stopped at the gate. The bystanders made way for him; he entered +the room with his head uncovered and knelt beside his mother. + +The dying girl lay on her back, her hands clasped, her head raised +on her pillows, her eyes fixed upon the sky, in a sort of ecstasy. +She seemed unconscious of Roland's arrival. It was as though +her soul were floating between heaven and earth, while the body +still belonged to this world. + +Madame de Montrevel's hand sought that of Roland, and finding +it, the poor mother dropped her head on his shoulder, sobbing. +The sobs passed unnoticed by the dying girl, even as her brother's +arrival had done. She lay there perfectly immovable. Only when the +viaticum had been administered, when the priest's voice promised +her eternal blessedness, her marble lips appeared to live again, +and she murmured in a feeble but intelligible voice: "Amen!" + +Then the bell rang again; the choir-boy, who was carrying it, +left the room first, followed by the two acolytes who bore the +tapers, then the cross-bearer, and lastly the priest with the +Host. All the strangers present followed the procession, and +the family and household were left alone. The house, an instant +before so full of sound and life, was silent, almost deserted. + +The dying girl had not moved; her lips were closed, her hands +clasped, her eyes raised to heaven. After a few minutes Roland +stooped to his mother's ear, and whispered: "Come out with me, +mother, I must speak to you." Madame de Montrevel rose. She pushed +little Edouard toward the bed, and the child stood on tiptoe +to kiss his sister on the forehead. Then the mother followed +him, and, leaning over, with a sob she pressed a kiss upon the +same spot. Roland, with dry eyes but a breaking heart--he would +have given much for tears in which to drown his sorrow--kissed +his sister as his mother and little brother had done. She seemed +as insensible to this kiss as to the preceding ones. + +Edouard left the room, followed by Madame de Montrevel and Roland. +Just as they reached the door they stopped, quivering. They had +heard the name of Roland, uttered in a low but distinct tone. + +Roland turned. Amélie called him a second time. + +"Did you call me, Amélie?" he asked. + +"Yes," replied the dying girl. + +"Alone, or with my mother?" + +"Alone." + +That voice, devoid of emphasis, yet perfectly intelligible, had +something glacial about it; it was like an echo from another +world. + +"Go, mother," said Roland. "You see that she wishes to be alone +with me." + +"O my God!" murmured Madame de Montrevel, "can there still be +hope?" + +Low as these words were, the dying girl heard them. + +"No, mother," she said. "God has permitted me to see my brother +again; but to-night I go to Him." + +Madame de Montrevel groaned. + +"Roland, Roland!" she said, "she is there already." + +Roland signed to her to leave them alone, and she went away with +little Edouard. Roland closed the door, and returned to his sister's +bedside with unutterable emotion. + +Her body was already stiffening in death; the breath from her lips +would scarcely have dimmed a mirror; the eyes only, wide-open, +were fixed and brilliant, as though the whole remaining life of +the body, dead before its time, were centred, there. Roland had +heard of this strange state called ecstasy, which is nothing +else than catalepsy. He saw that Amélie was a victim of that +preliminary death. + +"I am here, sister," he said. "What can I do for you?" + +"I knew you would come," she replied, still without moving, "and +I waited for you." + +"How did you know that I was coming?" asked Roland. + +"I saw you coming." + +Roland shuddered. + +"Did you know why I was coming?" he asked. + +"Yes; I prayed God so earnestly in my heart that He gave me strength +to rise and write to you." + +"When was that?" + +"Last night." + +"Where is the letter?" + +"Under my pillow. Take it, and read it." + +Roland hesitated an instant. Was his sister delirious? + +"Poor Amélie!" he murmured. + +"Do not pity me," she said, "I go to join him." + +"Whom?" asked Roland. + +"Him whom I loved, and whom you killed." + +Roland uttered a cry. This was delirium; or else--what did his +sister mean? + +"Amélie," said he, "I came to question you--" + +"About Lord Tanlay; yes, I know," replied the young girl. + +"You knew! How could you know?" + +"Did I not tell you I saw you coming, and knew why you came?" + +"Then answer me." + +"Do not turn me from God and from him, Roland. I have written +it all; read my letter." + +Roland slipped his hand beneath the pillow, convinced that his +sister was delirious. + +To his great astonishment he felt a paper, which he drew out. +It was a sealed letter; on it were written these words: "For +Roland, who will come to-morrow." + +He went over to the night-light in order to read the letter, +which was dated the night before at eleven o'clock in the evening. + + My brother, we have each a terrible thing to forgive the + other. + +Roland looked at his sister; she was still motionless. He continued +to read: + + I loved Charles de Sainte-Hermine; I did more than + love him, he was my lover. + +"Oh!" muttered the young man between his teeth, "he shall die." + +"He is dead," said Amélie. + +The young man gave a cry of astonishment. He had uttered the words +to which Amélie had replied too low even to hear them himself. His +eyes went back to the letter. + + There was no legal marriage possible between the sister + of Roland de Montrevel and the leader of the Companions + of Jehu: that was the terrible secret which I bore--and + it crushed me. + + One person alone had to know it, and I told him; that + person was Sir John Tanlay. + + May God forever bless that noble-hearted man, who + promised to break off an impossible marriage, and who + kept his word. Let his life be sacred to you, Roland; he + has been my only friend in sorrow, and his tears have + mingled with mine. + + I loved Charles de Saint-Hermine; I was his mistress; + that is the terrible thing you must forgive. + + But, in exchange, you caused his death; that is the + terrible thing I now forgive you. + + Oh I come fast, Roland, for I cannot die till you are + here. + + To die is to see him again; to die is to be with him and + never to leave him again. I am glad to die. + +All was clearly and plainly written; there was no sign of delirium +in the letter. + +Roland read it through twice, and stood for an instant silent, +motionless, palpitating, full of bitterness; then pity got the +better of his anger. He went to Amélie, stretched his hand over +her, and said: "Sister, I forgive you." + +A slight quiver shook the dying body. + +"And now," she said, "call my mother, that I may die in her arms." + +Roland opened the door and called Madame de Montrevel. She was +waiting and came at once. + +"Is there any change?" she asked, eagerly. + +"No," replied Roland, "only Amélie wishes to die in your arms." + +Madame de Montrevel fell upon her knees beside her daughter's +bed. + +Then Amélie, as though an invisible hand had loosened the bonds +that held her rigid body to the bed, rose slowly, parted the +hands that were clasped upon her breast, and let one fall slowly +into those of her mother. + +"Mother," she said, "you gave me life and you have taken it from +me; I bless you. It was a mother's act. There was no happiness +possible for your daughter in this life." + +Then, letting her other hand fall into that of Roland, who was +kneeling on the other side of the bed, she said: "We have forgiven +each other, brother?" + +"Yes, dear Amélie," he replied, "and from the depths of our hearts, +I hope." + +"I have still one last request to make." + +"What is it?" + +"Do not forget that Lord Tanlay has been my best friend." + +"Fear nothing," said Roland; "Lord Tanlay's life is sacred to me." + +Amélie drew a long breath; then in a voice which showed her growing +weakness, she said: "Farewell, mother; farewell, Roland; kiss +Edouard for me." + +Then with a cry from her soul, in which there was more of joy +than sadness, she said: "Here I am, Charles, here I am!" + +She fell back upon her bed, withdrawing her two hands as she did +so, and clasping them upon her breast again. + +Roland and his mother rose and leaned over her. She had resumed +her first position, except that her eyelids were closed and her +breath extinguished. Amélie's martyrdom was over, she was dead. + + + + +CHAPTER LV + +INVULNERABLE + +Amélie died during the night of Monday and Tuesday, that is to +say, the 2d and 3d of June. On the evening of Thursday, the 5th +of June, the Grand Opera at Paris was crowded for the second +presentation of "Ossian, or the Bards." + +The great admiration which the First Consul professed for the +poems of Macpherson was universally known; consequently the National +Academy, as much in flattery as from literary choice, had brought +out an opera, which, in spite of all exertions, did not appear +until a month after General Bonaparte had left Paris to join the +Army of the Reserves. + +In the balcony to the left sat a lover of music who was noticeable +for the deep attention he paid to the performance. During the +interval between the acts, the door-keeper came to him and said +in a low voice: + +"Pardon me, sir, are you Sir John Tanlay?" + +"I am." + +"In that case, my lord, a gentleman has a message to give you; +he says it is of the utmost importance, and asks if you will +speak to him in the corridor." + +"Oh!" said Sir John, "is he an officer?" + +"He is in civilian's dress, but he looks like an officer." + +"Very good," replied Sir John; "I know who he is." + +He rose and followed the woman. Roland was waiting in the corridor. +Lord Tanlay showed no surprise on seeing him, but the stern look +on the young man's face repressed the first impulse of his deep +affection, which was to fling himself upon his friend's breast. + +"Here I am, sir," said Sir John. + +Roland bowed. + +"I have just come from your hotel," he said. "You have, it seems, +taken the precaution to inform the porter of your whereabout +every time you have gone out, so that persons who have business +with you should know where to find you." + +"That is true, sir." + +"The precaution is a good one, especially for those who, like +myself, come from a long distance and are hurried and have no +time to spare." + +"Then," said Sir John, "was it to see me that you left the army +and came to Paris?" + +"Solely for that honor, sir; and I trust that you will guess my +motives, and spare me the necessity of explaining them." + +"From this moment I am at your service, sir," replied Sir John. + +"At what hour to-morrow can two of my friends wait upon you?" + +"From seven in the morning until midnight; unless you prefer that +it should be now." + +"No, my lord; I have but just arrived, and I must have time to +find my friends and give them my instructions. If it will not +inconvenience you, they will probably call upon you to-morrow +between ten and eleven. I shall be very much obliged to you if +the affair we have to settle could be arranged for the same day." + +"I believe that will be possible, sir; as I understand it to be +your wish, the delay will not be from my side." + +"That is all I wished to know, my lord; pray do not let me detain +you longer." + +Roland bowed, and Sir John returned the salutation. Then the +young man left the theatre and Sir John returned to his seat +in the balcony. The words had been exchanged in such perfectly +well modulated voices, and with such an impassible expression of +countenance on both sides, that no one would have supposed that +a quarrel had arisen between the two men who had just greeted +each other so courteously. + +It happened to be the reception day of the minister of war. Roland +returned to his hotel, removed the traces of his journey, jumped +into a carriage, and a little before ten he was announced in the +salon of the citizen Carnot. + +Two purposes took him there: in the first place, he had a verbal +communication to make to the minister of war from the First Consul; +in the second place, he hoped to find there the two witnesses +he was in need of to arrange his meeting with Sir John. + +Everything happened as Roland had hoped. He gave the minister of +war all the details of the crossing of the Mont Saint-Bernard and +the situation of the army; and he himself found the two friends of +whom he was in search. A few words sufficed to let them know what +he wished; soldiers are particularly open to such confidences. + +Roland spoke of a grave insult, the nature of which must remain +a secret even to his seconds. He declared that he was the offended +party, and claimed the choice of weapons and mode of fighting-- +advantages which belong to the challenger. + +The young fellows agreed to present themselves to Sir John the +following morning at the Hôtel Mirabeau, Rue de Richelieu, at +nine o'clock, and make the necessary arrangements with Sir John's +seconds. After that they would join Roland at the Hôtel de Paris +in the same street. + +Roland returned to his room at eleven that evening, wrote for +about an hour, then went to bed and to sleep. + +At half-past nine the next morning his friends came to him. They +had just left Sir John. He admitted all Roland's contentions; +declared that he would not discuss any of the arrangements; adding +that if Roland regarded himself as the injured party, it was for +him to dictate the conditions. To their remark that they had +hoped to discuss such matters with two of his friends and not +with himself, he replied that he knew no one in Paris intimately +enough to ask their assistance in such a matter, and that he +hoped, once on the ground, that one of Roland's seconds would +consent to act in his behalf. The two officers were agreed that +Lord Tanlay had conducted himself with the utmost punctiliousness +in every respect. + +Roland declared that Sir John's request for the services of one of +his two seconds was not only just but suitable, and he authorized +either one of them to act for Sir John and to take charge of his +interests. All that remained for Roland to do was to dictate +his conditions. They were as follows! + +Pistols were chosen. When loaded the adversaries were to stand +at five paces. At the third clap of the seconds' hands they were +to fire. It was, as we see, a duel to the death, in which, if +either survived, he would be at the mercy of his opponent. +Consequently the young officers made many objections; but Roland +insisted, declaring that he alone could judge of the gravity of +the insult offered him, and that no other reparation than this +would satisfy him. They were obliged to yield to such obstinacy. +But the friend who was to act as Sir John's second refused to +bind himself for his principal, declaring that unless Sir John +ordered it he would refuse to be a party to such a murder. + +"Don't excite yourself, dear friend," said Roland, "I know Sir +John, and I think he will be more accommodating than you." + +The seconds returned to Sir John; they found him at his English +breakfast of beefsteak, potatoes and tea. On seeing them he rose, +invited them to share his repast, and, on their refusing, placed +himself at their disposal. They began by assuring him that he +could count upon one of them to act as his second. The one acting +for Roland announced the conditions. At each stipulation Sir John +bowed his head in token of assent and merely replied: "Very good!" + +The one who had taken charge of his interests attempted to make +some objections to a form of combat that, unless something impossible +to foresee occurred, must end in the death of both parties; but Lord +Tanlay begged him to make no objections. + +"M. de Montrevel is a gallant man," he said; "I do not wish to +thwart him in anything; whatever he does is right." + +It only remained to settle the hour and the place of meeting. On +these points Sir John again placed himself at Roland's disposal. +The two seconds left even more delighted with him after this +interview than they had been after the first. Roland was waiting +for them and listened to what had taken place. + +"What did I tell you?" he asked. + +They requested him to name the time and place. He selected seven +o'clock in the evening in the Allée de la Muette. At that hour +the Bois was almost deserted, but the light was still good enough +(it will be remembered that this was in the month of June) for +the two adversaries to fight with any weapon. + +No one had spoken of the pistols. The young men proposed to get +them at an armorer's. + +"No," said Roland, "Sir John has an excellent pair of duelling +pistols which I have already used. If he is not unwilling to +fight with those pistols I should prefer them to all others." + +The young man who was now acting as Sir John's second went to +him with the three following questions: Whether the time and +place suited him, and whether he would allow his pistols to be +used. + +Lord Tanlay replied by regulating his watch by that of his second +and by handing him the box of pistols. + +"Shall I call for you, my lord?" asked the young man. + +Sir John smiled sadly. + +"Needless," he replied; "you are M. de Montrevel's friend, and +you will find the drive pleasanter with him than with me. I will +go on horseback with my servant. You will find me on the ground." + +The young officer carried this reply to Roland. + +"What did I tell you?" observed Roland again. + +It was then mid-day, there were still seven hours before them, +and Roland dismissed his friends to their various pleasures and +occupations. At half-past six precisely they were to be at his +door with three horses and two servants. It was necessary, in +order to avoid interference, that the trip should appear to be +nothing more than an ordinary promenade. + +At half-past six precisely the waiter informed Roland that his +friends were in the courtyard. Roland greeted them cordially and +sprang into his saddle. The party followed the boulevards as far +as the Place Louis XV. and then turned up the Champs Elysées. On +the way the strange phenomenon that had so much astonished Sir +John at the time of Roland's duel with M. de Barjols recurred. +Roland's gayety might have been thought an affectation had it not +been so evidently genuine. The two young men acting as seconds +were of undoubted courage, but even they were bewildered by such +utter indifference. They might have understood it had this affair +been an ordinary duel, for coolness and dexterity insure their +possessor a great advantage over his adversary; but in a combat +like this to which they were going neither coolness nor dexterity +would avail to save the combatants, if not from death at least +from some terrible wound. + +Furthermore, Roland urged on his horse like a man in haste, so +that they reached the end of the Allée de la Muette five minutes +before the appointed time. + +A man was walking in the allée. Roland recognized Sir John. The +seconds watched the young man's face as he caught sight of his +adversary. To their great astonishment it expressed only tender +good-will. + +A few more steps and the four principal actors in the scene that +was about to take place met. + +Sir John was perfectly calm, but his face wore a look of profound +sadness. It was evident that this meeting grieved him as deeply +as it seemed to rejoice Roland. + +The party dismounted. One of the seconds took the box of pistols +from the servants and ordered them to lead away the horses, and +not to return until they heard pistol-shots. The principals then +entered the part of the woods that seemed the thickest, and looked +about them for a suitable spot. For the rest, as Roland had foreseen, +the Bois was deserted; the approach of the dinner hour had called +every one home. + +They found a small open spot exactly suited to their needs. The +seconds looked at Roland and Sir John. They both nodded their +heads in approval. + +"Is there to be any change?" one of the seconds asked Sir John. + +"Ask M. de Montrevel," replied Lord Tanlay; "I am entirely at +his disposal." + +"Nothing," said Roland. + +The seconds took the pistols from the box and loaded them. Sir +John stood apart, switching the heads of the tall grasses with +his riding-whip. + +Roland watched him hesitatingly for a moment, then taking his +resolve, he walked resolutely toward him. Sir John raised his +head and looked at him with apparent hope. + +"My lord," said Roland, "I may have certain grievances against +you, but I know you to be, none the less, a man of your word." + +"You are right," replied Sir John. + +"If you survive me will you keep the promise that you made me +at Avignon?" + +"There is no possibility that I shall survive you, but so long +as I have any breath left in my body, you can count upon me." + +"I refer to the final disposition to be made of my body." + +"The same, I presume, as at Avignon?" + +"The same, my lord." + +"Very well, you may set your mind at rest." + +Roland bowed to Sir John and returned to his friends. + +"Have you any wishes in case the affair terminates fatally?" asked +one of them. + +"One only." + +"What is it?" + +"That you permit Sir John to take entire charge of the funeral +arrangements. For the rest, I have a note in my left hand for +him. In case I have not time to speak after the affair is over, +you are to open my hand and give him the note." + +"Is that all?" + +"Yes." + +"The pistols are loaded, then." + +"Very well, inform Sir John." + +One of the seconds approached Sir John. The other measured off +five paces. Roland saw that the distance was greater than he +had supposed. + +"Excuse me," he said, "I said three paces." + +"Five," replied the officer who was measuring the distance. + +"Not at all, dear friend, you are wrong." + +He turned to Sir John and to the other second questioningly. + +"Three paces will do very well," replied Sir John, bowing. + +There was nothing to be said if the two adversaries were agreed. +The five paces were reduced to three. Then two sabres were laid +on the ground to mark the limit. Sir John and Roland took their +places, standing so that their toes touched the sabres. A pistol +was then handed to each of them. + +They bowed to say that they were ready. The two seconds stepped +aside. They were to give the signal by clapping their hands three +times. At the first clap the principals were to cock their pistols; +at the second to take aim; at the third to fire. + +The three claps were given at regular intervals amid the most +profound silence; the wind itself seemed to pause and the rustle +of the trees was hushed. The principals were calm, but the seconds +were visibly distressed. + +At the third clap two shots rang out so simultaneously that they +seemed but one. But to the utter astonishment of the seconds the +combatants remained standing. At the signal Roland had lowered +his pistol and fired into the ground. Sir John had raised his +and cut the branch of a tree three feet behind Roland. Each was +clearly amazed--amazed that he himself was still living, after +having spared his antagonist. + +Roland was the first to speak. + +"Ah!" he cried, "my sister was right in saying that you were the +most generous man on earth." + +And throwing his pistol aside he opened his arms to Sir John, +who rushed into them. + +"Ah! I understand," he said. "You wanted to die; but, God be thanked, +I am not your murderer." + +The two seconds came up. + +"What is the matter?" they asked together. + +"Nothing," said Roland, "except that I could not die by the hand +of the man I love best on earth. You saw for yourselves that he +preferred to die rather than kill me." + +Then throwing himself once more into Sir John's arms, and grasping +the hands of his two friends, he said: "I see that I must leave +that to the Austrians. And now, gentlemen, you must excuse me. +The First Consul is on the eve of a great battle in Italy, and +I have not a moment to lose if I am to be there." + +Leaving Sir John to make what explanations he thought suitable +to the seconds, Roland rushed to the road, sprang upon his horse, +and returned to Paris at a gallop. + + + + +CHAPTER LVI + +CONCLUSION + +In the meantime the French army continued its march, and on the +5th of June it entered Milan. + +There was little resistance. The fort of Milan was invested. +Murat, sent to Piacenza, had taken the city without a blow. Lannes +had defeated General Ott at Montebello. Thus disposed, the French +army was in the rear of the Austrians before the latter were +aware of it. + +During the night of the 8th of June a courier arrived from Murat, +who, as we have said, was occupying Piacenza. Murat had intercepted +a despatch from General Melas, and was now sending it to Bonaparte. +This despatch announced the capitulation of Genoa; Masséna, after +eating horses, dogs, cats and rats, had been forced to surrender. +Melas spoke of the Army of the Reserves with the utmost contempt; +he declared that the story of Bonaparte's presence in Italy was +a hoax; and asserted that he knew for certain that the First +Consul was in Paris. + +Here was news that must instantly be imparted to Bonaparte, for +it came under the category of bad news. Consequently, Bourrienne +woke him up at three o'clock in the morning and translated the +despatch. Bonaparte's first words were as follows: + +"Pooh! Bourrienne, you don't understand German." + +But Bourrienne repeated the translation word for word. After +this reading the general rose, had everybody waked up, gave his +orders, and then went back to bed and to sleep. + +That same day he left Milan and established his headquarters +at Stradella; there he remained until June 12th, left on the +13th, and marched to the Scrivia through Montebello, where he +saw the field of-battle, still torn and bleeding after Lannes' +victory. The traces of death were everywhere; the church was +still overflowing with the dead and wounded. + +"The devil!" said the First Consul to the victor, "you must have +made it pretty hot here." + +"So hot, general, that the bones in my division were cracking +and rattling like hail on a skylight." + +Desaix joined the First Consul on the 11th of June, while he was +still at Stradella. Released by the capitulation of El-Arish, he +had reached Toulon the 6th of May, the very day on which Bonaparte +left Paris. At the foot of the Mont Saint-Bernard Bonaparte received +a letter from him, asking whether he should march to Paris or +rejoin the army. + +"Start for Paris, indeed!" exclaimed Bonaparte; "write him to +rejoin the army at headquarters, wherever that may be." + +Bourrienne had written, and, as we have seen, Desaix joined the +army the 11th of June, at Stradella. The First Consul received him +with twofold joy. In the first place, he regained a man without +ambition, an intelligent officer and a devoted friend. In the +second place, Desaix arrived just in the nick of time to take +charge of the division lately under Boudet, who had been killed. +Through a false report, received through General Gardannes, the +First Consul was led to believe that the enemy refused to give +battle and was retiring to Genoa. He sent Desaix and his division +on the road to Novi to cut them off. + +The night of the 13th passed tranquilly. In spite of a heavy +storm, an engagement had taken place the preceding evening in +which the Austrians had been defeated. It seemed as though men +and nature were wearied alike, for all was still during the night. +Bonaparte was easy in his mind; there was but one bridge over +the Bormida, and he had been assured that that was down. Pickets +were stationed as far as possible along the Bormida, each with +four scouts. + +The whole of the night was occupied by the enemy in crossing the +river. At two in the morning two parties of scouts were captured; +seven of the eight men were killed, the eighth made his way back +to camp crying: "To arms!" + +A courier was instantly despatched to the First Consul, who was +sleeping at Torre di Galifo. Meanwhile, till orders could be +received, the drums beat to arms all along the line. A man must +have shared in such a scene to understand the effect produced on +a sleeping army by the roll of drums calling to arms at three +in the morning. The bravest shuddered. The troops were sleeping +in their clothes; every man sprang up, ran to the stacked arms, +and seized his weapons. + +The lines formed on the vast plains of Marengo. The noise of +the drums swept on like a train of lighted powder. In the dim +half-light the hasty movements of the pickets could be seen. +When the day broke, the French troops were stationed as follows: + +The division Gardannes and the division Chamberlhac, forming +the extreme advance, were encamped around a little country-place +called Petra Bona, at the angle formed by the highroad from Marengo +to Tortona, and the Bormida, which crosses the road on its way +to the Tanaro. + +The corps of General Lannes was before the village of San Giuliano, +the place which Bonaparte had pointed out to Roland three months +earlier, telling him that on that spot the fate of the campaign +would be decided. + +The Consular guard was stationed some five hundred yards or so +in the rear of Lannes. + +The cavalry brigade, under General Kellermann, and a few squadrons +of chasseurs and hussars, forming the left, filled up, along +the advanced line, the gap between the divisions of Gardannes +and Chamberlhac. + +A second brigade, under General Champeaux, filled up the gap on +the right between General Lannes' cavalry. + +And finally the twelfth regiment of hussars, and the twenty-first +chasseurs, detached by Murat under the orders of General Rivaud, +occupied the opening of the Valley of Salo and the extreme right +of the position. + +These forces amounted to about twenty-five or six thousand men, +not counting the divisions Monnet and Boudet, ten thousand men +in all, commanded by Desaix, and now, as we have said, detached +from the main army to cut off the retreat of the enemy to Genoa. +Only, instead of making that retreat, the enemy were now attacking. + +During the day of the 13th of June, General Melas, commander-in-chief +of the Austrian army, having succeeded in reuniting the troops of +Generals Haddich, Kaim and Ott, crossed the Tanaro, and was now +encamped before Alessandria with thirty-six thousand infantry, +seven thousand cavalry, and a numerous well-served and well-horsed +artillery. + +At four o'clock in the morning the firing began and General Victor +assigned all to their line of battle. At five Bonaparte was awakened +by the sound of cannon. While he was dressing, General Victor's +aide-de-camp rode up to tell him that the enemy had crossed the +Bormida and was attacking all along the line of battle. + +The First Consul called for his horse, and, springing upon it, +galloped off toward the spot where the fighting was going on. +From the summit of the hill he could overlook the position of +both armies. + +The enemy was formed in three columns; that on the left, comprising +all the cavalry and light infantry, was moving toward Castel-Ceriolo +by the Salo road, while the columns of the right and centre, +resting upon each other and comprising the infantry regiments +under Generals Haddich, Kaim and O'Reilly, and the reserve of +grenadiers under command of General Ott, were advancing along +the Tortona road and up the Bormida. + +The moment they crossed the river the latter columns came in +contact with the troops of General Gardannes, posted, as we have +said, at the farmhouse and the ravine of Petra Bona. It was the +noise of the artillery advancing in this direction that had brought +Bonaparte to the scene of battle. He arrived just as Gardannes' +division, crushed under the fire of that artillery, was beginning +to fall back, and General Victor was sending forward Chamberlhac's +division to its support. Protected by this move, Gardannes' troops +retreated in good order, and covered the village of Marengo. + +The situation was critical; all the plans of the commander-in-chief +were overthrown. Instead of attacking, as was his wont, with +troops judiciously massed, he was attacked himself before he could +concentrate his forces. The Austrians, profiting by the sweep of +land that lay before them, ceased to march in columns, and deployed +in lines parallel to those of Gardannes and Chamberlhac--with +this difference, that they were two to the French army's one. +The first of these lines was commanded by General Haddich, the +seeond by General Melas, the third by General Ott. + +At a short distance from the Bormida flows a stream called the +Fontanone, which passes through a deep ravine forming a semicircle +round the village of Marengo, and protecting it. General Victor +had already divined the advantages to be derived from this natural +intrenchment, and be used it to rally the divisions of Gardannes +and Chamberlhac. + +Bonaparte, approving Victor's arrangements, sent him word to +defend Marengo to the very last extremity. He himself needed time +to prepare his game on this great chess-board inclosed between +the Bormida, the Fontanone, and Marengo. + +His first step was to recall Desaix, then marching, as we have +said, to cut the retreat to Genoa. General Bonaparte sent off +two or three aides-de-camp with orders not to stop until they +had reached that corps. Then he waited, seeing clearly that there +was nothing to do but to fall back in as orderly a manner as +possible, until he could gather a compact mass that would enable +him, not only to stop the retrograde movement, but to assume +the offensive. + +But this waiting was horrible. + +Presently the action was renewed along the whole line. The Austrians +had reached one bank of the Fontanone, of which the French occupied +the other. Each was firing on the other from either side of the +ravine; grape-shot flew from side to side within pistol range. +Protected by its terrible artillery, the enemy had only to extend +himself a little more to overwhelm Bonaparte's forces. General +Rivaud, of Gardannes' division, saw the Austrians preparing for +this manoeuvre. He marched out from Marengo, and placed a battalion +in the open with orders to die there rather than retreat, then, +while that battalion drew the enemy's fire, he formed his cavalry +in column, came round the flank of the battalion, fell upon three +thousand Austrians advancing to the charge, repulsed them, threw +them into disorder, and, all wounded as he was by a splintered +ball, forced them back behind their own lines. After that he +took up a position to the right of the battalion, which had not +retreated a step. + +But during this time Gardannes' division, which had been struggling +with the enemy from early morning, was driven back upon Marengo, +followed by the first Austrian line, which forced Chamberlhac's +division to retreat in like manner. There an aide-de-camp sent by +Bonaparte ordered the two divisions to rally and retake Marengo +at any cost. + +General Victor reformed them, put himself at their head, forced +his way through the streets, which the Austrians had not had +time to barricade, retook the village, lost it again, took it +a third time, and then, overwhelmed by numbers, lost it for the +third time. + +It was then eleven o'clock. Desaix, overtaken by Bonaparte's +aide-de-camp, ought at that hour to be on his way to the battle. + +Meanwhile, Lannes with his two divisions came to the help of +his struggling comrades. This reinforcement enabled Gardannes +and Chamberlhac to reform their lines parallel to the enemy, +who had now debouched, through Marengo, to the right and also +to the left of the village. + +The Austrians were on the point of overwhelming the French. + +Lannes, forming his centre with the divisions rallied by Victor, +deployed with his two least exhausted divisions for the purpose +of opposing them to the Austrian wings. The two corps--the one +excited by the prospect of victory, the other refreshed by a +long rest--flung themselves with fury into the fight, which was +now renewed along the whole line. + +After struggling an hour, hand to hand, bayonet to bayonet, General +Kaim's corps fell back; General Champeaux, at the head of the first +and eighth regiments of dragoons, charged upon him, increasing +his disorder. General Watrin, with the sixth light infantry and +the twenty-second and fortieth of the line, started in pursuit +and drove him nearly a thousand rods beyond the rivulet. But +this movement separated the French from their own corps; the +centre divisions were endangered by the victory on the right, +and Generals Watrin and Champeaux were forced to fall back to +the lines they had left uncovered. + +At the same time Kellermann was doing on the left wing what Champeaux +and Watrin had done on the right. Two cavalry charges made an +opening through the enemy's line; but behind that first line was +a second. Not daring to go further forward, because of superior +numbers, Kellermann lost the fruits of that momentary victory. + +It was now noon. The French army, which undulated like a flaming +serpent along a front of some three miles, was broken in the +centre. The centre, retreating, abandoned the wings. The wings +were therefore forced to follow the retrograde movement. Kellermann +to the left, Watrin to the right, had given their men the order +to fall back. The retreat was made in squares, under the fire +of eighty pieces of artillery which preceded the main body of +the Austrian army. The French ranks shrank visibly; men were +borne to the ambulances by men who did not return. + +One division retreated through a field of ripe wheat; a shell +burst and fired the straw, and two or three thousand men were +caught in the midst of a terrible conflagration; cartridge-boxes +exploded, and fearful disorder reigned in the ranks. + +It was then that Bonaparte sent forward the Consular guard. + +Up they went at a charge, deployed in line of battle, and stopped +the enemy's advance. Meantime the mounted grenadiers dashed forward +at a gallop and overthrew the Austrian cavalry. + +Meanwhile the division which had escaped from the conflagration +received fresh cartridges and reformed in line. But this movement +had no other result than to prevent the retreat from becoming +a rout. + +It was two o'clock. + +Bonaparte watched the battle, sitting on the bank of a ditch +beside the highroad to Alessandria. He was alone. His left arm was +slipped through his horse's bridle; with the other he flicked the +pebbles in the road with the tip of his riding-whip. Cannon-balls +were plowing the earth about him. He seemed indifferent to this +great drama on which hung all his hopes. Never had he played so +desperate a game--six years of victory against the crown of France! + +Suddenly he roused from his revery. Amid the dreadful roar of +cannon and musketry his ear caught the hoof-beats of a galloping +horse. He raised his head. A rider, dashing along at full speed, +his horse covered with white froth, came from the direction of +Novi. When he was within fifty feet, Bonaparte gave one cry: + +"Roland!" + +The latter dashed on, crying: "Desaix! Desaix! Desaix!" + +Bonaparte opened his arms; Roland sprang from his horse, and flung +himself upon the First Consul's neck. + +There was a double joy for Bonaparte in this arrival--that of +again seeing a plan whom he knew would be devoted to him unto +death, and because of the news he brought. + +"And Desaix?" he questioned. + +"Is within three miles; one of your aides met him retracing his +steps toward the cannon." + +"Then," said Bonaparte, "he may yet come in time." + +"How? In time?" + +"Look!" + +Roland glanced at the battlefield and grasped the situation in +an instant. + +During the few moments that had elapsed while they were conversing, +matters had gone from bad to worse. The first Austrian column, +the one which had marched on Castel-Ceriolo and had not yet been +engaged, was about to fall on the right of the French army. If +it broke the line the retreat would be flight--Desaix would come +too late. + +"Take my last two regiments of grenadiers," said Bonaparte. "Rally +the Consular guard, and carry it with you to the extreme right--you +understand? in a square, Roland!--and stop that column like a +stone redoubt." + +There was not an instant to lose. Roland sprang upon his horse, +took the two regiments of grenadiers, rallied the Consular guard, +and dashed to the right. When he was within fifty feet of General +Elsnitz's column, he called out: "In square! The First Consul +is looking at us!" + +The square formed. Each man seemed to take root in his place. + +General Elsnitz, instead of continuing his way in the movement +to support Generals Melas and Kaim--instead of despising the +nine hundred men who present no cause for fear in the rear of +a victorious army--General Elsnitz paused and turned upon them +with fury. + +Those nine hundred men were indeed the stone redoubt that General +Bonaparte had ordered them to be. Artillery, musketry, bayonets, +all were turned upon them, but they yielded not an inch. + +Bonaparte was watching them with admiration, when, turning in +the direction of Novi, he caught the gleam of Desaix's bayonets. +Standing on a knoll raised above the plain, he could see what +was invisible to the enemy. + +He signed to a group of officers who were near him, awaiting +orders; behind stood orderlies holding their horses. The officers +advanced. Bonaparte pointed to the forest of bayonets, now glistening +in the sunlight, and said to one of the officers: "Gallop to those +bayonets and tell them to hasten. As for Desaix, tell him I am +waiting for him here." + +The officer galloped off. Bonaparte again turned his eyes to +the battlefield. The retreat continued; but Roland and his nine +hundred had stopped General Elsnitz and his column. The stone +redoubt was transformed into a volcano; it was belching fire +from all four sides. Then Bonaparte, addressing three officers, +cried out: "One of you to the centre; the other two to the wings! +Say everywhere that the reserves are at hand, and that we resume +the offensive." + +The three officers departed like arrows shot from a bow, their +ways parting in direct lines to their different destinations. +Bonaparte watched them for a few moments, and when he turned +round he saw a rider in a general's uniform approaching. + +It was Desaix--Desaix, whom he had left in Egypt, and who that +very morning had said, laughing: "The bullets of Europe don't +recognize me; some ill-luck is surely impending over me." + +One grasp of the hand was all that these two friends needed to +reveal their hearts. + +Then Bonaparte stretched out his arm toward the battlefield. + +A single glance told more than all the words in the world. + +Twenty thousand men had gone into the fight that morning, and +now scarcely more than ten thousand were left within a radius +of six miles--only nine thousand infantry, one thousand cavalry, +and ten cannon still in condition for use. One quarter of the +army was either dead or wounded, another quarter was employed +in removing the wounded; for the First Consul would not suffer +them to be abandoned. All of these forces, save and excepting +Roland and his nine hundred men, were retreating. + +The vast space between the Bormida and the ground over which +the army was now retreating was covered with the dead bodies +of men and horses, dismounted cannon and shattered ammunition +wagons. Here and there rose columns of flame and smoke from the +burning fields of grain. + +Desaix took in these details at a glance. + +"What do you think of the battle?" asked Bonaparte. + +"I think that this one is lost," answered Desaix; "but as it is +only three o'clock in the afternoon, we have time to gain another." + +"Only," said a voice, "we need cannon!" + +This voice belonged to Marmont, commanding the artillery. + +"True, Marmont; but where are we to get them?" + +"I have five pieces still intact from the battlefield; we left +five more at Scrivia, which are just coming up." + +"And the eight pieces I have with me," said Desaix. + +"Eighteen pieces!" said Marmont; "that is all I need." An +aide-de-camp was sent to hasten the arrival of Desaix's guns. +His troops were advancing rapidly, and were scarcely half a mile +from the field of battle. Their line of approach seemed formed +for the purpose at hand; on the left of the road was a gigantic +perpendicular hedge protected by a bank. The infantry was made +to file in a narrow line along it, and it even hid the cavalry +from view. + +During this time Marmont had collected his guns and stationed +them in battery on the right front of the army. Suddenly they +burst forth, vomiting a deluge of grapeshot and canister upon +the Austrians. For an instant the enemy wavered. + +Bonaparte profited by that instant of hesitation to send forward +the whole front of the French army. + +"Comrades!" he cried, "we have made steps enough backward; remember, +it is my custom to sleep on the battlefield!" + +At the same moment, and as if in reply to Marmont's cannonade, +volleys of musketry burst forth to the left, taking the Austrians +in flank. It was Desaix and his division, come down upon them +at short range and enfilading the enemy with the fire of his guns. + +The whole army knew that this was the reserve, and that it behooved +them to aid this reserve by a supreme effort. + +"Forward!" rang from right to left. The drums beat the charge. +The Austrians, who had not seen the reserves, and were marching +with their guns on their shoulders, as if at parade, felt that +something strange was happening within the French lines; they +struggled to retain the victory they now felt to be slipping +from their grasp. + +But everywhere the French army had resumed the offensive. On +all sides the ominous roll of the charge and the victorious +Marseillaise were heard above the din. Marmont's battery belched +fire; Kellermann dashed forward with his cuirassiers and cut +his way through both lines of the enemy. + +Desaix jumped ditches, leaped hedges, and, reaching a little +eminence, turned to see if his division were still following him. +There he fell; but his death, instead of diminishing the ardor +of his men, redoubled it, and they charged with their bayonets +upon the column of General Zach. + +At that moment Kellermann, who had broken through both of the +enemy's lines, saw Desaix's division struggling with a compact, +immovable mass. He charged in flank, forced his way into a gap, +widened it, broke the square, quartered it, and in less than +fifteen minutes the five thousand Austrian grenadiers who formed +the mass were overthrown, dispersed, crushed, annihilated. They +disappeared like smoke. General Zach and his staff, all that +was left, were taken prisoners. + +Then, in turn, the enemy endeavored to make use of his immense +cavalry corps; but the incessant volleys of musketry, the blasting +canister, the terrible bayonets, stopped short the charge. Murat +was manoeuvring on the flank with two light-battery guns and a +howitzer, which dealt death to the foe. + +He paused for an instant to succor Roland and his nine hundred +men. A shell from the howitzer fell and burst in the Austrian +ranks; it opened a gulf of flame. Roland sprang into it, a pistol +in one hand, his sword in the other. The whole Consular guard +followed him, opening the enemy's ranks as a wedge opens the +trunk of an oak. Onward he dashed, till he reached an ammunition +wagon surrounded by the enemy; then, without pausing an instant, +he thrust the hand holding the pistol through the opening of +the wagon and fired. A frightful explosion followed, a volcano +had burst its crater and annihilated those around it. + +General Elsnitz's corps was in full flight; the rest of the Austrian +army swayed, retreated, and broke. The generals tried in vain to +stop the torrent and form up for a retreat. In thirty minutes +the French army had crossed the plain it had defended foot by +foot for eight hours. + +The enemy did not stop until Marengo was reached. There they +made a vain attempt to reform under fire of the artillery of +Carra-Saint-Cyr (forgotten at Castel-Ceriolo, and not recovered +until the day was over); but the Desaix, Gardannes, and Chamberlhac +divisions, coming up at a run, pursued the flying Austrians through +the streets. + +Marengo was carried. The enemy retired on Petra Bona, and that +too was taken. Then the Austrians rushed toward the bridge of the +Bormida; but Carra-Saint-Cyr was there before them. The flying +multitudes sought the fords, or plunged into the Bormida under a +devastating fire, which did not slacken before ten that night. + +The remains of the Austrian army regained their camp at Alessandria. +The French army bivouacked near the bridge. The day had cost the +Austrian army four thousand five hundred men killed, six thousand +wounded, five thousand prisoners, besides twelve flags and thirty +cannon. + +Never did fortune show herself under two such opposite aspects +as on that day. At two in the afternoon, the day spelt defeat +and its disastrous consequences to Bonaparte; at five, it was +Italy reconquered and the throne of France in prospect. + +That night the First Consul wrote the following letter to Madame +de Montrevel: + + MADAME--I have to-day won my greatest victory; but + it has cost me the two halves of my heart, Desaix and + Roland. + + Do not grieve, madame; your son did not care to live, + and he could not have died more gloriously. + + BONAPARTE. + +Many futile efforts were made to recover the body of the young +aide-de-camp: like Romulus, he had vanished in a whirlwind. + +None ever knew why he had pursued death with such eager longing. + + +THE END + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Companions of Jehu, by Alexandre Dumas + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMPANIONS OF JEHU *** + +This file should be named 8tcoj10.txt or 8tcoj10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8tcoj11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8tcoj10a.txt + +This eBook was produced by Robert J. 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