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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9168-h.zip b/9168-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cbb0f22 --- /dev/null +++ b/9168-h.zip diff --git a/9168-h/9168-h.htm b/9168-h/9168-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..355abc1 --- /dev/null +++ b/9168-h/9168-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5797 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> + +<head> + +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol 5, by Emile Zola +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p {text-indent: 4% } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.contents {text-indent: -3%; + margin-left: 5% } + +p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; + letter-spacing: 4em ; + text-align: center } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.intro {font-size: 90% ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 5, by Emile Zola + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 5 + +Author: Emile Zola + +Translator: Ernest A. Vizetelly + +Posting Date: April 13, 2014 [EBook #9168] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES TRILOGY: PARIS VOL 5 *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and David Widger. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1> +<br /><br /><br /> + THE THREE CITIES<br /> +</h1> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t2"> + PARIS<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3b"> + BY<br /> +<br /> + EMILE ZOLA<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> + TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h2> + BOOK V<br /> +</h2> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +I +</h3> + +<h3> +THE GUILLOTINE +</h3> + +<p> +FOR some reason of his own Guillaume was bent upon witnessing the +execution of Salvat. Pierre tried to dissuade him from doing so; and +finding his efforts vain, became somewhat anxious. He accordingly +resolved to spend the night at Montmartre, accompany his brother and +watch over him. In former times, when engaged with Abbe Rose in +charitable work in the Charonne district, he had learnt that the +guillotine could be seen from the house where Mege, the Socialist deputy, +resided at the corner of the Rue Merlin. He therefore offered himself as +a guide. As the execution was to take place as soon as it should legally +be daybreak, that is, about half-past four o'clock, the brothers did not +go to bed but sat up in the workroom, feeling somewhat drowsy, and +exchanging few words. Then as soon as two o'clock struck, they started +off. +</p> + +<p> +The night was beautifully serene and clear. The full moon, shining like a +silver lamp in the cloudless, far-stretching heavens, threw a calm, +dreamy light over the vague immensity of Paris, which was like some +spell-bound city of sleep, so overcome by fatigue that not a murmur arose +from it. It was as if beneath the soft radiance which spread over its +roofs, its panting labour and its cries of suffering were lulled to +repose until the dawn. Yet, in a far, out of the way district, dark work +was even now progressing, a knife was being raised on high in order that +a man might be killed. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre and Guillaume paused in the Rue St. Eleuthere, and gazed at the +vaporous, tremulous city spread out below then. And as they turned they +perceived the basilica of the Sacred Heart, still domeless but already +looking huge indeed in the moonbeams, whose clear white light accentuated +its outlines and brought them into sharp relief against a mass of +shadows. Under the pale nocturnal sky, the edifice showed like a colossal +monster, symbolical of provocation and sovereign dominion. Never before +had Guillaume found it so huge, never had it appeared to him to dominate +Paris, even in the latter's hours of slumber, with such stubborn and +overwhelming might. +</p> + +<p> +This wounded him so keenly in the state of mind in which he found +himself, that he could not help exclaiming: "Ah! they chose a good site +for it, and how stupid it was to let them do so! I know of nothing more +nonsensical; Paris crowned and dominated by that temple of idolatry! How +impudent it is, what a buffet for the cause of reason after so many +centuries of science, labour, and battle! And to think of it being reared +over Paris, the one city in the world which ought never to have been +soiled in this fashion! One can understand it at Lourdes and Rome; but +not in Paris, in the very field of intelligence which has been so deeply +ploughed, and whence the future is sprouting. It is a declaration of war, +an insolent proclamation that they hope to conquer Paris also!" +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume usually evinced all the tolerance of a <i>savant</i>, for whom +religions are simply social phenomena. He even willingly admitted the +grandeur or grace of certain Catholic legends. But Marie Alacoque's +famous vision, which has given rise to the cult of the Sacred Heart, +filled him with irritation and something like physical disgust. He +suffered at the mere idea of Christ's open, bleeding breast, and the +gigantic heart which the saint asserted she had seen beating in the +depths of the wound—the huge heart in which Jesus placed the woman's +little heart to restore it to her inflated and glowing with love. What +base and loathsome materialism there was in all this! What a display of +viscera, muscles and blood suggestive of a butcher's shop! And Guillaume +was particularly disgusted with the engraving which depicted this horror, +and which he found everywhere, crudely coloured with red and yellow and +blue, like some badly executed anatomical plate. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre on his side was also looking at the basilica as, white with +moonlight, it rose out of the darkness like a gigantic fortress raised to +crush and conquer the city slumbering beneath it. It had already brought +him suffering during the last days when he had said mass in it and was +struggling with his torments. "They call it the national votive +offering," he now exclaimed. "But the nation's longing is for health and +strength and restoration to its old position by work. That is a thing the +Church does not understand. It argues that if France was stricken with +defeat, it was because she deserved punishment. She was guilty, and so +to-day she ought to repent. Repent of what? Of the Revolution, of a +century of free examination and science, of the emancipation of her mind, +of her initiatory and liberative labour in all parts of the world? That +indeed is her real transgression; and it is as a punishment for all our +labour, search for truth, increase of knowledge and march towards justice +that they have reared that huge pile which Paris will see from all her +streets, and will never be able to see without feeling derided and +insulted in her labour and glory." +</p> + +<p> +With a wave of his hand he pointed to the city, slumbering in the +moonlight as beneath a sheet of silver, and then set off again with his +brother, down the slopes, towards the black and deserted streets. +</p> + +<p> +They did not meet a living soul until they reached the outer boulevard. +Here, however, no matter what the hour may be, life continues with +scarcely a pause. No sooner are the wine shops, music and dancing halls +closed, than vice and want, cast into the street, there resume their +nocturnal existence. Thus the brothers came upon all the homeless ones: +low prostitutes seeking a pallet, vagabonds stretched on the benches +under the trees, rogues who prowled hither and thither on the lookout for +a good stroke. Encouraged by their accomplice—night, all the mire and +woe of Paris had returned to the surface. The empty roadway now belonged +to the breadless, homeless starvelings, those for whom there was no place +in the sunlight, the vague, swarming, despairing herd which is only +espied at night-time. Ah! what spectres of destitution, what apparitions +of grief and fright there were! What a sob of agony passed by in Paris +that morning, when as soon as the dawn should rise, a man—a pauper, a +sufferer like the others—was to be guillotined! +</p> + +<p> +As Guillaume and Pierre were about to descend the Rue des Martyrs, the +former perceived an old man lying on a bench with his bare feet +protruding from his gaping, filthy shoes. Guillaume pointed to him in +silence. Then, a few steps farther on, Pierre in his turn pointed to a +ragged girl, crouching, asleep with open month, in the corner of a +doorway. There was no need for the brothers to express in words all the +compassion and anger which stirred their hearts. At long intervals +policemen, walking slowly two by two, shook the poor wretches and +compelled them to rise and walk on and on. Occasionally, if they found +them suspicious or refractory, they marched them off to the +police-station. And then rancour and the contagion of imprisonment often +transformed a mere vagabond into a thief or a murderer. +</p> + +<p> +In the Rue des Martyrs and the Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre, the brothers +found night-birds of another kind, women who slunk past them, close to +the house-fronts, and men and hussies who belaboured one another with +blows. Then, upon the grand boulevards, on the thresholds of lofty black +houses, only one row of whose windows flared in the night, pale-faced +individuals, who had just come down from their clubs, stood lighting +cigars before going home. A lady with a ball wrap over her evening gown +went by accompanied by a servant. A few cabs, moreover, still jogged up +and down the roadway, while others, which had been waiting for hours, +stood on their ranks in rows, with drivers and horses alike asleep. And +as one boulevard after another was reached, the Boulevard Poissonniere, +the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, the Boulevard St. Denis, and so forth, as +far as the Place de la Republique, there came fresh want and misery, more +forsaken and hungry ones, more and more of the human "waste" that is cast +into the streets and the darkness. And on the other hand, an army of +street-sweepers was now appearing to remove all the filth of the past +four and twenty hours, in order that Paris, spruce already at sunrise, +might not blush for having thrown up such a mass of dirt and +loathsomeness in the course of a single day. +</p> + +<p> +It was, however, more particularly after following the Boulevard +Voltaire, and drawing near to the districts of La Roquette and Charonne, +that the brothers felt they were returning to a sphere of labour where +there was often lack of food, and where life was but so much pain. Pierre +found himself at home here. In former days, accompanied by good Abbe +Rose, visiting despairing ones, distributing alms, picking up children +who had sunk to the gutter, he had a hundred times perambulated every one +of those long, densely populated streets. And thus a frightful vision +arose before his mind's eye; he recalled all the tragedies he had +witnessed, all the shrieks he had heard, all the tears and bloodshed he +had seen, all the fathers, mothers and children huddled together and +dying of want, dirt and abandonment: that social hell in which he had +ended by losing his last hopes, fleeing from it with a sob in the +conviction that charity was a mere amusement for the rich, and absolutely +futile as a remedy. It was this conviction which now returned to him as +he again cast eyes upon that want and grief stricken district which +seemed fated to everlasting destitution. That poor old man whom Abbe Rose +had revived one night in yonder hovel, had he not since died of +starvation? That little girl whom he had one morning brought in his arms +to the refuge after her parents' death, was it not she whom he had just +met, grown but fallen to the streets, and shrieking beneath the fist of a +bully? Ah! how great was the number of the wretched! Their name was +legion! There were those whom one could not save, those who were hourly +born to a life of woe and want, even as one may be born infirm, and +those, too, who from every side sank in the sea of human injustice, that +ocean which has ever been the same for centuries past, and which though +one may strive to drain it, still and for ever spreads. How heavy was the +silence, how dense the darkness in those working-class streets where +sleep seems to be the comrade of death! Yet hunger prowls, and misfortune +sobs; vague spectral forms slink by, and then are lost to view in the +depths of the night. +</p> + +<p> +As Pierre and Guillaume went along they became mixed with dark groups of +people, a whole flock of inquisitive folk, a promiscuous, passionate +tramp, tramp towards the guillotine. It came from all Paris, urged on by +brutish fever, a hankering for death and blood. In spite, however, of the +dull noise which came from this dim crowd, the mean streets that were +passed remained quite dark, not a light appeared at any of their windows; +nor could one hear the breathing of the weary toilers stretched on their +wretched pallets from which they would not rise before the morning +twilight. +</p> + +<p> +On seeing the jostling crowd which was already assembled on the Place +Voltaire, Pierre understood that it would be impossible for him and his +brother to ascend the Rue de la Roquette. Barriers, moreover, must +certainly have been thrown across that street. In order therefore to +reach the corner of the Rue Merlin, it occurred to him to take the Rue de +la Folie Regnault, which winds round in the rear of the prison, farther +on. +</p> + +<p> +Here indeed they found solitude and darkness again. +</p> + +<p> +The huge, massive prison with its great bare walls on which a moonray +fell, looked like some pile of cold stones, dead for centuries past. At +the end of the street they once more fell in with the crowd, a dim +restless mass of beings, whose pale faces alone could be distinguished. +The brothers had great difficulty in reaching the house in which Mege +resided at the corner of the Rue Merlin. All the shutters of the +fourth-floor flat occupied by the Socialist deputy were closed, though +every other window was wide open and crowded with surging sightseers. +Moreover, the wine shop down below and the first-floor room connected +with it flared with gas, and were already crowded with noisy customers, +waiting for the performance to begin. +</p> + +<p> +"I hardly like to go and knock at Mege's door," said Pierre. +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, you must not do so!" replied Guillaume. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us go into the wine shop. We may perhaps be able to see something +from the balcony." +</p> + +<p> +The first-floor room was provided with a very large balcony, which women +and gentlemen were already filling. The brothers nevertheless managed to +reach it, and for a few minutes remained there, peering into the darkness +before them. The sloping street grew broader between the two prisons, the +"great" and the "little" Roquette, in such wise as to form a sort of +square, which was shaded by four clumps of plane-trees, rising from the +footways. The low buildings and scrubby trees, all poor and ugly of +aspect, seemed almost to lie on a level with the ground, under a vast sky +in which stars were appearing, as the moon gradually declined. And the +square was quite empty save that on one spot yonder there seemed to be +some little stir. Two rows of guards prevented the crowd from advancing, +and even threw it back into the neighbouring streets. On the one hand, +the only lofty houses were far away, at the point where the Rue St. Maur +intersects the Rue de la Roquette; while, on the other, they stood at the +corners of the Rue Merlin and the Rue de la Folie Regnault, so that it +was almost impossible to distinguish anything of the execution even from +the best placed windows. As for the inquisitive folk on the pavement they +only saw the backs of the guards. Still this did not prevent a crush. The +human tide flowed on from all sides with increasing clamour. +</p> + +<p> +Guided by the remarks of some women who, leaning forward on the balcony, +had been watching the square for a long time already, the brothers were +at last able to perceive something. It was now half-past three, and the +guillotine was nearly ready. The little stir which one vaguely espied +yonder under the trees, was that of the headsman's assistants fixing the +knife in position. A lantern slowly came and went, and five or six +shadows danced over the ground. But nothing else could be distinguished, +the square was like a large black pit, around which ever broke the waves +of the noisy crowd which one could not see. And beyond the square one +could only identify the flaring wine shops, which showed forth like +lighthouses in the night. All the surrounding district of poverty and +toil was still asleep, not a gleam as yet came from workrooms or yards, +not a puff of smoke from the lofty factory chimneys. +</p> + +<p> +"We shall see nothing," Guillaume remarked. +</p> + +<p> +But Pierre silenced him, for he has just discovered that an elegantly +attired gentleman leaning over the balcony near him was none other than +the amiable deputy Duthil. He had at first fancied that a woman muffled +in wraps who stood close beside the deputy was the little Princess de +Harn, whom he had very likely brought to see the execution since he had +taken her to see the trial. On closer inspection, however, he had found +that this woman was Silviane, the perverse creature with the virginal +face. Truth to tell, she made no concealment of her presence, but talked +on in an extremely loud voice, as if intoxicated; and the brothers soon +learnt how it was that she happened to be there. Duvillard, Duthil, and +other friends had been supping with her at one o'clock in the morning, +when on learning that Salvat was about to be guillotined, the fancy of +seeing the execution had suddenly come upon her. Duvillard, after vainly +entreating her to do nothing of the kind, had gone off in a fury, for he +felt that it would be most unseemly on his part to attend the execution +of a man who had endeavoured to blow up his house. And thereupon Silviane +had turned to Duthil, whom her caprice greatly worried, for he held all +such loathsome spectacles in horror, and had already refused to act as +escort to the Princess. However, he was so infatuated with Silviane's +beauty, and she made him so many promises, that he had at last consented +to take her. +</p> + +<p> +"He can't understand people caring for amusement," she said, speaking of +the Baron. "And yet this is really a thing to see. . . . But no matter, +you'll find him at my feet again to-morrow." +</p> + +<p> +Duthil smiled and responded: "I suppose that peace has been signed and +ratified now that you have secured your engagement at the Comedie." +</p> + +<p> +"Peace? No!" she protested. "No, no. There will be no peace between us +until I have made my <i>debut</i>. After that, we'll see." +</p> + +<p> +They both laughed; and then Duthil, by way of paying his court, told her +how good-naturedly Dauvergne, the new Minister of Public Instruction and +Fine Arts, had adjusted the difficulties which had hitherto kept the +doors of the Comedie closed upon her. A really charming man was +Dauvergne, the embodiment of graciousness, the very flower of the +Monferrand ministry. His was the velvet hand in that administration whose +leader had a hand of iron. +</p> + +<p> +"He told me, my beauty," said Duthil, "that a pretty girl was in place +everywhere." And then as Silviane, as if flattered, pressed closely +beside him, the deputy added: "So that wonderful revival of 'Polyeucte,' +in which you are going to have such a triumph, is to take place on the +day after to-morrow. We shall all go to applaud you, remember." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, on the evening of the day after to-morrow," said Silviane, "the +very same day when the wedding of the Baron's daughter will take place. +There'll be plenty of emotion that day!" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! yes, of course!" retorted Duthil, "there'll be the wedding of our +friend Gerard with Mademoiselle Camille to begin with. We shall have a +crush at the Madeleine in the morning and another at the Comedie in the +evening. You are quite right, too; there will be several hearts throbbing +in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy." +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon they again became merry, and jested about the Duvillard +family—father, mother, lover and daughter—with the greatest possible +ferocity and crudity of language. Then, all at once Silviane exclaimed: +"Do you know, I'm feeling awfully bored here, my little Duthil. I can't +distinguish anything, and I should like to be quite near so as to see it +all plainly. You must take me over yonder, close to that machine of +theirs." +</p> + +<p> +This request threw Duthil into consternation, particularly as at that +same moment Silviane perceived Massot outside the wine shop, and began +calling and beckoning to him imperiously. A brief conversation then +ensued between the young woman and the journalist: "I say, Massot!" she +called, "hasn't a deputy the right to pass the guards and take a lady +wherever he likes?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not at all!" exclaimed Duthil. "Massot knows very well that a deputy +ought to be the very first to bow to the laws." +</p> + +<p> +This exclamation warned Massot that Duthil did not wish to leave the +balcony. "You ought to have secured a card of invitation, madame," said +he, in reply to Silviane. "They would then have found you room at one of +the windows of La Petite Roquette. Women are not allowed elsewhere. . . . +But you mustn't complain, you have a very good place up there." +</p> + +<p> +"But I can see nothing at all, my dear Massot." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you will in any case see more than Princess de Harn will. Just now +I came upon her carriage in the Rue du Chemin Vert. The police would not +allow it to come any nearer." +</p> + +<p> +This news made Silviane merry again, whilst Duthil shuddered at the idea +of the danger he incurred, for Rosemonde would assuredly treat him to a +terrible scene should she see him with another woman. Then, an idea +occurring to him, he ordered a bottle of champagne and some little cakes +for his "beautiful friend," as he called Silviane. She had been +complaining of thirst, and was delighted with the opportunity of +perfecting her intoxication. When a waiter had managed to place a little +table near her, on the balcony itself, she found things very pleasant, +and indeed considered it quite brave to tipple and sup afresh, while +waiting for that man to be guillotined close by. +</p> + +<p> +It was impossible for Pierre and Guillaume to remain up there any longer. +All that they heard, all that they beheld filled them with disgust. The +boredom of waiting had turned all the inquisitive folks of the balcony +and the adjoining room into customers. The waiter could hardly manage to +serve the many glasses of beer, bottles of expensive wine, biscuits, and +plates of cold meat which were ordered of him. And yet the spectators +here were all <i>bourgeois</i>, rich gentlemen, people of society! On the +other hand, time has to be killed somehow when it hangs heavily on one's +hands; and thus there were bursts of laughter and paltry and horrible +jests, quite a feverish uproar arising amidst the clouds of smoke from +the men's cigars. When Pierre and Guillaume passed through the wine shop +on the ground-floor they there found a similar crush and similar tumult, +aggravated by the disorderly behaviour of the big fellows in blouses who +were drinking draught wine at the pewter bar which shone like silver. +There were people, too, at all the little tables, besides an incessant +coming and going of folks who entered the place for a "wet," by way of +calming their impatience. And what folks they were! All the scum, all the +vagabonds who had been dragging themselves about since daybreak on the +lookout for whatever chance might offer them, provided it were not work! +</p> + +<p> +On the pavement outside, Pierre and Guillaume felt yet a greater +heart-pang. In the throng which the guards kept back, one simply found so +much mire stirred up from the very depths of Paris life: prostitutes and +criminals, the murderers of to-morrow, who came to see how a man ought to +die. Loathsome, bareheaded harlots mingled with bands of prowlers or ran +through the crowd, howling obscene refrains. Bandits stood in groups +chatting and quarrelling about the more or less glorious manner in which +certain famous <i>guillotines</i> had died. Among these was one with respect +to whom they all agreed, and of whom they spoke as of a great captain, a +hero whose marvellous courage was deserving of immortality. Then, as one +passed along, one caught snatches of horrible phrases, particulars about +the instrument of death, ignoble boasts, and filthy jests reeking with +blood. And over and above all else there was bestial fever, a lust for +death which made this multitude delirious, an eagerness to see life flow +forth fresh and ruddy beneath the knife, so that as it coursed over the +soil they might dip their feet in it. As this execution was not an +ordinary one, however, there were yet spectators of another kind; silent +men with glowing eyes who came and went all alone, and who were plainly +thrilled by their faith, intoxicated with the contagious madness which +incites one to vengeance or martyrdom. +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume was just thinking of Victor Mathis, when he fancied that he saw +him standing in the front row of sightseers whom the guards held in +check. It was indeed he, with his thin, beardless, pale, drawn face. +Short as he was, he had to raise himself on tiptoes in order to see +anything. Near him was a big, red-haired girl who gesticulated; but for +his part he never stirred or spoke. He was waiting motionless, gazing +yonder with the round, ardent, fixed eyes of a night-bird, seeking to +penetrate the darkness. At last a guard pushed him back in a somewhat +brutal way; but he soon returned to his previous position, ever patient +though full of hatred against the executioners, wishing indeed to see all +he could in order to increase his hate. +</p> + +<p> +Then Massot approached the brothers. This time, on seeing Pierre without +his cassock, he did not even make a sign of astonishment, but gaily +remarked: "So you felt curious to see this affair, Monsieur Froment?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I came with my brother," Pierre replied. "But I very much fear that +we shan't see much." +</p> + +<p> +"You certainly won't if you stay here," rejoined Massot. And thereupon in +his usual good-natured way—glad, moreover, to show what power a +well-known journalist could wield—he inquired: "Would you like me to +pass you through? The inspector here happens to be a friend of mine." +</p> + +<p> +Then, without waiting for an answer, he stopped the inspector and hastily +whispered to him that he had brought a couple of colleagues, who wanted +to report the proceedings. At first the inspector hesitated, and seemed +inclined to refuse Massot's request; but after a moment, influenced by +the covert fear which the police always has of the press, he made a weary +gesture of consent. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, quick, then," said Massot, turning to the brothers, and taking +them along with him. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later, to the intense surprise of Pierre and Guillaume, the +guards opened their ranks to let them pass. They then found themselves in +the large open space which was kept clear. And on thus emerging from the +tumultuous throng they were quite impressed by the death-like silence and +solitude which reigned under the little plane-trees. The night was now +paling. A faint gleam of dawn was already falling from the sky. +</p> + +<p> +After leading his companions slantwise across the square, Massot stopped +them near the prison and resumed: "I'm going inside; I want to see the +prisoner roused and got ready. In the meantime, walk about here; nobody +will say anything to you. Besides, I'll come back to you in a moment." +</p> + +<p> +A hundred people or so, journalists and other privileged spectators, were +scattered about the dark square. Movable wooden barriers—such as are set +up at the doors of theatres when there is a press of people waiting for +admission—had been placed on either side of the pavement running from +the prison gate to the guillotine; and some sightseers were already +leaning over these barriers, in order to secure a close view of the +condemned man as he passed by. Others were walking slowly to and fro, and +conversing in undertones. The brothers, for their part, approached the +guillotine. +</p> + +<p> +It stood there under the branches of the trees, amidst the delicate +greenery of the fresh leaves of spring. A neighbouring gas-lamp, whose +light was turning yellow in the rising dawn, cast vague gleams upon it. +The work of fixing it in position—work performed as quietly as could be, +so that the only sound was the occasional thud of a mallet—had just been +finished; and the headsman's "valets" or assistants, in frock-coats and +tall silk hats, were waiting and strolling about in a patient way. But +the instrument itself, how base and shameful it looked, squatting on the +ground like some filthy beast, disgusted with the work it had to +accomplish! What! those few beams lying on the ground, and those others +barely nine feet high which rose from it, keeping the knife in position, +constituted the machine which avenged Society, the instrument which gave +a warning to evil-doers! Where was the big scaffold painted a bright red +and reached by a stairway of ten steps, the scaffold which raised high +bloody arms over the eager multitude, so that everybody might behold the +punishment of the law in all its horror! The beast had now been felled to +the ground, where it simply looked ignoble, crafty and cowardly. If on +the one hand there was no majesty in the manner in which human justice +condemned a man to death at its assizes: on the other, there was merely +horrid butchery with the help of the most barbarous and repulsive of +mechanical contrivances, on the terrible day when that man was executed. +</p> + +<p> +As Pierre and Guillaume gazed at the guillotine, a feeling of nausea came +over them. Daylight was now slowly breaking, and the surroundings were +appearing to view: first the square itself with its two low, grey +prisons, facing one another; then the distant houses, the taverns, the +marble workers' establishments, and the shops selling flowers and +wreaths, which are numerous hereabouts, as the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise +is so near. Before long one could plainly distinguish the black lines of +the spectators standing around in a circle, the heads leaning forward +from windows and balconies, and the people who had climbed to the very +house roofs. The prison of La Petite Roquette over the way had been +turned into a kind of tribune for guests; and mounted Gardes de Paris +went slowly to and fro across the intervening expanse. Then, as the sky +brightened, labour awoke throughout the district beyond the crowd, a +district of broad, endless streets lined with factories, work-shops and +work-yards. Engines began to snort, machinery and appliances were got +ready to start once more on their usual tasks, and smoke already curled +away from the forest of lofty brick chimneys which, on all sides, sprang +out of the gloom. +</p> + +<p> +It then seemed to Guillaume that the guillotine was really in its right +place in that district of want and toil. It stood in its own realm, like +a <i>terminus</i> and a threat. Did not ignorance, poverty and woe lead to it? +And each time that it was set up amidst those toilsome streets, was it +not charged to overawe the disinherited ones, the starvelings, who, +exasperated by everlasting injustice, were always ready for revolt? It +was not seen in the districts where wealth and enjoyment reigned. It +would there have seemed purposeless, degrading and truly monstrous. And +it was a tragical and terrible coincidence that the bomb-thrower, driven +mad by want, should be guillotined there, in the very centre of want's +dominion. +</p> + +<p> +But daylight had come at last, for it was nearly half-past four. The +distant noisy crowd could feel that the expected moment was drawing nigh. +A shudder suddenly sped through the atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +"He's coming," exclaimed little Massot, as he came back to Pierre and +Guillaume. "Ah! that Salvat is a brave fellow after all." +</p> + +<p> +Then he related how the prisoner had been awakened; how the governor of +the prison, magistrate Amadieu, the chaplain, and a few other persons had +entered the cell where Salvat lay fast asleep; and then how the condemned +man had understood the truth immediately upon opening his eyes. He had +risen, looking pale but quite composed. And he had dressed himself +without assistance, and had declined the nip of brandy and the cigarette +proffered by the good-hearted chaplain, in the same way as with a gentle +but stubborn gesture he had brushed the crucifix aside. Then had come the +"toilette" for death. With all rapidity and without a word being +exchanged, Salvat's hands had been tied behind his back, his legs had +been loosely secured with a cord, and the neckband of his shirt had been +cut away. He had smiled when the others exhorted him to be brave. He only +feared some nervous weakness, and had but one desire, to die like a hero, +to remain the martyr of the ardent faith in truth and justice for which +he was about to perish. +</p> + +<p> +"They are now drawing up the death certificate in the register," +continued Massot in his chattering way. "Come along, come along to the +barriers if you wish a good view. . . . I turned paler, you know, and +trembled far more than he did. I don't care a rap for anything as a rule; +but, all the same, an execution isn't a pleasant business. . . . You +can't imagine how many attempts were made to save Salvat's life. Even +some of the papers asked that he might be reprieved. But nothing +succeeded, the execution was regarded as inevitable, it seems, even by +those who consider it a blunder. Still, they had such a touching +opportunity to reprieve him, when his daughter, little Celine, wrote that +fine letter to the President of the Republic, which I was the first to +publish in the 'Globe.' Ah! that letter, it cost me a lot of running +about!" +</p> + +<p> +Pierre, who was already quite upset by this long wait for the horrible +scene, felt moved to tears by Massot's reference to Celine. He could +again see the child standing beside Madame Theodore in that bare, cold +room whither her father would never more return. It was thence that he +had set out on a day of desperation with his stomach empty and his brain +on fire, and it was here that he would end, between yonder beams, beneath +yonder knife. +</p> + +<p> +Massot, however, was still giving particulars. The doctors, said he, were +furious because they feared that the body would not be delivered to them +immediately after the execution. To this Guillaume did not listen. He +stood there with his elbows resting on the wooden barrier and his eyes +fixed on the prison gate, which still remained shut. His hands were +quivering, and there was an expression of anguish on his face as if it +were he himself who was about to be executed. The headsman had again just +left the prison. He was a little, insignificant-looking man, and seemed +annoyed, anxious to have done with it all. Then, among a group of +frock-coated gentlemen, some of the spectators pointed out Gascogne, the +Chief of the Detective Police, who wore a cold, official air, and +Amadieu, the investigating magistrate, who smiled and looked very spruce, +early though the hour was. He had come partly because it was his duty, +and partly because he wished to show himself now that the curtain was +about to fall on a wonderful tragedy of which he considered himself the +author. Guillaume glanced at him, and then as a growing uproar rose from +the distant crowd, he looked up for an instant, and again beheld the two +grey prisons, the plane-trees with their fresh young leaves, and the +houses swarming with people beneath the pale blue sky, in which the +triumphant sun was about to appear. +</p> + +<p> +"Look out, here he comes!" +</p> + +<p> +Who had spoken? A slight noise, that of the opening gate, made every +heart throb. Necks were outstretched, eyes gazed fixedly, there was +laboured breathing on all sides. Salvat stood on the threshold of the +prison. The chaplain, stepping backwards, had come out in advance of him, +in order to conceal the guillotine from his sight, but he had stopped +short, for he wished to see that instrument of death, make acquaintance +with it, as it were, before he walked towards it. And as he stood there, +his long, aged sunken face, on which life's hardships had left their +mark, seemed transformed by the wondrous brilliancy of his flaring, +dreamy eyes. Enthusiasm bore him up—he was going to his death in all the +splendour of his dream. When the executioner's assistants drew near to +support him he once more refused their help, and again set himself in +motion, advancing with short steps, but as quickly and as straightly as +the rope hampering his legs permitted. +</p> + +<p> +All at once Guillaume felt that Salvat's eyes were fixed upon him. +Drawing nearer and nearer the condemned man had perceived and recognised +his friend; and as he passed by, at a distance of no more than six or +seven feet, he smiled faintly and darted such a deep penetrating glance +at Guillaume, that ever afterwards the latter felt its smart. But what +last thought, what supreme legacy had Salvat left him to meditate upon, +perhaps to put into execution? It was all so poignant that Pierre feared +some involuntary call on his brother's part; and so he laid his hand upon +his arm to quiet him. +</p> + +<p> +"Long live Anarchy!" +</p> + +<p> +It was Salvat who had raised this cry. But in the deep silence his husky, +altered voice seemed to break. The few who were near at hand had turned +very pale; the distant crowd seemed bereft of life. The horse of one of +the Gardes de Paris was alone heard snorting in the centre of the space +which had been kept clear. +</p> + +<p> +Then came a loathsome scramble, a scene of nameless brutality and +ignominy. The headsman's helps rushed upon Salvat as he came up slowly +with brow erect. Two of them seized him by the head, but finding little +hair there, could only lower it by tugging at his neck. Next two others +grasped him by the legs and flung him violently upon a plank which tilted +over and rolled forward. Then, by dint of pushing and tugging, the head +was got into the "lunette," the upper part of which fell in such wise +that the neck was fixed as in a ship's port-hole—and all this was +accomplished amidst such confusion and with such savagery that one might +have thought that head some cumbrous thing which it was necessary to get +rid of with the greatest speed. But the knife fell with a dull, heavy, +forcible thud, and two long jets of blood spurted from the severed +arteries, while the dead man's feet moved convulsively. Nothing else +could be seen. The executioner rubbed his hands in a mechanical way, and +an assistant took the severed blood-streaming head from the little basket +into which it had fallen and placed it in the large basket into which the +body had already been turned. +</p> + +<p> +Ah! that dull, that heavy thud of the knife! It seemed to Guillaume that +he had heard it echoing far away all over that district of want and toil, +even in the squalid rooms where thousands of workmen were at that moment +rising to perform their day's hard task! And there the echo of that thud +acquired formidable significance; it spoke of man's exasperation with +injustice, of zeal for martyrdom, and of the dolorous hope that the blood +then spilt might hasten the victory of the disinherited. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre, for his part, at the sight of that loathsome butchery, the abject +cutthroat work of that killing machine, had suddenly felt his chilling +shudder become more violent; for before him arose a vision of another +corpse, that of the fair, pretty child ripped open by a bomb and +stretched yonder, at the entrance of the Duvillard mansion. Blood +streamed from her delicate flesh, just as it had streamed from that +decapitated neck. It was blood paying for blood; it was like payment for +mankind's debt of wretchedness, for which payment is everlastingly being +made, without man ever being able to free himself from suffering. +</p> + +<p> +Above the square and the crowd all was still silent in the clear sky. How +long had the abomination lasted? An eternity, perhaps, compressed into +two or three minutes. And now came an awakening: the spectators emerged +from their nightmare with quivering hands, livid faces, and eyes +expressive of compassion, disgust and fear. +</p> + +<p> +"That makes another one. I've now seen four executions," said Massot, who +felt ill at ease. "After all, I prefer to report weddings. Let us go off, +I have all I want for my article." +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume and Pierre followed him mechanically across the square, and +again reached the corner of the Rue Merlin. And here they saw little +Victor Mathis, with flaming eyes and white face, still standing in +silence on the spot where they had left him. He could have seen nothing +distinctly; but the thud of the knife was still echoing in his brain. A +policeman at last gave him a push, and told him to move on. At this he +looked the policeman in the face, stirred by sudden rage and ready to +strangle him. Then, however, he quietly walked away, ascending the Rue de +la Roquette, atop of which the lofty foliage of Pere-Lachaise could be +seen, beneath the rising sun. +</p> + +<p> +The brothers meantime fell upon a scene of explanations, which they heard +without wishing to do so. Now that the sight was over, the Princess de +Harn arrived, and she was the more furious as at the door of the wine +shop she could see her new friend Duthil accompanying a woman. +</p> + +<p> +"I say!" she exclaimed, "you are nice, you are, to have left me in the +lurch like this! It was impossible for my carriage to get near, so I've +had to come on foot through all those horrid people who have been +jostling and insulting me." +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon Duthil, with all promptitude, introduced Silviane to her, +adding, in an aside, that he had taken a friend's place as the actress's +escort. And then Rosemonde, who greatly wished to know Silviane, calmed +down as if by enchantment, and put on her most engaging ways. "It would +have delighted me, madame," said she, "to have seen this sight in the +company of an <i>artiste</i> of your merit, one whom I admire so much, though +I have never before had an opportunity of telling her so." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, dear me, madame," replied Silviane, "you haven't lost much by +arriving late. We were on that balcony there, and all that I could see +were a few men pushing another one about. . . . It really isn't worth the +trouble of coming." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, now that we have become acquainted, madame," said the Princess, "I +really hope that you will allow me to be your friend." +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly, madame, my friend; and I shall be flattered and delighted to +be yours." +</p> + +<p> +Standing there, hand in hand, they smiled at one another. Silviane was +very drunk, but her virginal expression had returned to her face; whilst +Rosemonde seemed feverish with vicious curiosity. Duthil, whom the scene +amused, now had but one thought, that of seeing Silviane home; so calling +to Massot, who was approaching, he asked him where he should find a +cab-rank. Rosemonde, however, at once offered her carriage, which was +waiting in an adjacent street. +</p> + +<p> +She would set the actress down at her door, said she, and the deputy at +his; and such was her persistence in the matter that Duthil, greatly +vexed, was obliged to accept her offer. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, till to-morrow at the Madeleine," said Massot, again quite +sprightly, as he shook hands with the Princess. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, till to-morrow, at the Madeleine and the Comedie." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! yes, of course!" he repeated, taking Silviane's hand, which he +kissed. "The Madeleine in the morning and the Comedie in the evening. . . +. We shall all be there to applaud you." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I expect you to do so," said Silviane. "Till to-morrow, then!" +</p> + +<p> +"Till to-morrow!" +</p> + +<p> +The crowd was now wearily dispersing, to all appearance disappointed and +ill at ease. A few enthusiasts alone lingered in order to witness the +departure of the van in which Salvat's corpse would soon be removed; +while bands of prowlers and harlots, looking very wan in the daylight, +whistled or called to one another with some last filthy expression before +returning to their dens. The headsman's assistants were hastily taking +down the guillotine, and the square would soon be quite clear. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre for his part wished to lead his brother away. Since the fall of +the knife, Guillaume had remained as if stunned, without once opening his +lips. In vain had Pierre tried to rouse him by pointing to the shutters +of Mege's flat, which still remained closed, whereas every other window +of the lofty house was wide open. Although the Socialist deputy hated the +Anarchists, those shutters were doubtless closed as a protest against +capital punishment. Whilst the multitude had been rushing to that +frightful spectacle, Mege, still in bed, with his face turned to the +wall, had probably been dreaming of how he would some day compel mankind +to be happy beneath the rigid laws of Collectivism. Affectionate father +as he was, the recent death of one of his children had quite upset his +private life. His cough, too, had become a very bad one; but he ardently +wished to live, for as soon as that new Monferrand ministry should have +fallen beneath the interpellation which he already contemplated, his own +turn would surely come: he would take the reins of power in hand, abolish +the guillotine and decree justice and perfect felicity. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you see, Guillaume?" Pierre gently repeated. "Mege hasn't opened his +windows. He's a good fellow, after all; although our friends Bache and +Morin dislike him." Then, as his brother still refrained from answering, +Pierre added, "Come, let us go, we must get back home." +</p> + +<p> +They both turned into the Rue de la Folie Regnault, and reached the outer +Boulevards by way of the Rue du Chemin Vert. All the toilers of the +district were now at work. In the long streets edged with low buildings, +work-shops and factories, one heard engines snorting and machinery +rumbling, while up above, the smoke from the lofty chimneys was assuming +a rosy hue in the sunrise. Afterwards, when the brothers reached the +Boulevard de Menilmontant and the Boulevard de Belleville, which they +followed in turn at a leisurely pace, they witnessed the great rush of +the working classes into central Paris. The stream poured forth from +every side; from all the wretched streets of the faubourgs there was an +endless exodus of toilers, who, having risen at dawn, were now hurrying, +in the sharp morning air, to their daily labour. Some wore short jackets +and others blouses; some were in velveteen trousers, others in linen +overalls. Their thick shoes made their tramp a heavy one; their hanging +hands were often deformed by work. And they seemed half asleep, not a +smile was to be seen on any of those wan, weary faces turned yonder +towards the everlasting task—the task which was begun afresh each day, +and which—'twas their only chance—they hoped to be able to take up for +ever and ever. There was no end to that drove of toilers, that army of +various callings, that human flesh fated to manual labour, upon which +Paris preys in order that she may live in luxury and enjoyment. +</p> + +<p> +Then the procession continued across the Boulevard de la Villette, the +Boulevard de la Chapelle, and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, where one +reached the height of Montmartre. More and more workmen were ever coming +down from their bare cold rooms and plunging into the huge city, whence, +tired out, they would that evening merely bring back the bread of +rancour. And now, too, came a stream of work-girls, some of them in +bright skirts, some glancing at the passers-by; girls whose wages were so +paltry, so insufficient, that now and again pretty ones among them never +more turned their faces homewards, whilst the ugly ones wasted away, +condemned to mere bread and water. A little later, moreover, came the +<i>employes</i>, the clerks, the counter-jumpers, the whole world of +frock-coated penury—"gentlemen" who devoured a roll as they hastened +onward, worried the while by the dread of being unable to pay their rent, +or by the problem of providing food for wife and children until the end +of the month should come.* And now the sun was fast ascending on the +horizon, the whole army of ants was out and about, and the toilsome day +had begun with its ceaseless display of courage, energy and suffering. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + * In Paris nearly all clerks and shop-assistants receive + monthly salaries, while most workmen are paid once a + fortnight.—Trans. +</p> + +<p> +Never before had it been so plainly manifest to Pierre that work was a +necessity, that it healed and saved. On the occasion of his visit to the +Grandidier works, and later still, when he himself had felt the need of +occupation, there had cone to him the thought that work was really the +world's law. And after that hateful night, after that spilling of blood, +after the slaughter of that toiler maddened by his dreams, there was +consolation and hope in seeing the sun rise once more, and everlasting +labour take up its wonted task. However hard it might prove, however +unjustly it might be lotted out, was it not work which would some day +bring both justice and happiness to the world? +</p> + +<p> +All at once, as the brothers were climbing the steep hillside towards +Guillaume's house, they perceived before and above them the basilica of +the Sacred Heart rising majestically and triumphantly to the sky. This +was no sublunar apparition, no dreamy vision of Domination standing face +to face with nocturnal Paris. The sun now clothed the edifice with +splendour, it looked golden and proud and victorious, flaring with +immortal glory. +</p> + +<p> +Then Guillaume, still silent, still feeling Salvat's last glance upon +him, seemed to come to some sudden and final decision. He looked at the +basilica with glowing eyes, and pronounced sentence upon it. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +II +</h3> + +<h3> +IN VANITY FAIR +</h3> + +<p> +THE wedding was to take place at noon, and for half an hour already +guests had been pouring into the magnificently decorated church, which +was leafy with evergreens and balmy with the scent of flowers. The high +altar in the rear glowed with countless candles, and through the great +doorway, which was wide open, one could see the peristyle decked with +shrubs, the steps covered with a broad carpet, and the inquisitive crowd +assembled on the square and even along the Rue Royale, under the bright +sun. +</p> + +<p> +After finding three more chairs for some ladies who had arrived rather +late, Duthil remarked to Massot, who was jotting down names in his +note-book: "Well, if any more come, they will have to remain standing." +</p> + +<p> +"Who were those three?" the journalist inquired. +</p> + +<p> +"The Duchess de Boisemont and her two daughters." +</p> + +<p> +"Indeed! All the titled people of France, as well as all the financiers +and politicians, are here! It's something more even than a swell Parisian +wedding." +</p> + +<p> +As a matter of fact all the spheres of "society" were gathered together +there, and some at first seemed rather embarrassed at finding themselves +beside others. Whilst Duvillard's name attracted all the princes of +finance and politicians in power, Madame de Quinsac and her son were +supported by the highest of the French aristocracy. The mere names of the +witnesses sufficed to indicate what an extraordinary medley there was. On +Gerard's side these witnesses were his uncle, General de Bozonnet, and +the Marquis de Morigny; whilst on Camille's they were the great banker +Louvard, and Monferrand, the President of the Council and Minister of +Finances. The quiet bravado which the latter displayed in thus supporting +the bride after being compromised in her father's financial intrigues +imparted a piquant touch of impudence to his triumph. And public +curiosity was further stimulated by the circumstance that the nuptial +blessing was to be given by Monseigneur Martha, Bishop of Persepolis, the +Pope's political agent in France, and the apostle of the endeavours to +win the Republic over to the Church by pretending to "rally" to it. +</p> + +<p> +"But, I was mistaken," now resumed Massot with a sneer. "I said a really +Parisian wedding, did I not? But in point of fact this wedding is a +symbol. It's the apotheosis of the <i>bourgeoisie</i>, my dear fellow—the old +nobility sacrificing one of its sons on the altar of the golden calf in +order that the Divinity and the gendarmes, being the masters of France +once more, may rid us of those scoundrelly Socialists!" +</p> + +<p> +Then, again correcting himself, he added: "But I was forgetting. There +are no more Socialists. Their head was cut off the other morning." +</p> + +<p> +Duthil found this very funny. Then in a confidential way he remarked: +"You know that the marriage wasn't settled without a good deal of +difficulty. . . . Have you read Sagnier's ignoble article this morning?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, yes; but I knew it all before, everybody knew it." +</p> + +<p> +Then in an undertone, understanding one another's slightest allusion, +they went on chatting. It was only amidst a flood of tears and after a +despairing struggle that Baroness Duvillard had consented to let her +lover marry her daughter. And in doing so she had yielded to the sole +desire of seeing Gerard rich and happy. She still regarded Camille with +all the hatred of a defeated rival. Then, an equally painful contest had +taken place at Madame de Quinsac's. The Countess had only overcome her +revolt and consented to the marriage in order to save her son from the +dangers which had threatened him since childhood; and the Marquis de +Morigny had been so affected by her maternal abnegation, that in spite of +all his anger he had resignedly agreed to be a witness, thus making a +supreme sacrifice, that of his conscience, to the woman whom he had ever +loved. And it was this frightful story that Sagnier—using transparent +nicknames—had related in the "Voix du Peuple" that morning. He had even +contrived to make it more horrid than it really was; for, as usual, he +was badly informed, and he was naturally inclined to falsehood and +invention, as by sending an ever thicker and more poisonous torrent from +his sewer, he might, day by day, increase his paper's sales. Since +Monferrand's victory had compelled him to leave the African Railways +scandal on one side, he had fallen back on scandals in private life, +stripping whole families bare and pelting them with mud. +</p> + +<p> +All at once Duthil and Massot were approached by Chaigneux, who, with his +shabby frock coat badly buttoned, wore both a melancholy and busy air. +"Well, Monsieur Massot," said he, "what about your article on Silviane? +Is it settled? Will it go in?" +</p> + +<p> +As Chaigneux was always for sale, always ready to serve as a valet, it +had occurred to Duvillard to make use of him to ensure Silviane's success +at the Comedie. He had handed this sorry deputy over to the young woman, +who entrusted him with all manner of dirty work, and sent him scouring +Paris in search of applauders and advertisements. His eldest daughter was +not yet married, and never had his four women folk weighed more heavily +on his hands. His life had become a perfect hell; they had ended by +beating him, if he did not bring a thousand-franc note home on the first +day of every month. +</p> + +<p> +"My article!" Massot replied; "no, it surely won't go in, my dear deputy. +Fonsegue says that it's written in too laudatory a style for the 'Globe.' +He asked me if I were having a joke with the paper." +</p> + +<p> +Chaigneux became livid. The article in question was one written in +advance, from the society point of view, on the success which Silviane +would achieve in "Polyeucte," that evening, at the Comedie. The +journalist, in the hope of pleasing her, had even shown her his "copy"; +and she, quite delighted, now relied upon finding the article in print in +the most sober and solemn organ of the Parisian press. +</p> + +<p> +"Good heavens! what will become of us?" murmured the wretched Chaigneux. +"It's absolutely necessary that the article should go in." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I'm quite agreeable. But speak to the governor yourself. He's +standing yonder between Vignon and Dauvergne, the Minister of Public +Instruction." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I certainly will speak to him—but not here. By-and-by in the +sacristy, during the procession. And I must also try to speak to +Dauvergne, for our Silviane particularly wants him to be in the +ministerial box this evening. Monferrand will be there; he promised +Duvillard so." +</p> + +<p> +Massot began to laugh, repeating the expression which had circulated +through Paris directly after the actress's engagement: "The Silviane +ministry. . . . Well, Dauvergne certainly owes that much to his +godmother!" said he. +</p> + +<p> +Just then the little Princess de Harn, coming up like a gust of wind, +broke in upon the three men. "I've no seat, you know!" she cried. +</p> + +<p> +Duthil fancied that it was a question of finding her a well-placed chair +in the church. "You mustn't count on me," he answered. "I've just had no +end of trouble in stowing the Duchess de Boisemont away with her two +daughters." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, but I'm talking of this evening's performance. Come, my dear Duthil, +you really must find me a little corner in somebody's box. I shall die, I +know I shall, if I can't applaud our delicious, our incomparable friend!" +</p> + +<p> +Ever since setting Silviane down at her door on the previous day, +Rosemonde had been overflowing with admiration for her. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! you won't find a single remaining seat, madame," declared Chaigneux, +putting on an air of importance. "We have distributed everything. I have +just been offered three hundred francs for a stall." +</p> + +<p> +"That's true, there has been a fight even for the bracket seats, however +badly they might be placed," Duthil resumed. "I am very sorry, but you +must not count on me. . . . Duvillard is the only person who might take +you in his box. He told me that he would reserve me a seat there. And so +far, I think, there are only three of us, including his son. . . . Ask +Hyacinthe by-and-by to procure you an invitation." +</p> + +<p> +Rosemonde, whom Hyacinthe had so greatly bored that she had given him his +dismissal, felt the irony of Duthil's suggestion. Nevertheless, she +exclaimed with an air of delight: "Ah, yes! Hyacinthe can't refuse me +that. Thanks for your information, my dear Duthil. You are very nice, you +are; for you settle things gaily even when they are rather sad. . . . And +don't forget, mind, that you have promised to teach me politics. Ah! +politics, my dear fellow, I feel that nothing will ever impassion me as +politics do!" +</p> + +<p> +Then she left them, hustled several people, and in spite of the crush +ended by installing herself in the front row. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! what a crank she is!" muttered Massot with an air of amusement. +</p> + +<p> +Then, as Chaigneux darted towards magistrate Amadieu to ask him in the +most obsequious way if he had received his ticket, the journalist said to +Duthil in a whisper: "By the way, my dear friend, is it true that +Duvillard is going to launch his famous scheme for a Trans-Saharan +railway? It would be a gigantic enterprise, a question of hundreds and +hundreds of millions this time. . . . At the 'Globe' office yesterday +evening, Fonsegue shrugged his shoulders and said it was madness, and +would never come off!" +</p> + +<p> +Duthil winked, and in a jesting way replied: "It's as good as done, my +dear boy. Fonsegue will be kissing the governor's feet before another +forty-eight hours are over." +</p> + +<p> +Then he gaily gave the other to understand that golden manna would +presently be raining down on the press and all faithful friends and +willing helpers. Birds shake their feathers when the storm is over, and +he, Duthil, was as spruce and lively, as joyous at the prospect of the +presents he now expected, as if there had never been any African Railways +scandal to upset him and make him turn pale with fright. +</p> + +<p> +"The deuce!" muttered Massot, who had become serious. "So this affair +here is more than a triumph: it's the promise of yet another harvest. +Well, I'm no longer surprised at the crush of people." +</p> + +<p> +At this moment the organs suddenly burst into a glorious hymn of +greeting. The marriage procession was entering the church. A loud clamour +had gone up from the crowd, which spread over the roadway of the Rue +Royale and impeded the traffic there, while the <i>cortege</i> pompously +ascended the steps in the bright sunshine. And it was now entering the +edifice and advancing beneath the lofty, re-echoing vaults towards the +high altar which flared with candles, whilst on either hand crowded the +congregation, the men on the right and the women on the left. They had +all risen and stood there smiling, with necks outstretched and eyes +glowing with curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +First, in the rear of the magnificent beadle, came Camille, leaning on +the arm of her father, Baron Duvillard, who wore a proud expression +befitting a day of victory. Veiled with superb <i>point d'Alencon</i> falling +from her diadem of orange blossom, gowned in pleated silk muslin over an +underskirt of white satin, the bride looked so extremely happy, so +radiant at having conquered, that she seemed almost pretty. Moreover, she +held herself so upright that one could scarcely detect that her left +shoulder was higher than her right. +</p> + +<p> +Next came Gerard, giving his arm to his mother, the Countess de +Quinsac,—he looking very handsome and courtly, as was proper, and she +displaying impassive dignity in her gown of peacock-blue silk embroidered +with gold and steel beads. But it was particularly Eve whom people wished +to see, and every neck was craned forward when she appeared on the arm of +General Bozonnet, the bridegroom's first witness and nearest male +relative. She was gowned in "old rose" taffetas trimmed with Valenciennes +of priceless value, and never had she looked younger, more deliciously +fair. Yet her eyes betrayed her emotion, though she strove to smile; and +her languid grace bespoke her widowhood, her compassionate surrender of +the man she loved. Monferrand, the Marquis de Morigny, and banker +Louvard, the three other witnesses, followed the Baroness and General +Bozonnet, each giving his arm to some lady of the family. A considerable +sensation was caused by the appearance of Monferrand, who seemed on +first-rate terms with himself, and jested familiarly with the lady he +accompanied, a little brunette with a giddy air. Another who was noticed +in the solemn, interminable procession was the bride's eccentric brother +Hyacinthe, whose dress coat was of a cut never previously seen, with its +tails broadly and symmetrically pleated. +</p> + +<p> +When the affianced pair had taken their places before the prayer-stools +awaiting them, and the members of both families and the witnesses had +installed themselves in the rear in large armchairs, all gilding and red +velvet, the ceremony was performed with extraordinary pomp. The cure of +the Madeleine officiated in person; and vocalists from the Grand Opera +reinforced the choir, which chanted the high mass to the accompaniment of +the organs, whence came a continuous hymn of glory. All possible luxury +and magnificence were displayed, as if to turn this wedding into some +public festivity, a great victory, an event marking the apogee of a +class. Even the impudent bravado attaching to the loathsome private drama +which lay behind it all, and which was known to everybody, added a touch +of abominable grandeur to the ceremony. But the truculent spirit of +superiority and domination which characterised the proceedings became +most manifest when Monseigneur Martha appeared in surplice and stole to +pronounce the blessing. Tall of stature, fresh of face, and faintly +smiling, he had his wonted air of amiable sovereignty, and it was with +august unction that he pronounced the sacramental words, like some +pontiff well pleased at reconciling the two great empires whose heirs he +united. His address to the newly married couple was awaited with +curiosity. It proved really marvellous, he himself triumphed in it. Was +it not in that same church that he had baptised the bride's mother, that +blond Eve, who was still so beautiful, that Jewess whom he himself had +converted to the Catholic faith amidst the tears of emotion shed by all +Paris society? Was it not there also that he had delivered his three +famous addresses on the New Spirit, whence dated, to his thinking, the +rout of science, the awakening of Christian spirituality, and that policy +of rallying to the Republic which was to lead to its conquest? +</p> + +<p> +So it was assuredly allowable for him to indulge in some delicate +allusions, by way of congratulating himself on his work, now that he was +marrying a poor scion of the old aristocracy to the five millions of that +<i>bourgeoise</i> heiress, in whose person triumphed the class which had won +the victory in 1789, and was now master of the land. The fourth estate, +the duped, robbed people, alone had no place in those festivities. But by +uniting the affianced pair before him in the bonds of wedlock, +Monseigneur Martha sealed the new alliance, gave effect to the Pope's own +policy, that stealthy effort of Jesuitical Opportunism which would take +democracy, power and wealth to wife, in order to subdue and control them. +When the prelate reached his peroration he turned towards Monferrand, who +sat there smiling; and it was he, the Minister, whom he seemed to be +addressing while he expressed the hope that the newly married pair would +ever lead a truly Christian life of humility and obedience in all fear of +God, of whose iron hand he spoke as if it were that of some gendarme +charged with maintaining the peace of the world. Everybody was aware that +there was some diplomatic understanding between the Bishop and the +Minister, some secret pact or other whereby both satisfied their passion +for authority, their craving to insinuate themselves into everything and +reign supreme; and thus when the spectators saw Monferrand smiling in his +somewhat sly, jovial way, they also exchanged smiles. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah!" muttered Massot, who had remained near Duthil, "how amused old +Justus Steinberger would be, if he were here to see his granddaughter +marrying the last of the Quinsacs!" +</p> + +<p> +"But these marriages are quite the thing, quite the fashion, my dear +fellow," the deputy replied. "The Jews and the Christians, the +<i>bourgeois</i> and the nobles, do quite right to come to an understanding, +so as to found a new aristocracy. An aristocracy is needed, you know, for +otherwise we should be swept away by the masses." +</p> + +<p> +None the less Massot continued sneering at the idea of what a grimace +Justus Steinberger would have made if he had heard Monseigneur Martha. It +was rumoured in Paris that although the old Jew banker had ceased all +intercourse with his daughter Eve since her conversion, he took a keen +interest in everything she was reported to do or say, as if he were more +than ever convinced that she would prove an avenging and dissolving agent +among those Christians, whose destruction was asserted to be the dream of +his race. If he had failed in his hope of overcoming Duvillard by giving +her to him as a wife, he doubtless now consoled himself with thinking of +the extraordinary fortune to which his blood had attained, by mingling +with that of the harsh, old-time masters of his race, to whose corruption +it gave a finishing touch. Therein perhaps lay that final Jewish conquest +of the world of which people sometimes talked. +</p> + +<p> +A last triumphal strain from the organ brought the ceremony to an end; +whereupon the two families and the witnesses passed into the sacristy, +where the acts were signed. And forthwith the great congratulatory +procession commenced. +</p> + +<p> +The bride and bridegroom at last stood side by side in the lofty but +rather dim room, panelled with oak. How radiant with delight was Camille +at the thought that it was all over, that she had triumphed and married +that handsome man of high lineage, after wresting him with so much +difficulty from one and all, her mother especially! She seemed to have +grown taller. Deformed, swarthy, and ugly though she was, she drew +herself up exultingly, whilst scores and scores of women, friends or +acquaintances, scrambled and rushed upon her, pressing her hands or +kissing her, and addressing her in words of ecstasy. Gerard, who rose +both head and shoulders above his bride, and looked all the nobler and +stronger beside one of such puny figure, shook hands and smiled like some +Prince Charming, who good-naturedly allowed himself to be loved. +Meanwhile, the relatives of the newly wedded pair, though they were drawn +up in one line, formed two distinct groups past which the crowd pushed +and surged with arms outstretched. Duvillard received the congratulations +offered him as if he were some king well pleased with his people; whilst +Eve, with a supreme effort, put on an enchanting mien, and answered one +and all with scarcely a sign of the sobs which she was forcing back. +Then, on the other side of the bridal pair, Madame de Quinsac stood +between General de Bozonnet and the Marquis de Morigny. Very dignified, +in fact almost haughty, she acknowledged most of the salutations +addressed to her with a mere nod, giving her little withered hand only to +those people with whom she was well acquainted. A sea of strange +countenances encompassed her, and now and again when some particularly +murky wave rolled by, a wave of men whose faces bespoke all the crimes of +money-mongering, she and the Marquis exchanged glances of deep sadness. +This tide continued sweeping by for nearly half an hour; and such was the +number of those who wanted to shake hands with the bridal pair and their +relatives, that the latter soon felt their arms ache. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, some folks lingered in the sacristy; little groups collected, +and gay chatter rang out. Monferrand was immediately surrounded. Massot +pointed out to Duthil how eagerly Public Prosecutor Lehmann rushed upon +the Minister to pay him court. They were immediately joined by +investigating magistrate Amadieu. And even M. de Larombiere, the judge, +approached Monferrand, although he hated the Republic, and was an +intimate friend of the Quinsacs. But then obedience and obsequiousness +were necessary on the part of the magistracy, for it was dependent on +those in power, who alone could give advancement, and appoint even as +they dismissed. As for Lehmann, it was alleged that he had rendered +assistance to Monferrand by spiriting away certain documents connected +with the African Railways affair, whilst with regard to the smiling and +extremely Parisian Amadieu, was it not to him that the government was +indebted for Salvat's head? +</p> + +<p> +"You know," muttered Massot, "they've all come to be thanked for +guillotining that man yesterday. Monferrand owes that wretched fellow a +fine taper; for in the first place his bomb prolonged the life of the +Barroux ministry, and later on it made Monferrand prime minister, as a +strong-handed man was particularly needed to strangle Anarchism. What a +contest, eh? Monferrand on one side and Salvat on the other. It was all +bound to end in a head being cut off; one was wanted. . . . Ah! just +listen, they are talking of it." +</p> + +<p> +This was true. As the three functionaries of the law drew near to pay +their respects to the all-powerful Minister, they were questioned by lady +friends whose curiosity had been roused by what they had read in the +newspapers. Thereupon Amadieu, whom duty had taken to the execution, and +who was proud of his own importance, and determined to destroy what he +called "the legend of Salvat's heroic death," declared that the scoundrel +had shown no true courage at all. His pride alone had kept him on his +feet. Fright had so shaken and choked him that he had virtually been dead +before the fall of the knife. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! that's true!" cried Duthil. "I was there myself." +</p> + +<p> +Massot, however, pulled him by the arm, quite indignant at such an +assertion, although as a rule he cared a rap for nothing. "You couldn't +see anything, my dear fellow," said he; "Salvat died very bravely. It's +really stupid to continue throwing mud at that poor devil even when he's +dead." +</p> + +<p> +However, the idea that Salvat had died like a coward was too pleasing a +one to be rejected. It was, so to say, a last sacrifice deposited at +Monferrand's feet with the object of propitiating him. He still smiled in +his peaceful way, like a good-natured man who is stern only when +necessity requires it. And he showed great amiability towards the three +judicial functionaries, and thanked them for the bravery with which they +had accomplished their painful duty to the very end. On the previous day, +after the execution, he had obtained a formidable majority in the Chamber +on a somewhat delicate matter of policy. Order reigned, said he, and all +was for the very best in France. Then, on seeing Vignon—who like a cool +gamester had made a point of attending the wedding in order to show +people that he was superior to fortune—the Minister detained him, and +made much of him, partly as a matter of tactics, for in spite of +everything he could not help fearing that the future might belong to that +young fellow, who showed himself so intelligent and cautious. When a +mutual friend informed them that Barroux' health was now so bad that the +doctors had given him up as lost, they both began to express their +compassion. Poor Barroux! He had never recovered from that vote of the +Chamber which had overthrown him. He had been sinking from day to day, +stricken to the heart by his country's ingratitude, dying of that +abominable charge of money-mongering and thieving; he who was so upright +and so loyal, who had devoted his whole life to the Republic! But then, +as Monferrand repeated, one should never confess. The public can't +understand such a thing. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment Duvillard, in some degree relinquishing his paternal +duties, came to join the others, and the Minister then had to share the +honours of triumph with him. For was not this banker the master? Was he +not money personified—money, which is the only stable, everlasting +force, far above all ephemeral tenure of power, such as attaches to those +ministerial portfolios which pass so rapidly from hand to hand? +Monferrand reigned, but he would pass away, and a like fate would some +day fall on Vignon, who had already had a warning that one could not +govern unless the millions of the financial world were on one's side. So +was not the only real triumpher himself, the Baron—he who laid out five +millions of francs on buying a scion of the aristocracy for his daughter, +he who was the personification of the sovereign <i>bourgeoisie</i>, who +controlled public fortune, and was determined to part with nothing, even +were he attacked with bombs? All these festivities really centred in +himself, he alone sat down to the banquet, leaving merely the crumbs from +his table to the lowly, those wretched toilers who had been so cleverly +duped at the time of the Revolution. +</p> + +<p> +That African Railways affair was already but so much ancient history, +buried, spirited away by a parliamentary commission. All who had been +compromised in it, the Duthils, the Chaigneux, the Fonsegues and others, +could now laugh merrily. They had been delivered from their nightmare by +Monferrand's strong fist, and raised by Duvillard's triumph. Even +Sagnier's ignoble article and miry revelations in the "Voix du Peuple" +were of no real account, and could be treated with a shrug of the +shoulders, for the public had been so saturated with denunciation and +slander that it was now utterly weary of all noisy scandal. The only +thing which aroused interest was the rumour that Duvillard's big affair +of the Trans-Saharan Railway was soon to be launched, that millions of +money would be handled, and that some of them would rain down upon +faithful friends. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst Duvillard was conversing in a friendly way with Monferrand and +Dauvergne, the Minister of Public Instruction, who had joined them, +Massot encountered Fonsegue, his editor, and said to him in an undertone: +"Duthil has just assured me that the Trans-Saharan business is ready, and +that they mean to chance it with the Chamber. They declare that they are +certain of success." +</p> + +<p> +Fonsegue, however, was sceptical on the point. "It's impossible," said +he; "they won't dare to begin again so soon." +</p> + +<p> +Although he spoke in this fashion, the news had made him grave. He had +lately had such a terrible fright through his imprudence in the African +Railways affair, that he had vowed he would take every precaution in +future. Still, this did not mean that he would refuse to participate in +matters of business. The best course was to wait and study them, and then +secure a share in all that seemed profitable. In the present instance he +felt somewhat worried. However, whilst he stood there watching the group +around Duvillard and the two ministers, he suddenly perceived Chaigneux, +who, flitting hither and thither, was still beating up applauders for +that evening's performance. He sang Silviane's praises in every key, +predicted a most tremendous success, and did his very best to stimulate +curiosity. At last he approached Dauvergne, and with his long figure bent +double exclaimed: "My dear Minister, I have a particular request to make +to you on the part of a very charming person, whose victory will not be +complete this evening if you do not condescend to favour her with your +vote." +</p> + +<p> +Dauvergne, a tall, fair, good-looking man, whose blue eyes smiled behind +his glasses, listened to Chaigneux with an affable air. He was proving a +great success at the Ministry of Public Instruction, although he knew +nothing of University matters. However, like a real Parisian of Dijon, as +people called him, he was possessed of some tact and skill, gave +entertainments at which his young and charming wife outshone all others, +and passed as being quite an enlightened friend of writers and artists. +Silviane's engagement at the Comedie, which so far was his most notable +achievement, and which would have shaken the position of any other +minister, had by a curious chance rendered him popular. It was regarded +as something original and amusing. +</p> + +<p> +On understanding that Chaigneux simply wished to make sure of his +presence at the Comedie that evening, he became yet more affable. "Why, +certainly, I shall be there, my dear deputy," he replied. "When one has +such a charming god-daughter one mustn't forsake her in a moment of +danger." +</p> + +<p> +At this Monferrand, who had been lending ear, turned round. "And tell +her," said he, "that I shall be there, too. She may therefore rely on +having two more friends in the house." +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon Duvillard, quite enraptured, his eyes glistening with emotion +and gratitude, bowed to the two ministers as if they had granted him some +never-to-be-forgotten favour. +</p> + +<p> +When Chaigneux, on his side also, had returned thanks with a low bow, he +happened to perceive Fonsegue, and forthwith he darted towards him and +led him aside. "Ah! my dear colleague," he declared, "it is absolutely +necessary that this matter should be settled. I regard it as of supreme +importance." +</p> + +<p> +"What are you speaking of?" inquired Fonsegue, much surprised. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, of Massot's article, which you won't insert." +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon, the director of the "Globe" plumply declared that he could not +insert the article. He talked of his paper's dignity and gravity; and +declared that the lavishing of such fulsome praise upon a hussy—yes, a +mere hussy, in a journal whose exemplary morality and austerity had cost +him so much labour, would seem monstrous and degrading. Personally, he +did not care a fig about it if Silviane chose to make an exhibition of +herself, well, he would be there to see; but the "Globe" was sacred. +</p> + +<p> +Disconcerted and almost tearful, Chaigneux nevertheless renewed his +attempt. "Come, my dear colleague," said he, "pray make a little effort +for my sake. If the article isn't inserted, Duvillard will think that it +is my fault. And you know that I really need his help. My eldest +daughter's marriage has again been postponed, and I hardly know where to +turn." Then perceiving that his own misfortunes in no wise touched +Fonsegue, he added: "And do it for your own sake, my dear colleague, your +own sake. For when all is said Duvillard knows what is in the article, +and it is precisely because it is so favourable a one that he wishes to +see it in the 'Globe.' Think it over; if the article isn't published, he +will certainly turn his back on you." +</p> + +<p> +For a moment Fonsegue remained silent. Was he thinking of the colossal +Trans-Saharan enterprise? Was he reflecting that it would be hard to +quarrel at such a moment and miss his own share in the coming +distribution of millions among faithful friends? Perhaps so; however, the +idea that it would be more prudent to await developments gained the day +with him. "No, no," he said, "I can't, it's a matter of conscience." +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time congratulations were still being tendered to the newly +wedded couple. It seemed as if all Paris were passing through the +sacristy; there were ever the same smiles and the same hand shakes. +Gerard, Camille and their relatives, however weary they might feel, were +forced to retain an air of delight while they stood there against the +wall, pent up by the crowd. The heat was now becoming unbearable, and a +cloud of dust arose as when some big flock goes by. +</p> + +<p> +All at once little Princess de Harn, who had hitherto lingered nobody +knew where, sprang out of the throng, flung her arms around Camille, +kissed even Eve, and then kept Gerard's hand in her own while paying him +extraordinary compliments. Then, on perceiving Hyacinthe, she took +possession of him and carried him off into a corner. "I say," she +exclaimed, "I have a favour to ask you." +</p> + +<p> +The young man was wonderfully silent that day. His sister's wedding +seemed to him a contemptible ceremony, the most vulgar that one could +imagine. So here, thought he, was another pair accepting the horrid +sexual law by which the absurdity of the world was perpetuated! For his +part, he had decided that he would witness the proceedings in rigid +silence, with a haughty air of disapproval. When Rosemonde spoke to him, +he looked at her rather nervously, for he was glad that she had forsaken +him for Duthil, and feared some fresh caprice on her part. At last, +opening his mouth for the first time that day, he replied: "Oh, as a +friend, you know, I will grant you whatever favour you like." +</p> + +<p> +Forthwith the Princess explained that she would surely die if she did not +witness the <i>debut</i> of her dear friend Silviane, of whom she had become +such a passionate admirer. So she begged the young man to prevail on his +father to give her a seat in his box, as she knew that one was left +there. +</p> + +<p> +Hyacinthe smiled. "Oh, willingly, my dear," said he; "I'll warn papa, +there will be a seat for you." +</p> + +<p> +Then, as the procession of guests at last drew to an end and the vestry +began to empty, the bridal pair and their relatives were able to go off +through the chattering throng, which still lingered about to bow to them +and scrutinise them once more. +</p> + +<p> +Gerard and Camille were to leave for an estate which Duvillard possessed +in Normandy, directly after lunch. This repast, served at the princely +mansion of the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, provided an opportunity for fresh +display. The dining-room on the first floor had been transformed into a +buffet, where reigned the greatest abundance and the most wonderful +sumptuousness. Quite a reception too was held in the drawing-rooms, the +large red <i>salon</i>, the little blue and silver <i>salon</i> and all the others, +whose doors stood wide open. Although it had been arranged that only +family friends should be invited, there were quite three hundred people +present. The ministers had excused themselves, alleging that the weighty +cares of public business required their presence elsewhere. But the +magistrates, the deputies and the leading journalists who had attended +the wedding were again assembled together. And in that throng of hungry +folks, longing for some of the spoils of Duvillard's new venture, the +people who felt most out of their element were Madame de Quinsac's few +guests, whom General de Bozonnet and the Marquis de Morigny had seated on +a sofa in the large red <i>salon</i>, which they did not quit. +</p> + +<p> +Eve, who for her part felt quite overcome, both her moral and physical +strength being exhausted, had seated herself in the little blue and +silver drawing-room, which, with her passion for flowers, she had +transformed into an arbour of roses. She would have fallen had she +remained standing, the very floor had seemed to sink beneath her feet. +Nevertheless, whenever a guest approached her she managed to force a +smile, and appear beautiful and charming. Unlooked-for help at last came +to her in the person of Monseigneur Martha, who had graciously honoured +the lunch with his presence. He took an armchair near her, and began to +talk to her in his amiable, caressing way. He was doubtless well aware of +the frightful anguish which wrung the poor woman's heart, for he showed +himself quite fatherly, eager to comfort her. She, however, talked on +like some inconsolable widow bent on renouncing the world for God, who +alone could bring her peace. Then, as the conversation turned on the +Asylum for the Invalids of Labour, she declared that she was resolved to +take her presidency very seriously, and, in fact, would exclusively +devote herself to it, in the future. +</p> + +<p> +"And as we are speaking of this, Monseigneur," said she, "I would even +ask you to give me some advice. . . . I shall need somebody to help me, +and I thought of securing the services of a priest whom I much admire, +Monsieur l'Abbe Pierre Froment." +</p> + +<p> +At this the Bishop became grave and embarrassed; but Princess Rosemonde, +who was passing by with Duthil, had overheard the Baroness, and drawing +near with her wonted impetuosity, she exclaimed: "Abbe Pierre Froment! +Oh! I forgot to tell you, my dear, that I met him going about in jacket +and trousers! And I've been told too that he cycles in the Bois with some +creature or other. Isn't it true, Duthil, that we met him?" +</p> + +<p> +The deputy bowed and smiled, whilst Eve clasped her hands in amazement. +"Is it possible! A priest who was all charitable fervour, who had the +faith and passion of an apostle!" +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon Monseigneur intervened: "Yes, yes, great sorrows occasionally +fall upon the Church. I heard of the madness of the unhappy man you speak +of. I even thought it my duty to write to him, but he left my letter +unanswered. I should so much have liked to stifle such a scandal! But +there are abominable forces which we cannot always overcome; and so a day +or two ago the archbishop was obliged to put him under interdict. . . . +You must choose somebody else, madame." +</p> + +<p> +It was quite a disaster. Eve gazed at Rosemonde and Duthil, without +daring to ask them for particulars, but wondering what creature could +have been so audacious as to turn a priest from the path of duty. She +must assuredly be some shameless demented woman! And it seemed to Eve as +if this crime gave a finishing touch to her own misfortune. With a wave +of the arm, which took in all the luxury around her, the roses steeping +her in perfume, and the crush of guests around the buffet, she murmured: +"Ah! decidedly there's nothing but corruption left; one can no longer +rely on anybody!" +</p> + +<p> +Whilst this was going on, Camille happened to be alone in her own room +getting ready to leave the house with Gerard. And all at once her brother +Hyacinthe joined her there. "Ah! it's you, youngster!" she exclaimed. +"Well, make haste if you want to kiss me, for I'm off now, thank +goodness!" +</p> + +<p> +He kissed her as she suggested, and then in a doctoral way replied: "I +thought you had more self-command. The delight you have been showing all +this morning quite disgusts me." +</p> + +<p> +A quiet glance of contempt was her only answer. However, he continued: +"You know very well that she'll take your Gerard from you again, directly +you come back to Paris." +</p> + +<p> +At this Camille's cheeks turned white and her eyes flared. She stepped +towards her brother with clenched fists: "She! you say that she will take +him from me!" +</p> + +<p> +The "she" they referred to was their own mother. +</p> + +<p> +"Listen, my boy! I'll kill her first!" continued Camille. "Ah, no! she +needn't hope for that. I shall know how to keep the man that belongs to +me. . . . And as for you, keep your spite to yourself, for I know you, +remember; you are a mere child and a fool!" +</p> + +<p> +He recoiled as if a viper were rearing its sharp, slender black head +before him; and having always feared her, he thought it best to beat a +retreat. +</p> + +<p> +While the last guests were rushing upon the buffet and finishing the +pillage there, the bridal pair took their leave, before driving off to +the railway station. General de Bozonnet had joined a group in order to +vent his usual complaints about compulsory military service, and the +Marquis de Morigny was obliged to fetch him at the moment when the +Countess de Quinsac was kissing her son and daughter-in-law. The old lady +trembled with so much emotion that the Marquis respectfully ventured to +sustain her. Meantime, Hyacinthe had started in search of his father, and +at last found him near a window with the tottering Chaigneux, whom he was +violently upbraiding, for Fonsegue's conscientious scruples had put him +in a fury. Indeed, if Massot's article should not be inserted in the +"Globe," Silviane might lay all the blame upon him, the Baron, and wreak +further punishment upon him. However, upon being summoned by his son he +had to don his triumphal air once more, kiss his daughter on the +forehead, shake hands with his son-in-law, jest and wish them both a +pleasant journey. Then Eve, near whom Monseigneur Martha had remained, +smiling, in her turn had to say farewell. In this she evinced touching +bravery; her determination to remain beautiful and charming until the +very end lent her sufficient strength to show herself both gay and +motherly. +</p> + +<p> +She took hold of the slightly quivering hand which Gerard proffered with +some embarrassment, and ventured to retain it for a moment in her own, in +a good-hearted, affectionate way, instinct with all the heroism of +renunciation. "Good by, Gerard," she said, "keep in good health, be +happy." Then turning to Camille she kissed her on both cheeks, while +Monseigneur Martha sat looking at them with an air of indulgent sympathy. +They wished each other "Au revoir," but their voices trembled, and their +eyes in meeting gleamed like swords; in the same way as beneath the +kisses they had exchanged they had felt each other's teeth. Ah! how it +enraged Camille to see her mother still so beautiful and fascinating in +spite of age and grief! And for Eve how great the torture of beholding +her daughter's youth, that youth which had overcome her, and was for ever +wresting love from within her reach! No forgiveness was possible between +them; they would still hate one another even in the family tomb, where +some day they would sleep side by side. +</p> + +<p> +All the same, that evening Baroness Duvillard excused herself from +attending the performance of "Polyeucte" at the Comedie Francaise. She +felt very tired and wished to go to bed early, said she. As a matter of +fact she wept on her pillow all night long. Thus the Baron's stage-box on +the first balcony tier contained only himself, Hyacinthe, Duthil, and +little Princess de Harn. +</p> + +<p> +At nine o'clock there was a full house, one of the brilliant chattering +houses peculiar to great dramatic solemnities. All the society people who +had marched through the sacristy of the Madeleine that morning were now +assembled at the theatre, again feverish with curiosity, and on the +lookout for the unexpected. One recognised the same faces and the sane +smiles; the women acknowledged one another's presence with little signs +of intelligence, the men understood each other at a word, a gesture. One +and all had kept the appointment, the ladies with bared shoulders, the +gentlemen with flowers in their button-holes. Fonsegue occupied the +"Globe's" box, with two friendly families. Little Massot had his +customary seat in the stalls. Amadieu, who was a faithful patron of the +Comedie, was also to be seen there, as well as General de Bozonnet and +Public Prosecutor Lehmann. The man who was most looked at, however, on +account of his scandalous article that morning, was Sagnier, the terrible +Sagnier, looking bloated and apoplectical. Then there was Chaigneux, who +had kept merely a modest bracket-seat for himself, and who scoured the +passages, and climbed to every tier, for the last time preaching +enthusiasm. Finally, the two ministers Monferrand and Dauvergne appeared +in the box facing Duvillard's; whereupon many knowing smiles were +exchanged, for everybody was aware that these personages had come to help +on the success of the <i>debutante</i>. +</p> + +<p> +On the latter point there had still been unfavourable rumours only the +previous day. Sagnier had declared that the <i>debut</i> of such a notorious +harlot as Silviane at the Comedie Francaise, in such a part too as that +of "Pauline," which was one of so much moral loftiness, could only be +regarded as an impudent insult to public decency. The whole press, +moreover, had long been up in arms against the young woman's +extraordinary caprice. But then the affair had been talked of for six +months past, so that Paris had grown used to the idea of seeing Silviane +at the Comedie. And now it flocked thither with the one idea of being +entertained. Before the curtain rose one could tell by the very +atmosphere of the house that the audience was a jovial, good-humoured +one, bent on enjoying itself, and ready to applaud should it find itself +at all pleased. +</p> + +<p> +The performance really proved extraordinary. When Silviane, chastely +robed, made her appearance in the first act, the house was quite +astonished by her virginal face, her innocent-looking mouth, and her eyes +beaming with immaculate candour. Then, although the manner in which she +had understood her part at first amazed people, it ended by charming +them. From the moment of confiding in "Stratonice," from the moment of +relating her dream, she turned "Pauline" into a soaring mystical +creature, some saint, as it were, such as one sees in stained-glass +windows, carried along by a Wagnerian Brunhilda riding the clouds. It was +a thoroughly ridiculous conception of the part, contrary to reason and +truth alike. Still, it only seemed to interest people the more, partly on +account of mysticism being the fashion, and partly on account of the +contrast between Silviane's assumed candour and real depravity. Her +success increased from act to act, and some slight hissing which was +attributed to Sagnier only helped to make the victory more complete. +Monferrand and Dauvergne, as the newspapers afterwards related, gave the +signal for applause; and the whole house joined in it, partly from +amusement and partly perhaps in a spirit of irony. +</p> + +<p> +During the interval between the fourth and fifth acts there was quite a +procession of visitors to Duvillard's box, where the greatest excitement +prevailed. Duthil, however, after absenting himself for a moment, came +back to say: "You remember our influential critic, the one whom I brought +to dinner at the Cafe Anglais? Well, he's repeating to everybody that +'Pauline' is merely a little <i>bourgeoise</i>, and is not transformed by the +heavenly grace until the very finish of the piece. To turn her into a +holy virgin from the outset simply kills the part, says he." +</p> + +<p> +"Pooh!" repeated Duvillard, "let him argue if he likes, it will be all +the more advertisement. . . . The important point is to get Massot's +article inserted in the 'Globe' to-morrow morning." +</p> + +<p> +On this point, unfortunately, the news was by no means good. Chaigneux, +who had gone in search of Fonsegue, declared that the latter still +hesitated in the matter in spite of Silviane's success, which he declared +to be ridiculous. Thereupon, the Baron became quite angry. "Go and tell +Fonsegue," he exclaimed, "that I insist on it, and that I shall remember +what he does." +</p> + +<p> +Meantime Princess Rosemonde was becoming quite delirious with enthusiasm. +"My dear Hyacinthe," she pleaded, "please take me to Silviane's +dressing-room; I can't wait, I really must go and kiss her." +</p> + +<p> +"But we'll all go!" cried Duvillard, who heard her entreaty. +</p> + +<p> +The passages were crowded, and there were people even on the stage. +Moreover, when the party reached the door of Silviane's dressing-room, +they found it shut. When the Baron knocked at it, a dresser replied that +madame begged the gentlemen to wait a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! a woman may surely go in," replied Rosemonde, hastily slipping +through the doorway. "And you may come, Hyacinthe," she added; "there can +be no objection to you." +</p> + +<p> +Silviane was very hot, and a dresser was wiping her perspiring shoulders +when Rosemonde darted forward and kissed her. Then they chatted together +amidst the heat and glare from the gas and the intoxicating perfumes of +all the flowers which were heaped up in the little room. Finally, +Hyacinthe heard them promise to see one another after the performance, +Silviane even inviting Rosemonde to drink a cup of tea with her at her +house. At this the young man smiled complacently, and said to the +actress: "Your carriage is waiting for you at the corner of the Rue +Montpensier, is it not? Well, I'll take the Princess to it. That will be +the simpler plan, you can both go off together!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! how good of you," cried Rosemonde; "it's agreed." +</p> + +<p> +Just then the door was opened, and the men, being admitted, began to pour +forth their congratulations. However, they had to regain their seats in +all haste so as to witness the fifth act. This proved quite a triumph, +the whole house bursting into applause when Silviane spoke the famous +line, "I see, I know, I believe, I am undeceived," with the rapturous +enthusiasm of a holy martyr ascending to heaven. Nothing could have been +more soul-like, it was said. And so when the performers were called +before the curtain, Paris bestowed an ovation on that virgin of the +stage, who, as Sagnier put it, knew so well how to act depravity at home. +</p> + +<p> +Accompanied by Duthil, Duvillard at once went behind the scenes in order +to fetch Silviane, while Hyacinthe escorted Rosemonde to the brougham +waiting at the corner of the Rue Montpensier. Having helped her into it, +the young man stood by, waiting. And he seemed to grow quite merry when +his father came up with Silviane, and was stopped by her, just as, in his +turn, he wished to get into the carriage. +</p> + +<p> +"There's no room for you, my dear fellow," said she. "I've a friend with +me." +</p> + +<p> +Rosemonde's little smiling face then peered forth from the depths of the +brougham. And the Baron remained there open-mouthed while the vehicle +swiftly carried the two women away! +</p> + +<p> +"Well, what would you have, my dear fellow?" said Hyacinthe, by way of +explanation to Duthil, who also seemed somewhat amazed by what had +happened. "Rosemonde was worrying my life out, and so I got rid of her by +packing her off with Silviane." +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard was still standing on the pavement and still looking dazed when +Chaigneux, who was going home quite tired out, recognised him, and came +up to say that Fonsegue had thought the matter over, and that Massot's +article would be duly inserted. In the passages, too, there had been a +deal of talk about the famous Trans-Saharan project. +</p> + +<p> +Then Hyacinthe led his father away, trying to comfort him like a sensible +friend, who regarded woman as a base and impure creature. "Let's go home +to bed," said he. "As that article is to appear, you can take it to her +to-morrow. She will see you, sure enough." +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon they lighted cigars, and now and again exchanging a few words, +took their way up the Avenue de l'Opera, which at that hour was deserted +and dismal. Meantime, above the slumbering houses of Paris the breeze +wafted a prolonged sigh, the plaint, as it were, of an expiring world. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +III +</h3> + +<h3> +THE GOAL OF LABOUR +</h3> + +<p> +EVER since the execution of Salvat, Guillaume had become extremely +taciturn. He seemed worried and absent-minded. He would work for hours at +the manufacture of that dangerous powder of which he alone knew the +formula, and the preparation of which was such a delicate matter that he +would allow none to assist him. Then, at other times he would go off, and +return tired out by some long solitary ramble. He remained very gentle at +home, and strove to smile there. But whenever anybody spoke to him he +started as if suddenly called back from dreamland. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre imagined his brother had relied too much upon his powers of +renunciation, and found the loss of Marie unbearable. Was it not some +thought of her that haunted him now that the date fixed for the marriage +drew nearer and nearer? One evening, therefore, Pierre ventured to speak +out, again offering to leave the house and disappear. +</p> + +<p> +But at the first words he uttered Guillaume stopped him, and +affectionately replied: "Marie? Oh! I love her, I love her too well to +regret what I have done. No, no! you only bring me happiness, I derive +all my strength and courage from you now that I know you are both happy. +. . . And I assure you that you are mistaken, there is nothing at all the +matter with me; my work absorbs me, perhaps, but that is all." +</p> + +<p> +That same evening he managed to cast his gloom aside, and displayed +delightful gaiety. During dinner he inquired if the upholsterer would +soon call to arrange the two little rooms which Marie was to occupy with +her husband over the workroom. The young woman, who since her marriage +with Pierre had been decided had remained waiting with smiling patience, +thereupon told Guillaume what it was she desired—first some hangings of +red cotton stuff, then some polished pine furniture which would enable +her to imagine she was in the country, and finally a carpet on the floor, +because a carpet seemed to her the height of luxury. She laughed as she +spoke, and Guillaume laughed with her in a gay and fatherly way. His good +spirits brought much relief to Pierre, who concluded that he must have +been mistaken in his surmises. +</p> + +<p> +On the very morrow, however, Guillaume relapsed into a dreamy state. And +so disquietude again came upon Pierre, particularly when he noticed that +Mere-Grand also seemed to be unusually grave and silent. Not daring to +address her, he tried to extract some information from his nephews, but +neither Thomas nor Francois nor Antoine knew anything. Each of them +quietly devoted his time to his work, respecting and worshipping his +father, but never questioning him about his plans or enterprises. +Whatever he might choose to do could only be right and good; and they, +his sons, were ready to do the same and help him at the very first call, +without pausing to inquire into his purpose. It was plain, however, that +he kept them apart from anything at all perilous, that he retained all +responsibility for himself, and that Mere-Grand alone was his +<i>confidante</i>, the one whom he consulted and to whom he perhaps listened. +Pierre therefore renounced his hope of learning anything from the sons, +and directed his attention to the old lady, whose rigid gravity worried +him the more as she and Guillaume frequently had private chats in the +room she occupied upstairs. They shut themselves up there all alone, and +remained together for hours without the faintest sound coming from the +seemingly lifeless chamber. +</p> + +<p> +One day, however, Pierre caught sight of Guillaume as he came out of it, +carrying a little valise which appeared to be very heavy. And Pierre +thereupon remembered both his brother's powder, one pound weight of which +would have sufficed to destroy a cathedral, and the destructive engine +which he had purposed bestowing upon France in order that she might be +victorious over all other nations, and become the one great initiatory +and liberative power. Pierre remembered too that the only person besides +himself who knew his brother's secret was Mere-Grand, who, at the time +when Guillaume was fearing some perquisition on the part of the police, +had long slept upon the cartridges of the terrible explosive. But now why +was Guillaume removing all the powder which he had been preparing for +some time past? As this question occurred to Pierre, a sudden suspicion, +a vague dread, came upon him, and gave him strength to ask his brother: +"Have you reason to fear anything, since you won't keep things here? If +they embarrass you, they can all be deposited at my house, nobody will +make a search there." +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume, whom these words astonished, gazed at Pierre fixedly, and then +replied: "Yes, I have learnt that the arrests and perquisitions have +begun afresh since that poor devil was guillotined; for they are in +terror at the thought that some despairing fellow may avenge him. +Moreover, it is hardly prudent to keep destructive agents of such great +power here. I prefer to deposit them in a safe place. But not at +Neuilly—oh! no indeed! they are not a present for you, brother." +Guillaume spoke with outward calmness; and if he had started with +surprise at the first moment, it had been scarcely perceptible. +</p> + +<p> +"So everything is ready?" Pierre resumed. "You will soon be handing your +engine of destruction over to the Minister of War, I presume?" +</p> + +<p> +A gleam of hesitation appeared in the depths of Guillaume's eyes, and he +was for a moment about to tell a falsehood. However, he ended by replying +"No, I have renounced that intention. I have another idea." +</p> + +<p> +He spoke these last words with so much energy and decision that Pierre +did not dare to question him further, to ask him, for instance, what that +other idea might be. From that moment, however, he quivered with anxious +expectancy. From hour to hour Mere-Grand's lofty silence and Guillaume's +rapt, energetic face seemed to tell him that some huge and terrifying +scheme had come into being, and was growing and threatening the whole of +Paris. +</p> + +<p> +One afternoon, just as Thomas was about to repair to the Grandidier +works, some one came to Guillaume's with the news that old Toussaint, the +workman, had been stricken with a fresh attack of paralysis. Thomas +thereupon decided that he would call upon the poor fellow on his way, for +he held him in esteem and wished to ascertain if he could render him any +help. Pierre expressed a desire to accompany his nephew, and they started +off together about four o'clock. +</p> + +<p> +On entering the one room which the Toussaints occupied, the room where +they ate and slept, the visitors found the mechanician seated on a low +chair near the table. He looked half dead, as if struck by lightning. It +was a case of hemiplegia, which had paralysed the whole of his right +side, his right leg and right arm, and had also spread to his face in +such wise that he could no longer speak. The only sound he could raise +was an incomprehensible guttural grunt. His mouth was drawn to the right, +and his once round, good-natured-looking face, with tanned skin and +bright eyes, had been twisted into a frightful mask of anguish. At fifty +years of age, the unhappy man was utterly done for. His unkempt beard was +as white as that of an octogenarian, and his knotty limbs, preyed upon by +toil, were henceforth dead. Only his eyes remained alive, and they +travelled around the room, going from one to another. By his side, eager +to do what she could for him, was his wife, who remained stout even when +she had little to eat, and still showed herself active and clear-headed, +however great her misfortunes. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a friendly visit, Toussaint," said she. "It's Monsieur Thomas who +has come to see you with Monsieur l'Abbe." Then quietly correcting +herself she added: "With Monsieur Pierre, his uncle. You see that you are +not yet forsaken." +</p> + +<p> +Toussaint wished to speak, but his fruitless efforts only brought two big +tears to his eyes. Then he gazed at his visitors with an expression of +indescribable woe, his jaws trembling convulsively. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't put yourself out," repeated his wife. "The doctor told you that it +would do you no good." +</p> + +<p> +At the moment of entering the room, Pierre had already noticed two +persons who had risen from their chairs and drawn somewhat on one side. +And now to his great surprise he recognised that they were Madame +Theodore and Celine, who were both decently clad, and looked as if they +led a life of comfort. On hearing of Toussaint's misfortune they had come +to see him, like good-hearted creatures, who, on their own side, had +experienced the most cruel suffering. Pierre, on noticing that they now +seemed to be beyond dire want, remembered what he had heard of the +wonderful sympathy lavished on the child after her father's execution, +the many presents and donations offered her, and the generous proposals +that had been made to adopt her. These last had ended in her being +adopted by a former friend of Salvat, who had sent her to school again, +pending the time when she might be apprenticed to some trade, while, on +the other hand, Madame Theodore had been placed as a nurse in a +convalescent home. In such wise both had been saved. +</p> + +<p> +When Pierre drew near to little Celine in order to kiss her, Madame +Theodore told her to thank Monsieur l'Abbe—for so she still respectfully +called him—for all that he had previously done for her. "It was you who +brought us happiness, Monsieur l'Abbe," said she. "And that's a thing one +can never forget. I'm always telling Celine to remember you in her +prayers." +</p> + +<p> +"And so, my child, you are now going to school again," said Pierre. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh yes, Monsieur l'Abbe, and I'm well pleased at it. Besides, we no +longer lack anything." Then, however, sudden emotion came over the girl, +and she stammered with a sob: "Ah! if poor papa could only see us!" +</p> + +<p> +Madame Theodore, meanwhile, had begun to take leave of Madame Toussaint. +"Well, good by, we must go," said she. "What has happened to you is very +sad, and we wanted to tell you how much it grieved us. The worry is that +when misfortune falls on one, courage isn't enough to set things right. . +. . Celine, come and kiss your uncle. . . . My poor brother, I hope +you'll get back the use of your legs as soon as possible." +</p> + +<p> +They kissed the paralysed man on the cheeks, and then went off. Toussaint +had looked at them with his keen and still intelligent eyes, as if he +longed to participate in the life and activity into which they were +returning. And a jealous thought came to his wife, who usually was so +placid and good-natured. "Ah! my poor old man!" said she, after propping +him up with a pillow, "those two are luckier than we are. Everything +succeeds with them since that madman, Salvat, had his head cut off. +They're provided for. They've plenty of bread on the shelf." +</p> + +<p> +Then, turning towards Pierre and Thomas, she continued: "We others are +done for, you know, we're down in the mud, with no hope of getting out of +it. But what would you have? My poor husband hasn't been guillotined, +he's done nothing but work his whole life long; and now, you see, that's +the end of him, he's like some old animal, no longer good for anything." +</p> + +<p> +Having made her visitors sit down she next answered their compassionate +questions. The doctor had called twice already, and had promised to +restore the unhappy man's power of speech, and perhaps enable him to +crawl round the room with the help of a stick. But as for ever being able +to resume real work that must not be expected. And so what was the use of +living on? Toussaint's eyes plainly declared that he would much rather +die at once. When a workman can no longer work and no longer provide for +his wife he is ripe for the grave. +</p> + +<p> +"Savings indeed!" Madame Toussaint resumed. "There are folks who ask if +we have any savings. . . . Well, we had nearly a thousand francs in the +Savings Bank when Toussaint had his first attack. And some people don't +know what a lot of prudence one needs to put by such a sum; for, after +all, we're not savages, we have to allow ourselves a little enjoyment now +and then, a good dish and a good bottle of wine. . . . Well, what with +five months of enforced idleness, and the medicines, and the underdone +meat that was ordered, we got to the end of our thousand francs; and now +that it's all begun again we're not likely to taste any more bottled wine +or roast mutton." +</p> + +<p> +Fond of good cheer as she had always been, this cry, far more than the +tears she was forcing back, revealed how much the future terrified her. +She was there erect and brave in spite of everything; but what a downfall +if she were no longer able to keep her room tidy, stew a piece of veal on +Sundays, and gossip with the neighbours while awaiting her husband's +return from work! Why, they might just as well be thrown into the gutter +and carried off in the scavenger's cart. +</p> + +<p> +However, Thomas intervened: "Isn't there an Asylum for the Invalids of +Labour, and couldn't your husband get admitted to it?" he asked. "It +seems to me that is just the place for him." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh dear, no," the woman answered. "People spoke to me of that place +before, and I got particulars of it. They don't take sick people there. +When you call they tell you that there are hospitals for those who are +ill." +</p> + +<p> +With a wave of his hand Pierre confirmed her statement: it was useless to +apply in that direction. He could again see himself scouring Paris, +hurrying from the Lady President, Baroness Duvillard, to Fonsegue, the +General Manager, and only securing a bed for Laveuve when the unhappy man +was dead. +</p> + +<p> +However, at that moment an infant was heard wailing, and to the amazement +of both visitors Madame Toussaint entered the little closet where her son +Charles had so long slept, and came out of it carrying a child, who +looked scarcely twenty months old. "Well, yes," she explained, "this is +Charles's boy. He was sleeping there in his father's old bed, and now you +hear him, he's woke up. . . . You see, only last Wednesday, the day +before Toussaint had his stroke, I went to fetch the little one at the +nurse's at St. Denis, because she had threatened to cast him adrift since +Charles had got into bad habits, and no longer paid her. I said to myself +at the time that work was looking up, and that my husband and I would +always be able to provide for a little mouth like that. . . . But just +afterwards everything collapsed! At the same time, as the child's here +now I can't go and leave him in the street." +</p> + +<p> +While speaking in this fashion she walked to and fro, rocking the baby in +her arms. And naturally enough she reverted to Charles's folly with the +girl, who had run away, leaving that infant behind her. Things might not +have been so very bad if Charles had still worked as steadily as he had +done before he went soldiering. In those days he had never lost an hour, +and had always brought all his pay home! But he had come back from the +army with much less taste for work. He argued, and had ideas of his own. +He certainly hadn't yet come to bomb-throwing like that madman Salvat, +but he spent half his time with Socialists and Anarchists, who put his +brain in a muddle. It was a real pity to see such a strong, good-hearted +young fellow turning out badly like that. But it was said in the +neighbourhood that many another was inclined the same way; that the best +and most intelligent of the younger men felt tired of want and +unremunerative labour, and would end by knocking everything to pieces +rather than go on toiling with no certainty of food in their old age. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! yes," continued Madame Toussaint, "the sons are not like the fathers +were. These fine fellows won't be as patient as my poor husband has been, +letting hard work wear him away till he's become the sorry thing you see +there. . . . Do you know what Charles said the other evening when he +found his father on that chair, crippled like that, and unable to speak? +Why, he shouted to him that he'd been a stupid jackass all his life, +working himself to death for those <i>bourgeois</i>, who now wouldn't bring +him so much as a glass of water. Then, as he none the less has a good +heart, he began to cry his eyes out." +</p> + +<p> +The baby was no longer wailing, still the good woman continued walking to +and fro, rocking it in her arms and pressing it to her affectionate +heart. Her son Charles could do no more for them, she said; perhaps he +might be able to give them a five-franc piece now and again, but even +that wasn't certain. It was of no use for her to go back to her old +calling as a seamstress, she had lost all practice of it. And it would +even be difficult for her to earn anything as charwoman, for she had that +infant on her hands as well as her infirm husband—a big child, whom she +would have to wash and feed. And so what would become of the three of +them? She couldn't tell; but it made her shudder, however brave and +motherly she tried to be. +</p> + +<p> +For their part, Pierre and Thomas quivered with compassion, particularly +when they saw big tears coursing down the cheeks of the wretched, +stricken Toussaint, as he sat quite motionless in that little and still +cleanly home of toil and want. The poor man had listened to his wife, and +he looked at her and at the infant now sleeping in her arms. Voiceless, +unable to cry his woe aloud, he experienced the most awful anguish. What +dupery his long life of labour had been! how frightfully unjust it was +that all his efforts should end in such sufferings! how exasperating it +was to feel himself powerless, and to see those whom he loved and who +were as innocent as himself suffer and die by reason of his own suffering +and death! Ah! poor old man, cripple that he was, ending like some beast +of burden that has foundered by the roadside—that goal of labour! And it +was all so revolting and so monstrous that he tried to put it into words, +and his desperate grief ended in a frightful, raucous grunt. +</p> + +<p> +"Be quiet, don't do yourself harm!" concluded Madame Toussaint. "Things +are like that, and there's no mending them." +</p> + +<p> +Then she went to put the child to bed again, and on her return, just as +Thomas and Pierre were about to speak to her of Toussaint's employer, M. +Grandidier, a fresh visitor arrived. Thereupon the others decided to +wait. +</p> + +<p> +The new comer was Madame Chretiennot, Toussaint's other sister, eighteen +years younger than himself. Her husband, the little clerk, had compelled +her to break off almost all intercourse with her relatives, as he felt +ashamed of them; nevertheless, having heard of her brother's misfortune, +she had very properly come to condole with him. She wore a gown of cheap +flimsy silk, and a hat trimmed with red poppies, which she had freshened +up three times already; but in spite of this display her appearance +bespoke penury, and she did her best to hide her feet on account of the +shabbiness of her boots. Moreover, she was no longer the beautiful +Hortense. Since a recent miscarriage, all trace of her good looks had +disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +The lamentable appearance of her brother and the bareness of that home of +suffering chilled her directly she crossed the threshold. And as soon as +she had kissed Toussaint, and said how sorry she was to find him in such +a condition, she began to lament her own fate, and recount her troubles, +for fear lest she should be asked for any help. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! my dear," she said to her sister-in-law, "you are certainly much to +be pitied! But if you only knew! We all have our troubles. Thus in my +case, obliged as I am to dress fairly well on account of my husband's +position, I have more trouble than you can imagine in making both ends +meet. One can't go far on a salary of three thousand francs a year, when +one has to pay seven hundred francs' rent out of it. You will perhaps say +that we might lodge ourselves in a more modest way; but we can't, my +dear, I must have a <i>salon</i> on account of the visits I receive. So just +count! . . . Then there are my two girls. I've had to send them to +school; Lucienne has begun to learn the piano and Marcelle has some taste +for drawing. . . . By the way, I would have brought them with me, but I +feared it would upset them too much. You will excuse me, won't you?" +</p> + +<p> +Then she spoke of all the worries which she had had with her husband on +account of Salvat's ignominious death. Chretiennot, vain, quarrelsome +little fellow that he was, felt exasperated at now having a <i>guillotine</i> +in his wife's family. And he had lately begun to treat the unfortunate +woman most harshly, charging her with having brought about all their +troubles, and even rendering her responsible for his own mediocrity, +embittered as he was more and more each day by a confined life of office +work. On some evenings they had downright quarrels; she stood up for +herself, and related that when she was at the confectionery shop in the +Rue des Martyrs she could have married a doctor had she only chosen, for +the doctor found her quite pretty enough. Now, however, she was becoming +plainer and plainer, and her husband felt that he was condemned to +everlasting penury; so that their life was becoming more and more dismal +and quarrelsome, and as unbearable—despite the pride of being +"gentleman" and "lady"—as was the destitution of the working classes. +</p> + +<p> +"All the same, my dear," at last said Madame Toussaint, weary of her +sister-in-law's endless narrative of worries, "you have had one piece of +luck. You won't have the trouble of bringing up a third child, now." +</p> + +<p> +"That's true," replied Hortense, with a sigh of relief. "How we should +have managed, I don't know. . . . Still, I was very ill, and I'm far from +being in good health now. The doctor says that I don't eat enough, and +that I ought to have good food." +</p> + +<p> +Then she rose for the purpose of giving her brother another kiss and +taking her departure; for she feared a scene on her husband's part should +he happen to come home and find her absent. Once on her feet, however, +she lingered there a moment longer, saying that she also had just seen +her sister, Madame Theodore, and little Celine, both of them comfortably +clad and looking happy. And with a touch of jealousy she added: "Well, my +husband contents himself with slaving away at his office every day. He'll +never do anything to get his head cut off; and it's quite certain that +nobody will think of leaving an income to Marcelle and Lucienne. . . . +Well, good by, my dear, you must be brave, one must always hope that +things will turn out for the best." +</p> + +<p> +When she had gone off, Pierre and Thomas inquired if M. Grandidier had +heard of Toussaint's misfortune and agreed to do anything for him. Madame +Toussaint answered that he had so far made only a vague promise; and on +learning this they resolved to speak to him as warmly as they could on +behalf of the old mechanician, who had spent as many as five and twenty +years at the works. The misfortune was that a scheme for establishing a +friendly society, and even a pension fund, which had been launched before +the crisis from which the works were now recovering, had collapsed +through a number of obstacles and complications. Had things turned out +otherwise, Thomas might have had a pittance assured him, even though he +was unable to work. But under the circumstances the only hope for the +poor stricken fellow lay in his employer's compassion, if not his sense +of justice. +</p> + +<p> +As the baby again began to cry, Madame Toussaint went to fetch it, and +she was once more carrying it to and fro, when Thomas pressed her +husband's sound hand between both his own. "We will come back," said the +young man; "we won't forsake you, Toussaint. You know very well that +people like you, for you've always been a good and steady workman. So +rely on us, we will do all we can." +</p> + +<p> +Then they left him tearful and overpowered, in that dismal room, while, +up and down beside him, his wife rocked the squealing infant—that other +luckless creature, who was now so heavy on the old folks' hands, and like +them was fated to die of want and unjust toil. +</p> + +<p> +Toil, manual toil, panting at every effort, this was what Pierre and +Thomas once more found at the works. From the slender pipes above the +roofs spurted rhythmical puffs of steam, which seemed like the very +breath of all that labour. And in the work-shops one found a continuous +rumbling, a whole army of men in motion, forging, filing, and piercing, +amidst the spinning of leather gearing and the trembling of machinery. +The day was ending with a final feverish effort to complete some task or +other before the bell should ring for departure. +</p> + +<p> +On inquiring for the master Thomas learnt that he had not been seen since +<i>dejeuner</i>, which was such an unusual occurrence that the young man at +once feared some terrible scene in the silent pavilion, whose shutters +were ever closed upon Grandidier's unhappy wife—that mad but beautiful +creature, whom he loved so passionately that he had never been willing to +part from her. The pavilion could be seen from the little glazed +work-shop which Thomas usually occupied, and as he and Pierre stood +waiting there, it looked very peaceful and pleasant amidst the big +lilac-bushes planted round about it. Surely, they thought, it ought to +have been brightened by the gay gown of a young woman and the laughter of +playful children. But all at once a loud, piercing shriek reached their +ears, followed by howls and moans, like those of an animal that is being +beaten or possibly slaughtered. Ah! those howls ringing out amidst all +the stir of the toiling works, punctuated it seemed by the rhythmical +puffing of the steam, accompanied too by the dull rumbling of the +machinery! The receipts of the business had been doubling and doubling +since the last stock-taking; there was increase of prosperity every +month, the bad times were over, far behind. Grandidier was realising a +large fortune with his famous bicycle for the million, the "Lisette"; and +the approaching vogue of motor-cars also promised huge gains, should he +again start making little motor-engines, as he meant to do, as soon as +Thomas's long-projected motor should be perfected. But what was wealth +when in that dismal pavilion, whose shutters were ever closed, those +frightful shrieks continued, proclaiming some terrible drama, which all +the stir and bustle of the prosperous works were unable to stifle? +</p> + +<p> +Pierre and Thomas looked at one another, pale and quivering. And all at +once, as the cries ceased and the pavilion sank into death-like silence +once more, the latter said in an undertone: "She is usually very gentle, +she will sometimes spend whole days sitting on a carpet like a little +child. He is fond of her when she is like that; he lays her down and +picks her up, caresses her and makes her laugh as if she were a baby. Ah! +how dreadfully sad it is! When an attack comes upon her she gets frantic, +tries to bite herself, and kill herself by throwing herself against the +walls. And then he has to struggle with her, for no one else is allowed +to touch her. He tries to restrain her, and holds her in his arms to calm +her. . . . But how terrible it was just now! Did you hear? I do not think +she has ever had such a frightful attack before." +</p> + +<p> +For a quarter of an hour longer profound silence prevailed. Then +Grandidier came out of the pavilion, bareheaded and still ghastly pale. +Passing the little glazed work-shop on his way, he perceived Thomas and +Pierre there, and at once came in. But he was obliged to lean against a +bench like a man who is dazed, haunted by a nightmare. His good-natured, +energetic face retained an expression of acute anguish; and his left ear +was scratched and bleeding. However, he at once wished to talk, overcome +his feelings, and return to his life of activity. "I am very pleased to +see you, my dear Thomas," said he, "I have been thinking over what you +told me about our little motor. We must go into the matter again." +</p> + +<p> +Seeing how distracted he was, it occurred to the young man that some +sudden diversion, such as the story of another's misfortunes, might +perhaps draw him from his haunting thoughts. "Of course I am at your +disposal," he replied; "but before talking of that matter I should like +to tell you that we have just seen Toussaint, that poor old fellow who +has been stricken with paralysis. His awful fate has quite distressed us. +He is in the greatest destitution, forsaken as it were by the roadside, +after all his years of labour." +</p> + +<p> +Thomas dwelt upon the quarter of a century which the old workman had +spent at the factory, and suggested that it would be only just to take +some account of his long efforts, the years of his life which he had +devoted to the establishment. And he asked that he might be assisted in +the name both of equity and compassion. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! monsieur," Pierre in his turn ventured to say. "I should like to +take you for an instant into that bare room, and show you that poor, +aged, worn-out, stricken man, who no longer has even the power of speech +left him to tell people his sufferings. There can be no greater +wretchedness than to die in this fashion, despairing of all kindliness +and justice." +</p> + +<p> +Grandidier had listened to them in silence. But big tears had +irresistibly filled his eyes, and when he spoke it was in a very low and +tremulous voice: "The greatest wretchedness, who can tell what it is? Who +can speak of it if he has not known the wretchedness of others? Yes, yes, +it's sad undoubtedly that poor Toussaint should be reduced to that state +at his age, not knowing even if he will have food to eat on the morrow. +But I know sorrows that are just as crushing, abominations which poison +one's life in a still greater degree. . . . Ah! yes, food indeed! To +think that happiness will reign in the world when everybody has food to +eat! What an idiotic hope!" +</p> + +<p> +The whole grievous tragedy of his life was in the shudder which had come +over him. To be the employer, the master, the man who is making money, +who disposes of capital and is envied by his workmen, to own an +establishment to which prosperity has returned, whose machinery coins +gold, apparently leaving one no other trouble than that of pocketing +one's profits; and yet at the same time to be the most wretched of men, +to know no day exempt from anguish, to find each evening at one's hearth +no other reward or prop than the most atrocious torture of the heart! +Everything, even success, has to be paid for. And thus that triumpher, +that money-maker, whose pile was growing larger at each successive +inventory, was sobbing with bitter grief. +</p> + +<p> +However, he showed himself kindly disposed towards Toussaint, and +promised to assist him. As for a pension that was an idea which he could +not entertain, as it was the negation of the wage-system such as it +existed. He energetically defended his rights as an employer, repeating +that the strain of competition would compel him to avail himself of them +so long as the present system should endure. His part in it was to do +good business in an honest way. However, he regretted that his men had +never carried out the scheme of establishing a relief fund, and he said +that he would do his best to induce them to take it in hand again. +</p> + +<p> +Some colour had now come back to his checks; for on returning to the +interests of his life of battle he felt his energy restored. He again +reverted to the question of the little motor, and spoke of it for some +time with Thomas, while Pierre waited, feeling quite upset. Ah! he +thought, how universal was the thirst for happiness! Then, in spite of +the many technical terms that were used he caught a little of what the +others were saying. Small steam motors had been made at the works in +former times; but they had not proved successes. In point of fact a new +propelling force was needed. Electricity, though everyone foresaw its +future triumph, was so far out of the question on account of the weight +of the apparatus which its employment necessitated. So only petroleum +remained, and the inconvenience attaching to its use was so great that +victory and fortune would certainly rest with the manufacturer who should +be able to replace it by some other hitherto unknown agent. In the +discovery and adaptation of the latter lay the whole problem. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I am eager about it now," at last exclaimed Grandidier in an +animated way. "I allowed you to prosecute your experiments without +troubling you with any inquisitive questions. But a solution is becoming +imperative." +</p> + +<p> +Thomas smiled: "Well, you must remain patient just a little longer," said +he; "I believe that I am on the right road." +</p> + +<p> +Then Grandidier shook hands with him and Pierre, and went off to make his +usual round through his busy, bustling works, whilst near at hand, +awaiting his return, stood the closed pavilion, where every evening he +was fated to relapse into endless, incurable anguish. +</p> + +<p> +The daylight was already waning when Pierre and Thomas, after +re-ascending the height of Montmartre, walked towards the large work-shop +which Jahan, the sculptor, had set up among the many sheds whose erection +had been necessitated by the building of the Sacred Heart. There was here +a stretch of ground littered with materials, an extraordinary chaos of +building stone, beams and machinery; and pending the time when an army of +navvies would come to set the whole place in order, one could see gaping +trenches, rough flights of descending steps and fences, imperfectly +closing doorways which conducted to the substructures of the basilica. +</p> + +<p> +Halting in front of Jahan's work-shop, Thomas pointed to one of these +doorways by which one could reach the foundation works. "Have you never +had an idea of visiting the foundations?" he inquired of Pierre. "There's +quite a city down there on which millions of money have been spent. They +could only find firm soil at the very base of the height, and they had to +excavate more than eighty shafts, fill them with concrete, and then rear +their church on all those subterranean columns. . . . Yes, that is so. Of +course the columns cannot be seen, but it is they who hold that insulting +edifice aloft, right over Paris!" +</p> + +<p> +Having drawn near to the fence, Pierre was looking at an open doorway +beyond it, a sort of dark landing whence steps descended as if into the +bowels of the earth. And he thought of those invisible columns of +concrete, and of all the stubborn energy and desire for domination which +had set and kept the edifice erect. +</p> + +<p> +Thomas was at last obliged to call him. "Let us make haste," said he, +"the twilight will soon be here. We shan't be able to see much." +</p> + +<p> +They had arranged to meet Antoine at Jahan's, as the sculptor wished to +show them a new model he had prepared. When they entered the work-shop +they found the two assistants still working at the colossal angel which +had been ordered for the basilica. Standing on a scaffolding they were +rough-hewing its symmetrical wings, whilst Jahan, seated on a low chair, +with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his hands soiled with clay, +was contemplating a figure some three feet high on which he had just been +working. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! it's you," he exclaimed. "Antoine has been waiting more than half an +hour for you. He's gone outside with Lise to see the sun set over Paris, +I think. But they will soon be back." +</p> + +<p> +Then he relapsed into silence, with his eyes fixed on his work. +</p> + +<p> +This was a bare, erect, lofty female figure, of such august majesty, so +simple were its lines, that it suggested something gigantic. The figure's +abundant, outspread hair suggested rays around its face, which beamed +with sovereign beauty like the sun. And its only gesture was one of offer +and of greeting; its arms were thrown slightly forward, and its hands +were open for the grasp of all mankind. +</p> + +<p> +Still lingering in his dream Jahan began to speak slowly: "You remember +that I wanted a pendant for my figure of Fecundity. I had modelled a +Charity, but it pleased me so little and seemed so commonplace that I let +the clay dry and spoil. . . . And then the idea of a figure of Justice +came to me. But not a gowned figure with the sword and the scales! That +wasn't the Justice that inspired me. What haunted my mind was the other +Justice, the one that the lowly and the sufferers await, the one who +alone can some day set a little order and happiness among us. And I +pictured her like that, quite bare, quite simple, and very lofty. She is +the sun as it were, a sun all beauty, harmony and strength; for justice +is only to be found in the sun which shines in the heavens for one and +all, and bestows on poor and rich alike its magnificence and light and +warmth, which are the source of all life. And so my figure, you see, has +her hands outstretched as if she were offering herself to all mankind, +greeting it and granting it the gift of eternal life in eternal beauty. +Ah! to be beautiful and strong and just, one's whole dream lies in that." +</p> + +<p> +Jahan relighted his pipe and burst into a merry laugh. "Well, I think the +good woman carries herself upright. . . . What do you fellows say?" +</p> + +<p> +His visitors highly praised his work. Pierre for his part was much +affected at finding in this artistic conception the very idea that he had +so long been revolving in his mind—the idea of an era of Justice rising +from the ruins of the world, which Charity after centuries of trial had +failed to save. +</p> + +<p> +Then the sculptor gaily explained that he had prepared his model there +instead of at home, in order to console himself a little for his big +dummy of an angel, the prescribed triteness of which disgusted him. Some +fresh objections had been raised with respect to the folds of the robe, +which gave some prominence to the thighs, and in the end he had been +compelled to modify all of the drapery. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! it's just as they like!" he cried; "it's no work of mine, you know; +it's simply an order which I'm executing just as a mason builds a wall. +There's no religious art left, it has been killed by stupidity and +disbelief. Ah! if social or human art could only revive, how glorious to +be one of the first to bear the tidings!" +</p> + +<p> +Then he paused. Where could the youngsters, Antoine and Lise, have got +to, he wondered. He threw the door wide open, and, a little distance +away, among the materials littering the waste ground, one could see +Antoine's tall figure and Lise's short slender form standing out against +the immensity of Paris, which was all golden amidst the sun's farewell. +The young man's strong arm supported Lise, who with this help walked +beside him without feeling any fatigue. Slender and graceful, like a girl +blossoming into womanhood, she raised her eyes to his with a smile of +infinite gratitude, which proclaimed that she belonged to him for +evermore. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! they are coming back," said Jahan. "The miracle is now complete, you +know. I'm delighted at it. I did not know what to do with her; I had even +renounced all attempts to teach her to read; I left her for days together +in a corner, infirm and tongue-tied like a lack-wit. . . . But your +brother came and took her in hand somehow or other. She listened to him +and understood him, and began to read and write with him, and grow +intelligent and gay. Then, as her limbs still gained no suppleness, and +she remained infirm, ailing and puny, he began by carrying her here, and +then helped her to walk in such wise that she can now do so by herself. +In a few weeks' time she has positively grown and become quite charming. +Yes, I assure you, it is second birth, real creation. Just look at them!" +</p> + +<p> +Antoine and Lise were still slowly approaching. The evening breeze which +rose from the great city, where all was yet heat and sunshine, brought +them a bath of life. If the young man had chosen that spot, with its +splendid horizon, open to the full air which wafted all the germs of +life, it was doubtless because he felt that nowhere else could he instil +more vitality, more soul, more strength into her. And love had been +created by love. He had found her asleep, benumbed, without power of +motion or intellect, and he had awakened her, kindled life in her, loved +her, that he might be loved by her in return. She was his work, she was +part of himself. +</p> + +<p> +"So you no longer feel tired, little one?" said Jahan. +</p> + +<p> +She smiled divinely. "Oh! no, it's so pleasant, so beautiful, to walk +straight on like this. . . . All I desire is to go on for ever and ever +with Antoine." +</p> + +<p> +The others laughed, and Jahan exclaimed in his good-natured way: "Let us +hope that he won't take you so far. You've reached your destination now, +and I shan't be the one to prevent you from being happy." +</p> + +<p> +Antoine was already standing before the figure of Justice, to which the +falling twilight seemed to impart a quiver of life. "Oh! how divinely +simple, how divinely beautiful!" said he. +</p> + +<p> +For his own part he had lately finished a new wood engraving, which +depicted Lise holding a book in her hand, an engraving instinct with +truth and emotion, showing her awakened to intelligence and love. And +this time he had achieved his desire, making no preliminary drawing, but +tackling the block with his graver, straight away, in presence of his +model. And infinite hopefulness had come upon him, he was dreaming of +great original works in which the whole period that he belonged to would +live anew and for ever. +</p> + +<p> +Thomas now wished to return home. So they shook hands with Jahan, who, as +his day's work was over, put on his coat to take his sister back to the +Rue du Calvaire. +</p> + +<p> +"Till to-morrow, Lise," said Antoine, inclining his head to kiss her. +</p> + +<p> +She raised herself on tip-toes, and offered him her eyes, which he had +opened to life. "Till to-morrow, Antoine," said she. +</p> + +<p> +Outside, the twilight was falling. Pierre was the first to cross the +threshold, and as he did so, he saw so extraordinary a sight that for an +instant he felt stupefied. But it was certain enough: he could plainly +distinguish his brother Guillaume emerging from the gaping doorway which +conducted to the foundations of the basilica. And he saw him hastily +climb over the palings, and then pretend to be there by pure chance, as +though he had come up from the Rue Lamarck. When he accosted his two +sons, as if he were delighted to meet them, and began to say that he had +just come from Paris, Pierre asked himself if he had been dreaming. +However, an anxious glance which his brother cast at him convinced him +that he had been right. And then he not only felt ill at ease in presence +of that man whom he had never previously known to lie, but it seemed to +him that he was at last on the track of all he had feared, the formidable +mystery that he had for some time past felt brewing around him in the +little peaceful house. +</p> + +<p> +When Guillaume, his sons and his brother reached home and entered the +large workroom overlooking Paris, it was so dark that they fancied nobody +was there. +</p> + +<p> +"What! nobody in?" said Guillaume. +</p> + +<p> +But in a somewhat low, quiet voice Francois answered out of the gloom: +"Why, yes, I'm here." +</p> + +<p> +He had remained at his table, where he had worked the whole afternoon, +and as he could no longer read, he now sat in a dreamy mood with his head +resting on his hands, his eyes wandering over Paris, where night was +gradually falling. As his examination was now near at hand, he was living +in a state of severe mental strain. +</p> + +<p> +"What, you are still working there!" said his father. "Why didn't you ask +for a lamp?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, I wasn't working, I was looking at Paris," Francois slowly answered. +"It's singular how the night falls over it by degrees. The last district +that remained visible was the Montague Ste. Genevieve, the plateau of the +Pantheon, where all our knowledge and science have grown up. A sun-ray +still gilds the schools and libraries and laboratories, when the +low-lying districts of trade are already steeped in darkness. I won't say +that the planet has a particular partiality for us at the Ecole Normale, +but it's certain that its beams still linger on our roofs, when they are +to be seen nowhere else." +</p> + +<p> +He began to laugh at his jest. Still one could see how ardent was his +faith in mental effort, how entirely he gave himself to mental labour, +which, in his opinion, could alone bring truth, establish justice and +create happiness. +</p> + +<p> +Then came a short spell of silence. Paris sank more and more deeply into +the night, growing black and mysterious, till all at once sparks of light +began to appear. +</p> + +<p> +"The lamps are being lighted," resumed Francois; "work is being resumed on +all sides." +</p> + +<p> +Then Guillaume, who likewise had been dreaming, immersed in his fixed +idea, exclaimed: "Work, yes, no doubt! But for work to give a full +harvest it must be fertilised by will. There is something which is +superior to work." +</p> + +<p> +Thomas and Antoine had drawn near. And Francois, as much for them as for +himself, inquired: "What is that, father?" +</p> + +<p> +"Action." +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the three young men remained silent, impressed by the +solemnity of the hour, quivering too beneath the great waves of darkness +which rose from the vague ocean of the city. Then a young voice remarked, +though whose it was one could not tell: "Action is but work." +</p> + +<p> +And Pierre, who lacked the respectful quietude, the silent faith, of his +nephews, now felt his nervousness increasing. That huge and terrifying +mystery of which he was dimly conscious rose before him, while a great +quiver sped by in the darkness, over that black city where the lamps were +now being lighted for a whole passionate night of work. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +IV +</h3> + +<h3> +THE CRISIS +</h3> + +<p> +A GREAT ceremony was to take place that day at the basilica of the Sacred +Heart. Ten thousand pilgrims were to be present there, at a solemn +consecration of the Holy Sacrament; and pending the arrival of four +o'clock, the hour fixed for the service, Montmartre would be invaded by +people. Its slopes would be black with swarming devotees, the shops where +religious emblems and pictures were sold would be besieged, the cafes and +taverns would be crowded to overflowing. It would all be like some huge +fair, and meantime the big bell of the basilica, "La Savoyarde," would be +ringing peal on peal over the holiday-making multitude. +</p> + +<p> +When Pierre entered the workroom in the morning he perceived Guillaume +and Mere-Grand alone there; and a remark which he heard the former make +caused him to stop short and listen from behind a tall-revolving +bookstand. Mere-Grand sat sewing in her usual place near the big window, +while Guillaume stood before her, speaking in a low voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother," said he, "everything is ready, it is for to-day." +</p> + +<p> +She let her work fall, and raised her eyes, looking very pale. "Ah!" she +said, "so you have made up your mind." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, irrevocably. At four o'clock I shall be yonder, and it will all be +over." +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis well—you are the master." +</p> + +<p> +Silence fell, terrible silence. Guillaume's voice seemed to come from far +away, from somewhere beyond the world. It was evident that his resolution +was unshakable, that his tragic dream, his fixed idea of martyrdom, +wholly absorbed him. Mere-Grand looked at him with her pale eyes, like an +heroic woman who had grown old in relieving the sufferings of others, and +had ever shown all the abnegation and devotion of an intrepid heart, +which nothing but the idea of duty could influence. She knew Guillaume's +terrible scheme, and had helped him to regulate the pettiest details of +it; but if on the one hand, after all the iniquity she had seen and +endured, she admitted that fierce and exemplary punishment might seem +necessary, and that even the idea of purifying the world by the fire of a +volcano might be entertained, on the other hand, she believed too +strongly in the necessity of living one's life bravely to the very end, +to be able, under any circumstances, to regard death as either good or +profitable. +</p> + +<p> +"My son," she gently resumed, "I witnessed the growth of your scheme, and +it neither surprised nor angered me. I accepted it as one accepts +lightning, the very fire of the skies, something of sovereign purity and +power. And I have helped you through it all, and have taken upon myself +to act as the mouthpiece of your conscience. . . . But let me tell you +once more, one ought never to desert the cause of life." +</p> + +<p> +"It is useless to speak, mother," Guillaume replied: "I have resolved to +give my life and cannot take it back. . . . Are you now unwilling to +carry out my desires, remain here, and act as we have decided, when all +is over?" +</p> + +<p> +She did not answer this inquiry, but in her turn, speaking slowly and +gravely, put a question to him: "So it is useless for me to speak to you +of the children, myself and the house?" said she. "You have thought it +all over, you are quite determined?" And as he simply answered "Yes," she +added: "'Tis well, you are the master. . . . I will be the one who is to +remain behind and act. And you may be without fear, your bequest is in +good hands. All that we have decided together shall be done." +</p> + +<p> +Once more they became silent. Then she again inquired: "At four o'clock, +you say, at the moment of that consecration?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, at four o'clock." +</p> + +<p> +She was still looking at him with her pale eyes, and there seemed to be +something superhuman in her simplicity and grandeur as she sat there in +her thin black gown. Her glance, in which the greatest bravery and the +deepest sadness mingled, filled Guillaume with acute emotion. His hands +began to tremble, and he asked: "Will you let me kiss you, mother?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! right willingly, my son," she responded. "Your path of duty may not +be mine, but you see I respect your views and love you." +</p> + +<p> +They kissed one another, and when Pierre, whom the scene had chilled to +his heart, presented himself as if he were just arriving, Mere-Grand had +quietly taken up her needlework once more, while Guillaume was going to +and fro, setting one of his laboratory shelves in order with all his +wonted activity. +</p> + +<p> +At noon when lunch was ready, they found it necessary to wait for Thomas, +who had not yet come home. His brothers Francois and Antoine complained +in a jesting way, saying that they were dying of hunger, while for her +part Marie, who had made a <i>creme</i>, and was very proud of it, declared +that they would eat it all, and that those who came late would have to go +without tasting it. When Thomas eventually put in an appearance he was +greeted with jeers. +</p> + +<p> +"But it wasn't my fault," said he; "I stupidly came up the hill by way of +the Rue de la Barre, and you can have no notion what a crowd I fell upon. +Quite ten thousand pilgrims must have camped there last night. I am told +that as many as possible were huddled together in the St. Joseph Refuge. +The others no doubt had to sleep in the open air. And now they are busy +eating, here, there and everywhere, all over the patches of waste ground +and even on the pavements. One can scarcely set one foot before the other +without risk of treading on somebody." +</p> + +<p> +The meal proved a very gay one, though Pierre found the gaiety forced and +excessive. Yet the young people could surely know nothing of the +frightful, invisible thing which to Pierre ever seemed to be hovering +around in the bright sunlight of that splendid June day. Was it that the +dim presentiment which comes to loving hearts when mourning threatens +them, swept by during the short intervals of silence that followed the +joyous outbursts? Although Guillaume looked somewhat pale, and spoke with +unusual caressing softness, he retained his customary bright smile. But, +on the other hand, never had Mere-Grand been more silent or more grave. +</p> + +<p> +Marie's <i>creme</i> proved a great success, and the others congratulated her +on it so fulsomely that they made her blush. Then, all at once, heavy +silence fell once more, a deathly chill seemed to sweep by, making every +face turn pale—even while they were still cleaning their plates with +their little spoons. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! that bell," exclaimed Francois; "it is really intolerable. I can +feel my head splitting." +</p> + +<p> +He referred to "La Savoyarde," the big bell of the basilica, which had +now begun to toll, sending forth deep sonorous volumes of sound, which +ever and ever winged their flight over the immensity of Paris. In the +workroom they were all listening to the clang. +</p> + +<p> +"Will it keep on like that till four o'clock?" asked Marie. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! at four o'clock," replied Thomas, "at the moment of the consecration +you will hear something much louder than that. The great peals of joy, +the song of triumph will then ring out." +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume was still smiling. "Yes, yes," said he, "those who don't want +to be deafened for life had better keep their windows closed. The worst +is, that Paris has to hear it whether it will or no, and even as far away +as the Pantheon, so I'm told." +</p> + +<p> +Meantime Mere-Grand remained silent and impassive. Antoine for his part +expressed his disgust with the horrible religious pictures for which the +pilgrims fought—pictures which in some respects suggested those on the +lids of sweetmeat boxes, although they depicted the Christ with His +breast ripped open and displaying His bleeding heart. There could be no +more repulsive materialism, no grosser or baser art, said Antoine. Then +they rose from table, talking at the top of their voices so as to make +themselves heard above the incessant din which came from the big bell. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately afterwards they all set to work again. Mere-Grand took her +everlasting needlework in hand once more, while Marie, sitting near her, +continued some embroidery. The young men also attended to their +respective tasks, and now and again raised their heads and exchanged a +few words. Guillaume, for his part, likewise seemed very busy; Pierre +alone coming and going in a state of anguish, beholding them all as in a +nightmare, and attributing some terrible meaning to the most innocent +remarks. During <i>dejeuner</i>, in order to explain the frightful discomfort +into which he was thrown by the gaiety of the meal, he had been obliged +to say that he felt poorly. And now he was looking and listening and +waiting with ever-growing anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +Shortly before three o'clock, Guillaume glanced at his watch and then +quietly took up his hat. "Well," said he, "I'm going out." +</p> + +<p> +His sons, Mere-Grand and Marie raised their heads. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going out," he repeated, "<i>au revoir</i>." +</p> + +<p> +Still he did not go off. Pierre could divine that he was struggling, +stiffening himself against the frightful tempest which was raging within +him, striving to prevent either shudder or pallor from betraying his +awful secret. Ah! he must have suffered keenly; he dared not give his +sons a last kiss, for fear lest he might rouse some suspicion in their +minds, which would impel them to oppose him and prevent his death! At +last with supreme heroism he managed to overcome himself. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>Au revoir</i>, boys." +</p> + +<p> +"<i>Au revoir</i>, father. Will you be home early?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, yes. . . . Don't worry about me, do plenty of work." +</p> + +<p> +Mere-Grand, still majestically silent, kept her eyes fixed upon him. Her +he had ventured to kiss, and their glances met and mingled, instinct with +all that he had decided and that she had promised: their common dream of +truth and justice. +</p> + +<p> +"I say, Guillaume," exclaimed Marie gaily, "will you undertake a +commission for me if you are going down by way of the Rue des Martyrs?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, certainly," he replied. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, please look in at my dressmaker's, and tell her that I +shan't go to try my gown on till to-morrow morning." +</p> + +<p> +It was a question of her wedding dress, a gown of light grey silk, the +stylishness of which she considered very amusing. Whenever she spoke of +it, both she and the others began to laugh. +</p> + +<p> +"It's understood, my dear," said Guillaume, likewise making merry over +it. "We know it's Cinderella's court robe, eh? The fairy brocade and lace +that are to make you very beautiful and for ever happy." +</p> + +<p> +However, the laughter ceased, and in the sudden silence which fell, it +again seemed as if death were passing by with a great flapping of wings +and an icy gust which chilled the hearts of everyone remaining there. +</p> + +<p> +"It's understood; so now I'm really off," resumed Guillaume. "<i>Au +revoir</i>, children." +</p> + +<p> +Then he sallied forth, without even turning round, and for a moment they +could hear the firm tread of his feet over the garden gravel. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre having invented a pretext was able to follow him a couple of +minutes afterwards. As a matter of fact there was no need for him to dog +Guillaume's heels, for he knew where his brother was going. He was +thoroughly convinced that he would find him at that doorway, conducting +to the foundations of the basilica, whence he had seen him emerge two +days before. And so he wasted no time in looking for him among the crowd +of pilgrims going to the church. His only thought was to hurry on and +reach Jahan's workshop. And in accordance with his expectation, just as +he arrived there, he perceived Guillaume slipping between the broken +palings. The crush and the confusion prevailing among the concourse of +believers favored Pierre as it had his brother, in such wise that he was +able to follow the latter and enter the doorway without being noticed. +Once there he had to pause and draw breath for a moment, so greatly did +the beating of his heart oppress him. +</p> + +<p> +A precipitous flight of steps, where all was steeped in darkness, +descended from the narrow entry. It was with infinite precaution that +Pierre ventured into the gloom, which ever grew denser and denser. He +lowered his feet gently so as to make no noise, and feeling the walls +with his hands, turned round and round as he went lower and lower into a +kind of well. However, the descent was not a very long one. As soon as he +found beaten ground beneath his feet he paused, no longer daring to stir +for fear of betraying his presence. The darkness was like ink, and there +was not a sound, a breath; the silence was complete. +</p> + +<p> +How should he find his way? he wondered. Which direction ought he to +take? He was still hesitating when some twenty paces away he suddenly saw +a bright spark, the gleam of a lucifer. Guillaume was lighting a candle. +Pierre recognised his broad shoulders, and from that moment he simply had +to follow the flickering light along a walled and vaulted subterranean +gallery. It seemed to be interminable and to run in a northerly +direction, towards the nave of the basilica. +</p> + +<p> +All at once the little light at last stopped, while Pierre, anxious to +see what would happen, continued to advance, treading as softly as he +could and remaining in the gloom. He found that Guillaume had stood his +candle upon the ground in the middle of a kind of low rotunda under the +crypt, and that he had knelt down and moved aside a long flagstone which +seemed to cover a cavity. They were here among the foundations of the +basilica; and one of the columns or piles of concrete poured into shafts +in order to support the building could be seen. The gap, which the stone +slab removed by Guillaume had covered, was by the very side of the +pillar; it was either some natural surface flaw, or a deep fissure caused +by some subsidence or settling of the soil. The heads of other pillars +could be descried around, and these the cleft seemed to be reaching, for +little slits branched out in all directions. Then, on seeing his brother +leaning forward, like one who is for the last time examining a mine he +has laid before applying a match to the fuse, Pierre suddenly understood +the whole terrifying business. Considerable quantities of the new +explosive had been brought to that spot. Guillaume had made the journey a +score of times at carefully selected hours, and all his powder had been +poured into the gap beside the pillar, spreading to the slightest rifts +below, saturating the soil at a great depth, and in this wise forming a +natural mine of incalculable force. And now the powder was flush with the +flagstone which Guillaume has just moved aside. It was only necessary to +throw a match there, and everything would be blown into the air! +</p> + +<p> +For a moment an acute chill of horror rooted Pierre to the spot. He could +neither have taken a step nor raised a cry. He pictured the swarming +throng above him, the ten thousand pilgrims crowding the lofty naves of +the basilica to witness the solemn consecration of the Host. Peal upon +peal flew from "La Savoyarde," incense smoked, and ten thousand voices +raised a hymn of magnificence and praise. And all at once came thunder +and earthquake, and a volcano opening and belching forth fire and smoke, +and swallowing up the whole church and its multitude of worshippers. +Breaking the concrete piles and rending the unsound soil, the explosion, +which was certain to be one of extraordinary violence, would doubtless +split the edifice atwain, and hurl one-half down the slopes descending +towards Paris, whilst the other on the side of the apse would crumble and +collapse upon the spot where it stood. And how fearful would be the +avalanche; a broken forest of scaffoldings, a hail of stonework, rushing +and bounding through the dust and smoke on to the roofs below; whilst the +violence of the shock would threaten the whole of Montmartre, which, it +seemed likely, must stagger and sink in one huge mass of ruins! +</p> + +<p> +However, Guillaume had again risen. The candle standing on the ground, +its flame shooting up, erect and slender, threw his huge shadow all over +the subterranean vault. Amidst the dense blackness the light looked like +some dismal stationary star. Guillaume drew near to it in order to see +what time it was by his watch. It proved to be five minutes past three. +So he had nearly another hour to wait. He was in no hurry, he wished to +carry out his design punctually, at the precise moment he had selected; +and he therefore sat down on a block of stone, and remained there without +moving, quiet and patient. The candle now cast its light upon his pale +face, upon his towering brow crowned with white hair, upon the whole of +his energetic countenance, which still looked handsome and young, thanks +to his bright eyes and dark moustaches. And not a muscle of his face +stirred; he simply gazed into the void. What thoughts could be passing +through his mind at that supreme moment? Who could tell? There was not a +quiver; heavy night, the deep eternal silence of the earth reigned all +around. +</p> + +<p> +Then Pierre, having quieted his palpitating heart, drew near. At the +sound of his footsteps Guillaume rose menacingly, but he immediately +recognised his brother, and did not seem astonished to see him. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! it's you," he said, "you followed me. . . . I felt that you +possessed my secret. And it grieves me that you should have abused your +knowledge to join me here. You might have spared me this last sorrow." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre clasped his trembling hands, and at once tried to entreat him. +"Brother, brother," he began. +</p> + +<p> +"No, don't speak yet," said Guillaume, "if you absolutely wish it I will +listen to you by-and-by. We have nearly an hour before us, so we can +chat. But I want you to understand the futility of all you may think +needful to tell me. My resolution is unshakable; I was a long time coming +to it, and in carrying it out I shall simply be acting in accordance with +my reason and my conscience." +</p> + +<p> +Then he quietly related that having decided upon a great deed he had long +hesitated as to which edifice he should destroy. The opera-house had +momentarily tempted him, but he had reflected that there would be no +great significance in the whirlwind of anger and justice destroying a +little set of enjoyers. In fact, such a deed might savour of jealousy and +covetousness. Next he had thought of the Bourse, where he might strike a +blow at money, the great agent of corruption, and the capitalist society +in whose clutches the wage-earners groaned. Only, here again the blow +would fall upon a restricted circle. Then an idea of destroying the +Palace of Justice, particularly the assize court, had occurred to him. It +was a very tempting thought—to wreak justice upon human justice, to +sweep away the witnesses, the culprit, the public prosecutor who charges +the latter, the counsel who defends him, the judges who sentence him, and +the lounging public which comes to the spot as to the unfolding of some +sensational serial. And then too what fierce irony there would be in the +summary superior justice of the volcano swallowing up everything +indiscriminately without pausing to enter into details. However, the plan +over which he had most lingered was that of blowing up the Arc de +Triomphe. This he regarded as an odious monument which perpetuated +warfare, hatred among nations, and the false, dearly purchased, +sanguineous glory of conquerors. That colossus raised to the memory of so +much frightful slaughter which had uselessly put an end to so many human +lives, ought, he considered, to be slaughtered in its turn. Could he so +have arranged things that the earth should swallow it up, he might have +achieved the glory of causing no other death than his own, of dying +alone, struck down, crushed to pieces beneath that giant of stone. What a +tomb, and what a memory might he thus have left to the world! +</p> + +<p> +"But there was no means of approaching it," he continued, "no basement, +no cellar, so I had to give up the idea. . . . And then, although I'm +perfectly willing to die alone, I thought what a loftier and more +terrible lesson there would be in the unjust death of an innocent +multitude, of thousands of unknown people, of all those that might happen +to be passing. In the same way as human society by dint of injustice, +want and harsh regulations causes so many innocent victims, so must +punishment fall as the lightning falls, indiscriminately killing and +destroying whatever it may encounter in its course. When a man sets his +foot on an ant-hill, he gives no heed to all the lives which he stamps +out." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre, whom this theory rendered quite indignant, raised a cry of +protest: "Oh! brother, brother, is it you who are saying such things?" +</p> + +<p> +Yet, Guillaume did not pause: "If I have ended by choosing this basilica +of the Sacred Heart," he continued, "it is because I found it near at +hand and easy to destroy. But it is also because it haunts and +exasperates me, because I have long since condemned it. . . . As I have +often said to you, one cannot imagine anything more preposterous than +Paris, our great Paris, crowned and dominated by this temple raised to +the glorification of the absurd. Is it not outrageous that common sense +should receive such a smack after so many centuries of science, that Rome +should claim the right of triumphing in this insolent fashion, on our +loftiest height in the full sunlight? The priests want Paris to repent +and do penitence for its liberative work of truth and justice. But its +only right course is to sweep away all that hampers and insults it in its +march towards deliverance. And so may the temple fall with its deity of +falsehood and servitude! And may its ruins crush its worshippers, so that +like one of the old geological revolutions of the world, the catastrophe +may resound through the very entrails of mankind, and renew and change +it!" +</p> + +<p> +"Brother, brother!" again cried Pierre, quite beside himself, "is it you +who are talking? What! you, a great scientist, a man of great heart, you +have come to this! What madness is stirring you that you should think and +say such abominable things? On the evening when we confessed our secrets +one to the other, you told me of your proud and lofty dream of ideal +Anarchy. There would be free harmony in life, which left to its natural +forces would of itself create happiness. But you still rebelled against +the idea of theft and murder. You would not accept them as right or +necessary; you merely explained and excused them. What has happened then +that you, all brain and thought, should now have become the hateful hand +that acts?" +</p> + +<p> +"Salvat has been guillotined," said Guillaume simply, "and I read his +will and testament in his last glance. I am merely an executor. . . . And +what has happened, you ask? Why, all that has made me suffer for four +months past, the whole social evil which surrounds us, and which must be +brought to an end." +</p> + +<p> +Silence fell. The brothers looked at one another in the darkness. And +Pierre now understood things. He saw that Guillaume was changed, that the +terrible gust of revolutionary contagion sweeping over Paris had +transformed him. It had all come from the duality of his nature, the +presence of contradictory elements within him. On one side one found a +scientist whose whole creed lay in observation and experiment, who, in +dealing with nature, evinced the most cautious logic; while on the other +side was a social dreamer, haunted by ideas of fraternity, equality and +justice, and eager for universal happiness. Thence had first come the +theoretical anarchist that he had been, one in whom science and chimeras +were mingled, who dreamt of human society returning to the harmonious law +of the spheres, each man free, in a free association, regulated by love +alone. Neither Theophile Morin with the doctrines of Proudhon and Comte, +nor Bache with those of St. Simon and Fourier, had been able to satisfy +his desire for the absolute. All those systems had seemed to him +imperfect and chaotic, destructive of one another, and tending to the +same wretchedness of life. Janzen alone had occasionally satisfied him +with some of his curt phrases which shot over the horizon, like arrows +conquering the whole earth for the human family. And then in Guillaume's +big heart, which the idea of want, the unjust sufferings of the lowly and +the poor exasperated, Salvat's tragic adventure had suddenly found place, +fomenting supreme rebellion. For long weeks he had lived on with +trembling hands, with growing anguish clutching at his throat. First had +come that bomb and the explosion which still made him quiver, then the +vile cupidity of the newspapers howling for the poor wretch's head, then +the search for him and the hunt through the Bois de Boulogne, till he +fell into the hands of the police, covered with mud and dying of +starvation. And afterwards there had been the assize court, the judges, +the gendarmes, the witnesses, the whole of France arrayed against one man +and bent on making him pay for the universal crime. And finally, there +had come the guillotine, the monstrous, the filthy beast consummating +irreparable injustice in human justice's name. One sole idea now remained +to Guillaume, that idea of justice which maddened him, leaving naught in +his mind save the thought of the just, avenging flare by which he would +repair the evil and ensure that which was right for all time forward. +Salvat had looked at him, and contagion had done its work; he glowed with +a desire for death, a desire to give his own blood and set the blood of +others flowing, in order that mankind, amidst its fright and horror, +should decree the return of the golden age. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre understood the stubborn blindness of such insanity; and he felt +utterly upset by the fear that he should be unable to overcome it. "You +are mad, brother!" he exclaimed, "they have driven you mad! It is a gust +of violence passing; they were treated in a wrong way and too +relentlessly at the outset, and now that they are avenging one another, +it may be that blood will never cease to flow. . . . But, listen, +brother, throw off that nightmare. You can't be a Salvat who murders or a +Bergaz who steals! Remember the pillage of the Princess's house and +remember the fair-haired, pretty child whom we saw lying yonder, ripped +open. . . . You do not, you cannot belong to that set, brother—" +</p> + +<p> +With a wave of his hand, Guillaume brushed these vain reasons aside. Of +what consequence were a few lives, his own included? No change had ever +taken place in the world without millions and millions of existences +being stamped out. +</p> + +<p> +"But you had a great scheme in hand," cried Pierre, hoping to save him by +reviving his sense of duty. "It isn't allowable for you to go off like +this." +</p> + +<p> +Then he fervently strove to awaken his brother's scientific pride. He +spoke to him of his secret, of that great engine of warfare, which could +destroy armies and reduce cities to dust, and which he had intended to +offer to France, so that on emerging victorious from the approaching war, +she might afterwards become the deliverer of the world. And it was this +grand scheme that he had abandoned, preferring to employ his explosive in +killing innocent people and overthrowing a church, which would be built +afresh, whatever the cost, and become a sanctuary of martyrs! +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume smiled. "I have not relinquished my scheme," said he, "I have +simply modified it. Did I not tell you of my doubts, my anxious +perplexity? Ah! to believe that one holds the destiny of the world in +one's grasp, and to tremble and hesitate and wonder if the intelligence +and wisdom, that are needful for things to take the one wise course, will +be forthcoming! At sight of all the stains upon our great Paris, all the +errors and transgressions which we lately witnessed, I shuddered. I asked +myself if Paris were sufficiently calm and pure for one to entrust her +with omnipotence. How terrible would be the disaster if such an invention +as mine should fall into the hands of a demented nation, possibly a +dictator, some man of conquest, who would simply employ it to terrorize +other nations and reduce them to slavery. . . . Ah! no, I do not wish to +perpetuate warfare, I wish to kill it." +</p> + +<p> +Then in a clear firm voice he explained his new plan, in which Pierre was +surprised to find some of the ideas which General de Bozonnet had one day +laid before him in a very different spirit. Warfare was on the road to +extinction, threatened by its very excesses. In the old days of +mercenaries, and afterwards with conscripts, the percentage of soldiers +designated by chance, war had been a profession and a passion. But +nowadays, when everybody is called upon to fight, none care to do so. By +the logical force of things, the system of the whole nation in arms means +the coming end of armies. How much longer will the nations remain on a +footing of deadly peace, bowed down by ever increasing "estimates," +spending millions and millions on holding one another in respect? Ah! how +great the deliverance, what a cry of relief would go up on the day when +some formidable engine, capable of destroying armies and sweeping cities +away, should render war an impossibility and constrain every people to +disarm! Warfare would be dead, killed in her own turn, she who has killed +so many. This was Guillaume's dream, and he grew quite enthusiastic, so +strong was his conviction that he would presently bring it to pass. +</p> + +<p> +"Everything is settled," said he; "if I am about to die and disappear, it +is in order that my idea may triumph. . . . You have lately seen me spend +whole afternoons alone with Mere-Grand. Well, we were completing the +classification of the documents and making our final arrangements. She +has my orders, and will execute them even at the risk of her life, for +none has a braver, loftier soul. . . . As soon as I am dead, buried +beneath these stones, as soon as she has heard the explosion shake Paris +and proclaim the advent of the new era, she will forward a set of all the +documents I have confided to her—the formula of my explosive, the +drawings of the bomb and gun—to each of the great powers of the world. +In this wise I shall bestow on all the nations the terrible gift of +destruction and omnipotence which, at first, I wished to bestow on France +alone; and I do this in order that the nations, being one and all armed +with the thunderbolt, may at once disarm, for fear of being annihilated, +when seeking to annihilate others." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre listened to him, gaping, amazed at this extraordinary idea, in +which childishness was blended with genius. "Well," said he, "if you give +your secret to all the nations, why should you blow up this church, and +die yourself?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why! In order that I may be believed!" cried Guillaume with +extraordinary force of utterance. Then he added, "The edifice must lie on +the ground, and I must be under it. If the experiment is not made, if +universal horror does not attest and proclaim the amazing destructive +power of my explosive, people will consider me a mere schemer, a +visionary! . . . A lot of dead, a lot of blood, that is what is needed in +order that blood may for ever cease to flow!" Then, with a broad sweep of +his arm, he again declared that his action was necessary. "Besides," he +said, "Salvat left me the legacy of carrying out this deed of justice. If +I have given it greater scope and significance, utilising it as a means +of hastening the end of war, this is because I happen to be a man of +intellect. It would have been better possibly if my mind had been a +simple one, and if I had merely acted like some volcano which changes the +soil, leaving life the task of renewing humanity." +</p> + +<p> +Much of the candle had now burnt away, and Guillaume at last rose from +the block of stone. He had again consulted his watch, and found that he +had ten minutes left him. The little current of air created by his +gestures made the light flicker, while all around him the darkness seemed +to grow denser. And near at hand ever lay the threatening open mine which +a spark might at any moment fire. +</p> + +<p> +"It is nearly time," said Guillaume. "Come, brother, kiss me and go away. +You know how much I love you, what ardent affection for you has been +awakened in my old heart. So love me in like fashion, and find love +enough to let me die as I want to die, in carrying out my duty. Kiss me, +kiss me, and go away without turning your head." +</p> + +<p> +His deep affection for Pierre made his voice tremble, but he struggled +on, forced back his tears, and ended by conquering himself. It was as if +he were no longer of the world, no longer one of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +"No, brother, you have not convinced me," said Pierre, who on his side +did not seek to hide his tears, "and it is precisely because I love you +as you love me, with my whole being, my whole soul, that I cannot go +away. It is impossible! You cannot be the madman, the murderer you would +try to be." +</p> + +<p> +"Why not? Am I not free. I have rid my life of all responsibilities, all +ties. . . . I have brought up my sons, they have no further need of me. +But one heart-link remained—Marie, and I have given her to you." +</p> + +<p> +At this a disturbing argument occurred to Pierre, and he passionately +availed himself of it. "So you want to die because you have given me +Marie," said he. "You still love her, confess it!" +</p> + +<p> +"No!" cried Guillaume, "I no longer love her, I swear it. I gave her to +you. I love her no more." +</p> + +<p> +"So you fancied; but you can see now that you still love her, for here +you are, quite upset; whereas none of the terrifying things of which we +spoke just now could even move you. . . . Yes, if you wish to die it is +because you have lost Marie!" +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume quivered, shaken by what his brother said, and in low, broken +words he tried to question himself. "No, no, that any love pain should +have urged me to this terrible deed would be unworthy—unworthy of my +great design. No, no, I decided on it in the free exercise of my reason, +and I am accomplishing it from no personal motive, but in the name of +justice and for the benefit of humanity, in order that war and want may +cease." +</p> + +<p> +Then, in sudden anguish, he went on: "Ah! it is cruel of you, brother, +cruel of you to poison my delight at dying. I have created all the +happiness I could, I was going off well pleased at leaving you all happy, +and now you poison my death. No, no! question it how I may, my heart does +not ache; if I love Marie, it is simply in the same way as I love you." +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, he remained perturbed, as if fearing lest he might be lying +to himself; and by degrees gloomy anger came over him: "Listen, that is +enough, Pierre," he exclaimed, "time is flying. . . . For the last time, +go away! I order you to do so; I will have it!" +</p> + +<p> +"I will not obey you, Guillaume. . . . I will stay, and as all my +reasoning cannot save you from your insanity, fire your mine, and I will +die with you." +</p> + +<p> +"You? Die? But you have no right to do so, you are not free!" +</p> + +<p> +"Free, or not, I swear that I will die with you. And if it merely be a +question of flinging this candle into that hole, tell me so, and I will +take it and fling it there myself." +</p> + +<p> +He made a gesture at which his brother thought that he was about to carry +out his threat. So he caught him by the arm, crying: "Why should you die? +It would be absurd. That others should die may be necessary, but you, no! +Of what use could be this additional monstrosity? You are endeavouring to +soften me, you are torturing my heart!" Then all at once, imagining that +Pierre's offer had concealed another design, Guillaume thundered in a +fury: "You don't want to take the candle in order to throw it there. What +you want to do is to blow it out! And you think I shan't be able +then—ah! you bad brother!" +</p> + +<p> +In his turn Pierre exclaimed: "Oh! certainly, I'll use every means to +prevent you from accomplishing such a frightful and foolish deed!" +</p> + +<p> +"You'll prevent me!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I'll cling to you, I'll fasten my arms to your shoulders, I'll hold +your hands if necessary." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! you'll prevent me, you bad brother! You think you'll prevent me!" +</p> + +<p> +Choking and trembling with rage, Guillaume had already caught hold of +Pierre, pressing his ribs with his powerful muscular arms. They were +closely linked together, their eyes fixed upon one another, and their +breath mingling in that kind of subterranean dungeon, where their big +dancing shadows looked like ghosts. They seemed to be vanishing into the +night, the candle now showed merely like a little yellow tear in the +midst of the darkness; and at that moment, in those far depths, a quiver +sped through the silence of the earth which weighed so heavily upon them. +Distant but sonorous peals rang out, as if death itself were somewhere +ringing its invisible bell. +</p> + +<p> +"You hear," stammered Guillaume, "it's their bell up there. The time has +come. I have vowed to act, and you want to prevent me!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I'll prevent you as long as I'm here alive." +</p> + +<p> +"As long as you are alive, you'll prevent me!" +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume could hear "La Savoyarde" pealing joyfully up yonder; he could +see the triumphant basilica, overflowing with its ten thousand pilgrims, +and blazing with the splendour of the Host amidst the smoke of incense; +and blind frenzy came over him at finding himself unable to act, at +finding an obstacle suddenly barring the road to his fixed idea. +</p> + +<p> +"As long as you are alive, as long as you are alive!" he repeated, beside +himself. "Well, then, die, you wretched brother!" +</p> + +<p> +A fratricidal gleam had darted from his blurred eyes. He hastily stooped, +picked up a large brick forgotten there, and raised it with both hands as +if it were a club. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! I'm willing," cried Pierre. "Kill me, then; kill your own brother +before you kill the others!" +</p> + +<p> +The brick was already descending, but Guillaume's arms must have +deviated, for the weapon only grazed one of Pierre's shoulders. +Nevertheless, he sank upon his knees in the gloom. When Guillaume saw him +there he fancied he had dealt him a mortal blow. What was it that had +happened between them, what had he done? For a moment he remained +standing, haggard, his mouth open, his eyes dilating with terror. He +looked at his hands, fancying that blood was streaming from them. Then he +pressed them to his brow, which seemed to be bursting with pain, as if +his fixed idea had been torn from him, leaving his skull open. And he +himself suddenly sank upon the ground with a great sob. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! brother, little brother, what have I done?" he called. "I am a +monster!" +</p> + +<p> +But Pierre had passionately caught him in his arms again. "It is nothing, +nothing, brother, I assure you," he replied. "Ah! you are weeping now. +How pleased I am! You are saved, I can feel it, since you are weeping. +And what a good thing it is that you flew into such a passion, for your +anger with me has dispelled your evil dream of violence." +</p> + +<p> +"I am horrified with myself," gasped Guillaume, "to think that I wanted +to kill you! Yes, I'm a brute beast that would kill his brother! And the +others, too, all the others up yonder. . . . Oh! I'm cold, I feel so +cold." +</p> + +<p> +His teeth were chattering, and he shivered. It was as if he had awakened, +half stupefied, from some evil dream. And in the new light which his +fratricidal deed cast upon things, the scheme which had haunted him and +goaded him to madness appeared like some act of criminal folly, projected +by another. +</p> + +<p> +"To kill you!" he repeated almost in a whisper. "I shall never forgive +myself. My life is ended, I shall never find courage enough to live." +</p> + +<p> +But Pierre clasped him yet more tightly. "What do you say?" he answered. +"Will there not rather be a fresh and stronger tie of affection between +us? Ah! yes, brother, let me save you as you saved me, and we shall be +yet more closely united! Don't you remember that evening at Neuilly, when +you consoled me and held me to your heart as I am holding you to mine? I +had confessed my torments to you, and you told me that I must live and +love! . . . And you did far more afterwards: you plucked your own love +from your breast and gave it to me. You wished to ensure my happiness at +the price of your own! And how delightful it is that, in my turn, I now +have an opportunity to console you, save you, and bring you back to +life!" +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, the bloodstain is there and it is ineffaceable. I can hope no +more!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, yes, you can. Hope in life as you bade me do! Hope in love and hope +in labour!" +</p> + +<p> +Still weeping and clasping one another, the brothers continued speaking +in low voices. The expiring candle suddenly went out unknown to them, and +in the inky night and deep silence their tears of redeeming affection +flowed freely. On the one hand, there was joy at being able to repay a +debt of brotherliness, and on the other, acute emotion at having been led +by a fanatical love of justice and mankind to the very verge of crime. +And there were yet other things in the depths of those tears which +cleansed and purified them; there were protests against suffering in +every form, and ardent wishes that the world might some day be relieved +of all its dreadful woe. +</p> + +<p> +At last, after pushing the flagstone over the cavity near the pillar, +Pierre groped his way out of the vault, leading Guillaume like a child. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime Mere-Grand, still seated near the window of the workroom, had +impassively continued sewing. Now and again, pending the arrival of four +o'clock, she had looked up at the timepiece hanging on the wall on her +left hand, or else had glanced out of the window towards the unfinished +pile of the basilica, which a gigantic framework of scaffoldings +encompassed. Slowly and steadily plying her needle, the old lady remained +very pale and silent, but full of heroic serenity. On the other hand, +Marie, who sat near her, embroidering, shifted her position a score of +times, broke her thread, and grew impatient, feeling strangely nervous, a +prey to unaccountable anxiety, which oppressed her heart. For their part, +the three young men could not keep in place at all; it was as if some +contagious fever disturbed them. Each had gone to his work: Thomas was +filing something at his bench; Francois and Antoine were on either side +of their table, the first trying to solve a mathematical problem, and the +other copying a bunch of poppies in a vase before him. It was in vain, +however, that they strove to be attentive. They quivered at the slightest +sound, raised their heads, and darted questioning glances at one another. +What could be the matter? What could possess them? What did they fear? +Now and again one or the other would rise, stretch himself, and then, +resume his place. However, they did not speak; it was as if they dared +not say anything, and thus the heavy silence grew more and more terrible. +</p> + +<p> +When it was a few minutes to four o'clock Mere-Grand felt weary, or else +desired to collect her thoughts. After another glance at the timepiece, +she let her needlework fall on her lap and turned towards the basilica. +It seemed to her that she had only enough strength left to wait; and she +remained with her eyes fixed on the huge walls and the forest of +scaffolding which rose over yonder with such triumphant pride under the +blue sky. Then all at once, however brave and firm she might be, she +could not restrain a start, for "La Savoyarde" had raised a joyful clang. +The consecration of the Host was now at hand, the ten thousand pilgrims +filled the church, four o'clock was about to strike. And thereupon an +irresistible impulse forced the old lady to her feet; she drew herself +up, quivering, her hands clasped, her eyes ever turned yonder, waiting in +mute dread. +</p> + +<p> +"What is the matter?" cried Thomas, who noticed her. "Why are you +trembling, Mere-Grand?" +</p> + +<p> +Francois and Antoine raised their heads, and in turn sprang forward. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you ill? Why are you turning so pale, you who are so courageous?" +</p> + +<p> +But she did not answer. Ah! might the force of the explosion rend the +earth asunder, reach the house and sweep it into the flaming crater of +the volcano! Might she and the three young men, might they all die with +the father, this was her one ardent wish in order that grief might be +spared them. And she remained waiting and waiting, quivering despite +herself, but with her brave, clear eyes ever gazing yonder. +</p> + +<p> +"Mere-Grand, Mere-Grand!" cried Marie in dismay; "you frighten us by +refusing to answer us, by looking over there as if some misfortune were +coming up at a gallop!" +</p> + +<p> +Then, prompted by the same anguish, the same cry suddenly came from +Thomas, Francois and Antoine: "Father is in peril—father is going to +die!" +</p> + +<p> +What did they know? Nothing precise, certainly. Thomas no doubt had been +astonished to see what a large quantity of the explosive his father had +recently prepared, and both Francois and Antoine were aware of the ideas +of revolt which he harboured in his mind. But, full of filial deference, +they never sought to know anything beyond what he might choose to confide +to them. They never questioned him; they bowed to whatever he might do. +And yet now a foreboding came to them, a conviction that their father was +going to die, that some most frightful catastrophe was impending. It must +have been that which had already sent such a quiver through the +atmosphere ever since the morning, making them shiver with fever, feel +ill at ease, and unable to work. +</p> + +<p> +"Father is going to die, father is going to die!" +</p> + +<p> +The three big fellows had drawn close together, distracted by one and the +same anguish, and furiously longing to know what the danger was, in order +that they might rush upon it and die with their father if they could not +save him. And amidst Mere-Grand's stubborn silence death once more +flitted through the room: there came a cold gust such as they had already +felt brushing past them during <i>dejeuner</i>. +</p> + +<p> +At last four o'clock began to strike, and Mere-Grand raised her white +hands with a gesture of supreme entreaty. It was then that she at last +spoke: "Father is going to die. Nothing but the duty of living can save +him." +</p> + +<p> +At this the three young men again wished to rush yonder, whither they +knew not; but they felt that they must throw down all obstacles and +conquer. Their powerlessness rent their hearts, they were both so frantic +and so woeful that their grandmother strove to calm them. "Father's own +wish was to die," said she, "and he is resolved to die alone." +</p> + +<p> +They shuddered as they heard her, and then, on their side, strove to be +heroic. But the minutes crept by, and it seemed as if the cold gust had +slowly passed away. Sometimes, at the twilight hour, a night-bird will +come in by the window like some messenger of misfortune, flit round the +darkened room, and then fly off again, carrying its sadness with it. And +it was much like that; the gust passed, the basilica remained standing, +the earth did not open to swallow it. Little by little the atrocious +anguish which wrung their hearts gave place to hope. And when at last +Guillaume appeared, followed by Pierre, a great cry of resurrection came +from one and all: "Father!" +</p> + +<p> +Their kisses, their tears, deprived him of his little remaining strength. +He was obliged to sit down. He had glanced round him as if he were +returning to life perforce. Mere-Grand, who understood what bitter +feelings must have followed the subjugation of his will, approached him +smiling, and took hold of both his hands as if to tell him that she was +well pleased at seeing him again, and at finding that he accepted his +task and was unwilling to desert the cause of life. For his part he +suffered dreadfully, the shock had been so great. The others spared him +any narrative of their feelings; and he, himself, related nothing. With a +gesture, a loving word, he simply indicated that it was Pierre who had +saved him. +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon, in a corner of the room, Marie flung her arms round the young +man's neck. "Ah! my good Pierre, I have never yet kissed you," said she; +"I want it to be for something serious the first time. . . . I love you, +my good Pierre, I love you with all my heart." +</p> + +<p> +Later that same evening, after night had fallen, Guillaume and Pierre +remained for a moment alone in the big workroom. The young men had gone +out, and Mere-Grand and Marie were upstairs sorting some house linen, +while Madame Mathis, who had brought some work back, sat patiently in a +dim corner waiting for another bundle of things which might require +mending. The brothers, steeped in the soft melancholy of the twilight +hour, and chatting in low tones, had quite forgotten her. +</p> + +<p> +But all at once the arrival of a visitor upset them. It was Janzen with +the fair, Christ-like face. He called very seldom nowadays; and one never +knew from what gloomy spot he had come or into what darkness he would +return when he took his departure. He disappeared, indeed, for months +together, and was then suddenly to be seen like some momentary passer-by +whose past and present life were alike unknown. +</p> + +<p> +"I am leaving to-night," he said in a voice sharp like a knife. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you going back to your home in Russia?" asked Guillaume. +</p> + +<p> +A faint, disdainful smile appeared on the Anarchist's lips. "Home!" said +he, "I am at home everywhere. To begin with, I am not a Russian, and then +I recognise no other country than the world." +</p> + +<p> +With a sweeping gesture he gave them to understand what manner of man he +was, one who had no fatherland of his own, but carried his gory dream of +fraternity hither and thither regardless of frontiers. From some words he +spoke the brothers fancied he was returning to Spain, where some +fellow-Anarchists awaited him. There was a deal of work to be done there, +it appeared. He had quietly seated himself, chatting on in his cold way, +when all at once he serenely added: "By the by, a bomb had just been +thrown into the Cafe de l'Univers on the Boulevard. Three <i>bourgeois</i> +were killed." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre and Guillaume shuddered, and asked for particulars. Thereupon +Janzen related that he had happened to be there, had heard the explosion, +and seen the windows of the cafe shivered to atoms. Three customers were +lying on the floor blown to pieces. Two of them were gentlemen, who had +entered the place by chance and whose names were not known, while the +third was a regular customer, a petty cit of the neighbourhood, who came +every day to play a game at dominoes. And the whole place was wrecked; +the marble tables were broken, the chandeliers twisted out of shape, the +mirrors studded with projectiles. And how great the terror and the +indignation, and how frantic the rush of the crowd! The perpetrator of +the deed had been arrested immediately—in fact, just as he was turning +the corner of the Rue Caumartin. +</p> + +<p> +"I thought I would come and tell you of it," concluded Janzen; "it is +well you should know it." +</p> + +<p> +Then as Pierre, shuddering and already suspecting the truth, asked him if +he knew who the man was that had been arrested, he slowly replied: "The +worry is that you happen to know him—it was little Victor Mathis." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre tried to silence Janzen too late. He had suddenly remembered that +Victor's mother had been sitting in a dark corner behind them a short +time previously. Was she still there? Then he again pictured Victor, +slight and almost beardless, with a straight, stubborn brow, grey eyes +glittering with intelligence, a pointed nose and thin lips expressive of +stern will and unforgiving hatred. He was no simple and lowly one from +the ranks of the disinherited. He was an educated scion of the +<i>bourgeoisie</i>, and but for circumstances would have entered the Ecole +Normale. There was no excuse for his abominable deed, there was no +political passion, no humanitarian insanity, in it. He was the destroyer +pure and simple, the theoretician of destruction, the cold energetic man +of intellect who gave his cultivated mind to arguing the cause of murder, +in his desire to make murder an instrument of the social evolution. True, +he was also a poet, a visionary, but the most frightful of all +visionaries: a monster whose nature could only be explained by mad pride, +and who craved for the most awful immortality, dreaming that the coming +dawn would rise from the arms of the guillotine. Only one thing could +surpass him: the scythe of death which blindly mows the world. +</p> + +<p> +For a few seconds, amidst the growing darkness, cold horror reigned in +the workroom. "Ah!" muttered Guillaume, "he had the daring to do it, he +had." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre, however, lovingly pressed his arm. And he felt that he was as +distracted, as upset, as himself. Perhaps this last abomination had been +needed to ravage and cure him. +</p> + +<p> +Janzen no doubt had been an accomplice in the deed. He was relating that +Victor's purpose had been to avenge Salvat, when all at once a great sigh +of pain was heard in the darkness, followed by a heavy thud upon the +floor. It was Madame Mathis falling like a bundle, overwhelmed by the +news which chance had brought her. At that moment it so happened that +Mere-Grand came down with a lamp, which lighted up the room, and +thereupon they hurried to the help of the wretched woman, who lay there +as pale as a corpse in her flimsy black gown. +</p> + +<p> +And this again brought Pierre an indescribable heart-pang. Ah! the poor, +sad, suffering creature! He remembered her at Abbe Rose's, so discreet, +so shamefaced, in her poverty, scarce able to live upon the slender +resources which persistent misfortunes had left her. Hers had indeed been +a cruel lot: first, a home with wealthy parents in the provinces, a love +story and elopement with the man of her choice; next, ill-luck steadily +pursuing her, all sorts of home troubles, and at last her husband's +death. Then, in the retirement of her widowhood, after losing the best +part of the little income which had enabled her to bring up her son, +naught but this son had been left to her. He had been her Victor, her +sole affection, the only one in whom she had faith. She had ever striven +to believe that he was very busy, absorbed in work, and on the eve of +attaining to some superb position worthy of his merits. And now, all at +once, she had learnt that this fondly loved son was simply the most +odious of assassins, that he had flung a bomb into a cafe, and had there +killed three men. +</p> + +<p> +When Madame Mathis had recovered her senses, thanks to the careful +tending of Mere-Grand, she sobbed on without cessation, raising such a +continuous doleful wail, that Pierre's hand again sought Guillaume's, and +grasped it, whilst their hearts, distracted but healed, mingled lovingly +one with the other. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +V +</h3> + +<h3> +LIFE'S WORK AND PROMISE +</h3> + +<p> +FIFTEEN months later, one fine golden day in September, Bache and +Theophile Morin were taking <i>dejeuner</i> at Guillaume's, in the big +workroom overlooking the immensity of Paris. +</p> + +<p> +Near the table was a cradle with its little curtains drawn. Behind them +slept Jean, a fine boy four months old, the son of Pierre and Marie. The +latter, simply in order to protect the child's social rights, had been +married civilly at the town-hall of Montmartre. Then, by way of pleasing +Guillaume, who wished to keep them with him, and thus enlarge the family +circle, they had continued living in the little lodging over the +work-shop, leaving the sleepy house at Neuilly in the charge of Sophie, +Pierre's old servant. And life had been flowing on happily for the +fourteen months or so that they had now belonged to one another. +</p> + +<p> +There was simply peace, affection and work around the young couple. +Francois, who had left the Ecole Normale provided with every degree, +every diploma, was now about to start for a college in the west of +France, so as to serve his term of probation as a professor, intending to +resign his post afterwards and devote himself, if he pleased, to science +pure and simple. Then Antoine had lately achieved great success with a +series of engravings he had executed—some views and scenes of Paris +life; and it was settled that he was to marry Lise Jahan in the ensuing +spring, when she would have completed her seventeenth year. Of the three +sons, however, Thomas was the most triumphant, for he had at last devised +and constructed his little motor, thanks to a happy idea of his father's. +One morning, after the downfall of all his huge chimerical schemes, +Guillaume, remembering the terrible explosive which he had discovered and +hitherto failed to utilise, had suddenly thought of employing it as a +motive force, in the place of petroleum, in the motor which his eldest +son had so long been trying to construct for the Grandidier works. So he +had set to work with Thomas, devising a new mechanism, encountering +endless difficulties, and labouring for a whole year before reaching +success. But now the father and son had accomplished their task; the +marvel was created, and stood there riveted to an oak stand, and ready to +work as soon as its final toilet should have been performed. +</p> + +<p> +Amidst all the changes which had occurred, Mere-Grand, in spite of her +great age, continued exercising her active, silent sway over the +household, which was now again so gay and peaceful. Though she seldom +seemed to leave her chair in front of her work-table, she was really +here, there and everywhere. Since the birth of Jean, she had talked of +rearing the child in the same way as she had formerly reared Thomas, +Francois and Antoine. She was indeed full of the bravery of devotion, and +seemed to think that she was not at all likely to die so long as she +might have others to guide, love and save. Marie marvelled at it all. She +herself, though she was always gay and in good health, felt tired at +times now that she was suckling her infant. Little Jean indeed had two +vigilant mothers near his cradle; whilst his father, Pierre, who had +become Thomas's assistant, pulled the bellows, roughened out pieces of +metal, and generally completed his apprenticeship as a working +mechanician. +</p> + +<p> +On the particular day when Bache and Theophile Morin came to Montmartre, +the <i>dejeuner</i> proved even gayer than usual, thanks perhaps to their +presence. The meal was over, the table had been cleared, and the coffee +was being served, when a little boy, the son of a doorkeeper in the Rue +Cortot, came to ask for Monsieur Pierre Froment. When they inquired his +business, he answered in a hesitating way that Monsieur l'Abbe Rose was +very ill, indeed dying, and that he had sent him to fetch Monsieur Pierre +Froment at once. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre followed the lad, feeling much affected; and on reaching the Rue +Cortot he there found Abbe Rose in a little damp ground-floor room +overlooking a strip of garden. The old priest was in bed, dying as the +boy had said, but he still retained the use of his faculties, and could +speak in his wonted slow and gentle voice. A Sister of Charity was +watching beside him, and she seemed so surprised and anxious at the +arrival of a visitor whom she did not know, that Pierre understood she +was there to guard the dying man and prevent him from having intercourse +with others. The old priest must have employed some stratagem in order to +send the doorkeeper's boy to fetch him. However, when Abbe Rose in his +grave and kindly way begged the Sister to leave them alone for a moment, +she dared not refuse this supreme request, but immediately left the room. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! my dear child," said the old man, "how much I wanted to speak to +you! Sit down there, close to the bed, so that you may be able to hear +me, for this is the end; I shall no longer be here to-night. And I have +such a great service to ask of you." +</p> + +<p> +Quite upset at finding his friend so wasted, with his face white like a +sheet, and scarce a sign of life save the sparkle of his innocent, loving +eyes, Pierre responded: "But I would have come sooner if I had known you +were in need of me! Why did you not send for me before? Are people being +kept away from you?" +</p> + +<p> +A faint smile of shame and confession appeared on the old priest's +embarrassed face. "Well, my dear child," said he, "you must know that I +have again done some foolish things. Yes, I gave money to some people +who, it seems, were not deserving of it. In fact, there was quite a +scandal; they scolded me at the Archbishop's palace, and accused me of +compromising the interests of religion. And when they heard that I was +ill, they put that good Sister beside me, because they said that I should +die on the floor, and give the very sheets off my bed if I were not +prevented." +</p> + +<p> +He paused to draw breath, and then continued: "So you understand, that +good Sister—oh! she is a very saintly woman—is here to nurse me and +prevent me from still doing foolish things. To overcome her vigilance I +had to use a little deceit, for which God, I trust, will forgive me. As +it happens, it's precisely my poor who are in question; it was to speak +to you about them that I so particularly wished to see you." +</p> + +<p> +Tears had come to Pierre's eyes. "Tell me what you want me to do," he +answered; "I am yours, both heart and soul." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, yes, I know it, my dear child. It was for that reason that I +thought of you—you alone. In spite of all that has happened, you are the +only one in whom I have any confidence, who can understand me, and give +me a promise which will enable me to die in peace." +</p> + +<p> +This was the only allusion he would venture to make to the cruel rupture +which had occurred after the young man had thrown off his cassock and +rebelled against the Church. He had since heard of Pierre's marriage, and +was aware that he had for ever severed all religious ties. But at that +supreme moment nothing of this seemed of any account to the old priest. +His knowledge of Pierre's loving heart sufficed him, for all that he now +desired was simply the help of that heart which he had seen glowing with +such passionate charity. +</p> + +<p> +"Well," he resumed, again finding sufficient strength to smile, "it is a +very simple matter. I want to make you my heir. Oh! it isn't a fine +legacy I am leaving you; it is the legacy of my poor, for I have nothing +else to bestow on you; I shall leave nothing behind me but my poor." +</p> + +<p> +Of these unhappy creatures, three in particular quite upset his heart. He +recoiled from the prospect of leaving them without chance of succour, +without even the crumbs which he had hitherto distributed among them, and +which had enabled them to live. One was the big Old'un, the aged +carpenter whom he and Pierre had vainly sought one night with the object +of sending him to the Asylum for the Invalids of Labour. He had been sent +there a little later, but he had fled three days afterwards, unwilling as +he was to submit to the regulations. Wild and violent, he had the most +detestable disposition. Nevertheless, he could not be left to starve. He +came to Abbe Rose's every Saturday, it seemed, and received a franc, +which sufficed him for the whole week. Then, too, there was a bedridden +old woman in a hovel in the Rue du Mont-Cenis. The baker, who every +morning took her the bread she needed, must be paid. And in particular +there was a poor young woman residing on the Place du Tertre, one who was +unmarried but a mother. She was dying of consumption, unable to work, and +tortured by the idea that when she should have gone, her daughter must +sink to the pavement like herself. And in this instance the legacy was +twofold: there was the mother to relieve until her death, which was near +at hand, and then the daughter to provide for until she could be placed +in some good household. +</p> + +<p> +"You must forgive me, my dear child, for leaving you all these worries," +added Abbe Rose. "I tried to get the good Sister, who is nursing me, to +take an interest in these poor people, but when I spoke to her of the big +Old'un, she was so alarmed that she made the sign of the cross. And it's +the same with my worthy friend Abbe Tavernier. I know nobody of more +upright mind. Still I shouldn't be at ease with him, he has ideas of his +own. . . . And so, my dear child, there is only you whom I can rely upon, +and you must accept my legacy if you wish me to depart in peace." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre was weeping. "Ah! certainly, with my whole soul," he answered. "I +shall regard your desires as sacred." +</p> + +<p> +"Good! I knew you would accept. . . . So it is agreed: a franc for the +big Old'un every Saturday, the bread for the bedridden woman, some help +for the poor young mother, and then a home for her little girl. Ah! if +you only knew what a weight it is off my heart! The end may come now, it +will be welcome to me." +</p> + +<p> +His kind white face had brightened as if with supreme joy. Holding +Pierre's hand within his own he detained him beside the bed, exchanging a +farewell full of serene affection. And his voice weakening, he expressed +his whole mind in faint, impressive accents: "Yes, I shall be pleased to +go off. I could do no more, I could do no more! Though I gave and gave, I +felt that it was ever necessary to give more and more. And how sad to +find charity powerless, to give without hope of ever being able to stamp +out want and suffering! I rebelled against that idea of yours, as you +will remember. I told you that we should always love one another in our +poor, and that was true, since you are here, so good and affectionate to +me and those whom I am leaving behind. But, all the same, I can do no +more, I can do no more; and I would rather go off, since the woes of +others rise higher and higher around me, and I have ended by doing the +most foolish things, scandalising the faithful and making my superiors +indignant with me, without even saving one single poor person from the +ever-growing torrent of want. Farewell, my dear child. My poor old heart +goes off aching, my old hands are weary and conquered." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre embraced him with his whole soul, and then departed. His eyes were +full of tears and indescribable emotion wrung his heart. Never had he +heard a more woeful cry than that confession of the impotence of charity, +on the part of that old candid child, whose heart was all simplicity and +sublime benevolence. Ah! what a disaster, that human kindness should be +futile, that the world should always display so much distress and +suffering in spite of all the compassionate tears that had been shed, in +spite of all the alms that had fallen from millions and millions of hands +for centuries and centuries! No wonder that it should bring desire for +death, no wonder that a Christian should feel pleased at escaping from +the abominations of this earth! +</p> + +<p> +When Pierre again reached the workroom he found that the table had long +since been cleared, and that Bache and Morin were chatting with +Guillaume, whilst the latter's sons had returned to their customary +occupations. Marie, also, had resumed her usual place at the work-table +in front of Mere-Grand; but from time to time she rose and went to look +at Jean, so as to make sure that he was sleeping peacefully, with his +little clenched fists pressed to his heart. And when Pierre, who kept his +emotion to himself, had likewise leant over the cradle beside the young +woman, whose hair he discreetly kissed, he went to put on an apron in +order that he might assist Thomas, who was now, for the last time, +regulating his motor. +</p> + +<p> +Then, as Pierre stood there awaiting an opportunity to help, the room +vanished from before his eyes; he ceased to see or hear the persons who +were there. The scent of Marie's hair alone lingered on his lips amidst +the acute emotion into which he had been thrown by his visit to Abbe +Rose. A recollection had come to him, that of the bitterly cold morning +when the old priest had stopped him outside the basilica of the Sacred +Heart, and had timidly asked him to take some alms to that old man +Laveuve, who soon afterwards had died of want, like a dog by the wayside. +How sad a morning it had been; what battle and torture had Pierre not +felt within him, and what a resurrection had come afterwards! He had that +day said one of his last masses, and he recalled with a shudder his +abominable anguish, his despairing doubts at the thought of nothingness. +Two experiments which he had previously made had failed most miserably. +First had come one at Lourdes, where the glorification of the absurd had +simply filled him with pity for any such attempt to revert to the +primitive faith of young nations, who bend beneath the terror born of +ignorance; and, secondly, there had been an experiment at Rome, which he +had found incapable of any renewal, and which he had seen staggering to +its death amidst its ruins, a mere great shadow, which would soon be of +no account, fast sinking, as it was, to the dust of dead religions. And, +in his own mind, Charity itself had become bankrupt; he no longer +believed that alms could cure the sufferings of mankind, he awaited +naught but a frightful catastrophe, fire and massacre, which would sweep +away the guilty, condemned world. His cassock, too, stifled him, a lie +alone kept it on his shoulders, the idea, unbelieving priest though he +was, that he could honestly and chastely watch over the belief of others. +The problem of a new religion, a new hope, such as was needful to ensure +the peace of the coming democracies tortured him, but between the +certainties of science and the need of the Divine, which seemed to +consume humanity, he could find no solution. If Christianity crumbled +with the principle of Charity, there could remain nothing else but +Justice, that cry which came from every breast, that battle of Justice +against Charity in which his heart must contend in that great city of +Paris. It was there that began his third and decisive experiment, the +experiment which was to make truth as plain to him as the sun itself, and +give him back health and strength and delight in life. +</p> + +<p> +At this point of his reverie Pierre was roused by Thomas, who asked him +to fetch a tool. As he did so he heard Bache remarking: "The ministry +resigned this morning. Vignon has had enough of it, he wants to reserve +his remaining strength." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, he has lasted more than a twelvemonth," replied Morin. "That's +already an achievement." +</p> + +<p> +After the crime of Victor Mathis, who had been tried and executed within +three weeks, Monferrand had suddenly fallen from power. What was the use +of having a strong-handed man at the head of the Government if bombs +still continued to terrify the country? Moreover, he had displeased the +Chamber by his voracious appetite, which had prevented him from allowing +others more than an infinitesimal share of all the good things. And this +time he had been succeeded by Vignon, although the latter's programme of +reforms had long made people tremble. He, Vignon, was honest certainly, +but of all these reforms he had only been able to carry out a few +insignificant ones, for he had found himself hampered by a thousand +obstacles. And thus he had resigned himself to ruling the country as +others had done; and people had discovered that after all there were but +faint shades of difference between him and Monferrand. +</p> + +<p> +"You know that Monferrand is being spoken of again?" said Guillaume. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, and he has some chance of success. His creatures are bestirring +themselves tremendously," replied Bache, adding, in a bitter, jesting +way, that Mege, the Collectivist leader, played the part of a dupe in +overthrowing ministry after ministry. He simply gratified the ambition of +each coterie in turn, without any possible chance of attaining to power +himself. +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon Guillaume pronounced judgment. "Oh! well, let them devour one +another," said he. "Eager as they all are to reign and dispose of power +and wealth, they only fight over questions of persons. And nothing they +do can prevent the evolution from continuing. Ideas expand, and events +occur, and, over and above everything else, mankind is marching on." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre was greatly struck by these words, and he again recalled the past. +His dolorous Parisian experiment had begun, and he was once more roaming +through the city. Paris seemed to him to be a huge vat, in which a world +fermented, something of the best and something of the worst, a frightful +mixture such as sorceresses might have used; precious powders mingled +with filth, from all of which was to come the philter of love and eternal +youth. And in that vat Pierre first marked the scum of the political +world: Monferrand who strangled Barroux, who purchased the support of +hungry ones such as Fonsegue, Duthil and Chaigneux, who made use of those +who attained to mediocrity, such as Taboureau and Dauvergne; and who +employed even the sectarian passions of Mege and the intelligent ambition +of Vignon as his weapons. Next came money the poisoner, with that affair +of the African Railways, which had rotted the Parliament and turned +Duvillard, the triumphant <i>bourgeois</i>, into a public perverter, the very +cancer as it were of the financial world. Then as a just consequence of +all this there was Duvillard's own home infected by himself, that +frightful drama of Eve contending with her daughter Camille for the +possession of Gerard, then Camille stealing him from her mother, and +Hyacinthe, the son, passing his crazy mistress Rosemonde on to that +notorious harlot Silviane, with whom his father publicly exhibited +himself. Then there was the old expiring aristocracy, with the pale, sad +faces of Madame de Quinsac and the Marquis de Morigny; the old military +spirit whose funeral was conducted by General de Bozonnet; the magistracy +which slavishly served the powers of the day, Amadieu thrusting himself +into notoriety by means of sensational cases, Lehmann, the public +prosecutor, preparing his speeches in the private room of the Minister +whose policy he defended; and, finally, the mendacious and cupid Press +which lived upon scandal, the everlasting flood of denunciation and filth +which poured from Sagnier, and the gay impudence shown by the +unscrupulous and conscienceless Massot, who attacked all and defended +all, by profession and to order! And in the same way as insects, on +discovering one of their own kind dying, will often finish it off and +fatten upon it, so the whole swarm of appetites, interests and passions +had fallen upon a wretched madman, that unhappy Salvat, whose idiotic +crime had brought them all scrambling together, gluttonously eager to +derive some benefit from that starveling's emaciated carcass. And all +boiled in the huge vat of Paris; the desires, the deeds of violence, the +strivings of one and another man's will, the whole nameless medley of the +bitterest ferments, whence, in all purity, the wine of the future would +at last flow. +</p> + +<p> +Then Pierre became conscious of the prodigious work which went on in the +depths of the vat, beneath all the impurity and waste. As his brother had +just said, what mattered the stains, the egotism and greed of +politicians, if humanity were still on the march, ever slowly and +stubbornly stepping forward! What mattered, too, that corrupt and +emasculate <i>bourgeoisie</i>, nowadays as moribund as the aristocracy, whose +place it took, if behind it there ever came the inexhaustible reserve of +men who surged up from the masses of the country-sides and the towns! +What mattered the debauchery, the perversion arising from excess of +wealth and power, the luxuriousness and dissoluteness of life, since it +seemed a proven fact that the capitals that had been queens of the world +had never reigned without extreme civilisation, a cult of beauty and of +pleasure! And what mattered even the venality, the transgressions and the +folly of the press, if at the same time it remained an admirable +instrument for the diffusion of knowledge, the open conscience, so to +say, of the nation, a river which, though there might be horrors on its +surface, none the less flowed on, carrying all nations to the brotherly +ocean of the future centuries! The human lees ended by sinking to the +bottom of the vat, and it was not possible to expect that what was right +would triumph visibly every day; for it was often necessary that years +should elapse before the realisation of some hope could emerge from the +fermentation. Eternal matter is ever being cast afresh into the crucible +and ever coming from it improved. And if in the depths of pestilential +workshops and factories the slavery of ancient times subsists in the +wage-earning system, if such men as Toussaint still die of want on their +pallets like broken-down beasts of burden, it is nevertheless a fact that +once already, on a memorable day of tempest, Liberty sprang forth from +the vat to wing her flight throughout the world. And why in her turn +should not Justice spring from it, proceeding from those troubled +elements, freeing herself from all dross, flowing forth with dazzling +limpidity and regenerating the nations? +</p> + +<p> +However, the voices of Bache and Morin, rising in the course of their +chat with Guillaume, once more drew Pierre from his reverie. They were +now speaking of Janzen, who after being compromised in a fresh outrage at +Barcelona had fled from Spain. Bache fancied that he had recognised him +in the street only the previous day. To think that a man with so clear a +mind and such keen energy should waste his natural gifts in such a +hateful cause! +</p> + +<p> +"When I remember," said Morin slowly, "that Barthes lives in exile in a +shabby little room at Brussels, ever quivering with the hope that the +reign of liberty is at hand—he who has never had a drop of blood on his +hands and who has spent two-thirds of his life in prison in order that +the nations may be freed!" +</p> + +<p> +Bache gently shrugged his shoulders: "Liberty, liberty, of course," said +he; "only it is worth nothing if it is not organised." +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon their everlasting discussion began afresh, with Saint-Simon and +Fourier on one side and Proudhon and Auguste Comte on the other. Bache +gave a long account of the last commemoration which had taken place in +honour of Fourier's memory, how faithful disciples had brought wreaths +and made speeches, forming quite a meeting of apostles, who all +stubbornly clung to their faith, as confident in the future as if they +were the messengers of some new gospel. Afterwards Morin emptied his +pockets, which were always full of Positivist tracts and pamphlets, +manifestos, answers and so forth, in which Comte's doctrines were +extolled as furnishing the only possible basis for the new, awaited +religion. Pierre, who listened, thereupon remembered the disputes in his +little house at Neuilly when he himself, searching for certainty, had +endeavoured to draw up the century's balance-sheet. He had lost his +depth, in the end, amidst the contradictions and incoherency of the +various precursors. Although Fourier had sprung from Saint-Simon, he +denied him in part, and if Saint-Simon's doctrine ended in a kind of +mystical sensuality, the other's conducted to an inacceptable regimenting +of society. Proudhon, for his part, demolished without rebuilding +anything. Comte, who created method and declared science to be the one +and only sovereign, had not even suspected the advent of the social +crisis which now threatened to sweep all away, and had finished +personally as a mere worshipper of love, overpowered by woman. +Nevertheless, these two, Comte and Proudhon, entered the lists and fought +against the others, Fourier and Saint-Simon; the combat between them or +their disciples becoming so bitter and so blind that the truths common to +them all at first seemed obscured and disfigured beyond recognition. Now, +however, that evolution had slowly transformed Pierre, those common +truths seemed to him as irrefutable, as clear as the sunlight itself. +Amidst the chaos of conflicting assertions which was to be found in the +gospels of those social messiahs, there were certain similar phrases and +principles which recurred again and again, the defence of the poor, the +idea of a new and just division of the riches of the world in accordance +with individual labour and merit, and particularly the search for a new +law of labour which would enable this fresh distribution to be made +equitably. Since all the precursory men of genius agreed so closely upon +those points, must they not be the very foundations of to-morrow's new +religion, the necessary faith which this century must bequeath to the +coming century, in order that the latter may make of it a human religion +of peace, solidarity and love? +</p> + +<p> +Then, all at once, there came a leap in Pierre's thoughts. He fancied +himself at the Madeleine once more, listening to the address on the New +Spirit delivered by Monseigneur Martha, who had predicted that Paris, now +reconverted to Christianity, would, thanks to the Sacred Heart, become +the ruler of the world. But no, but no! If Paris reigned, it was because +it was able to exercise its intelligence freely. To set the cross and the +mystic and repulsive symbolism of a bleeding heart above it was simply so +much falsehood. Although they might rear edifices of pride and domination +as if to crush Paris with their very weight, although they might try to +stop science in the name of a dead ideal and in the hope of setting their +clutches upon the coming century, these attempts would be of no avail. +Science will end by sweeping away all remnants of their ancient +sovereignty, their basilica will crumble beneath the breeze of Truth +without any necessity of raising a finger against it. The trial has been +made, the Gospel as a social code has fallen to pieces, and human wisdom +can only retain account of its moral maxims. Ancient Catholicism is on +all sides crumbling into dust, Catholic Rome is a mere field of ruins +from which the nations turn aside, anxious as they are for a religion +that shall not be a religion of death. In olden times the overburdened +slave, glowing with a new hope and seeking to escape from his gaol, +dreamt of a heaven where in return for his earthly misery he would be +rewarded with eternal enjoyment. But now that science has destroyed that +false idea of a heaven, and shown what dupery lies in reliance on the +morrow of death, the slave, the workman, weary of dying for happiness' +sake, demands that justice and happiness shall find place upon this +earth. Therein lies the new hope—Justice, after eighteen hundred years +of impotent Charity. Ah! in a thousand years from now, when Catholicism +will be naught but a very ancient superstition of the past, how amazed +men will be to think that their ancestors were able to endure that +religion of torture and nihility! How astonished they will feel on +finding that God was regarded as an executioner, that manhood was +threatened, maimed and chastised, that nature was accounted an enemy, +that life was looked upon as something accursed, and that death alone was +pronounced sweet and liberating! For well-nigh two thousand years the +onward march of mankind has been hampered by the odious idea of tearing +all that is human away from man: his desires, his passions, his free +intelligence, his will and right of action, his whole strength. And how +glorious will be the awakening when such virginity as is now honoured by +the Church is held in derision, when fruitfulness is again recognised as +a virtue, amidst the hosanna of all the freed forces of nature—man's +desires which will be honoured, his passions which will be utilised, his +labour which will be exalted, whilst life is loved and ever and ever +creates love afresh! +</p> + +<p> +A new religion! a new religion! Pierre remembered the cry which had +escaped him at Lourdes, and which he had repeated at Rome in presence of +the collapse of old Catholicism. But he no longer displayed the same +feverish eagerness as then—a puerile, sickly desire that a new Divinity +should at once reveal himself, an ideal come into being, complete in all +respects, with dogmas and form of worship. The Divine certainly seemed to +be as necessary to man as were bread and water; he had ever fallen back +upon it, hungering for the mysterious, seemingly having no other means of +consolation than that of annihilating himself in the unknown. But who can +say that science will not some day quench the thirst for what lies beyond +us? If the domain of science embraces the acquired truths, it also +embraces, and will ever do so, the truths that remain to be acquired. And +in front of it will there not ever remain a margin for the thirst of +knowledge, for the hypotheses which are but so much ideality? Besides, is +not the yearning for the divine simply a desire to behold the Divinity? +And if science should more and more content the yearning to know all and +be able to do all, will not that yearning be quieted and end by mingling +with the love of acquired truth? A religion grafted on science is the +indicated, certain, inevitable finish of man's long march towards +knowledge. He will come to it at last as to a natural haven, as to peace +in the midst of certainty, after passing every form of ignorance and +terror on his road. And is there not already some indication of such a +religion? Has not the idea of the duality of God and the Universe been +brushed aside, and is not the principle of unity, <i>monisme</i>, becoming +more and more evident—unity leading to solidarity, and the sole law of +life proceeding by evolution from the first point of the ether that +condensed to create the world? But if precursors, scientists and +philosophers—Darwin, Fourier and all the others—have sown the seed of +to-morrow's religion by casting the good word to the passing breeze, how +many centuries will doubtless be required to raise the crop! People +always forget that before Catholicism grew up and reigned in the +sunlight, it spent four centuries in germinating and sprouting from the +soil. Well, then, grant some centuries to this religion of science of +whose sprouting there are signs upon all sides, and by-and-by the +admirable ideas of some Fourier will be seen expanding and forming a new +gospel, with desire serving as the lever to raise the world, work +accepted by one and all, honoured and regulated as the very mechanism of +natural and social life, and the passions of man excited, contented and +utilised for human happiness! The universal cry of Justice, which rises +louder and louder, in a growing clamour from the once silent multitude, +the people that have so long been duped and preyed upon, is but a cry for +this happiness towards which human beings are tending, the happiness that +embodies the complete satisfaction of man's needs, and the principle of +life loved for its own sake, in the midst of peace and the expansion of +every force and every joy. The time will come when this Kingdom of God +will be set upon the earth; so why not close that other deceptive +paradise, even if the weak-minded must momentarily suffer from the +destruction of their illusions; for it is necessary to operate even with +cruelty on the blind if they are to be extricated from their misery, from +their long and frightful night of ignorance! +</p> + +<p> +All at once a feeling of deep joy came over Pierre. A child's faint cry, +the wakening cry of his son Jean had drawn him from his reverie. And he +had suddenly remembered that he himself was now saved, freed from +falsehood and fright, restored to good and healthy nature. How he +quivered as he recalled that he had once fancied himself lost, blotted +out of life, and that a prodigy of love had extricated him from his +nothingness, still strong and sound, since that dear child of his was +there, sturdy and smiling. Life had brought forth life; and truth had +burst forth, as dazzling as the sun. He had made his third experiment +with Paris, and this had been conclusive; it had been no wretched +miscarriage with increase of darkness and grief, like his other +experiments at Lourdes and Rome. In the first place, the law of labour +had been revealed to him, and he had imposed upon himself a task, as +humble a one as it was, that manual calling which he was learning so late +in life, but which was, nevertheless, a form of labour, and one in which +he would never fail, one too that would lend him the serenity which comes +from the accomplishment of duty, for life itself was but labour: it was +only by effort that the world existed. And then, moreover, he had loved; +and salvation had come to him from woman and from his child. Ah! what a +long and circuitous journey he had made to reach this finish at once so +natural and so simple! How he had suffered, how much error and anger he +had known before doing what all men ought to do! That eager, glowing love +which had contended against his reason, which had bled at sight of the +arrant absurdities of the miraculous grotto of Lourdes, which had bled +again too in presence of the haughty decline of the Vatican, had at last +found contentment now that he was husband and father, now that he had +confidence in work and believed in the just laws of life. And thence had +come the indisputable truth, the one solution—happiness in certainty. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst Pierre was thus plunged in thought, Bache and Morin had already +gone off with their customary handshakes and promises to come and chat +again some evening. And as Jean was now crying more loudly, Marie took +him in her arms and unhooked her dress-body to give him her breast. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! the darling, it's his time, you know, and he doesn't forget it!" she +said. "Just look, Pierre, I believe he has got bigger since yesterday." +</p> + +<p> +She laughed; and Pierre, likewise laughing, drew near to kiss the child. +And afterwards he kissed his wife, mastered as he was by emotion at the +sight of that pink, gluttonous little creature imbibing life from that +lovely breast so full of milk. +</p> + +<p> +"Why! he'll eat you," he gaily said to Marie. "How he's pulling!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! he does bite me a little," she replied; "but I like that the better, +it shows that he profits by it." +</p> + +<p> +Then Mere-Grand, she who as a rule was so serious and silent, began to +talk with a smile lighting up her face: "I weighed him this morning," +said she, "he weighs nearly a quarter of a pound more than he did the +last time. And if you had only seen how good he was, the darling! He will +be a very intelligent and well-behaved little gentleman, such as I like. +When he's five years old, I shall teach him his alphabet, and when he's +fifteen, if he likes, I'll tell him how to be a man. . . . Don't you +agree with me, Thomas? And you, Antoine, and you, too, Francois?" +</p> + +<p> +Raising their heads, the three sons gaily nodded their approval, grateful +as they felt for the lessons in heroism which she had given them, and +apparently finding no reason why she might not live another twenty years +in order to give similar lessons to Jean. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre still remained in front of Marie, basking in all the rapture of +love, when he felt Guillaume lay his hands upon his shoulders from +behind. And on turning round he saw that his brother was also radiant, +like one who felt well pleased at seeing them so happy. "Ah! brother," +said Guillaume softly, "do you remember my telling you that you suffered +solely from the battle between your mind and your heart, and that you +would find quietude again when you loved what you could understand? It +was necessary that our father and mother, whose painful quarrel had +continued beyond the grave, should be reconciled in you. And now it's +done, they sleep in peace within you, since you yourself are pacified." +</p> + +<p> +These words filled Pierre with emotion. Joy beamed upon his face, which +was now so open and energetic. He still had the towering brow, that +impregnable fortress of reason, which he had derived from his father, and +he still had the gentle chin and affectionate eyes and mouth which his +mother had given him, but all was now blended together, instinct with +happy harmony and serene strength. Those two experiments of his which had +miscarried, were like crises of his maternal heredity, the tearful +tenderness which had come to him from his mother, and which for lack of +satisfaction had made him desperate; and his third experiment had only +ended in happiness because he had contented his ardent thirst for love in +accordance with sovereign reason, that paternal heredity which pleaded so +loudly within him. Reason remained the queen. And if his sufferings had +thus always come from the warfare which his reason had waged against his +heart, it was because he was man personified, ever struggling between his +intelligence and his passions. And how peaceful all seemed, now that he +had reconciled and satisfied them both, now that he felt healthy, perfect +and strong, like some lofty oak, which grows in all freedom, and whose +branches spread far away over the forest. +</p> + +<p> +"You have done good work in that respect," Guillaume affectionately +continued, "for yourself and for all of us, and even for our dear parents +whose shades, pacified and reconciled, now abide so peacefully in the +little home of our childhood. I often think of our dear house at Neuilly, +which old Sophie is taking care of for us; and although, out of egotism, +a desire to set happiness around me, I wished to keep you here, your Jean +must some day go and live there, so as to bring it fresh youth." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre had taken hold of his brother's hands, and looking into his eyes +he asked: "And you—are you happy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, very happy, happier than I have ever been; happy at loving you as I +do, and happy at being loved by you as no one else will ever love me." +</p> + +<p> +Their hearts mingled in ardent brotherly affection, the most perfect and +heroic affection that can blend men together. And they embraced one +another whilst, with her babe on her breast, Marie, so gay, healthful and +loyal, looked at them and smiled, with big tears gathering in her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Thomas, however, having finished his motor's last toilet, had just set it +in motion. It was a prodigy of lightness and strength, of no weight +whatever in comparison with the power it displayed. And it worked with +perfect smoothness, without noise or smell. The whole family was gathered +round it in delight, when there came a timely visit, one from the learned +and friendly Bertheroy, whom indeed Guillaume had asked to call, in order +that he might see the motor working. +</p> + +<p> +The great chemist at once expressed his admiration; and when he had +examined the mechanism and understood how the explosive was employed as +motive power—an idea which he had long recommended,—he tendered +enthusiastic congratulations to Guillaume and Thomas. "You have created a +little marvel," said he, "one which may have far-reaching effects both +socially and humanly. Yes, yes, pending the invention of the electrical +motor which we have not yet arrived at, here is an ideal one, a system of +mechanical traction for all sorts of vehicles. Even aerial navigation may +now become a possibility, and the problem of force at home is finally +solved. And what a grand step! What sudden progress! Distance again +diminished, all roads thrown open, and men able to fraternise! This is a +great boon, a splendid gift, my good friends, that you are bestowing on +the world." +</p> + +<p> +Then he began to jest about the new explosive, whose prodigious power he +had divined, and which he now found put to such a beneficent purpose. +"And to think, Guillaume," he said, "that I fancied you acted with so +much mysteriousness and hid the formula of your powder from me because +you had an idea of blowing up Paris!" +</p> + +<p> +At this Guillaume became grave and somewhat pale. And he confessed the +truth. "Well, I did for a moment think of it." +</p> + +<p> +However, Bertheroy went on laughing, as if he regarded this answer as +mere repartee, though truth to tell he had felt a slight chill sweep +through his hair. "Well, my friend," he said, "you have done far better +in offering the world this marvel, which by the way must have been both a +difficult and dangerous matter. So here is a powder which was intended to +exterminate people, and which in lieu thereof will now increase their +comfort and welfare. In the long run things always end well, as I'm quite +tired of saying." +</p> + +<p> +On beholding such lofty and tolerant good nature, Guillaume felt moved. +Bertheroy's words were true. What had been intended for purposes of +destruction served the cause of progress; the subjugated, domesticated +volcano became labour, peace and civilisation. Guillaume had even +relinquished all idea of his engine of battle and victory; he had found +sufficient satisfaction in this last invention of his, which would +relieve men of some measure of weariness, and help to reduce their labour +to just so much effort as there must always be. In this he detected some +little advance towards Justice; at all events it was all that he himself +could contribute to the cause. And when on turning towards the window he +caught sight of the basilica of the Sacred Heart, he could not explain +what insanity had at one moment cone over him, and set him dreaming of +idiotic and useless destruction. Some miasmal gust must have swept by, +something born of want that scattered germs of anger and vengeance. But +how blind it was to think that destruction and murder could ever bear +good fruit, ever sow the soil with plenty and happiness! Violence cannot +last, and all it does is to rouse man's feeling of solidarity even among +those on whose behalf one kills. The people, the great multitude, rebel +against the isolated individual who seeks to wreak justice. No one man +can take upon himself the part of the volcano; this is the whole +terrestrial crust, the whole multitude which internal fire impels to rise +and throw up either an Alpine chain or a better and freer society. And +whatever heroism there may be in their madness, however great and +contagious may be their thirst for martyrdom, murderers are never +anything but murderers, whose deeds simply sow the seeds of horror. And +if on the one hand Victor Mathis had avenged Salvat, he had also slain +him, so universal had been the cry of reprobation roused by the second +crime, which was yet more monstrous and more useless than the first. +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume, laughing in his turn, replied to Bertheroy in words which +showed how completely he was cured: "You are right," he said, "all ends +well since all contributes to truth and justice. Unfortunately, thousands +of years are sometimes needed for any progress to be accomplished. . . . +However, for my part, I am simply going to put my new explosive on the +market, so that those who secure the necessary authorisation may +manufacture it and grow rich. Henceforth it belongs to one and all. . . . +And I've renounced all idea of revolutionising the world." +</p> + +<p> +But Bertheroy protested. This great official scientist, this member of +the Institute laden with offices and honours, pointed to the little +motor, and replied with all the vigour of his seventy years: "But that is +revolution, the true, the only revolution. It is with things like that +and not with stupid bombs that one revolutionises the world! It is not by +destroying, but by creating, that you have just done the work of a +revolutionist. And how many times already have I not told you that +science alone is the world's revolutionary force, the only force which, +far above all paltry political incidents, the vain agitation of despots, +priests, sectarians and ambitious people of all kinds, works for the +benefit of those who will come after us, and prepares the triumph of +truth, justice and peace. . . . Ah, my dear child, if you wish to +overturn the world by striving to set a little more happiness in it, you +have only to remain in your laboratory here, for human happiness can +spring only from the furnace of the scientist." +</p> + +<p> +He spoke perhaps in a somewhat jesting way, but one could feel that he +was convinced of it all, that he held everything excepting science in +utter contempt. He had not even shown any surprise when Pierre had cast +his cassock aside; and on finding him there with his wife and child he +had not scrupled to show him as much affection as in the past. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, however, the motor was travelling hither and thither, making no +more noise than a bluebottle buzzing in the sunshine. The whole happy +family was gathered about it, still laughing with delight at such a +victorious achievement. And all at once little Jean, Monsieur Jean, +having finished sucking, turned round, displaying his milk-smeared lips, +and perceived the machine, the pretty plaything which walked about by +itself. At sight of it, his eyes sparkled, dimples appeared on his plump +cheeks, and, stretching out his quivering chubby hands, he raised a crow +of delight. +</p> + +<p> +Marie, who was quietly fastening her dress, smiled at his glee and +brought him nearer, in order that he might have a better view of the toy. +"Ah! my darling, it's pretty, isn't it? It moves and it turns, and it's +strong; it's quite alive, you see." +</p> + +<p> +The others, standing around, were much amused by the amazed, enraptured +expression of the child, who would have liked to touch the machine, +perhaps in the hope of understanding it. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," resumed Bertheroy, "it's alive and it's powerful like the sun, +like that great sun shining yonder over Paris, and ripening men and +things. And Paris too is a motor, a boiler in which the future is +boiling, while we scientists keep the eternal flame burning underneath. +Guillaume, my good fellow, you are one of the stokers, one of the +artisans of the future, with that little marvel of yours, which will +still further extend the influence of our great Paris over the whole +world." +</p> + +<p> +These words impressed Pierre, and he again thought of a gigantic vat +stretching yonder from one horizon to the other, a vat in which the +coming century would emerge from an extraordinary mixture of the +excellent and the vile. But now, over and above all passions, ambitions, +stains and waste, he was conscious of the colossal expenditure of labour +which marked the life of Paris, of the heroic manual efforts in +work-shops and factories, and the splendid striving of the young men of +intellect whom he knew to be hard at work, studying in silence, +relinquishing none of the conquests of their elders, but glowing with +desire to enlarge their domain. And in all this Paris was exalted, +together with the future that was being prepared within it, and which +would wing its flight over the world bright like the dawn of day. If +Rome, now so near its death, had ruled the ancient world, it was Paris +that reigned with sovereign sway over the modern era, and had for the +time become the great centre of the nations as they were carried on from +civilisation to civilisation, in a sunward course from east to west. +Paris was the world's brain. Its past so full of grandeur had prepared it +for the part of initiator, civiliser and liberator. Only yesterday it had +cast the cry of Liberty among the nations, and to-morrow it would bring +them the religion of Science, the new faith awaited by the democracies. +And Paris was also gaiety, kindness and gentleness, passion for knowledge +and generosity without limit. Among the workmen of its faubourgs and the +peasants of its country-sides there were endless reserves of men on whom +the future might freely draw. And the century ended with Paris, and the +new century would begin and spread with it. All the clamour of its +prodigious labour, all the light that came from it as from a beacon +overlooking the earth, all the thunder and tempest and triumphant +brightness that sprang from its entrails, were pregnant with that final +splendour, of which human happiness would be compounded. +</p> + +<p> +Marie raised a light cry of admiration as she pointed towards the city. +"Look! just look!" she exclaimed; "Paris is all golden, covered with a +harvest of gold!" +</p> + +<p> +They all re-echoed her admiration, for the effect was really one of +extraordinary magnificence. The declining sun was once more veiling the +immensity of Paris with golden dust. But this was no longer the city of +the sower, a chaos of roofs and edifices suggesting brown land turned up +by some huge plough, whilst the sun-rays streamed over it like golden +seed, falling upon every side. Nor was it the city whose divisions had +one day seemed so plain to Pierre: eastward, the districts of toil, misty +with the grey smoke of factories; southward, the districts of study, +serene and quiet; westward, the districts of wealth, bright and open; and +in the centre the districts of trade, with dark and busy streets. It now +seemed as if one and the same crop had sprung up on every side, imparting +harmony to everything, and making the entire expanse one sole, boundless +field, rich with the same fruitfulness. There was corn, corn everywhere, +an infinity of corn, whose golden wave rolled from one end of the horizon +to the other. Yes, the declining sun steeped all Paris in equal +splendour, and it was truly the crop, the harvest, after the sowing! +</p> + +<p> +"Look! just look," repeated Marie, "there is not a nook without its +sheaf; the humblest roofs are fruitful, and every blade is full-eared +wherever one may look. It is as if there were now but one and the same +soil, reconciled and fraternal. Ah! Jean, my little Jean, look! see how +beautiful it is!" +</p> + +<p> +Pierre, who was quivering, had drawn close beside her. And Mere-Grand and +Bertheroy smiled upon that promise of a future which they would not see, +whilst beside Guillaume, whom the sight filled with emotion, were his +three big sons, the three young giants, looking quite grave, they who +ever laboured and were ever hopeful. Then Marie, with a fine gesture of +enthusiasm, stretched out her arms and raised her child aloft, as if +offering it in gift to the huge city. +</p> + +<p> +"See, Jean! see, little one," she cried, "it's you who'll reap it all, +who'll store the whole crop in the barn!" +</p> + +<p> +And Paris flared—Paris, which the divine sun had sown with light, and +where in glory waved the great future harvest of Truth and of Justice. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="finis"> +THE END +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 5, by +Emile Zola + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES TRILOGY: PARIS VOL 5 *** + +***** This file should be named 9168-h.htm or 9168-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/6/9168/ + +Produced by Dagny, and David Widger. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 5 + +Author: Emile Zola + +Translator: Ernest A. Vizetelly + +Posting Date: April 13, 2014 [EBook #9168] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES TRILOGY: PARIS VOL 5 *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and David Widger. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + THE THREE CITIES + + + + PARIS + + + + BY + + EMILE ZOLA + + + + TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY + + + + BOOK V + + + +I + +THE GUILLOTINE + +FOR some reason of his own Guillaume was bent upon witnessing the +execution of Salvat. Pierre tried to dissuade him from doing so; and +finding his efforts vain, became somewhat anxious. He accordingly +resolved to spend the night at Montmartre, accompany his brother and +watch over him. In former times, when engaged with Abbe Rose in +charitable work in the Charonne district, he had learnt that the +guillotine could be seen from the house where Mege, the Socialist deputy, +resided at the corner of the Rue Merlin. He therefore offered himself as +a guide. As the execution was to take place as soon as it should legally +be daybreak, that is, about half-past four o'clock, the brothers did not +go to bed but sat up in the workroom, feeling somewhat drowsy, and +exchanging few words. Then as soon as two o'clock struck, they started +off. + +The night was beautifully serene and clear. The full moon, shining like a +silver lamp in the cloudless, far-stretching heavens, threw a calm, +dreamy light over the vague immensity of Paris, which was like some +spell-bound city of sleep, so overcome by fatigue that not a murmur arose +from it. It was as if beneath the soft radiance which spread over its +roofs, its panting labour and its cries of suffering were lulled to +repose until the dawn. Yet, in a far, out of the way district, dark work +was even now progressing, a knife was being raised on high in order that +a man might be killed. + +Pierre and Guillaume paused in the Rue St. Eleuthere, and gazed at the +vaporous, tremulous city spread out below then. And as they turned they +perceived the basilica of the Sacred Heart, still domeless but already +looking huge indeed in the moonbeams, whose clear white light accentuated +its outlines and brought them into sharp relief against a mass of +shadows. Under the pale nocturnal sky, the edifice showed like a colossal +monster, symbolical of provocation and sovereign dominion. Never before +had Guillaume found it so huge, never had it appeared to him to dominate +Paris, even in the latter's hours of slumber, with such stubborn and +overwhelming might. + +This wounded him so keenly in the state of mind in which he found +himself, that he could not help exclaiming: "Ah! they chose a good site +for it, and how stupid it was to let them do so! I know of nothing more +nonsensical; Paris crowned and dominated by that temple of idolatry! How +impudent it is, what a buffet for the cause of reason after so many +centuries of science, labour, and battle! And to think of it being reared +over Paris, the one city in the world which ought never to have been +soiled in this fashion! One can understand it at Lourdes and Rome; but +not in Paris, in the very field of intelligence which has been so deeply +ploughed, and whence the future is sprouting. It is a declaration of war, +an insolent proclamation that they hope to conquer Paris also!" + +Guillaume usually evinced all the tolerance of a _savant_, for whom +religions are simply social phenomena. He even willingly admitted the +grandeur or grace of certain Catholic legends. But Marie Alacoque's +famous vision, which has given rise to the cult of the Sacred Heart, +filled him with irritation and something like physical disgust. He +suffered at the mere idea of Christ's open, bleeding breast, and the +gigantic heart which the saint asserted she had seen beating in the +depths of the wound--the huge heart in which Jesus placed the woman's +little heart to restore it to her inflated and glowing with love. What +base and loathsome materialism there was in all this! What a display of +viscera, muscles and blood suggestive of a butcher's shop! And Guillaume +was particularly disgusted with the engraving which depicted this horror, +and which he found everywhere, crudely coloured with red and yellow and +blue, like some badly executed anatomical plate. + +Pierre on his side was also looking at the basilica as, white with +moonlight, it rose out of the darkness like a gigantic fortress raised to +crush and conquer the city slumbering beneath it. It had already brought +him suffering during the last days when he had said mass in it and was +struggling with his torments. "They call it the national votive +offering," he now exclaimed. "But the nation's longing is for health and +strength and restoration to its old position by work. That is a thing the +Church does not understand. It argues that if France was stricken with +defeat, it was because she deserved punishment. She was guilty, and so +to-day she ought to repent. Repent of what? Of the Revolution, of a +century of free examination and science, of the emancipation of her mind, +of her initiatory and liberative labour in all parts of the world? That +indeed is her real transgression; and it is as a punishment for all our +labour, search for truth, increase of knowledge and march towards justice +that they have reared that huge pile which Paris will see from all her +streets, and will never be able to see without feeling derided and +insulted in her labour and glory." + +With a wave of his hand he pointed to the city, slumbering in the +moonlight as beneath a sheet of silver, and then set off again with his +brother, down the slopes, towards the black and deserted streets. + +They did not meet a living soul until they reached the outer boulevard. +Here, however, no matter what the hour may be, life continues with +scarcely a pause. No sooner are the wine shops, music and dancing halls +closed, than vice and want, cast into the street, there resume their +nocturnal existence. Thus the brothers came upon all the homeless ones: +low prostitutes seeking a pallet, vagabonds stretched on the benches +under the trees, rogues who prowled hither and thither on the lookout for +a good stroke. Encouraged by their accomplice--night, all the mire and +woe of Paris had returned to the surface. The empty roadway now belonged +to the breadless, homeless starvelings, those for whom there was no place +in the sunlight, the vague, swarming, despairing herd which is only +espied at night-time. Ah! what spectres of destitution, what apparitions +of grief and fright there were! What a sob of agony passed by in Paris +that morning, when as soon as the dawn should rise, a man--a pauper, a +sufferer like the others--was to be guillotined! + +As Guillaume and Pierre were about to descend the Rue des Martyrs, the +former perceived an old man lying on a bench with his bare feet +protruding from his gaping, filthy shoes. Guillaume pointed to him in +silence. Then, a few steps farther on, Pierre in his turn pointed to a +ragged girl, crouching, asleep with open month, in the corner of a +doorway. There was no need for the brothers to express in words all the +compassion and anger which stirred their hearts. At long intervals +policemen, walking slowly two by two, shook the poor wretches and +compelled them to rise and walk on and on. Occasionally, if they found +them suspicious or refractory, they marched them off to the +police-station. And then rancour and the contagion of imprisonment often +transformed a mere vagabond into a thief or a murderer. + +In the Rue des Martyrs and the Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre, the brothers +found night-birds of another kind, women who slunk past them, close to +the house-fronts, and men and hussies who belaboured one another with +blows. Then, upon the grand boulevards, on the thresholds of lofty black +houses, only one row of whose windows flared in the night, pale-faced +individuals, who had just come down from their clubs, stood lighting +cigars before going home. A lady with a ball wrap over her evening gown +went by accompanied by a servant. A few cabs, moreover, still jogged up +and down the roadway, while others, which had been waiting for hours, +stood on their ranks in rows, with drivers and horses alike asleep. And +as one boulevard after another was reached, the Boulevard Poissonniere, +the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, the Boulevard St. Denis, and so forth, as +far as the Place de la Republique, there came fresh want and misery, more +forsaken and hungry ones, more and more of the human "waste" that is cast +into the streets and the darkness. And on the other hand, an army of +street-sweepers was now appearing to remove all the filth of the past +four and twenty hours, in order that Paris, spruce already at sunrise, +might not blush for having thrown up such a mass of dirt and +loathsomeness in the course of a single day. + +It was, however, more particularly after following the Boulevard +Voltaire, and drawing near to the districts of La Roquette and Charonne, +that the brothers felt they were returning to a sphere of labour where +there was often lack of food, and where life was but so much pain. Pierre +found himself at home here. In former days, accompanied by good Abbe +Rose, visiting despairing ones, distributing alms, picking up children +who had sunk to the gutter, he had a hundred times perambulated every one +of those long, densely populated streets. And thus a frightful vision +arose before his mind's eye; he recalled all the tragedies he had +witnessed, all the shrieks he had heard, all the tears and bloodshed he +had seen, all the fathers, mothers and children huddled together and +dying of want, dirt and abandonment: that social hell in which he had +ended by losing his last hopes, fleeing from it with a sob in the +conviction that charity was a mere amusement for the rich, and absolutely +futile as a remedy. It was this conviction which now returned to him as +he again cast eyes upon that want and grief stricken district which +seemed fated to everlasting destitution. That poor old man whom Abbe Rose +had revived one night in yonder hovel, had he not since died of +starvation? That little girl whom he had one morning brought in his arms +to the refuge after her parents' death, was it not she whom he had just +met, grown but fallen to the streets, and shrieking beneath the fist of a +bully? Ah! how great was the number of the wretched! Their name was +legion! There were those whom one could not save, those who were hourly +born to a life of woe and want, even as one may be born infirm, and +those, too, who from every side sank in the sea of human injustice, that +ocean which has ever been the same for centuries past, and which though +one may strive to drain it, still and for ever spreads. How heavy was the +silence, how dense the darkness in those working-class streets where +sleep seems to be the comrade of death! Yet hunger prowls, and misfortune +sobs; vague spectral forms slink by, and then are lost to view in the +depths of the night. + +As Pierre and Guillaume went along they became mixed with dark groups of +people, a whole flock of inquisitive folk, a promiscuous, passionate +tramp, tramp towards the guillotine. It came from all Paris, urged on by +brutish fever, a hankering for death and blood. In spite, however, of the +dull noise which came from this dim crowd, the mean streets that were +passed remained quite dark, not a light appeared at any of their windows; +nor could one hear the breathing of the weary toilers stretched on their +wretched pallets from which they would not rise before the morning +twilight. + +On seeing the jostling crowd which was already assembled on the Place +Voltaire, Pierre understood that it would be impossible for him and his +brother to ascend the Rue de la Roquette. Barriers, moreover, must +certainly have been thrown across that street. In order therefore to +reach the corner of the Rue Merlin, it occurred to him to take the Rue de +la Folie Regnault, which winds round in the rear of the prison, farther +on. + +Here indeed they found solitude and darkness again. + +The huge, massive prison with its great bare walls on which a moonray +fell, looked like some pile of cold stones, dead for centuries past. At +the end of the street they once more fell in with the crowd, a dim +restless mass of beings, whose pale faces alone could be distinguished. +The brothers had great difficulty in reaching the house in which Mege +resided at the corner of the Rue Merlin. All the shutters of the +fourth-floor flat occupied by the Socialist deputy were closed, though +every other window was wide open and crowded with surging sightseers. +Moreover, the wine shop down below and the first-floor room connected +with it flared with gas, and were already crowded with noisy customers, +waiting for the performance to begin. + +"I hardly like to go and knock at Mege's door," said Pierre. + +"No, no, you must not do so!" replied Guillaume. + +"Let us go into the wine shop. We may perhaps be able to see something +from the balcony." + +The first-floor room was provided with a very large balcony, which women +and gentlemen were already filling. The brothers nevertheless managed to +reach it, and for a few minutes remained there, peering into the darkness +before them. The sloping street grew broader between the two prisons, the +"great" and the "little" Roquette, in such wise as to form a sort of +square, which was shaded by four clumps of plane-trees, rising from the +footways. The low buildings and scrubby trees, all poor and ugly of +aspect, seemed almost to lie on a level with the ground, under a vast sky +in which stars were appearing, as the moon gradually declined. And the +square was quite empty save that on one spot yonder there seemed to be +some little stir. Two rows of guards prevented the crowd from advancing, +and even threw it back into the neighbouring streets. On the one hand, +the only lofty houses were far away, at the point where the Rue St. Maur +intersects the Rue de la Roquette; while, on the other, they stood at the +corners of the Rue Merlin and the Rue de la Folie Regnault, so that it +was almost impossible to distinguish anything of the execution even from +the best placed windows. As for the inquisitive folk on the pavement they +only saw the backs of the guards. Still this did not prevent a crush. The +human tide flowed on from all sides with increasing clamour. + +Guided by the remarks of some women who, leaning forward on the balcony, +had been watching the square for a long time already, the brothers were +at last able to perceive something. It was now half-past three, and the +guillotine was nearly ready. The little stir which one vaguely espied +yonder under the trees, was that of the headsman's assistants fixing the +knife in position. A lantern slowly came and went, and five or six +shadows danced over the ground. But nothing else could be distinguished, +the square was like a large black pit, around which ever broke the waves +of the noisy crowd which one could not see. And beyond the square one +could only identify the flaring wine shops, which showed forth like +lighthouses in the night. All the surrounding district of poverty and +toil was still asleep, not a gleam as yet came from workrooms or yards, +not a puff of smoke from the lofty factory chimneys. + +"We shall see nothing," Guillaume remarked. + +But Pierre silenced him, for he has just discovered that an elegantly +attired gentleman leaning over the balcony near him was none other than +the amiable deputy Duthil. He had at first fancied that a woman muffled +in wraps who stood close beside the deputy was the little Princess de +Harn, whom he had very likely brought to see the execution since he had +taken her to see the trial. On closer inspection, however, he had found +that this woman was Silviane, the perverse creature with the virginal +face. Truth to tell, she made no concealment of her presence, but talked +on in an extremely loud voice, as if intoxicated; and the brothers soon +learnt how it was that she happened to be there. Duvillard, Duthil, and +other friends had been supping with her at one o'clock in the morning, +when on learning that Salvat was about to be guillotined, the fancy of +seeing the execution had suddenly come upon her. Duvillard, after vainly +entreating her to do nothing of the kind, had gone off in a fury, for he +felt that it would be most unseemly on his part to attend the execution +of a man who had endeavoured to blow up his house. And thereupon Silviane +had turned to Duthil, whom her caprice greatly worried, for he held all +such loathsome spectacles in horror, and had already refused to act as +escort to the Princess. However, he was so infatuated with Silviane's +beauty, and she made him so many promises, that he had at last consented +to take her. + +"He can't understand people caring for amusement," she said, speaking of +the Baron. "And yet this is really a thing to see. . . . But no matter, +you'll find him at my feet again to-morrow." + +Duthil smiled and responded: "I suppose that peace has been signed and +ratified now that you have secured your engagement at the Comedie." + +"Peace? No!" she protested. "No, no. There will be no peace between us +until I have made my _debut_. After that, we'll see." + +They both laughed; and then Duthil, by way of paying his court, told her +how good-naturedly Dauvergne, the new Minister of Public Instruction and +Fine Arts, had adjusted the difficulties which had hitherto kept the +doors of the Comedie closed upon her. A really charming man was +Dauvergne, the embodiment of graciousness, the very flower of the +Monferrand ministry. His was the velvet hand in that administration whose +leader had a hand of iron. + +"He told me, my beauty," said Duthil, "that a pretty girl was in place +everywhere." And then as Silviane, as if flattered, pressed closely +beside him, the deputy added: "So that wonderful revival of 'Polyeucte,' +in which you are going to have such a triumph, is to take place on the +day after to-morrow. We shall all go to applaud you, remember." + +"Yes, on the evening of the day after to-morrow," said Silviane, "the +very same day when the wedding of the Baron's daughter will take place. +There'll be plenty of emotion that day!" + +"Ah! yes, of course!" retorted Duthil, "there'll be the wedding of our +friend Gerard with Mademoiselle Camille to begin with. We shall have a +crush at the Madeleine in the morning and another at the Comedie in the +evening. You are quite right, too; there will be several hearts throbbing +in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy." + +Thereupon they again became merry, and jested about the Duvillard +family--father, mother, lover and daughter--with the greatest possible +ferocity and crudity of language. Then, all at once Silviane exclaimed: +"Do you know, I'm feeling awfully bored here, my little Duthil. I can't +distinguish anything, and I should like to be quite near so as to see it +all plainly. You must take me over yonder, close to that machine of +theirs." + +This request threw Duthil into consternation, particularly as at that +same moment Silviane perceived Massot outside the wine shop, and began +calling and beckoning to him imperiously. A brief conversation then +ensued between the young woman and the journalist: "I say, Massot!" she +called, "hasn't a deputy the right to pass the guards and take a lady +wherever he likes?" + +"Not at all!" exclaimed Duthil. "Massot knows very well that a deputy +ought to be the very first to bow to the laws." + +This exclamation warned Massot that Duthil did not wish to leave the +balcony. "You ought to have secured a card of invitation, madame," said +he, in reply to Silviane. "They would then have found you room at one of +the windows of La Petite Roquette. Women are not allowed elsewhere. . . . +But you mustn't complain, you have a very good place up there." + +"But I can see nothing at all, my dear Massot." + +"Well, you will in any case see more than Princess de Harn will. Just now +I came upon her carriage in the Rue du Chemin Vert. The police would not +allow it to come any nearer." + +This news made Silviane merry again, whilst Duthil shuddered at the idea +of the danger he incurred, for Rosemonde would assuredly treat him to a +terrible scene should she see him with another woman. Then, an idea +occurring to him, he ordered a bottle of champagne and some little cakes +for his "beautiful friend," as he called Silviane. She had been +complaining of thirst, and was delighted with the opportunity of +perfecting her intoxication. When a waiter had managed to place a little +table near her, on the balcony itself, she found things very pleasant, +and indeed considered it quite brave to tipple and sup afresh, while +waiting for that man to be guillotined close by. + +It was impossible for Pierre and Guillaume to remain up there any longer. +All that they heard, all that they beheld filled them with disgust. The +boredom of waiting had turned all the inquisitive folks of the balcony +and the adjoining room into customers. The waiter could hardly manage to +serve the many glasses of beer, bottles of expensive wine, biscuits, and +plates of cold meat which were ordered of him. And yet the spectators +here were all _bourgeois_, rich gentlemen, people of society! On the +other hand, time has to be killed somehow when it hangs heavily on one's +hands; and thus there were bursts of laughter and paltry and horrible +jests, quite a feverish uproar arising amidst the clouds of smoke from +the men's cigars. When Pierre and Guillaume passed through the wine shop +on the ground-floor they there found a similar crush and similar tumult, +aggravated by the disorderly behaviour of the big fellows in blouses who +were drinking draught wine at the pewter bar which shone like silver. +There were people, too, at all the little tables, besides an incessant +coming and going of folks who entered the place for a "wet," by way of +calming their impatience. And what folks they were! All the scum, all the +vagabonds who had been dragging themselves about since daybreak on the +lookout for whatever chance might offer them, provided it were not work! + +On the pavement outside, Pierre and Guillaume felt yet a greater +heart-pang. In the throng which the guards kept back, one simply found so +much mire stirred up from the very depths of Paris life: prostitutes and +criminals, the murderers of to-morrow, who came to see how a man ought to +die. Loathsome, bareheaded harlots mingled with bands of prowlers or ran +through the crowd, howling obscene refrains. Bandits stood in groups +chatting and quarrelling about the more or less glorious manner in which +certain famous _guillotines_ had died. Among these was one with respect +to whom they all agreed, and of whom they spoke as of a great captain, a +hero whose marvellous courage was deserving of immortality. Then, as one +passed along, one caught snatches of horrible phrases, particulars about +the instrument of death, ignoble boasts, and filthy jests reeking with +blood. And over and above all else there was bestial fever, a lust for +death which made this multitude delirious, an eagerness to see life flow +forth fresh and ruddy beneath the knife, so that as it coursed over the +soil they might dip their feet in it. As this execution was not an +ordinary one, however, there were yet spectators of another kind; silent +men with glowing eyes who came and went all alone, and who were plainly +thrilled by their faith, intoxicated with the contagious madness which +incites one to vengeance or martyrdom. + +Guillaume was just thinking of Victor Mathis, when he fancied that he saw +him standing in the front row of sightseers whom the guards held in +check. It was indeed he, with his thin, beardless, pale, drawn face. +Short as he was, he had to raise himself on tiptoes in order to see +anything. Near him was a big, red-haired girl who gesticulated; but for +his part he never stirred or spoke. He was waiting motionless, gazing +yonder with the round, ardent, fixed eyes of a night-bird, seeking to +penetrate the darkness. At last a guard pushed him back in a somewhat +brutal way; but he soon returned to his previous position, ever patient +though full of hatred against the executioners, wishing indeed to see all +he could in order to increase his hate. + +Then Massot approached the brothers. This time, on seeing Pierre without +his cassock, he did not even make a sign of astonishment, but gaily +remarked: "So you felt curious to see this affair, Monsieur Froment?" + +"Yes, I came with my brother," Pierre replied. "But I very much fear that +we shan't see much." + +"You certainly won't if you stay here," rejoined Massot. And thereupon in +his usual good-natured way--glad, moreover, to show what power a +well-known journalist could wield--he inquired: "Would you like me to +pass you through? The inspector here happens to be a friend of mine." + +Then, without waiting for an answer, he stopped the inspector and hastily +whispered to him that he had brought a couple of colleagues, who wanted +to report the proceedings. At first the inspector hesitated, and seemed +inclined to refuse Massot's request; but after a moment, influenced by +the covert fear which the police always has of the press, he made a weary +gesture of consent. + +"Come, quick, then," said Massot, turning to the brothers, and taking +them along with him. + +A moment later, to the intense surprise of Pierre and Guillaume, the +guards opened their ranks to let them pass. They then found themselves in +the large open space which was kept clear. And on thus emerging from the +tumultuous throng they were quite impressed by the death-like silence and +solitude which reigned under the little plane-trees. The night was now +paling. A faint gleam of dawn was already falling from the sky. + +After leading his companions slantwise across the square, Massot stopped +them near the prison and resumed: "I'm going inside; I want to see the +prisoner roused and got ready. In the meantime, walk about here; nobody +will say anything to you. Besides, I'll come back to you in a moment." + +A hundred people or so, journalists and other privileged spectators, were +scattered about the dark square. Movable wooden barriers--such as are set +up at the doors of theatres when there is a press of people waiting for +admission--had been placed on either side of the pavement running from +the prison gate to the guillotine; and some sightseers were already +leaning over these barriers, in order to secure a close view of the +condemned man as he passed by. Others were walking slowly to and fro, and +conversing in undertones. The brothers, for their part, approached the +guillotine. + +It stood there under the branches of the trees, amidst the delicate +greenery of the fresh leaves of spring. A neighbouring gas-lamp, whose +light was turning yellow in the rising dawn, cast vague gleams upon it. +The work of fixing it in position--work performed as quietly as could be, +so that the only sound was the occasional thud of a mallet--had just been +finished; and the headsman's "valets" or assistants, in frock-coats and +tall silk hats, were waiting and strolling about in a patient way. But +the instrument itself, how base and shameful it looked, squatting on the +ground like some filthy beast, disgusted with the work it had to +accomplish! What! those few beams lying on the ground, and those others +barely nine feet high which rose from it, keeping the knife in position, +constituted the machine which avenged Society, the instrument which gave +a warning to evil-doers! Where was the big scaffold painted a bright red +and reached by a stairway of ten steps, the scaffold which raised high +bloody arms over the eager multitude, so that everybody might behold the +punishment of the law in all its horror! The beast had now been felled to +the ground, where it simply looked ignoble, crafty and cowardly. If on +the one hand there was no majesty in the manner in which human justice +condemned a man to death at its assizes: on the other, there was merely +horrid butchery with the help of the most barbarous and repulsive of +mechanical contrivances, on the terrible day when that man was executed. + +As Pierre and Guillaume gazed at the guillotine, a feeling of nausea came +over them. Daylight was now slowly breaking, and the surroundings were +appearing to view: first the square itself with its two low, grey +prisons, facing one another; then the distant houses, the taverns, the +marble workers' establishments, and the shops selling flowers and +wreaths, which are numerous hereabouts, as the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise +is so near. Before long one could plainly distinguish the black lines of +the spectators standing around in a circle, the heads leaning forward +from windows and balconies, and the people who had climbed to the very +house roofs. The prison of La Petite Roquette over the way had been +turned into a kind of tribune for guests; and mounted Gardes de Paris +went slowly to and fro across the intervening expanse. Then, as the sky +brightened, labour awoke throughout the district beyond the crowd, a +district of broad, endless streets lined with factories, work-shops and +work-yards. Engines began to snort, machinery and appliances were got +ready to start once more on their usual tasks, and smoke already curled +away from the forest of lofty brick chimneys which, on all sides, sprang +out of the gloom. + +It then seemed to Guillaume that the guillotine was really in its right +place in that district of want and toil. It stood in its own realm, like +a _terminus_ and a threat. Did not ignorance, poverty and woe lead to it? +And each time that it was set up amidst those toilsome streets, was it +not charged to overawe the disinherited ones, the starvelings, who, +exasperated by everlasting injustice, were always ready for revolt? It +was not seen in the districts where wealth and enjoyment reigned. It +would there have seemed purposeless, degrading and truly monstrous. And +it was a tragical and terrible coincidence that the bomb-thrower, driven +mad by want, should be guillotined there, in the very centre of want's +dominion. + +But daylight had come at last, for it was nearly half-past four. The +distant noisy crowd could feel that the expected moment was drawing nigh. +A shudder suddenly sped through the atmosphere. + +"He's coming," exclaimed little Massot, as he came back to Pierre and +Guillaume. "Ah! that Salvat is a brave fellow after all." + +Then he related how the prisoner had been awakened; how the governor of +the prison, magistrate Amadieu, the chaplain, and a few other persons had +entered the cell where Salvat lay fast asleep; and then how the condemned +man had understood the truth immediately upon opening his eyes. He had +risen, looking pale but quite composed. And he had dressed himself +without assistance, and had declined the nip of brandy and the cigarette +proffered by the good-hearted chaplain, in the same way as with a gentle +but stubborn gesture he had brushed the crucifix aside. Then had come the +"toilette" for death. With all rapidity and without a word being +exchanged, Salvat's hands had been tied behind his back, his legs had +been loosely secured with a cord, and the neckband of his shirt had been +cut away. He had smiled when the others exhorted him to be brave. He only +feared some nervous weakness, and had but one desire, to die like a hero, +to remain the martyr of the ardent faith in truth and justice for which +he was about to perish. + +"They are now drawing up the death certificate in the register," +continued Massot in his chattering way. "Come along, come along to the +barriers if you wish a good view. . . . I turned paler, you know, and +trembled far more than he did. I don't care a rap for anything as a rule; +but, all the same, an execution isn't a pleasant business. . . . You +can't imagine how many attempts were made to save Salvat's life. Even +some of the papers asked that he might be reprieved. But nothing +succeeded, the execution was regarded as inevitable, it seems, even by +those who consider it a blunder. Still, they had such a touching +opportunity to reprieve him, when his daughter, little Celine, wrote that +fine letter to the President of the Republic, which I was the first to +publish in the 'Globe.' Ah! that letter, it cost me a lot of running +about!" + +Pierre, who was already quite upset by this long wait for the horrible +scene, felt moved to tears by Massot's reference to Celine. He could +again see the child standing beside Madame Theodore in that bare, cold +room whither her father would never more return. It was thence that he +had set out on a day of desperation with his stomach empty and his brain +on fire, and it was here that he would end, between yonder beams, beneath +yonder knife. + +Massot, however, was still giving particulars. The doctors, said he, were +furious because they feared that the body would not be delivered to them +immediately after the execution. To this Guillaume did not listen. He +stood there with his elbows resting on the wooden barrier and his eyes +fixed on the prison gate, which still remained shut. His hands were +quivering, and there was an expression of anguish on his face as if it +were he himself who was about to be executed. The headsman had again just +left the prison. He was a little, insignificant-looking man, and seemed +annoyed, anxious to have done with it all. Then, among a group of +frock-coated gentlemen, some of the spectators pointed out Gascogne, the +Chief of the Detective Police, who wore a cold, official air, and +Amadieu, the investigating magistrate, who smiled and looked very spruce, +early though the hour was. He had come partly because it was his duty, +and partly because he wished to show himself now that the curtain was +about to fall on a wonderful tragedy of which he considered himself the +author. Guillaume glanced at him, and then as a growing uproar rose from +the distant crowd, he looked up for an instant, and again beheld the two +grey prisons, the plane-trees with their fresh young leaves, and the +houses swarming with people beneath the pale blue sky, in which the +triumphant sun was about to appear. + +"Look out, here he comes!" + +Who had spoken? A slight noise, that of the opening gate, made every +heart throb. Necks were outstretched, eyes gazed fixedly, there was +laboured breathing on all sides. Salvat stood on the threshold of the +prison. The chaplain, stepping backwards, had come out in advance of him, +in order to conceal the guillotine from his sight, but he had stopped +short, for he wished to see that instrument of death, make acquaintance +with it, as it were, before he walked towards it. And as he stood there, +his long, aged sunken face, on which life's hardships had left their +mark, seemed transformed by the wondrous brilliancy of his flaring, +dreamy eyes. Enthusiasm bore him up--he was going to his death in all the +splendour of his dream. When the executioner's assistants drew near to +support him he once more refused their help, and again set himself in +motion, advancing with short steps, but as quickly and as straightly as +the rope hampering his legs permitted. + +All at once Guillaume felt that Salvat's eyes were fixed upon him. +Drawing nearer and nearer the condemned man had perceived and recognised +his friend; and as he passed by, at a distance of no more than six or +seven feet, he smiled faintly and darted such a deep penetrating glance +at Guillaume, that ever afterwards the latter felt its smart. But what +last thought, what supreme legacy had Salvat left him to meditate upon, +perhaps to put into execution? It was all so poignant that Pierre feared +some involuntary call on his brother's part; and so he laid his hand upon +his arm to quiet him. + +"Long live Anarchy!" + +It was Salvat who had raised this cry. But in the deep silence his husky, +altered voice seemed to break. The few who were near at hand had turned +very pale; the distant crowd seemed bereft of life. The horse of one of +the Gardes de Paris was alone heard snorting in the centre of the space +which had been kept clear. + +Then came a loathsome scramble, a scene of nameless brutality and +ignominy. The headsman's helps rushed upon Salvat as he came up slowly +with brow erect. Two of them seized him by the head, but finding little +hair there, could only lower it by tugging at his neck. Next two others +grasped him by the legs and flung him violently upon a plank which tilted +over and rolled forward. Then, by dint of pushing and tugging, the head +was got into the "lunette," the upper part of which fell in such wise +that the neck was fixed as in a ship's port-hole--and all this was +accomplished amidst such confusion and with such savagery that one might +have thought that head some cumbrous thing which it was necessary to get +rid of with the greatest speed. But the knife fell with a dull, heavy, +forcible thud, and two long jets of blood spurted from the severed +arteries, while the dead man's feet moved convulsively. Nothing else +could be seen. The executioner rubbed his hands in a mechanical way, and +an assistant took the severed blood-streaming head from the little basket +into which it had fallen and placed it in the large basket into which the +body had already been turned. + +Ah! that dull, that heavy thud of the knife! It seemed to Guillaume that +he had heard it echoing far away all over that district of want and toil, +even in the squalid rooms where thousands of workmen were at that moment +rising to perform their day's hard task! And there the echo of that thud +acquired formidable significance; it spoke of man's exasperation with +injustice, of zeal for martyrdom, and of the dolorous hope that the blood +then spilt might hasten the victory of the disinherited. + +Pierre, for his part, at the sight of that loathsome butchery, the abject +cutthroat work of that killing machine, had suddenly felt his chilling +shudder become more violent; for before him arose a vision of another +corpse, that of the fair, pretty child ripped open by a bomb and +stretched yonder, at the entrance of the Duvillard mansion. Blood +streamed from her delicate flesh, just as it had streamed from that +decapitated neck. It was blood paying for blood; it was like payment for +mankind's debt of wretchedness, for which payment is everlastingly being +made, without man ever being able to free himself from suffering. + +Above the square and the crowd all was still silent in the clear sky. How +long had the abomination lasted? An eternity, perhaps, compressed into +two or three minutes. And now came an awakening: the spectators emerged +from their nightmare with quivering hands, livid faces, and eyes +expressive of compassion, disgust and fear. + +"That makes another one. I've now seen four executions," said Massot, who +felt ill at ease. "After all, I prefer to report weddings. Let us go off, +I have all I want for my article." + +Guillaume and Pierre followed him mechanically across the square, and +again reached the corner of the Rue Merlin. And here they saw little +Victor Mathis, with flaming eyes and white face, still standing in +silence on the spot where they had left him. He could have seen nothing +distinctly; but the thud of the knife was still echoing in his brain. A +policeman at last gave him a push, and told him to move on. At this he +looked the policeman in the face, stirred by sudden rage and ready to +strangle him. Then, however, he quietly walked away, ascending the Rue de +la Roquette, atop of which the lofty foliage of Pere-Lachaise could be +seen, beneath the rising sun. + +The brothers meantime fell upon a scene of explanations, which they heard +without wishing to do so. Now that the sight was over, the Princess de +Harn arrived, and she was the more furious as at the door of the wine +shop she could see her new friend Duthil accompanying a woman. + +"I say!" she exclaimed, "you are nice, you are, to have left me in the +lurch like this! It was impossible for my carriage to get near, so I've +had to come on foot through all those horrid people who have been +jostling and insulting me." + +Thereupon Duthil, with all promptitude, introduced Silviane to her, +adding, in an aside, that he had taken a friend's place as the actress's +escort. And then Rosemonde, who greatly wished to know Silviane, calmed +down as if by enchantment, and put on her most engaging ways. "It would +have delighted me, madame," said she, "to have seen this sight in the +company of an _artiste_ of your merit, one whom I admire so much, though +I have never before had an opportunity of telling her so." + +"Well, dear me, madame," replied Silviane, "you haven't lost much by +arriving late. We were on that balcony there, and all that I could see +were a few men pushing another one about. . . . It really isn't worth the +trouble of coming." + +"Well, now that we have become acquainted, madame," said the Princess, "I +really hope that you will allow me to be your friend." + +"Certainly, madame, my friend; and I shall be flattered and delighted to +be yours." + +Standing there, hand in hand, they smiled at one another. Silviane was +very drunk, but her virginal expression had returned to her face; whilst +Rosemonde seemed feverish with vicious curiosity. Duthil, whom the scene +amused, now had but one thought, that of seeing Silviane home; so calling +to Massot, who was approaching, he asked him where he should find a +cab-rank. Rosemonde, however, at once offered her carriage, which was +waiting in an adjacent street. + +She would set the actress down at her door, said she, and the deputy at +his; and such was her persistence in the matter that Duthil, greatly +vexed, was obliged to accept her offer. + +"Well, then, till to-morrow at the Madeleine," said Massot, again quite +sprightly, as he shook hands with the Princess. + +"Yes, till to-morrow, at the Madeleine and the Comedie." + +"Ah! yes, of course!" he repeated, taking Silviane's hand, which he +kissed. "The Madeleine in the morning and the Comedie in the evening. . . +. We shall all be there to applaud you." + +"Yes, I expect you to do so," said Silviane. "Till to-morrow, then!" + +"Till to-morrow!" + +The crowd was now wearily dispersing, to all appearance disappointed and +ill at ease. A few enthusiasts alone lingered in order to witness the +departure of the van in which Salvat's corpse would soon be removed; +while bands of prowlers and harlots, looking very wan in the daylight, +whistled or called to one another with some last filthy expression before +returning to their dens. The headsman's assistants were hastily taking +down the guillotine, and the square would soon be quite clear. + +Pierre for his part wished to lead his brother away. Since the fall of +the knife, Guillaume had remained as if stunned, without once opening his +lips. In vain had Pierre tried to rouse him by pointing to the shutters +of Mege's flat, which still remained closed, whereas every other window +of the lofty house was wide open. Although the Socialist deputy hated the +Anarchists, those shutters were doubtless closed as a protest against +capital punishment. Whilst the multitude had been rushing to that +frightful spectacle, Mege, still in bed, with his face turned to the +wall, had probably been dreaming of how he would some day compel mankind +to be happy beneath the rigid laws of Collectivism. Affectionate father +as he was, the recent death of one of his children had quite upset his +private life. His cough, too, had become a very bad one; but he ardently +wished to live, for as soon as that new Monferrand ministry should have +fallen beneath the interpellation which he already contemplated, his own +turn would surely come: he would take the reins of power in hand, abolish +the guillotine and decree justice and perfect felicity. + +"Do you see, Guillaume?" Pierre gently repeated. "Mege hasn't opened his +windows. He's a good fellow, after all; although our friends Bache and +Morin dislike him." Then, as his brother still refrained from answering, +Pierre added, "Come, let us go, we must get back home." + +They both turned into the Rue de la Folie Regnault, and reached the outer +Boulevards by way of the Rue du Chemin Vert. All the toilers of the +district were now at work. In the long streets edged with low buildings, +work-shops and factories, one heard engines snorting and machinery +rumbling, while up above, the smoke from the lofty chimneys was assuming +a rosy hue in the sunrise. Afterwards, when the brothers reached the +Boulevard de Menilmontant and the Boulevard de Belleville, which they +followed in turn at a leisurely pace, they witnessed the great rush of +the working classes into central Paris. The stream poured forth from +every side; from all the wretched streets of the faubourgs there was an +endless exodus of toilers, who, having risen at dawn, were now hurrying, +in the sharp morning air, to their daily labour. Some wore short jackets +and others blouses; some were in velveteen trousers, others in linen +overalls. Their thick shoes made their tramp a heavy one; their hanging +hands were often deformed by work. And they seemed half asleep, not a +smile was to be seen on any of those wan, weary faces turned yonder +towards the everlasting task--the task which was begun afresh each day, +and which--'twas their only chance--they hoped to be able to take up for +ever and ever. There was no end to that drove of toilers, that army of +various callings, that human flesh fated to manual labour, upon which +Paris preys in order that she may live in luxury and enjoyment. + +Then the procession continued across the Boulevard de la Villette, the +Boulevard de la Chapelle, and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, where one +reached the height of Montmartre. More and more workmen were ever coming +down from their bare cold rooms and plunging into the huge city, whence, +tired out, they would that evening merely bring back the bread of +rancour. And now, too, came a stream of work-girls, some of them in +bright skirts, some glancing at the passers-by; girls whose wages were so +paltry, so insufficient, that now and again pretty ones among them never +more turned their faces homewards, whilst the ugly ones wasted away, +condemned to mere bread and water. A little later, moreover, came the +_employes_, the clerks, the counter-jumpers, the whole world of +frock-coated penury--"gentlemen" who devoured a roll as they hastened +onward, worried the while by the dread of being unable to pay their rent, +or by the problem of providing food for wife and children until the end +of the month should come.* And now the sun was fast ascending on the +horizon, the whole army of ants was out and about, and the toilsome day +had begun with its ceaseless display of courage, energy and suffering. + + * In Paris nearly all clerks and shop-assistants receive + monthly salaries, while most workmen are paid once a + fortnight.--Trans. + +Never before had it been so plainly manifest to Pierre that work was a +necessity, that it healed and saved. On the occasion of his visit to the +Grandidier works, and later still, when he himself had felt the need of +occupation, there had cone to him the thought that work was really the +world's law. And after that hateful night, after that spilling of blood, +after the slaughter of that toiler maddened by his dreams, there was +consolation and hope in seeing the sun rise once more, and everlasting +labour take up its wonted task. However hard it might prove, however +unjustly it might be lotted out, was it not work which would some day +bring both justice and happiness to the world? + +All at once, as the brothers were climbing the steep hillside towards +Guillaume's house, they perceived before and above them the basilica of +the Sacred Heart rising majestically and triumphantly to the sky. This +was no sublunar apparition, no dreamy vision of Domination standing face +to face with nocturnal Paris. The sun now clothed the edifice with +splendour, it looked golden and proud and victorious, flaring with +immortal glory. + +Then Guillaume, still silent, still feeling Salvat's last glance upon +him, seemed to come to some sudden and final decision. He looked at the +basilica with glowing eyes, and pronounced sentence upon it. + + + +II + +IN VANITY FAIR + +THE wedding was to take place at noon, and for half an hour already +guests had been pouring into the magnificently decorated church, which +was leafy with evergreens and balmy with the scent of flowers. The high +altar in the rear glowed with countless candles, and through the great +doorway, which was wide open, one could see the peristyle decked with +shrubs, the steps covered with a broad carpet, and the inquisitive crowd +assembled on the square and even along the Rue Royale, under the bright +sun. + +After finding three more chairs for some ladies who had arrived rather +late, Duthil remarked to Massot, who was jotting down names in his +note-book: "Well, if any more come, they will have to remain standing." + +"Who were those three?" the journalist inquired. + +"The Duchess de Boisemont and her two daughters." + +"Indeed! All the titled people of France, as well as all the financiers +and politicians, are here! It's something more even than a swell Parisian +wedding." + +As a matter of fact all the spheres of "society" were gathered together +there, and some at first seemed rather embarrassed at finding themselves +beside others. Whilst Duvillard's name attracted all the princes of +finance and politicians in power, Madame de Quinsac and her son were +supported by the highest of the French aristocracy. The mere names of the +witnesses sufficed to indicate what an extraordinary medley there was. On +Gerard's side these witnesses were his uncle, General de Bozonnet, and +the Marquis de Morigny; whilst on Camille's they were the great banker +Louvard, and Monferrand, the President of the Council and Minister of +Finances. The quiet bravado which the latter displayed in thus supporting +the bride after being compromised in her father's financial intrigues +imparted a piquant touch of impudence to his triumph. And public +curiosity was further stimulated by the circumstance that the nuptial +blessing was to be given by Monseigneur Martha, Bishop of Persepolis, the +Pope's political agent in France, and the apostle of the endeavours to +win the Republic over to the Church by pretending to "rally" to it. + +"But, I was mistaken," now resumed Massot with a sneer. "I said a really +Parisian wedding, did I not? But in point of fact this wedding is a +symbol. It's the apotheosis of the _bourgeoisie_, my dear fellow--the old +nobility sacrificing one of its sons on the altar of the golden calf in +order that the Divinity and the gendarmes, being the masters of France +once more, may rid us of those scoundrelly Socialists!" + +Then, again correcting himself, he added: "But I was forgetting. There +are no more Socialists. Their head was cut off the other morning." + +Duthil found this very funny. Then in a confidential way he remarked: +"You know that the marriage wasn't settled without a good deal of +difficulty. . . . Have you read Sagnier's ignoble article this morning?" + +"Yes, yes; but I knew it all before, everybody knew it." + +Then in an undertone, understanding one another's slightest allusion, +they went on chatting. It was only amidst a flood of tears and after a +despairing struggle that Baroness Duvillard had consented to let her +lover marry her daughter. And in doing so she had yielded to the sole +desire of seeing Gerard rich and happy. She still regarded Camille with +all the hatred of a defeated rival. Then, an equally painful contest had +taken place at Madame de Quinsac's. The Countess had only overcome her +revolt and consented to the marriage in order to save her son from the +dangers which had threatened him since childhood; and the Marquis de +Morigny had been so affected by her maternal abnegation, that in spite of +all his anger he had resignedly agreed to be a witness, thus making a +supreme sacrifice, that of his conscience, to the woman whom he had ever +loved. And it was this frightful story that Sagnier--using transparent +nicknames--had related in the "Voix du Peuple" that morning. He had even +contrived to make it more horrid than it really was; for, as usual, he +was badly informed, and he was naturally inclined to falsehood and +invention, as by sending an ever thicker and more poisonous torrent from +his sewer, he might, day by day, increase his paper's sales. Since +Monferrand's victory had compelled him to leave the African Railways +scandal on one side, he had fallen back on scandals in private life, +stripping whole families bare and pelting them with mud. + +All at once Duthil and Massot were approached by Chaigneux, who, with his +shabby frock coat badly buttoned, wore both a melancholy and busy air. +"Well, Monsieur Massot," said he, "what about your article on Silviane? +Is it settled? Will it go in?" + +As Chaigneux was always for sale, always ready to serve as a valet, it +had occurred to Duvillard to make use of him to ensure Silviane's success +at the Comedie. He had handed this sorry deputy over to the young woman, +who entrusted him with all manner of dirty work, and sent him scouring +Paris in search of applauders and advertisements. His eldest daughter was +not yet married, and never had his four women folk weighed more heavily +on his hands. His life had become a perfect hell; they had ended by +beating him, if he did not bring a thousand-franc note home on the first +day of every month. + +"My article!" Massot replied; "no, it surely won't go in, my dear deputy. +Fonsegue says that it's written in too laudatory a style for the 'Globe.' +He asked me if I were having a joke with the paper." + +Chaigneux became livid. The article in question was one written in +advance, from the society point of view, on the success which Silviane +would achieve in "Polyeucte," that evening, at the Comedie. The +journalist, in the hope of pleasing her, had even shown her his "copy"; +and she, quite delighted, now relied upon finding the article in print in +the most sober and solemn organ of the Parisian press. + +"Good heavens! what will become of us?" murmured the wretched Chaigneux. +"It's absolutely necessary that the article should go in." + +"Well, I'm quite agreeable. But speak to the governor yourself. He's +standing yonder between Vignon and Dauvergne, the Minister of Public +Instruction." + +"Yes, I certainly will speak to him--but not here. By-and-by in the +sacristy, during the procession. And I must also try to speak to +Dauvergne, for our Silviane particularly wants him to be in the +ministerial box this evening. Monferrand will be there; he promised +Duvillard so." + +Massot began to laugh, repeating the expression which had circulated +through Paris directly after the actress's engagement: "The Silviane +ministry. . . . Well, Dauvergne certainly owes that much to his +godmother!" said he. + +Just then the little Princess de Harn, coming up like a gust of wind, +broke in upon the three men. "I've no seat, you know!" she cried. + +Duthil fancied that it was a question of finding her a well-placed chair +in the church. "You mustn't count on me," he answered. "I've just had no +end of trouble in stowing the Duchess de Boisemont away with her two +daughters." + +"Oh, but I'm talking of this evening's performance. Come, my dear Duthil, +you really must find me a little corner in somebody's box. I shall die, I +know I shall, if I can't applaud our delicious, our incomparable friend!" + +Ever since setting Silviane down at her door on the previous day, +Rosemonde had been overflowing with admiration for her. + +"Oh! you won't find a single remaining seat, madame," declared Chaigneux, +putting on an air of importance. "We have distributed everything. I have +just been offered three hundred francs for a stall." + +"That's true, there has been a fight even for the bracket seats, however +badly they might be placed," Duthil resumed. "I am very sorry, but you +must not count on me. . . . Duvillard is the only person who might take +you in his box. He told me that he would reserve me a seat there. And so +far, I think, there are only three of us, including his son. . . . Ask +Hyacinthe by-and-by to procure you an invitation." + +Rosemonde, whom Hyacinthe had so greatly bored that she had given him his +dismissal, felt the irony of Duthil's suggestion. Nevertheless, she +exclaimed with an air of delight: "Ah, yes! Hyacinthe can't refuse me +that. Thanks for your information, my dear Duthil. You are very nice, you +are; for you settle things gaily even when they are rather sad. . . . And +don't forget, mind, that you have promised to teach me politics. Ah! +politics, my dear fellow, I feel that nothing will ever impassion me as +politics do!" + +Then she left them, hustled several people, and in spite of the crush +ended by installing herself in the front row. + +"Ah! what a crank she is!" muttered Massot with an air of amusement. + +Then, as Chaigneux darted towards magistrate Amadieu to ask him in the +most obsequious way if he had received his ticket, the journalist said to +Duthil in a whisper: "By the way, my dear friend, is it true that +Duvillard is going to launch his famous scheme for a Trans-Saharan +railway? It would be a gigantic enterprise, a question of hundreds and +hundreds of millions this time. . . . At the 'Globe' office yesterday +evening, Fonsegue shrugged his shoulders and said it was madness, and +would never come off!" + +Duthil winked, and in a jesting way replied: "It's as good as done, my +dear boy. Fonsegue will be kissing the governor's feet before another +forty-eight hours are over." + +Then he gaily gave the other to understand that golden manna would +presently be raining down on the press and all faithful friends and +willing helpers. Birds shake their feathers when the storm is over, and +he, Duthil, was as spruce and lively, as joyous at the prospect of the +presents he now expected, as if there had never been any African Railways +scandal to upset him and make him turn pale with fright. + +"The deuce!" muttered Massot, who had become serious. "So this affair +here is more than a triumph: it's the promise of yet another harvest. +Well, I'm no longer surprised at the crush of people." + +At this moment the organs suddenly burst into a glorious hymn of +greeting. The marriage procession was entering the church. A loud clamour +had gone up from the crowd, which spread over the roadway of the Rue +Royale and impeded the traffic there, while the _cortege_ pompously +ascended the steps in the bright sunshine. And it was now entering the +edifice and advancing beneath the lofty, re-echoing vaults towards the +high altar which flared with candles, whilst on either hand crowded the +congregation, the men on the right and the women on the left. They had +all risen and stood there smiling, with necks outstretched and eyes +glowing with curiosity. + +First, in the rear of the magnificent beadle, came Camille, leaning on +the arm of her father, Baron Duvillard, who wore a proud expression +befitting a day of victory. Veiled with superb _point d'Alencon_ falling +from her diadem of orange blossom, gowned in pleated silk muslin over an +underskirt of white satin, the bride looked so extremely happy, so +radiant at having conquered, that she seemed almost pretty. Moreover, she +held herself so upright that one could scarcely detect that her left +shoulder was higher than her right. + +Next came Gerard, giving his arm to his mother, the Countess de +Quinsac,--he looking very handsome and courtly, as was proper, and she +displaying impassive dignity in her gown of peacock-blue silk embroidered +with gold and steel beads. But it was particularly Eve whom people wished +to see, and every neck was craned forward when she appeared on the arm of +General Bozonnet, the bridegroom's first witness and nearest male +relative. She was gowned in "old rose" taffetas trimmed with Valenciennes +of priceless value, and never had she looked younger, more deliciously +fair. Yet her eyes betrayed her emotion, though she strove to smile; and +her languid grace bespoke her widowhood, her compassionate surrender of +the man she loved. Monferrand, the Marquis de Morigny, and banker +Louvard, the three other witnesses, followed the Baroness and General +Bozonnet, each giving his arm to some lady of the family. A considerable +sensation was caused by the appearance of Monferrand, who seemed on +first-rate terms with himself, and jested familiarly with the lady he +accompanied, a little brunette with a giddy air. Another who was noticed +in the solemn, interminable procession was the bride's eccentric brother +Hyacinthe, whose dress coat was of a cut never previously seen, with its +tails broadly and symmetrically pleated. + +When the affianced pair had taken their places before the prayer-stools +awaiting them, and the members of both families and the witnesses had +installed themselves in the rear in large armchairs, all gilding and red +velvet, the ceremony was performed with extraordinary pomp. The cure of +the Madeleine officiated in person; and vocalists from the Grand Opera +reinforced the choir, which chanted the high mass to the accompaniment of +the organs, whence came a continuous hymn of glory. All possible luxury +and magnificence were displayed, as if to turn this wedding into some +public festivity, a great victory, an event marking the apogee of a +class. Even the impudent bravado attaching to the loathsome private drama +which lay behind it all, and which was known to everybody, added a touch +of abominable grandeur to the ceremony. But the truculent spirit of +superiority and domination which characterised the proceedings became +most manifest when Monseigneur Martha appeared in surplice and stole to +pronounce the blessing. Tall of stature, fresh of face, and faintly +smiling, he had his wonted air of amiable sovereignty, and it was with +august unction that he pronounced the sacramental words, like some +pontiff well pleased at reconciling the two great empires whose heirs he +united. His address to the newly married couple was awaited with +curiosity. It proved really marvellous, he himself triumphed in it. Was +it not in that same church that he had baptised the bride's mother, that +blond Eve, who was still so beautiful, that Jewess whom he himself had +converted to the Catholic faith amidst the tears of emotion shed by all +Paris society? Was it not there also that he had delivered his three +famous addresses on the New Spirit, whence dated, to his thinking, the +rout of science, the awakening of Christian spirituality, and that policy +of rallying to the Republic which was to lead to its conquest? + +So it was assuredly allowable for him to indulge in some delicate +allusions, by way of congratulating himself on his work, now that he was +marrying a poor scion of the old aristocracy to the five millions of that +_bourgeoise_ heiress, in whose person triumphed the class which had won +the victory in 1789, and was now master of the land. The fourth estate, +the duped, robbed people, alone had no place in those festivities. But by +uniting the affianced pair before him in the bonds of wedlock, +Monseigneur Martha sealed the new alliance, gave effect to the Pope's own +policy, that stealthy effort of Jesuitical Opportunism which would take +democracy, power and wealth to wife, in order to subdue and control them. +When the prelate reached his peroration he turned towards Monferrand, who +sat there smiling; and it was he, the Minister, whom he seemed to be +addressing while he expressed the hope that the newly married pair would +ever lead a truly Christian life of humility and obedience in all fear of +God, of whose iron hand he spoke as if it were that of some gendarme +charged with maintaining the peace of the world. Everybody was aware that +there was some diplomatic understanding between the Bishop and the +Minister, some secret pact or other whereby both satisfied their passion +for authority, their craving to insinuate themselves into everything and +reign supreme; and thus when the spectators saw Monferrand smiling in his +somewhat sly, jovial way, they also exchanged smiles. + +"Ah!" muttered Massot, who had remained near Duthil, "how amused old +Justus Steinberger would be, if he were here to see his granddaughter +marrying the last of the Quinsacs!" + +"But these marriages are quite the thing, quite the fashion, my dear +fellow," the deputy replied. "The Jews and the Christians, the +_bourgeois_ and the nobles, do quite right to come to an understanding, +so as to found a new aristocracy. An aristocracy is needed, you know, for +otherwise we should be swept away by the masses." + +None the less Massot continued sneering at the idea of what a grimace +Justus Steinberger would have made if he had heard Monseigneur Martha. It +was rumoured in Paris that although the old Jew banker had ceased all +intercourse with his daughter Eve since her conversion, he took a keen +interest in everything she was reported to do or say, as if he were more +than ever convinced that she would prove an avenging and dissolving agent +among those Christians, whose destruction was asserted to be the dream of +his race. If he had failed in his hope of overcoming Duvillard by giving +her to him as a wife, he doubtless now consoled himself with thinking of +the extraordinary fortune to which his blood had attained, by mingling +with that of the harsh, old-time masters of his race, to whose corruption +it gave a finishing touch. Therein perhaps lay that final Jewish conquest +of the world of which people sometimes talked. + +A last triumphal strain from the organ brought the ceremony to an end; +whereupon the two families and the witnesses passed into the sacristy, +where the acts were signed. And forthwith the great congratulatory +procession commenced. + +The bride and bridegroom at last stood side by side in the lofty but +rather dim room, panelled with oak. How radiant with delight was Camille +at the thought that it was all over, that she had triumphed and married +that handsome man of high lineage, after wresting him with so much +difficulty from one and all, her mother especially! She seemed to have +grown taller. Deformed, swarthy, and ugly though she was, she drew +herself up exultingly, whilst scores and scores of women, friends or +acquaintances, scrambled and rushed upon her, pressing her hands or +kissing her, and addressing her in words of ecstasy. Gerard, who rose +both head and shoulders above his bride, and looked all the nobler and +stronger beside one of such puny figure, shook hands and smiled like some +Prince Charming, who good-naturedly allowed himself to be loved. +Meanwhile, the relatives of the newly wedded pair, though they were drawn +up in one line, formed two distinct groups past which the crowd pushed +and surged with arms outstretched. Duvillard received the congratulations +offered him as if he were some king well pleased with his people; whilst +Eve, with a supreme effort, put on an enchanting mien, and answered one +and all with scarcely a sign of the sobs which she was forcing back. +Then, on the other side of the bridal pair, Madame de Quinsac stood +between General de Bozonnet and the Marquis de Morigny. Very dignified, +in fact almost haughty, she acknowledged most of the salutations +addressed to her with a mere nod, giving her little withered hand only to +those people with whom she was well acquainted. A sea of strange +countenances encompassed her, and now and again when some particularly +murky wave rolled by, a wave of men whose faces bespoke all the crimes of +money-mongering, she and the Marquis exchanged glances of deep sadness. +This tide continued sweeping by for nearly half an hour; and such was the +number of those who wanted to shake hands with the bridal pair and their +relatives, that the latter soon felt their arms ache. + +Meantime, some folks lingered in the sacristy; little groups collected, +and gay chatter rang out. Monferrand was immediately surrounded. Massot +pointed out to Duthil how eagerly Public Prosecutor Lehmann rushed upon +the Minister to pay him court. They were immediately joined by +investigating magistrate Amadieu. And even M. de Larombiere, the judge, +approached Monferrand, although he hated the Republic, and was an +intimate friend of the Quinsacs. But then obedience and obsequiousness +were necessary on the part of the magistracy, for it was dependent on +those in power, who alone could give advancement, and appoint even as +they dismissed. As for Lehmann, it was alleged that he had rendered +assistance to Monferrand by spiriting away certain documents connected +with the African Railways affair, whilst with regard to the smiling and +extremely Parisian Amadieu, was it not to him that the government was +indebted for Salvat's head? + +"You know," muttered Massot, "they've all come to be thanked for +guillotining that man yesterday. Monferrand owes that wretched fellow a +fine taper; for in the first place his bomb prolonged the life of the +Barroux ministry, and later on it made Monferrand prime minister, as a +strong-handed man was particularly needed to strangle Anarchism. What a +contest, eh? Monferrand on one side and Salvat on the other. It was all +bound to end in a head being cut off; one was wanted. . . . Ah! just +listen, they are talking of it." + +This was true. As the three functionaries of the law drew near to pay +their respects to the all-powerful Minister, they were questioned by lady +friends whose curiosity had been roused by what they had read in the +newspapers. Thereupon Amadieu, whom duty had taken to the execution, and +who was proud of his own importance, and determined to destroy what he +called "the legend of Salvat's heroic death," declared that the scoundrel +had shown no true courage at all. His pride alone had kept him on his +feet. Fright had so shaken and choked him that he had virtually been dead +before the fall of the knife. + +"Ah! that's true!" cried Duthil. "I was there myself." + +Massot, however, pulled him by the arm, quite indignant at such an +assertion, although as a rule he cared a rap for nothing. "You couldn't +see anything, my dear fellow," said he; "Salvat died very bravely. It's +really stupid to continue throwing mud at that poor devil even when he's +dead." + +However, the idea that Salvat had died like a coward was too pleasing a +one to be rejected. It was, so to say, a last sacrifice deposited at +Monferrand's feet with the object of propitiating him. He still smiled in +his peaceful way, like a good-natured man who is stern only when +necessity requires it. And he showed great amiability towards the three +judicial functionaries, and thanked them for the bravery with which they +had accomplished their painful duty to the very end. On the previous day, +after the execution, he had obtained a formidable majority in the Chamber +on a somewhat delicate matter of policy. Order reigned, said he, and all +was for the very best in France. Then, on seeing Vignon--who like a cool +gamester had made a point of attending the wedding in order to show +people that he was superior to fortune--the Minister detained him, and +made much of him, partly as a matter of tactics, for in spite of +everything he could not help fearing that the future might belong to that +young fellow, who showed himself so intelligent and cautious. When a +mutual friend informed them that Barroux' health was now so bad that the +doctors had given him up as lost, they both began to express their +compassion. Poor Barroux! He had never recovered from that vote of the +Chamber which had overthrown him. He had been sinking from day to day, +stricken to the heart by his country's ingratitude, dying of that +abominable charge of money-mongering and thieving; he who was so upright +and so loyal, who had devoted his whole life to the Republic! But then, +as Monferrand repeated, one should never confess. The public can't +understand such a thing. + +At this moment Duvillard, in some degree relinquishing his paternal +duties, came to join the others, and the Minister then had to share the +honours of triumph with him. For was not this banker the master? Was he +not money personified--money, which is the only stable, everlasting +force, far above all ephemeral tenure of power, such as attaches to those +ministerial portfolios which pass so rapidly from hand to hand? +Monferrand reigned, but he would pass away, and a like fate would some +day fall on Vignon, who had already had a warning that one could not +govern unless the millions of the financial world were on one's side. So +was not the only real triumpher himself, the Baron--he who laid out five +millions of francs on buying a scion of the aristocracy for his daughter, +he who was the personification of the sovereign _bourgeoisie_, who +controlled public fortune, and was determined to part with nothing, even +were he attacked with bombs? All these festivities really centred in +himself, he alone sat down to the banquet, leaving merely the crumbs from +his table to the lowly, those wretched toilers who had been so cleverly +duped at the time of the Revolution. + +That African Railways affair was already but so much ancient history, +buried, spirited away by a parliamentary commission. All who had been +compromised in it, the Duthils, the Chaigneux, the Fonsegues and others, +could now laugh merrily. They had been delivered from their nightmare by +Monferrand's strong fist, and raised by Duvillard's triumph. Even +Sagnier's ignoble article and miry revelations in the "Voix du Peuple" +were of no real account, and could be treated with a shrug of the +shoulders, for the public had been so saturated with denunciation and +slander that it was now utterly weary of all noisy scandal. The only +thing which aroused interest was the rumour that Duvillard's big affair +of the Trans-Saharan Railway was soon to be launched, that millions of +money would be handled, and that some of them would rain down upon +faithful friends. + +Whilst Duvillard was conversing in a friendly way with Monferrand and +Dauvergne, the Minister of Public Instruction, who had joined them, +Massot encountered Fonsegue, his editor, and said to him in an undertone: +"Duthil has just assured me that the Trans-Saharan business is ready, and +that they mean to chance it with the Chamber. They declare that they are +certain of success." + +Fonsegue, however, was sceptical on the point. "It's impossible," said +he; "they won't dare to begin again so soon." + +Although he spoke in this fashion, the news had made him grave. He had +lately had such a terrible fright through his imprudence in the African +Railways affair, that he had vowed he would take every precaution in +future. Still, this did not mean that he would refuse to participate in +matters of business. The best course was to wait and study them, and then +secure a share in all that seemed profitable. In the present instance he +felt somewhat worried. However, whilst he stood there watching the group +around Duvillard and the two ministers, he suddenly perceived Chaigneux, +who, flitting hither and thither, was still beating up applauders for +that evening's performance. He sang Silviane's praises in every key, +predicted a most tremendous success, and did his very best to stimulate +curiosity. At last he approached Dauvergne, and with his long figure bent +double exclaimed: "My dear Minister, I have a particular request to make +to you on the part of a very charming person, whose victory will not be +complete this evening if you do not condescend to favour her with your +vote." + +Dauvergne, a tall, fair, good-looking man, whose blue eyes smiled behind +his glasses, listened to Chaigneux with an affable air. He was proving a +great success at the Ministry of Public Instruction, although he knew +nothing of University matters. However, like a real Parisian of Dijon, as +people called him, he was possessed of some tact and skill, gave +entertainments at which his young and charming wife outshone all others, +and passed as being quite an enlightened friend of writers and artists. +Silviane's engagement at the Comedie, which so far was his most notable +achievement, and which would have shaken the position of any other +minister, had by a curious chance rendered him popular. It was regarded +as something original and amusing. + +On understanding that Chaigneux simply wished to make sure of his +presence at the Comedie that evening, he became yet more affable. "Why, +certainly, I shall be there, my dear deputy," he replied. "When one has +such a charming god-daughter one mustn't forsake her in a moment of +danger." + +At this Monferrand, who had been lending ear, turned round. "And tell +her," said he, "that I shall be there, too. She may therefore rely on +having two more friends in the house." + +Thereupon Duvillard, quite enraptured, his eyes glistening with emotion +and gratitude, bowed to the two ministers as if they had granted him some +never-to-be-forgotten favour. + +When Chaigneux, on his side also, had returned thanks with a low bow, he +happened to perceive Fonsegue, and forthwith he darted towards him and +led him aside. "Ah! my dear colleague," he declared, "it is absolutely +necessary that this matter should be settled. I regard it as of supreme +importance." + +"What are you speaking of?" inquired Fonsegue, much surprised. + +"Why, of Massot's article, which you won't insert." + +Thereupon, the director of the "Globe" plumply declared that he could not +insert the article. He talked of his paper's dignity and gravity; and +declared that the lavishing of such fulsome praise upon a hussy--yes, a +mere hussy, in a journal whose exemplary morality and austerity had cost +him so much labour, would seem monstrous and degrading. Personally, he +did not care a fig about it if Silviane chose to make an exhibition of +herself, well, he would be there to see; but the "Globe" was sacred. + +Disconcerted and almost tearful, Chaigneux nevertheless renewed his +attempt. "Come, my dear colleague," said he, "pray make a little effort +for my sake. If the article isn't inserted, Duvillard will think that it +is my fault. And you know that I really need his help. My eldest +daughter's marriage has again been postponed, and I hardly know where to +turn." Then perceiving that his own misfortunes in no wise touched +Fonsegue, he added: "And do it for your own sake, my dear colleague, your +own sake. For when all is said Duvillard knows what is in the article, +and it is precisely because it is so favourable a one that he wishes to +see it in the 'Globe.' Think it over; if the article isn't published, he +will certainly turn his back on you." + +For a moment Fonsegue remained silent. Was he thinking of the colossal +Trans-Saharan enterprise? Was he reflecting that it would be hard to +quarrel at such a moment and miss his own share in the coming +distribution of millions among faithful friends? Perhaps so; however, the +idea that it would be more prudent to await developments gained the day +with him. "No, no," he said, "I can't, it's a matter of conscience." + +In the mean time congratulations were still being tendered to the newly +wedded couple. It seemed as if all Paris were passing through the +sacristy; there were ever the same smiles and the same hand shakes. +Gerard, Camille and their relatives, however weary they might feel, were +forced to retain an air of delight while they stood there against the +wall, pent up by the crowd. The heat was now becoming unbearable, and a +cloud of dust arose as when some big flock goes by. + +All at once little Princess de Harn, who had hitherto lingered nobody +knew where, sprang out of the throng, flung her arms around Camille, +kissed even Eve, and then kept Gerard's hand in her own while paying him +extraordinary compliments. Then, on perceiving Hyacinthe, she took +possession of him and carried him off into a corner. "I say," she +exclaimed, "I have a favour to ask you." + +The young man was wonderfully silent that day. His sister's wedding +seemed to him a contemptible ceremony, the most vulgar that one could +imagine. So here, thought he, was another pair accepting the horrid +sexual law by which the absurdity of the world was perpetuated! For his +part, he had decided that he would witness the proceedings in rigid +silence, with a haughty air of disapproval. When Rosemonde spoke to him, +he looked at her rather nervously, for he was glad that she had forsaken +him for Duthil, and feared some fresh caprice on her part. At last, +opening his mouth for the first time that day, he replied: "Oh, as a +friend, you know, I will grant you whatever favour you like." + +Forthwith the Princess explained that she would surely die if she did not +witness the _debut_ of her dear friend Silviane, of whom she had become +such a passionate admirer. So she begged the young man to prevail on his +father to give her a seat in his box, as she knew that one was left +there. + +Hyacinthe smiled. "Oh, willingly, my dear," said he; "I'll warn papa, +there will be a seat for you." + +Then, as the procession of guests at last drew to an end and the vestry +began to empty, the bridal pair and their relatives were able to go off +through the chattering throng, which still lingered about to bow to them +and scrutinise them once more. + +Gerard and Camille were to leave for an estate which Duvillard possessed +in Normandy, directly after lunch. This repast, served at the princely +mansion of the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, provided an opportunity for fresh +display. The dining-room on the first floor had been transformed into a +buffet, where reigned the greatest abundance and the most wonderful +sumptuousness. Quite a reception too was held in the drawing-rooms, the +large red _salon_, the little blue and silver _salon_ and all the others, +whose doors stood wide open. Although it had been arranged that only +family friends should be invited, there were quite three hundred people +present. The ministers had excused themselves, alleging that the weighty +cares of public business required their presence elsewhere. But the +magistrates, the deputies and the leading journalists who had attended +the wedding were again assembled together. And in that throng of hungry +folks, longing for some of the spoils of Duvillard's new venture, the +people who felt most out of their element were Madame de Quinsac's few +guests, whom General de Bozonnet and the Marquis de Morigny had seated on +a sofa in the large red _salon_, which they did not quit. + +Eve, who for her part felt quite overcome, both her moral and physical +strength being exhausted, had seated herself in the little blue and +silver drawing-room, which, with her passion for flowers, she had +transformed into an arbour of roses. She would have fallen had she +remained standing, the very floor had seemed to sink beneath her feet. +Nevertheless, whenever a guest approached her she managed to force a +smile, and appear beautiful and charming. Unlooked-for help at last came +to her in the person of Monseigneur Martha, who had graciously honoured +the lunch with his presence. He took an armchair near her, and began to +talk to her in his amiable, caressing way. He was doubtless well aware of +the frightful anguish which wrung the poor woman's heart, for he showed +himself quite fatherly, eager to comfort her. She, however, talked on +like some inconsolable widow bent on renouncing the world for God, who +alone could bring her peace. Then, as the conversation turned on the +Asylum for the Invalids of Labour, she declared that she was resolved to +take her presidency very seriously, and, in fact, would exclusively +devote herself to it, in the future. + +"And as we are speaking of this, Monseigneur," said she, "I would even +ask you to give me some advice. . . . I shall need somebody to help me, +and I thought of securing the services of a priest whom I much admire, +Monsieur l'Abbe Pierre Froment." + +At this the Bishop became grave and embarrassed; but Princess Rosemonde, +who was passing by with Duthil, had overheard the Baroness, and drawing +near with her wonted impetuosity, she exclaimed: "Abbe Pierre Froment! +Oh! I forgot to tell you, my dear, that I met him going about in jacket +and trousers! And I've been told too that he cycles in the Bois with some +creature or other. Isn't it true, Duthil, that we met him?" + +The deputy bowed and smiled, whilst Eve clasped her hands in amazement. +"Is it possible! A priest who was all charitable fervour, who had the +faith and passion of an apostle!" + +Thereupon Monseigneur intervened: "Yes, yes, great sorrows occasionally +fall upon the Church. I heard of the madness of the unhappy man you speak +of. I even thought it my duty to write to him, but he left my letter +unanswered. I should so much have liked to stifle such a scandal! But +there are abominable forces which we cannot always overcome; and so a day +or two ago the archbishop was obliged to put him under interdict. . . . +You must choose somebody else, madame." + +It was quite a disaster. Eve gazed at Rosemonde and Duthil, without +daring to ask them for particulars, but wondering what creature could +have been so audacious as to turn a priest from the path of duty. She +must assuredly be some shameless demented woman! And it seemed to Eve as +if this crime gave a finishing touch to her own misfortune. With a wave +of the arm, which took in all the luxury around her, the roses steeping +her in perfume, and the crush of guests around the buffet, she murmured: +"Ah! decidedly there's nothing but corruption left; one can no longer +rely on anybody!" + +Whilst this was going on, Camille happened to be alone in her own room +getting ready to leave the house with Gerard. And all at once her brother +Hyacinthe joined her there. "Ah! it's you, youngster!" she exclaimed. +"Well, make haste if you want to kiss me, for I'm off now, thank +goodness!" + +He kissed her as she suggested, and then in a doctoral way replied: "I +thought you had more self-command. The delight you have been showing all +this morning quite disgusts me." + +A quiet glance of contempt was her only answer. However, he continued: +"You know very well that she'll take your Gerard from you again, directly +you come back to Paris." + +At this Camille's cheeks turned white and her eyes flared. She stepped +towards her brother with clenched fists: "She! you say that she will take +him from me!" + +The "she" they referred to was their own mother. + +"Listen, my boy! I'll kill her first!" continued Camille. "Ah, no! she +needn't hope for that. I shall know how to keep the man that belongs to +me. . . . And as for you, keep your spite to yourself, for I know you, +remember; you are a mere child and a fool!" + +He recoiled as if a viper were rearing its sharp, slender black head +before him; and having always feared her, he thought it best to beat a +retreat. + +While the last guests were rushing upon the buffet and finishing the +pillage there, the bridal pair took their leave, before driving off to +the railway station. General de Bozonnet had joined a group in order to +vent his usual complaints about compulsory military service, and the +Marquis de Morigny was obliged to fetch him at the moment when the +Countess de Quinsac was kissing her son and daughter-in-law. The old lady +trembled with so much emotion that the Marquis respectfully ventured to +sustain her. Meantime, Hyacinthe had started in search of his father, and +at last found him near a window with the tottering Chaigneux, whom he was +violently upbraiding, for Fonsegue's conscientious scruples had put him +in a fury. Indeed, if Massot's article should not be inserted in the +"Globe," Silviane might lay all the blame upon him, the Baron, and wreak +further punishment upon him. However, upon being summoned by his son he +had to don his triumphal air once more, kiss his daughter on the +forehead, shake hands with his son-in-law, jest and wish them both a +pleasant journey. Then Eve, near whom Monseigneur Martha had remained, +smiling, in her turn had to say farewell. In this she evinced touching +bravery; her determination to remain beautiful and charming until the +very end lent her sufficient strength to show herself both gay and +motherly. + +She took hold of the slightly quivering hand which Gerard proffered with +some embarrassment, and ventured to retain it for a moment in her own, in +a good-hearted, affectionate way, instinct with all the heroism of +renunciation. "Good by, Gerard," she said, "keep in good health, be +happy." Then turning to Camille she kissed her on both cheeks, while +Monseigneur Martha sat looking at them with an air of indulgent sympathy. +They wished each other "Au revoir," but their voices trembled, and their +eyes in meeting gleamed like swords; in the same way as beneath the +kisses they had exchanged they had felt each other's teeth. Ah! how it +enraged Camille to see her mother still so beautiful and fascinating in +spite of age and grief! And for Eve how great the torture of beholding +her daughter's youth, that youth which had overcome her, and was for ever +wresting love from within her reach! No forgiveness was possible between +them; they would still hate one another even in the family tomb, where +some day they would sleep side by side. + +All the same, that evening Baroness Duvillard excused herself from +attending the performance of "Polyeucte" at the Comedie Francaise. She +felt very tired and wished to go to bed early, said she. As a matter of +fact she wept on her pillow all night long. Thus the Baron's stage-box on +the first balcony tier contained only himself, Hyacinthe, Duthil, and +little Princess de Harn. + +At nine o'clock there was a full house, one of the brilliant chattering +houses peculiar to great dramatic solemnities. All the society people who +had marched through the sacristy of the Madeleine that morning were now +assembled at the theatre, again feverish with curiosity, and on the +lookout for the unexpected. One recognised the same faces and the sane +smiles; the women acknowledged one another's presence with little signs +of intelligence, the men understood each other at a word, a gesture. One +and all had kept the appointment, the ladies with bared shoulders, the +gentlemen with flowers in their button-holes. Fonsegue occupied the +"Globe's" box, with two friendly families. Little Massot had his +customary seat in the stalls. Amadieu, who was a faithful patron of the +Comedie, was also to be seen there, as well as General de Bozonnet and +Public Prosecutor Lehmann. The man who was most looked at, however, on +account of his scandalous article that morning, was Sagnier, the terrible +Sagnier, looking bloated and apoplectical. Then there was Chaigneux, who +had kept merely a modest bracket-seat for himself, and who scoured the +passages, and climbed to every tier, for the last time preaching +enthusiasm. Finally, the two ministers Monferrand and Dauvergne appeared +in the box facing Duvillard's; whereupon many knowing smiles were +exchanged, for everybody was aware that these personages had come to help +on the success of the _debutante_. + +On the latter point there had still been unfavourable rumours only the +previous day. Sagnier had declared that the _debut_ of such a notorious +harlot as Silviane at the Comedie Francaise, in such a part too as that +of "Pauline," which was one of so much moral loftiness, could only be +regarded as an impudent insult to public decency. The whole press, +moreover, had long been up in arms against the young woman's +extraordinary caprice. But then the affair had been talked of for six +months past, so that Paris had grown used to the idea of seeing Silviane +at the Comedie. And now it flocked thither with the one idea of being +entertained. Before the curtain rose one could tell by the very +atmosphere of the house that the audience was a jovial, good-humoured +one, bent on enjoying itself, and ready to applaud should it find itself +at all pleased. + +The performance really proved extraordinary. When Silviane, chastely +robed, made her appearance in the first act, the house was quite +astonished by her virginal face, her innocent-looking mouth, and her eyes +beaming with immaculate candour. Then, although the manner in which she +had understood her part at first amazed people, it ended by charming +them. From the moment of confiding in "Stratonice," from the moment of +relating her dream, she turned "Pauline" into a soaring mystical +creature, some saint, as it were, such as one sees in stained-glass +windows, carried along by a Wagnerian Brunhilda riding the clouds. It was +a thoroughly ridiculous conception of the part, contrary to reason and +truth alike. Still, it only seemed to interest people the more, partly on +account of mysticism being the fashion, and partly on account of the +contrast between Silviane's assumed candour and real depravity. Her +success increased from act to act, and some slight hissing which was +attributed to Sagnier only helped to make the victory more complete. +Monferrand and Dauvergne, as the newspapers afterwards related, gave the +signal for applause; and the whole house joined in it, partly from +amusement and partly perhaps in a spirit of irony. + +During the interval between the fourth and fifth acts there was quite a +procession of visitors to Duvillard's box, where the greatest excitement +prevailed. Duthil, however, after absenting himself for a moment, came +back to say: "You remember our influential critic, the one whom I brought +to dinner at the Cafe Anglais? Well, he's repeating to everybody that +'Pauline' is merely a little _bourgeoise_, and is not transformed by the +heavenly grace until the very finish of the piece. To turn her into a +holy virgin from the outset simply kills the part, says he." + +"Pooh!" repeated Duvillard, "let him argue if he likes, it will be all +the more advertisement. . . . The important point is to get Massot's +article inserted in the 'Globe' to-morrow morning." + +On this point, unfortunately, the news was by no means good. Chaigneux, +who had gone in search of Fonsegue, declared that the latter still +hesitated in the matter in spite of Silviane's success, which he declared +to be ridiculous. Thereupon, the Baron became quite angry. "Go and tell +Fonsegue," he exclaimed, "that I insist on it, and that I shall remember +what he does." + +Meantime Princess Rosemonde was becoming quite delirious with enthusiasm. +"My dear Hyacinthe," she pleaded, "please take me to Silviane's +dressing-room; I can't wait, I really must go and kiss her." + +"But we'll all go!" cried Duvillard, who heard her entreaty. + +The passages were crowded, and there were people even on the stage. +Moreover, when the party reached the door of Silviane's dressing-room, +they found it shut. When the Baron knocked at it, a dresser replied that +madame begged the gentlemen to wait a moment. + +"Oh! a woman may surely go in," replied Rosemonde, hastily slipping +through the doorway. "And you may come, Hyacinthe," she added; "there can +be no objection to you." + +Silviane was very hot, and a dresser was wiping her perspiring shoulders +when Rosemonde darted forward and kissed her. Then they chatted together +amidst the heat and glare from the gas and the intoxicating perfumes of +all the flowers which were heaped up in the little room. Finally, +Hyacinthe heard them promise to see one another after the performance, +Silviane even inviting Rosemonde to drink a cup of tea with her at her +house. At this the young man smiled complacently, and said to the +actress: "Your carriage is waiting for you at the corner of the Rue +Montpensier, is it not? Well, I'll take the Princess to it. That will be +the simpler plan, you can both go off together!" + +"Oh! how good of you," cried Rosemonde; "it's agreed." + +Just then the door was opened, and the men, being admitted, began to pour +forth their congratulations. However, they had to regain their seats in +all haste so as to witness the fifth act. This proved quite a triumph, +the whole house bursting into applause when Silviane spoke the famous +line, "I see, I know, I believe, I am undeceived," with the rapturous +enthusiasm of a holy martyr ascending to heaven. Nothing could have been +more soul-like, it was said. And so when the performers were called +before the curtain, Paris bestowed an ovation on that virgin of the +stage, who, as Sagnier put it, knew so well how to act depravity at home. + +Accompanied by Duthil, Duvillard at once went behind the scenes in order +to fetch Silviane, while Hyacinthe escorted Rosemonde to the brougham +waiting at the corner of the Rue Montpensier. Having helped her into it, +the young man stood by, waiting. And he seemed to grow quite merry when +his father came up with Silviane, and was stopped by her, just as, in his +turn, he wished to get into the carriage. + +"There's no room for you, my dear fellow," said she. "I've a friend with +me." + +Rosemonde's little smiling face then peered forth from the depths of the +brougham. And the Baron remained there open-mouthed while the vehicle +swiftly carried the two women away! + +"Well, what would you have, my dear fellow?" said Hyacinthe, by way of +explanation to Duthil, who also seemed somewhat amazed by what had +happened. "Rosemonde was worrying my life out, and so I got rid of her by +packing her off with Silviane." + +Duvillard was still standing on the pavement and still looking dazed when +Chaigneux, who was going home quite tired out, recognised him, and came +up to say that Fonsegue had thought the matter over, and that Massot's +article would be duly inserted. In the passages, too, there had been a +deal of talk about the famous Trans-Saharan project. + +Then Hyacinthe led his father away, trying to comfort him like a sensible +friend, who regarded woman as a base and impure creature. "Let's go home +to bed," said he. "As that article is to appear, you can take it to her +to-morrow. She will see you, sure enough." + +Thereupon they lighted cigars, and now and again exchanging a few words, +took their way up the Avenue de l'Opera, which at that hour was deserted +and dismal. Meantime, above the slumbering houses of Paris the breeze +wafted a prolonged sigh, the plaint, as it were, of an expiring world. + + + +III + +THE GOAL OF LABOUR + +EVER since the execution of Salvat, Guillaume had become extremely +taciturn. He seemed worried and absent-minded. He would work for hours at +the manufacture of that dangerous powder of which he alone knew the +formula, and the preparation of which was such a delicate matter that he +would allow none to assist him. Then, at other times he would go off, and +return tired out by some long solitary ramble. He remained very gentle at +home, and strove to smile there. But whenever anybody spoke to him he +started as if suddenly called back from dreamland. + +Pierre imagined his brother had relied too much upon his powers of +renunciation, and found the loss of Marie unbearable. Was it not some +thought of her that haunted him now that the date fixed for the marriage +drew nearer and nearer? One evening, therefore, Pierre ventured to speak +out, again offering to leave the house and disappear. + +But at the first words he uttered Guillaume stopped him, and +affectionately replied: "Marie? Oh! I love her, I love her too well to +regret what I have done. No, no! you only bring me happiness, I derive +all my strength and courage from you now that I know you are both happy. +. . . And I assure you that you are mistaken, there is nothing at all the +matter with me; my work absorbs me, perhaps, but that is all." + +That same evening he managed to cast his gloom aside, and displayed +delightful gaiety. During dinner he inquired if the upholsterer would +soon call to arrange the two little rooms which Marie was to occupy with +her husband over the workroom. The young woman, who since her marriage +with Pierre had been decided had remained waiting with smiling patience, +thereupon told Guillaume what it was she desired--first some hangings of +red cotton stuff, then some polished pine furniture which would enable +her to imagine she was in the country, and finally a carpet on the floor, +because a carpet seemed to her the height of luxury. She laughed as she +spoke, and Guillaume laughed with her in a gay and fatherly way. His good +spirits brought much relief to Pierre, who concluded that he must have +been mistaken in his surmises. + +On the very morrow, however, Guillaume relapsed into a dreamy state. And +so disquietude again came upon Pierre, particularly when he noticed that +Mere-Grand also seemed to be unusually grave and silent. Not daring to +address her, he tried to extract some information from his nephews, but +neither Thomas nor Francois nor Antoine knew anything. Each of them +quietly devoted his time to his work, respecting and worshipping his +father, but never questioning him about his plans or enterprises. +Whatever he might choose to do could only be right and good; and they, +his sons, were ready to do the same and help him at the very first call, +without pausing to inquire into his purpose. It was plain, however, that +he kept them apart from anything at all perilous, that he retained all +responsibility for himself, and that Mere-Grand alone was his +_confidante_, the one whom he consulted and to whom he perhaps listened. +Pierre therefore renounced his hope of learning anything from the sons, +and directed his attention to the old lady, whose rigid gravity worried +him the more as she and Guillaume frequently had private chats in the +room she occupied upstairs. They shut themselves up there all alone, and +remained together for hours without the faintest sound coming from the +seemingly lifeless chamber. + +One day, however, Pierre caught sight of Guillaume as he came out of it, +carrying a little valise which appeared to be very heavy. And Pierre +thereupon remembered both his brother's powder, one pound weight of which +would have sufficed to destroy a cathedral, and the destructive engine +which he had purposed bestowing upon France in order that she might be +victorious over all other nations, and become the one great initiatory +and liberative power. Pierre remembered too that the only person besides +himself who knew his brother's secret was Mere-Grand, who, at the time +when Guillaume was fearing some perquisition on the part of the police, +had long slept upon the cartridges of the terrible explosive. But now why +was Guillaume removing all the powder which he had been preparing for +some time past? As this question occurred to Pierre, a sudden suspicion, +a vague dread, came upon him, and gave him strength to ask his brother: +"Have you reason to fear anything, since you won't keep things here? If +they embarrass you, they can all be deposited at my house, nobody will +make a search there." + +Guillaume, whom these words astonished, gazed at Pierre fixedly, and then +replied: "Yes, I have learnt that the arrests and perquisitions have +begun afresh since that poor devil was guillotined; for they are in +terror at the thought that some despairing fellow may avenge him. +Moreover, it is hardly prudent to keep destructive agents of such great +power here. I prefer to deposit them in a safe place. But not at +Neuilly--oh! no indeed! they are not a present for you, brother." +Guillaume spoke with outward calmness; and if he had started with +surprise at the first moment, it had been scarcely perceptible. + +"So everything is ready?" Pierre resumed. "You will soon be handing your +engine of destruction over to the Minister of War, I presume?" + +A gleam of hesitation appeared in the depths of Guillaume's eyes, and he +was for a moment about to tell a falsehood. However, he ended by replying +"No, I have renounced that intention. I have another idea." + +He spoke these last words with so much energy and decision that Pierre +did not dare to question him further, to ask him, for instance, what that +other idea might be. From that moment, however, he quivered with anxious +expectancy. From hour to hour Mere-Grand's lofty silence and Guillaume's +rapt, energetic face seemed to tell him that some huge and terrifying +scheme had come into being, and was growing and threatening the whole of +Paris. + +One afternoon, just as Thomas was about to repair to the Grandidier +works, some one came to Guillaume's with the news that old Toussaint, the +workman, had been stricken with a fresh attack of paralysis. Thomas +thereupon decided that he would call upon the poor fellow on his way, for +he held him in esteem and wished to ascertain if he could render him any +help. Pierre expressed a desire to accompany his nephew, and they started +off together about four o'clock. + +On entering the one room which the Toussaints occupied, the room where +they ate and slept, the visitors found the mechanician seated on a low +chair near the table. He looked half dead, as if struck by lightning. It +was a case of hemiplegia, which had paralysed the whole of his right +side, his right leg and right arm, and had also spread to his face in +such wise that he could no longer speak. The only sound he could raise +was an incomprehensible guttural grunt. His mouth was drawn to the right, +and his once round, good-natured-looking face, with tanned skin and +bright eyes, had been twisted into a frightful mask of anguish. At fifty +years of age, the unhappy man was utterly done for. His unkempt beard was +as white as that of an octogenarian, and his knotty limbs, preyed upon by +toil, were henceforth dead. Only his eyes remained alive, and they +travelled around the room, going from one to another. By his side, eager +to do what she could for him, was his wife, who remained stout even when +she had little to eat, and still showed herself active and clear-headed, +however great her misfortunes. + +"It's a friendly visit, Toussaint," said she. "It's Monsieur Thomas who +has come to see you with Monsieur l'Abbe." Then quietly correcting +herself she added: "With Monsieur Pierre, his uncle. You see that you are +not yet forsaken." + +Toussaint wished to speak, but his fruitless efforts only brought two big +tears to his eyes. Then he gazed at his visitors with an expression of +indescribable woe, his jaws trembling convulsively. + +"Don't put yourself out," repeated his wife. "The doctor told you that it +would do you no good." + +At the moment of entering the room, Pierre had already noticed two +persons who had risen from their chairs and drawn somewhat on one side. +And now to his great surprise he recognised that they were Madame +Theodore and Celine, who were both decently clad, and looked as if they +led a life of comfort. On hearing of Toussaint's misfortune they had come +to see him, like good-hearted creatures, who, on their own side, had +experienced the most cruel suffering. Pierre, on noticing that they now +seemed to be beyond dire want, remembered what he had heard of the +wonderful sympathy lavished on the child after her father's execution, +the many presents and donations offered her, and the generous proposals +that had been made to adopt her. These last had ended in her being +adopted by a former friend of Salvat, who had sent her to school again, +pending the time when she might be apprenticed to some trade, while, on +the other hand, Madame Theodore had been placed as a nurse in a +convalescent home. In such wise both had been saved. + +When Pierre drew near to little Celine in order to kiss her, Madame +Theodore told her to thank Monsieur l'Abbe--for so she still respectfully +called him--for all that he had previously done for her. "It was you who +brought us happiness, Monsieur l'Abbe," said she. "And that's a thing one +can never forget. I'm always telling Celine to remember you in her +prayers." + +"And so, my child, you are now going to school again," said Pierre. + +"Oh yes, Monsieur l'Abbe, and I'm well pleased at it. Besides, we no +longer lack anything." Then, however, sudden emotion came over the girl, +and she stammered with a sob: "Ah! if poor papa could only see us!" + +Madame Theodore, meanwhile, had begun to take leave of Madame Toussaint. +"Well, good by, we must go," said she. "What has happened to you is very +sad, and we wanted to tell you how much it grieved us. The worry is that +when misfortune falls on one, courage isn't enough to set things right. . +. . Celine, come and kiss your uncle. . . . My poor brother, I hope +you'll get back the use of your legs as soon as possible." + +They kissed the paralysed man on the cheeks, and then went off. Toussaint +had looked at them with his keen and still intelligent eyes, as if he +longed to participate in the life and activity into which they were +returning. And a jealous thought came to his wife, who usually was so +placid and good-natured. "Ah! my poor old man!" said she, after propping +him up with a pillow, "those two are luckier than we are. Everything +succeeds with them since that madman, Salvat, had his head cut off. +They're provided for. They've plenty of bread on the shelf." + +Then, turning towards Pierre and Thomas, she continued: "We others are +done for, you know, we're down in the mud, with no hope of getting out of +it. But what would you have? My poor husband hasn't been guillotined, +he's done nothing but work his whole life long; and now, you see, that's +the end of him, he's like some old animal, no longer good for anything." + +Having made her visitors sit down she next answered their compassionate +questions. The doctor had called twice already, and had promised to +restore the unhappy man's power of speech, and perhaps enable him to +crawl round the room with the help of a stick. But as for ever being able +to resume real work that must not be expected. And so what was the use of +living on? Toussaint's eyes plainly declared that he would much rather +die at once. When a workman can no longer work and no longer provide for +his wife he is ripe for the grave. + +"Savings indeed!" Madame Toussaint resumed. "There are folks who ask if +we have any savings. . . . Well, we had nearly a thousand francs in the +Savings Bank when Toussaint had his first attack. And some people don't +know what a lot of prudence one needs to put by such a sum; for, after +all, we're not savages, we have to allow ourselves a little enjoyment now +and then, a good dish and a good bottle of wine. . . . Well, what with +five months of enforced idleness, and the medicines, and the underdone +meat that was ordered, we got to the end of our thousand francs; and now +that it's all begun again we're not likely to taste any more bottled wine +or roast mutton." + +Fond of good cheer as she had always been, this cry, far more than the +tears she was forcing back, revealed how much the future terrified her. +She was there erect and brave in spite of everything; but what a downfall +if she were no longer able to keep her room tidy, stew a piece of veal on +Sundays, and gossip with the neighbours while awaiting her husband's +return from work! Why, they might just as well be thrown into the gutter +and carried off in the scavenger's cart. + +However, Thomas intervened: "Isn't there an Asylum for the Invalids of +Labour, and couldn't your husband get admitted to it?" he asked. "It +seems to me that is just the place for him." + +"Oh dear, no," the woman answered. "People spoke to me of that place +before, and I got particulars of it. They don't take sick people there. +When you call they tell you that there are hospitals for those who are +ill." + +With a wave of his hand Pierre confirmed her statement: it was useless to +apply in that direction. He could again see himself scouring Paris, +hurrying from the Lady President, Baroness Duvillard, to Fonsegue, the +General Manager, and only securing a bed for Laveuve when the unhappy man +was dead. + +However, at that moment an infant was heard wailing, and to the amazement +of both visitors Madame Toussaint entered the little closet where her son +Charles had so long slept, and came out of it carrying a child, who +looked scarcely twenty months old. "Well, yes," she explained, "this is +Charles's boy. He was sleeping there in his father's old bed, and now you +hear him, he's woke up. . . . You see, only last Wednesday, the day +before Toussaint had his stroke, I went to fetch the little one at the +nurse's at St. Denis, because she had threatened to cast him adrift since +Charles had got into bad habits, and no longer paid her. I said to myself +at the time that work was looking up, and that my husband and I would +always be able to provide for a little mouth like that. . . . But just +afterwards everything collapsed! At the same time, as the child's here +now I can't go and leave him in the street." + +While speaking in this fashion she walked to and fro, rocking the baby in +her arms. And naturally enough she reverted to Charles's folly with the +girl, who had run away, leaving that infant behind her. Things might not +have been so very bad if Charles had still worked as steadily as he had +done before he went soldiering. In those days he had never lost an hour, +and had always brought all his pay home! But he had come back from the +army with much less taste for work. He argued, and had ideas of his own. +He certainly hadn't yet come to bomb-throwing like that madman Salvat, +but he spent half his time with Socialists and Anarchists, who put his +brain in a muddle. It was a real pity to see such a strong, good-hearted +young fellow turning out badly like that. But it was said in the +neighbourhood that many another was inclined the same way; that the best +and most intelligent of the younger men felt tired of want and +unremunerative labour, and would end by knocking everything to pieces +rather than go on toiling with no certainty of food in their old age. + +"Ah! yes," continued Madame Toussaint, "the sons are not like the fathers +were. These fine fellows won't be as patient as my poor husband has been, +letting hard work wear him away till he's become the sorry thing you see +there. . . . Do you know what Charles said the other evening when he +found his father on that chair, crippled like that, and unable to speak? +Why, he shouted to him that he'd been a stupid jackass all his life, +working himself to death for those _bourgeois_, who now wouldn't bring +him so much as a glass of water. Then, as he none the less has a good +heart, he began to cry his eyes out." + +The baby was no longer wailing, still the good woman continued walking to +and fro, rocking it in her arms and pressing it to her affectionate +heart. Her son Charles could do no more for them, she said; perhaps he +might be able to give them a five-franc piece now and again, but even +that wasn't certain. It was of no use for her to go back to her old +calling as a seamstress, she had lost all practice of it. And it would +even be difficult for her to earn anything as charwoman, for she had that +infant on her hands as well as her infirm husband--a big child, whom she +would have to wash and feed. And so what would become of the three of +them? She couldn't tell; but it made her shudder, however brave and +motherly she tried to be. + +For their part, Pierre and Thomas quivered with compassion, particularly +when they saw big tears coursing down the cheeks of the wretched, +stricken Toussaint, as he sat quite motionless in that little and still +cleanly home of toil and want. The poor man had listened to his wife, and +he looked at her and at the infant now sleeping in her arms. Voiceless, +unable to cry his woe aloud, he experienced the most awful anguish. What +dupery his long life of labour had been! how frightfully unjust it was +that all his efforts should end in such sufferings! how exasperating it +was to feel himself powerless, and to see those whom he loved and who +were as innocent as himself suffer and die by reason of his own suffering +and death! Ah! poor old man, cripple that he was, ending like some beast +of burden that has foundered by the roadside--that goal of labour! And it +was all so revolting and so monstrous that he tried to put it into words, +and his desperate grief ended in a frightful, raucous grunt. + +"Be quiet, don't do yourself harm!" concluded Madame Toussaint. "Things +are like that, and there's no mending them." + +Then she went to put the child to bed again, and on her return, just as +Thomas and Pierre were about to speak to her of Toussaint's employer, M. +Grandidier, a fresh visitor arrived. Thereupon the others decided to +wait. + +The new comer was Madame Chretiennot, Toussaint's other sister, eighteen +years younger than himself. Her husband, the little clerk, had compelled +her to break off almost all intercourse with her relatives, as he felt +ashamed of them; nevertheless, having heard of her brother's misfortune, +she had very properly come to condole with him. She wore a gown of cheap +flimsy silk, and a hat trimmed with red poppies, which she had freshened +up three times already; but in spite of this display her appearance +bespoke penury, and she did her best to hide her feet on account of the +shabbiness of her boots. Moreover, she was no longer the beautiful +Hortense. Since a recent miscarriage, all trace of her good looks had +disappeared. + +The lamentable appearance of her brother and the bareness of that home of +suffering chilled her directly she crossed the threshold. And as soon as +she had kissed Toussaint, and said how sorry she was to find him in such +a condition, she began to lament her own fate, and recount her troubles, +for fear lest she should be asked for any help. + +"Ah! my dear," she said to her sister-in-law, "you are certainly much to +be pitied! But if you only knew! We all have our troubles. Thus in my +case, obliged as I am to dress fairly well on account of my husband's +position, I have more trouble than you can imagine in making both ends +meet. One can't go far on a salary of three thousand francs a year, when +one has to pay seven hundred francs' rent out of it. You will perhaps say +that we might lodge ourselves in a more modest way; but we can't, my +dear, I must have a _salon_ on account of the visits I receive. So just +count! . . . Then there are my two girls. I've had to send them to +school; Lucienne has begun to learn the piano and Marcelle has some taste +for drawing. . . . By the way, I would have brought them with me, but I +feared it would upset them too much. You will excuse me, won't you?" + +Then she spoke of all the worries which she had had with her husband on +account of Salvat's ignominious death. Chretiennot, vain, quarrelsome +little fellow that he was, felt exasperated at now having a _guillotine_ +in his wife's family. And he had lately begun to treat the unfortunate +woman most harshly, charging her with having brought about all their +troubles, and even rendering her responsible for his own mediocrity, +embittered as he was more and more each day by a confined life of office +work. On some evenings they had downright quarrels; she stood up for +herself, and related that when she was at the confectionery shop in the +Rue des Martyrs she could have married a doctor had she only chosen, for +the doctor found her quite pretty enough. Now, however, she was becoming +plainer and plainer, and her husband felt that he was condemned to +everlasting penury; so that their life was becoming more and more dismal +and quarrelsome, and as unbearable--despite the pride of being +"gentleman" and "lady"--as was the destitution of the working classes. + +"All the same, my dear," at last said Madame Toussaint, weary of her +sister-in-law's endless narrative of worries, "you have had one piece of +luck. You won't have the trouble of bringing up a third child, now." + +"That's true," replied Hortense, with a sigh of relief. "How we should +have managed, I don't know. . . . Still, I was very ill, and I'm far from +being in good health now. The doctor says that I don't eat enough, and +that I ought to have good food." + +Then she rose for the purpose of giving her brother another kiss and +taking her departure; for she feared a scene on her husband's part should +he happen to come home and find her absent. Once on her feet, however, +she lingered there a moment longer, saying that she also had just seen +her sister, Madame Theodore, and little Celine, both of them comfortably +clad and looking happy. And with a touch of jealousy she added: "Well, my +husband contents himself with slaving away at his office every day. He'll +never do anything to get his head cut off; and it's quite certain that +nobody will think of leaving an income to Marcelle and Lucienne. . . . +Well, good by, my dear, you must be brave, one must always hope that +things will turn out for the best." + +When she had gone off, Pierre and Thomas inquired if M. Grandidier had +heard of Toussaint's misfortune and agreed to do anything for him. Madame +Toussaint answered that he had so far made only a vague promise; and on +learning this they resolved to speak to him as warmly as they could on +behalf of the old mechanician, who had spent as many as five and twenty +years at the works. The misfortune was that a scheme for establishing a +friendly society, and even a pension fund, which had been launched before +the crisis from which the works were now recovering, had collapsed +through a number of obstacles and complications. Had things turned out +otherwise, Thomas might have had a pittance assured him, even though he +was unable to work. But under the circumstances the only hope for the +poor stricken fellow lay in his employer's compassion, if not his sense +of justice. + +As the baby again began to cry, Madame Toussaint went to fetch it, and +she was once more carrying it to and fro, when Thomas pressed her +husband's sound hand between both his own. "We will come back," said the +young man; "we won't forsake you, Toussaint. You know very well that +people like you, for you've always been a good and steady workman. So +rely on us, we will do all we can." + +Then they left him tearful and overpowered, in that dismal room, while, +up and down beside him, his wife rocked the squealing infant--that other +luckless creature, who was now so heavy on the old folks' hands, and like +them was fated to die of want and unjust toil. + +Toil, manual toil, panting at every effort, this was what Pierre and +Thomas once more found at the works. From the slender pipes above the +roofs spurted rhythmical puffs of steam, which seemed like the very +breath of all that labour. And in the work-shops one found a continuous +rumbling, a whole army of men in motion, forging, filing, and piercing, +amidst the spinning of leather gearing and the trembling of machinery. +The day was ending with a final feverish effort to complete some task or +other before the bell should ring for departure. + +On inquiring for the master Thomas learnt that he had not been seen since +_dejeuner_, which was such an unusual occurrence that the young man at +once feared some terrible scene in the silent pavilion, whose shutters +were ever closed upon Grandidier's unhappy wife--that mad but beautiful +creature, whom he loved so passionately that he had never been willing to +part from her. The pavilion could be seen from the little glazed +work-shop which Thomas usually occupied, and as he and Pierre stood +waiting there, it looked very peaceful and pleasant amidst the big +lilac-bushes planted round about it. Surely, they thought, it ought to +have been brightened by the gay gown of a young woman and the laughter of +playful children. But all at once a loud, piercing shriek reached their +ears, followed by howls and moans, like those of an animal that is being +beaten or possibly slaughtered. Ah! those howls ringing out amidst all +the stir of the toiling works, punctuated it seemed by the rhythmical +puffing of the steam, accompanied too by the dull rumbling of the +machinery! The receipts of the business had been doubling and doubling +since the last stock-taking; there was increase of prosperity every +month, the bad times were over, far behind. Grandidier was realising a +large fortune with his famous bicycle for the million, the "Lisette"; and +the approaching vogue of motor-cars also promised huge gains, should he +again start making little motor-engines, as he meant to do, as soon as +Thomas's long-projected motor should be perfected. But what was wealth +when in that dismal pavilion, whose shutters were ever closed, those +frightful shrieks continued, proclaiming some terrible drama, which all +the stir and bustle of the prosperous works were unable to stifle? + +Pierre and Thomas looked at one another, pale and quivering. And all at +once, as the cries ceased and the pavilion sank into death-like silence +once more, the latter said in an undertone: "She is usually very gentle, +she will sometimes spend whole days sitting on a carpet like a little +child. He is fond of her when she is like that; he lays her down and +picks her up, caresses her and makes her laugh as if she were a baby. Ah! +how dreadfully sad it is! When an attack comes upon her she gets frantic, +tries to bite herself, and kill herself by throwing herself against the +walls. And then he has to struggle with her, for no one else is allowed +to touch her. He tries to restrain her, and holds her in his arms to calm +her. . . . But how terrible it was just now! Did you hear? I do not think +she has ever had such a frightful attack before." + +For a quarter of an hour longer profound silence prevailed. Then +Grandidier came out of the pavilion, bareheaded and still ghastly pale. +Passing the little glazed work-shop on his way, he perceived Thomas and +Pierre there, and at once came in. But he was obliged to lean against a +bench like a man who is dazed, haunted by a nightmare. His good-natured, +energetic face retained an expression of acute anguish; and his left ear +was scratched and bleeding. However, he at once wished to talk, overcome +his feelings, and return to his life of activity. "I am very pleased to +see you, my dear Thomas," said he, "I have been thinking over what you +told me about our little motor. We must go into the matter again." + +Seeing how distracted he was, it occurred to the young man that some +sudden diversion, such as the story of another's misfortunes, might +perhaps draw him from his haunting thoughts. "Of course I am at your +disposal," he replied; "but before talking of that matter I should like +to tell you that we have just seen Toussaint, that poor old fellow who +has been stricken with paralysis. His awful fate has quite distressed us. +He is in the greatest destitution, forsaken as it were by the roadside, +after all his years of labour." + +Thomas dwelt upon the quarter of a century which the old workman had +spent at the factory, and suggested that it would be only just to take +some account of his long efforts, the years of his life which he had +devoted to the establishment. And he asked that he might be assisted in +the name both of equity and compassion. + +"Ah! monsieur," Pierre in his turn ventured to say. "I should like to +take you for an instant into that bare room, and show you that poor, +aged, worn-out, stricken man, who no longer has even the power of speech +left him to tell people his sufferings. There can be no greater +wretchedness than to die in this fashion, despairing of all kindliness +and justice." + +Grandidier had listened to them in silence. But big tears had +irresistibly filled his eyes, and when he spoke it was in a very low and +tremulous voice: "The greatest wretchedness, who can tell what it is? Who +can speak of it if he has not known the wretchedness of others? Yes, yes, +it's sad undoubtedly that poor Toussaint should be reduced to that state +at his age, not knowing even if he will have food to eat on the morrow. +But I know sorrows that are just as crushing, abominations which poison +one's life in a still greater degree. . . . Ah! yes, food indeed! To +think that happiness will reign in the world when everybody has food to +eat! What an idiotic hope!" + +The whole grievous tragedy of his life was in the shudder which had come +over him. To be the employer, the master, the man who is making money, +who disposes of capital and is envied by his workmen, to own an +establishment to which prosperity has returned, whose machinery coins +gold, apparently leaving one no other trouble than that of pocketing +one's profits; and yet at the same time to be the most wretched of men, +to know no day exempt from anguish, to find each evening at one's hearth +no other reward or prop than the most atrocious torture of the heart! +Everything, even success, has to be paid for. And thus that triumpher, +that money-maker, whose pile was growing larger at each successive +inventory, was sobbing with bitter grief. + +However, he showed himself kindly disposed towards Toussaint, and +promised to assist him. As for a pension that was an idea which he could +not entertain, as it was the negation of the wage-system such as it +existed. He energetically defended his rights as an employer, repeating +that the strain of competition would compel him to avail himself of them +so long as the present system should endure. His part in it was to do +good business in an honest way. However, he regretted that his men had +never carried out the scheme of establishing a relief fund, and he said +that he would do his best to induce them to take it in hand again. + +Some colour had now come back to his checks; for on returning to the +interests of his life of battle he felt his energy restored. He again +reverted to the question of the little motor, and spoke of it for some +time with Thomas, while Pierre waited, feeling quite upset. Ah! he +thought, how universal was the thirst for happiness! Then, in spite of +the many technical terms that were used he caught a little of what the +others were saying. Small steam motors had been made at the works in +former times; but they had not proved successes. In point of fact a new +propelling force was needed. Electricity, though everyone foresaw its +future triumph, was so far out of the question on account of the weight +of the apparatus which its employment necessitated. So only petroleum +remained, and the inconvenience attaching to its use was so great that +victory and fortune would certainly rest with the manufacturer who should +be able to replace it by some other hitherto unknown agent. In the +discovery and adaptation of the latter lay the whole problem. + +"Yes, I am eager about it now," at last exclaimed Grandidier in an +animated way. "I allowed you to prosecute your experiments without +troubling you with any inquisitive questions. But a solution is becoming +imperative." + +Thomas smiled: "Well, you must remain patient just a little longer," said +he; "I believe that I am on the right road." + +Then Grandidier shook hands with him and Pierre, and went off to make his +usual round through his busy, bustling works, whilst near at hand, +awaiting his return, stood the closed pavilion, where every evening he +was fated to relapse into endless, incurable anguish. + +The daylight was already waning when Pierre and Thomas, after +re-ascending the height of Montmartre, walked towards the large work-shop +which Jahan, the sculptor, had set up among the many sheds whose erection +had been necessitated by the building of the Sacred Heart. There was here +a stretch of ground littered with materials, an extraordinary chaos of +building stone, beams and machinery; and pending the time when an army of +navvies would come to set the whole place in order, one could see gaping +trenches, rough flights of descending steps and fences, imperfectly +closing doorways which conducted to the substructures of the basilica. + +Halting in front of Jahan's work-shop, Thomas pointed to one of these +doorways by which one could reach the foundation works. "Have you never +had an idea of visiting the foundations?" he inquired of Pierre. "There's +quite a city down there on which millions of money have been spent. They +could only find firm soil at the very base of the height, and they had to +excavate more than eighty shafts, fill them with concrete, and then rear +their church on all those subterranean columns. . . . Yes, that is so. Of +course the columns cannot be seen, but it is they who hold that insulting +edifice aloft, right over Paris!" + +Having drawn near to the fence, Pierre was looking at an open doorway +beyond it, a sort of dark landing whence steps descended as if into the +bowels of the earth. And he thought of those invisible columns of +concrete, and of all the stubborn energy and desire for domination which +had set and kept the edifice erect. + +Thomas was at last obliged to call him. "Let us make haste," said he, +"the twilight will soon be here. We shan't be able to see much." + +They had arranged to meet Antoine at Jahan's, as the sculptor wished to +show them a new model he had prepared. When they entered the work-shop +they found the two assistants still working at the colossal angel which +had been ordered for the basilica. Standing on a scaffolding they were +rough-hewing its symmetrical wings, whilst Jahan, seated on a low chair, +with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his hands soiled with clay, +was contemplating a figure some three feet high on which he had just been +working. + +"Ah! it's you," he exclaimed. "Antoine has been waiting more than half an +hour for you. He's gone outside with Lise to see the sun set over Paris, +I think. But they will soon be back." + +Then he relapsed into silence, with his eyes fixed on his work. + +This was a bare, erect, lofty female figure, of such august majesty, so +simple were its lines, that it suggested something gigantic. The figure's +abundant, outspread hair suggested rays around its face, which beamed +with sovereign beauty like the sun. And its only gesture was one of offer +and of greeting; its arms were thrown slightly forward, and its hands +were open for the grasp of all mankind. + +Still lingering in his dream Jahan began to speak slowly: "You remember +that I wanted a pendant for my figure of Fecundity. I had modelled a +Charity, but it pleased me so little and seemed so commonplace that I let +the clay dry and spoil. . . . And then the idea of a figure of Justice +came to me. But not a gowned figure with the sword and the scales! That +wasn't the Justice that inspired me. What haunted my mind was the other +Justice, the one that the lowly and the sufferers await, the one who +alone can some day set a little order and happiness among us. And I +pictured her like that, quite bare, quite simple, and very lofty. She is +the sun as it were, a sun all beauty, harmony and strength; for justice +is only to be found in the sun which shines in the heavens for one and +all, and bestows on poor and rich alike its magnificence and light and +warmth, which are the source of all life. And so my figure, you see, has +her hands outstretched as if she were offering herself to all mankind, +greeting it and granting it the gift of eternal life in eternal beauty. +Ah! to be beautiful and strong and just, one's whole dream lies in that." + +Jahan relighted his pipe and burst into a merry laugh. "Well, I think the +good woman carries herself upright. . . . What do you fellows say?" + +His visitors highly praised his work. Pierre for his part was much +affected at finding in this artistic conception the very idea that he had +so long been revolving in his mind--the idea of an era of Justice rising +from the ruins of the world, which Charity after centuries of trial had +failed to save. + +Then the sculptor gaily explained that he had prepared his model there +instead of at home, in order to console himself a little for his big +dummy of an angel, the prescribed triteness of which disgusted him. Some +fresh objections had been raised with respect to the folds of the robe, +which gave some prominence to the thighs, and in the end he had been +compelled to modify all of the drapery. + +"Oh! it's just as they like!" he cried; "it's no work of mine, you know; +it's simply an order which I'm executing just as a mason builds a wall. +There's no religious art left, it has been killed by stupidity and +disbelief. Ah! if social or human art could only revive, how glorious to +be one of the first to bear the tidings!" + +Then he paused. Where could the youngsters, Antoine and Lise, have got +to, he wondered. He threw the door wide open, and, a little distance +away, among the materials littering the waste ground, one could see +Antoine's tall figure and Lise's short slender form standing out against +the immensity of Paris, which was all golden amidst the sun's farewell. +The young man's strong arm supported Lise, who with this help walked +beside him without feeling any fatigue. Slender and graceful, like a girl +blossoming into womanhood, she raised her eyes to his with a smile of +infinite gratitude, which proclaimed that she belonged to him for +evermore. + +"Ah! they are coming back," said Jahan. "The miracle is now complete, you +know. I'm delighted at it. I did not know what to do with her; I had even +renounced all attempts to teach her to read; I left her for days together +in a corner, infirm and tongue-tied like a lack-wit. . . . But your +brother came and took her in hand somehow or other. She listened to him +and understood him, and began to read and write with him, and grow +intelligent and gay. Then, as her limbs still gained no suppleness, and +she remained infirm, ailing and puny, he began by carrying her here, and +then helped her to walk in such wise that she can now do so by herself. +In a few weeks' time she has positively grown and become quite charming. +Yes, I assure you, it is second birth, real creation. Just look at them!" + +Antoine and Lise were still slowly approaching. The evening breeze which +rose from the great city, where all was yet heat and sunshine, brought +them a bath of life. If the young man had chosen that spot, with its +splendid horizon, open to the full air which wafted all the germs of +life, it was doubtless because he felt that nowhere else could he instil +more vitality, more soul, more strength into her. And love had been +created by love. He had found her asleep, benumbed, without power of +motion or intellect, and he had awakened her, kindled life in her, loved +her, that he might be loved by her in return. She was his work, she was +part of himself. + +"So you no longer feel tired, little one?" said Jahan. + +She smiled divinely. "Oh! no, it's so pleasant, so beautiful, to walk +straight on like this. . . . All I desire is to go on for ever and ever +with Antoine." + +The others laughed, and Jahan exclaimed in his good-natured way: "Let us +hope that he won't take you so far. You've reached your destination now, +and I shan't be the one to prevent you from being happy." + +Antoine was already standing before the figure of Justice, to which the +falling twilight seemed to impart a quiver of life. "Oh! how divinely +simple, how divinely beautiful!" said he. + +For his own part he had lately finished a new wood engraving, which +depicted Lise holding a book in her hand, an engraving instinct with +truth and emotion, showing her awakened to intelligence and love. And +this time he had achieved his desire, making no preliminary drawing, but +tackling the block with his graver, straight away, in presence of his +model. And infinite hopefulness had come upon him, he was dreaming of +great original works in which the whole period that he belonged to would +live anew and for ever. + +Thomas now wished to return home. So they shook hands with Jahan, who, as +his day's work was over, put on his coat to take his sister back to the +Rue du Calvaire. + +"Till to-morrow, Lise," said Antoine, inclining his head to kiss her. + +She raised herself on tip-toes, and offered him her eyes, which he had +opened to life. "Till to-morrow, Antoine," said she. + +Outside, the twilight was falling. Pierre was the first to cross the +threshold, and as he did so, he saw so extraordinary a sight that for an +instant he felt stupefied. But it was certain enough: he could plainly +distinguish his brother Guillaume emerging from the gaping doorway which +conducted to the foundations of the basilica. And he saw him hastily +climb over the palings, and then pretend to be there by pure chance, as +though he had come up from the Rue Lamarck. When he accosted his two +sons, as if he were delighted to meet them, and began to say that he had +just come from Paris, Pierre asked himself if he had been dreaming. +However, an anxious glance which his brother cast at him convinced him +that he had been right. And then he not only felt ill at ease in presence +of that man whom he had never previously known to lie, but it seemed to +him that he was at last on the track of all he had feared, the formidable +mystery that he had for some time past felt brewing around him in the +little peaceful house. + +When Guillaume, his sons and his brother reached home and entered the +large workroom overlooking Paris, it was so dark that they fancied nobody +was there. + +"What! nobody in?" said Guillaume. + +But in a somewhat low, quiet voice Francois answered out of the gloom: +"Why, yes, I'm here." + +He had remained at his table, where he had worked the whole afternoon, +and as he could no longer read, he now sat in a dreamy mood with his head +resting on his hands, his eyes wandering over Paris, where night was +gradually falling. As his examination was now near at hand, he was living +in a state of severe mental strain. + +"What, you are still working there!" said his father. "Why didn't you ask +for a lamp?" + +"No, I wasn't working, I was looking at Paris," Francois slowly answered. +"It's singular how the night falls over it by degrees. The last district +that remained visible was the Montague Ste. Genevieve, the plateau of the +Pantheon, where all our knowledge and science have grown up. A sun-ray +still gilds the schools and libraries and laboratories, when the +low-lying districts of trade are already steeped in darkness. I won't say +that the planet has a particular partiality for us at the Ecole Normale, +but it's certain that its beams still linger on our roofs, when they are +to be seen nowhere else." + +He began to laugh at his jest. Still one could see how ardent was his +faith in mental effort, how entirely he gave himself to mental labour, +which, in his opinion, could alone bring truth, establish justice and +create happiness. + +Then came a short spell of silence. Paris sank more and more deeply into +the night, growing black and mysterious, till all at once sparks of light +began to appear. + +"The lamps are being lighted," resumed Francois; "work is being resumed on +all sides." + +Then Guillaume, who likewise had been dreaming, immersed in his fixed +idea, exclaimed: "Work, yes, no doubt! But for work to give a full +harvest it must be fertilised by will. There is something which is +superior to work." + +Thomas and Antoine had drawn near. And Francois, as much for them as for +himself, inquired: "What is that, father?" + +"Action." + +For a moment the three young men remained silent, impressed by the +solemnity of the hour, quivering too beneath the great waves of darkness +which rose from the vague ocean of the city. Then a young voice remarked, +though whose it was one could not tell: "Action is but work." + +And Pierre, who lacked the respectful quietude, the silent faith, of his +nephews, now felt his nervousness increasing. That huge and terrifying +mystery of which he was dimly conscious rose before him, while a great +quiver sped by in the darkness, over that black city where the lamps were +now being lighted for a whole passionate night of work. + + + +IV + +THE CRISIS + +A GREAT ceremony was to take place that day at the basilica of the Sacred +Heart. Ten thousand pilgrims were to be present there, at a solemn +consecration of the Holy Sacrament; and pending the arrival of four +o'clock, the hour fixed for the service, Montmartre would be invaded by +people. Its slopes would be black with swarming devotees, the shops where +religious emblems and pictures were sold would be besieged, the cafes and +taverns would be crowded to overflowing. It would all be like some huge +fair, and meantime the big bell of the basilica, "La Savoyarde," would be +ringing peal on peal over the holiday-making multitude. + +When Pierre entered the workroom in the morning he perceived Guillaume +and Mere-Grand alone there; and a remark which he heard the former make +caused him to stop short and listen from behind a tall-revolving +bookstand. Mere-Grand sat sewing in her usual place near the big window, +while Guillaume stood before her, speaking in a low voice. + +"Mother," said he, "everything is ready, it is for to-day." + +She let her work fall, and raised her eyes, looking very pale. "Ah!" she +said, "so you have made up your mind." + +"Yes, irrevocably. At four o'clock I shall be yonder, and it will all be +over." + +"'Tis well--you are the master." + +Silence fell, terrible silence. Guillaume's voice seemed to come from far +away, from somewhere beyond the world. It was evident that his resolution +was unshakable, that his tragic dream, his fixed idea of martyrdom, +wholly absorbed him. Mere-Grand looked at him with her pale eyes, like an +heroic woman who had grown old in relieving the sufferings of others, and +had ever shown all the abnegation and devotion of an intrepid heart, +which nothing but the idea of duty could influence. She knew Guillaume's +terrible scheme, and had helped him to regulate the pettiest details of +it; but if on the one hand, after all the iniquity she had seen and +endured, she admitted that fierce and exemplary punishment might seem +necessary, and that even the idea of purifying the world by the fire of a +volcano might be entertained, on the other hand, she believed too +strongly in the necessity of living one's life bravely to the very end, +to be able, under any circumstances, to regard death as either good or +profitable. + +"My son," she gently resumed, "I witnessed the growth of your scheme, and +it neither surprised nor angered me. I accepted it as one accepts +lightning, the very fire of the skies, something of sovereign purity and +power. And I have helped you through it all, and have taken upon myself +to act as the mouthpiece of your conscience. . . . But let me tell you +once more, one ought never to desert the cause of life." + +"It is useless to speak, mother," Guillaume replied: "I have resolved to +give my life and cannot take it back. . . . Are you now unwilling to +carry out my desires, remain here, and act as we have decided, when all +is over?" + +She did not answer this inquiry, but in her turn, speaking slowly and +gravely, put a question to him: "So it is useless for me to speak to you +of the children, myself and the house?" said she. "You have thought it +all over, you are quite determined?" And as he simply answered "Yes," she +added: "'Tis well, you are the master. . . . I will be the one who is to +remain behind and act. And you may be without fear, your bequest is in +good hands. All that we have decided together shall be done." + +Once more they became silent. Then she again inquired: "At four o'clock, +you say, at the moment of that consecration?" + +"Yes, at four o'clock." + +She was still looking at him with her pale eyes, and there seemed to be +something superhuman in her simplicity and grandeur as she sat there in +her thin black gown. Her glance, in which the greatest bravery and the +deepest sadness mingled, filled Guillaume with acute emotion. His hands +began to tremble, and he asked: "Will you let me kiss you, mother?" + +"Oh! right willingly, my son," she responded. "Your path of duty may not +be mine, but you see I respect your views and love you." + +They kissed one another, and when Pierre, whom the scene had chilled to +his heart, presented himself as if he were just arriving, Mere-Grand had +quietly taken up her needlework once more, while Guillaume was going to +and fro, setting one of his laboratory shelves in order with all his +wonted activity. + +At noon when lunch was ready, they found it necessary to wait for Thomas, +who had not yet come home. His brothers Francois and Antoine complained +in a jesting way, saying that they were dying of hunger, while for her +part Marie, who had made a _creme_, and was very proud of it, declared +that they would eat it all, and that those who came late would have to go +without tasting it. When Thomas eventually put in an appearance he was +greeted with jeers. + +"But it wasn't my fault," said he; "I stupidly came up the hill by way of +the Rue de la Barre, and you can have no notion what a crowd I fell upon. +Quite ten thousand pilgrims must have camped there last night. I am told +that as many as possible were huddled together in the St. Joseph Refuge. +The others no doubt had to sleep in the open air. And now they are busy +eating, here, there and everywhere, all over the patches of waste ground +and even on the pavements. One can scarcely set one foot before the other +without risk of treading on somebody." + +The meal proved a very gay one, though Pierre found the gaiety forced and +excessive. Yet the young people could surely know nothing of the +frightful, invisible thing which to Pierre ever seemed to be hovering +around in the bright sunlight of that splendid June day. Was it that the +dim presentiment which comes to loving hearts when mourning threatens +them, swept by during the short intervals of silence that followed the +joyous outbursts? Although Guillaume looked somewhat pale, and spoke with +unusual caressing softness, he retained his customary bright smile. But, +on the other hand, never had Mere-Grand been more silent or more grave. + +Marie's _creme_ proved a great success, and the others congratulated her +on it so fulsomely that they made her blush. Then, all at once, heavy +silence fell once more, a deathly chill seemed to sweep by, making every +face turn pale--even while they were still cleaning their plates with +their little spoons. + +"Ah! that bell," exclaimed Francois; "it is really intolerable. I can +feel my head splitting." + +He referred to "La Savoyarde," the big bell of the basilica, which had +now begun to toll, sending forth deep sonorous volumes of sound, which +ever and ever winged their flight over the immensity of Paris. In the +workroom they were all listening to the clang. + +"Will it keep on like that till four o'clock?" asked Marie. + +"Oh! at four o'clock," replied Thomas, "at the moment of the consecration +you will hear something much louder than that. The great peals of joy, +the song of triumph will then ring out." + +Guillaume was still smiling. "Yes, yes," said he, "those who don't want +to be deafened for life had better keep their windows closed. The worst +is, that Paris has to hear it whether it will or no, and even as far away +as the Pantheon, so I'm told." + +Meantime Mere-Grand remained silent and impassive. Antoine for his part +expressed his disgust with the horrible religious pictures for which the +pilgrims fought--pictures which in some respects suggested those on the +lids of sweetmeat boxes, although they depicted the Christ with His +breast ripped open and displaying His bleeding heart. There could be no +more repulsive materialism, no grosser or baser art, said Antoine. Then +they rose from table, talking at the top of their voices so as to make +themselves heard above the incessant din which came from the big bell. + +Immediately afterwards they all set to work again. Mere-Grand took her +everlasting needlework in hand once more, while Marie, sitting near her, +continued some embroidery. The young men also attended to their +respective tasks, and now and again raised their heads and exchanged a +few words. Guillaume, for his part, likewise seemed very busy; Pierre +alone coming and going in a state of anguish, beholding them all as in a +nightmare, and attributing some terrible meaning to the most innocent +remarks. During _dejeuner_, in order to explain the frightful discomfort +into which he was thrown by the gaiety of the meal, he had been obliged +to say that he felt poorly. And now he was looking and listening and +waiting with ever-growing anxiety. + +Shortly before three o'clock, Guillaume glanced at his watch and then +quietly took up his hat. "Well," said he, "I'm going out." + +His sons, Mere-Grand and Marie raised their heads. + +"I'm going out," he repeated, "_au revoir_." + +Still he did not go off. Pierre could divine that he was struggling, +stiffening himself against the frightful tempest which was raging within +him, striving to prevent either shudder or pallor from betraying his +awful secret. Ah! he must have suffered keenly; he dared not give his +sons a last kiss, for fear lest he might rouse some suspicion in their +minds, which would impel them to oppose him and prevent his death! At +last with supreme heroism he managed to overcome himself. + +"_Au revoir_, boys." + +"_Au revoir_, father. Will you be home early?" + +"Yes, yes. . . . Don't worry about me, do plenty of work." + +Mere-Grand, still majestically silent, kept her eyes fixed upon him. Her +he had ventured to kiss, and their glances met and mingled, instinct with +all that he had decided and that she had promised: their common dream of +truth and justice. + +"I say, Guillaume," exclaimed Marie gaily, "will you undertake a +commission for me if you are going down by way of the Rue des Martyrs?" + +"Why, certainly," he replied. + +"Well, then, please look in at my dressmaker's, and tell her that I +shan't go to try my gown on till to-morrow morning." + +It was a question of her wedding dress, a gown of light grey silk, the +stylishness of which she considered very amusing. Whenever she spoke of +it, both she and the others began to laugh. + +"It's understood, my dear," said Guillaume, likewise making merry over +it. "We know it's Cinderella's court robe, eh? The fairy brocade and lace +that are to make you very beautiful and for ever happy." + +However, the laughter ceased, and in the sudden silence which fell, it +again seemed as if death were passing by with a great flapping of wings +and an icy gust which chilled the hearts of everyone remaining there. + +"It's understood; so now I'm really off," resumed Guillaume. "_Au +revoir_, children." + +Then he sallied forth, without even turning round, and for a moment they +could hear the firm tread of his feet over the garden gravel. + +Pierre having invented a pretext was able to follow him a couple of +minutes afterwards. As a matter of fact there was no need for him to dog +Guillaume's heels, for he knew where his brother was going. He was +thoroughly convinced that he would find him at that doorway, conducting +to the foundations of the basilica, whence he had seen him emerge two +days before. And so he wasted no time in looking for him among the crowd +of pilgrims going to the church. His only thought was to hurry on and +reach Jahan's workshop. And in accordance with his expectation, just as +he arrived there, he perceived Guillaume slipping between the broken +palings. The crush and the confusion prevailing among the concourse of +believers favored Pierre as it had his brother, in such wise that he was +able to follow the latter and enter the doorway without being noticed. +Once there he had to pause and draw breath for a moment, so greatly did +the beating of his heart oppress him. + +A precipitous flight of steps, where all was steeped in darkness, +descended from the narrow entry. It was with infinite precaution that +Pierre ventured into the gloom, which ever grew denser and denser. He +lowered his feet gently so as to make no noise, and feeling the walls +with his hands, turned round and round as he went lower and lower into a +kind of well. However, the descent was not a very long one. As soon as he +found beaten ground beneath his feet he paused, no longer daring to stir +for fear of betraying his presence. The darkness was like ink, and there +was not a sound, a breath; the silence was complete. + +How should he find his way? he wondered. Which direction ought he to +take? He was still hesitating when some twenty paces away he suddenly saw +a bright spark, the gleam of a lucifer. Guillaume was lighting a candle. +Pierre recognised his broad shoulders, and from that moment he simply had +to follow the flickering light along a walled and vaulted subterranean +gallery. It seemed to be interminable and to run in a northerly +direction, towards the nave of the basilica. + +All at once the little light at last stopped, while Pierre, anxious to +see what would happen, continued to advance, treading as softly as he +could and remaining in the gloom. He found that Guillaume had stood his +candle upon the ground in the middle of a kind of low rotunda under the +crypt, and that he had knelt down and moved aside a long flagstone which +seemed to cover a cavity. They were here among the foundations of the +basilica; and one of the columns or piles of concrete poured into shafts +in order to support the building could be seen. The gap, which the stone +slab removed by Guillaume had covered, was by the very side of the +pillar; it was either some natural surface flaw, or a deep fissure caused +by some subsidence or settling of the soil. The heads of other pillars +could be descried around, and these the cleft seemed to be reaching, for +little slits branched out in all directions. Then, on seeing his brother +leaning forward, like one who is for the last time examining a mine he +has laid before applying a match to the fuse, Pierre suddenly understood +the whole terrifying business. Considerable quantities of the new +explosive had been brought to that spot. Guillaume had made the journey a +score of times at carefully selected hours, and all his powder had been +poured into the gap beside the pillar, spreading to the slightest rifts +below, saturating the soil at a great depth, and in this wise forming a +natural mine of incalculable force. And now the powder was flush with the +flagstone which Guillaume has just moved aside. It was only necessary to +throw a match there, and everything would be blown into the air! + +For a moment an acute chill of horror rooted Pierre to the spot. He could +neither have taken a step nor raised a cry. He pictured the swarming +throng above him, the ten thousand pilgrims crowding the lofty naves of +the basilica to witness the solemn consecration of the Host. Peal upon +peal flew from "La Savoyarde," incense smoked, and ten thousand voices +raised a hymn of magnificence and praise. And all at once came thunder +and earthquake, and a volcano opening and belching forth fire and smoke, +and swallowing up the whole church and its multitude of worshippers. +Breaking the concrete piles and rending the unsound soil, the explosion, +which was certain to be one of extraordinary violence, would doubtless +split the edifice atwain, and hurl one-half down the slopes descending +towards Paris, whilst the other on the side of the apse would crumble and +collapse upon the spot where it stood. And how fearful would be the +avalanche; a broken forest of scaffoldings, a hail of stonework, rushing +and bounding through the dust and smoke on to the roofs below; whilst the +violence of the shock would threaten the whole of Montmartre, which, it +seemed likely, must stagger and sink in one huge mass of ruins! + +However, Guillaume had again risen. The candle standing on the ground, +its flame shooting up, erect and slender, threw his huge shadow all over +the subterranean vault. Amidst the dense blackness the light looked like +some dismal stationary star. Guillaume drew near to it in order to see +what time it was by his watch. It proved to be five minutes past three. +So he had nearly another hour to wait. He was in no hurry, he wished to +carry out his design punctually, at the precise moment he had selected; +and he therefore sat down on a block of stone, and remained there without +moving, quiet and patient. The candle now cast its light upon his pale +face, upon his towering brow crowned with white hair, upon the whole of +his energetic countenance, which still looked handsome and young, thanks +to his bright eyes and dark moustaches. And not a muscle of his face +stirred; he simply gazed into the void. What thoughts could be passing +through his mind at that supreme moment? Who could tell? There was not a +quiver; heavy night, the deep eternal silence of the earth reigned all +around. + +Then Pierre, having quieted his palpitating heart, drew near. At the +sound of his footsteps Guillaume rose menacingly, but he immediately +recognised his brother, and did not seem astonished to see him. + +"Ah! it's you," he said, "you followed me. . . . I felt that you +possessed my secret. And it grieves me that you should have abused your +knowledge to join me here. You might have spared me this last sorrow." + +Pierre clasped his trembling hands, and at once tried to entreat him. +"Brother, brother," he began. + +"No, don't speak yet," said Guillaume, "if you absolutely wish it I will +listen to you by-and-by. We have nearly an hour before us, so we can +chat. But I want you to understand the futility of all you may think +needful to tell me. My resolution is unshakable; I was a long time coming +to it, and in carrying it out I shall simply be acting in accordance with +my reason and my conscience." + +Then he quietly related that having decided upon a great deed he had long +hesitated as to which edifice he should destroy. The opera-house had +momentarily tempted him, but he had reflected that there would be no +great significance in the whirlwind of anger and justice destroying a +little set of enjoyers. In fact, such a deed might savour of jealousy and +covetousness. Next he had thought of the Bourse, where he might strike a +blow at money, the great agent of corruption, and the capitalist society +in whose clutches the wage-earners groaned. Only, here again the blow +would fall upon a restricted circle. Then an idea of destroying the +Palace of Justice, particularly the assize court, had occurred to him. It +was a very tempting thought--to wreak justice upon human justice, to +sweep away the witnesses, the culprit, the public prosecutor who charges +the latter, the counsel who defends him, the judges who sentence him, and +the lounging public which comes to the spot as to the unfolding of some +sensational serial. And then too what fierce irony there would be in the +summary superior justice of the volcano swallowing up everything +indiscriminately without pausing to enter into details. However, the plan +over which he had most lingered was that of blowing up the Arc de +Triomphe. This he regarded as an odious monument which perpetuated +warfare, hatred among nations, and the false, dearly purchased, +sanguineous glory of conquerors. That colossus raised to the memory of so +much frightful slaughter which had uselessly put an end to so many human +lives, ought, he considered, to be slaughtered in its turn. Could he so +have arranged things that the earth should swallow it up, he might have +achieved the glory of causing no other death than his own, of dying +alone, struck down, crushed to pieces beneath that giant of stone. What a +tomb, and what a memory might he thus have left to the world! + +"But there was no means of approaching it," he continued, "no basement, +no cellar, so I had to give up the idea. . . . And then, although I'm +perfectly willing to die alone, I thought what a loftier and more +terrible lesson there would be in the unjust death of an innocent +multitude, of thousands of unknown people, of all those that might happen +to be passing. In the same way as human society by dint of injustice, +want and harsh regulations causes so many innocent victims, so must +punishment fall as the lightning falls, indiscriminately killing and +destroying whatever it may encounter in its course. When a man sets his +foot on an ant-hill, he gives no heed to all the lives which he stamps +out." + +Pierre, whom this theory rendered quite indignant, raised a cry of +protest: "Oh! brother, brother, is it you who are saying such things?" + +Yet, Guillaume did not pause: "If I have ended by choosing this basilica +of the Sacred Heart," he continued, "it is because I found it near at +hand and easy to destroy. But it is also because it haunts and +exasperates me, because I have long since condemned it. . . . As I have +often said to you, one cannot imagine anything more preposterous than +Paris, our great Paris, crowned and dominated by this temple raised to +the glorification of the absurd. Is it not outrageous that common sense +should receive such a smack after so many centuries of science, that Rome +should claim the right of triumphing in this insolent fashion, on our +loftiest height in the full sunlight? The priests want Paris to repent +and do penitence for its liberative work of truth and justice. But its +only right course is to sweep away all that hampers and insults it in its +march towards deliverance. And so may the temple fall with its deity of +falsehood and servitude! And may its ruins crush its worshippers, so that +like one of the old geological revolutions of the world, the catastrophe +may resound through the very entrails of mankind, and renew and change +it!" + +"Brother, brother!" again cried Pierre, quite beside himself, "is it you +who are talking? What! you, a great scientist, a man of great heart, you +have come to this! What madness is stirring you that you should think and +say such abominable things? On the evening when we confessed our secrets +one to the other, you told me of your proud and lofty dream of ideal +Anarchy. There would be free harmony in life, which left to its natural +forces would of itself create happiness. But you still rebelled against +the idea of theft and murder. You would not accept them as right or +necessary; you merely explained and excused them. What has happened then +that you, all brain and thought, should now have become the hateful hand +that acts?" + +"Salvat has been guillotined," said Guillaume simply, "and I read his +will and testament in his last glance. I am merely an executor. . . . And +what has happened, you ask? Why, all that has made me suffer for four +months past, the whole social evil which surrounds us, and which must be +brought to an end." + +Silence fell. The brothers looked at one another in the darkness. And +Pierre now understood things. He saw that Guillaume was changed, that the +terrible gust of revolutionary contagion sweeping over Paris had +transformed him. It had all come from the duality of his nature, the +presence of contradictory elements within him. On one side one found a +scientist whose whole creed lay in observation and experiment, who, in +dealing with nature, evinced the most cautious logic; while on the other +side was a social dreamer, haunted by ideas of fraternity, equality and +justice, and eager for universal happiness. Thence had first come the +theoretical anarchist that he had been, one in whom science and chimeras +were mingled, who dreamt of human society returning to the harmonious law +of the spheres, each man free, in a free association, regulated by love +alone. Neither Theophile Morin with the doctrines of Proudhon and Comte, +nor Bache with those of St. Simon and Fourier, had been able to satisfy +his desire for the absolute. All those systems had seemed to him +imperfect and chaotic, destructive of one another, and tending to the +same wretchedness of life. Janzen alone had occasionally satisfied him +with some of his curt phrases which shot over the horizon, like arrows +conquering the whole earth for the human family. And then in Guillaume's +big heart, which the idea of want, the unjust sufferings of the lowly and +the poor exasperated, Salvat's tragic adventure had suddenly found place, +fomenting supreme rebellion. For long weeks he had lived on with +trembling hands, with growing anguish clutching at his throat. First had +come that bomb and the explosion which still made him quiver, then the +vile cupidity of the newspapers howling for the poor wretch's head, then +the search for him and the hunt through the Bois de Boulogne, till he +fell into the hands of the police, covered with mud and dying of +starvation. And afterwards there had been the assize court, the judges, +the gendarmes, the witnesses, the whole of France arrayed against one man +and bent on making him pay for the universal crime. And finally, there +had come the guillotine, the monstrous, the filthy beast consummating +irreparable injustice in human justice's name. One sole idea now remained +to Guillaume, that idea of justice which maddened him, leaving naught in +his mind save the thought of the just, avenging flare by which he would +repair the evil and ensure that which was right for all time forward. +Salvat had looked at him, and contagion had done its work; he glowed with +a desire for death, a desire to give his own blood and set the blood of +others flowing, in order that mankind, amidst its fright and horror, +should decree the return of the golden age. + +Pierre understood the stubborn blindness of such insanity; and he felt +utterly upset by the fear that he should be unable to overcome it. "You +are mad, brother!" he exclaimed, "they have driven you mad! It is a gust +of violence passing; they were treated in a wrong way and too +relentlessly at the outset, and now that they are avenging one another, +it may be that blood will never cease to flow. . . . But, listen, +brother, throw off that nightmare. You can't be a Salvat who murders or a +Bergaz who steals! Remember the pillage of the Princess's house and +remember the fair-haired, pretty child whom we saw lying yonder, ripped +open. . . . You do not, you cannot belong to that set, brother--" + +With a wave of his hand, Guillaume brushed these vain reasons aside. Of +what consequence were a few lives, his own included? No change had ever +taken place in the world without millions and millions of existences +being stamped out. + +"But you had a great scheme in hand," cried Pierre, hoping to save him by +reviving his sense of duty. "It isn't allowable for you to go off like +this." + +Then he fervently strove to awaken his brother's scientific pride. He +spoke to him of his secret, of that great engine of warfare, which could +destroy armies and reduce cities to dust, and which he had intended to +offer to France, so that on emerging victorious from the approaching war, +she might afterwards become the deliverer of the world. And it was this +grand scheme that he had abandoned, preferring to employ his explosive in +killing innocent people and overthrowing a church, which would be built +afresh, whatever the cost, and become a sanctuary of martyrs! + +Guillaume smiled. "I have not relinquished my scheme," said he, "I have +simply modified it. Did I not tell you of my doubts, my anxious +perplexity? Ah! to believe that one holds the destiny of the world in +one's grasp, and to tremble and hesitate and wonder if the intelligence +and wisdom, that are needful for things to take the one wise course, will +be forthcoming! At sight of all the stains upon our great Paris, all the +errors and transgressions which we lately witnessed, I shuddered. I asked +myself if Paris were sufficiently calm and pure for one to entrust her +with omnipotence. How terrible would be the disaster if such an invention +as mine should fall into the hands of a demented nation, possibly a +dictator, some man of conquest, who would simply employ it to terrorize +other nations and reduce them to slavery. . . . Ah! no, I do not wish to +perpetuate warfare, I wish to kill it." + +Then in a clear firm voice he explained his new plan, in which Pierre was +surprised to find some of the ideas which General de Bozonnet had one day +laid before him in a very different spirit. Warfare was on the road to +extinction, threatened by its very excesses. In the old days of +mercenaries, and afterwards with conscripts, the percentage of soldiers +designated by chance, war had been a profession and a passion. But +nowadays, when everybody is called upon to fight, none care to do so. By +the logical force of things, the system of the whole nation in arms means +the coming end of armies. How much longer will the nations remain on a +footing of deadly peace, bowed down by ever increasing "estimates," +spending millions and millions on holding one another in respect? Ah! how +great the deliverance, what a cry of relief would go up on the day when +some formidable engine, capable of destroying armies and sweeping cities +away, should render war an impossibility and constrain every people to +disarm! Warfare would be dead, killed in her own turn, she who has killed +so many. This was Guillaume's dream, and he grew quite enthusiastic, so +strong was his conviction that he would presently bring it to pass. + +"Everything is settled," said he; "if I am about to die and disappear, it +is in order that my idea may triumph. . . . You have lately seen me spend +whole afternoons alone with Mere-Grand. Well, we were completing the +classification of the documents and making our final arrangements. She +has my orders, and will execute them even at the risk of her life, for +none has a braver, loftier soul. . . . As soon as I am dead, buried +beneath these stones, as soon as she has heard the explosion shake Paris +and proclaim the advent of the new era, she will forward a set of all the +documents I have confided to her--the formula of my explosive, the +drawings of the bomb and gun--to each of the great powers of the world. +In this wise I shall bestow on all the nations the terrible gift of +destruction and omnipotence which, at first, I wished to bestow on France +alone; and I do this in order that the nations, being one and all armed +with the thunderbolt, may at once disarm, for fear of being annihilated, +when seeking to annihilate others." + +Pierre listened to him, gaping, amazed at this extraordinary idea, in +which childishness was blended with genius. "Well," said he, "if you give +your secret to all the nations, why should you blow up this church, and +die yourself?" + +"Why! In order that I may be believed!" cried Guillaume with +extraordinary force of utterance. Then he added, "The edifice must lie on +the ground, and I must be under it. If the experiment is not made, if +universal horror does not attest and proclaim the amazing destructive +power of my explosive, people will consider me a mere schemer, a +visionary! . . . A lot of dead, a lot of blood, that is what is needed in +order that blood may for ever cease to flow!" Then, with a broad sweep of +his arm, he again declared that his action was necessary. "Besides," he +said, "Salvat left me the legacy of carrying out this deed of justice. If +I have given it greater scope and significance, utilising it as a means +of hastening the end of war, this is because I happen to be a man of +intellect. It would have been better possibly if my mind had been a +simple one, and if I had merely acted like some volcano which changes the +soil, leaving life the task of renewing humanity." + +Much of the candle had now burnt away, and Guillaume at last rose from +the block of stone. He had again consulted his watch, and found that he +had ten minutes left him. The little current of air created by his +gestures made the light flicker, while all around him the darkness seemed +to grow denser. And near at hand ever lay the threatening open mine which +a spark might at any moment fire. + +"It is nearly time," said Guillaume. "Come, brother, kiss me and go away. +You know how much I love you, what ardent affection for you has been +awakened in my old heart. So love me in like fashion, and find love +enough to let me die as I want to die, in carrying out my duty. Kiss me, +kiss me, and go away without turning your head." + +His deep affection for Pierre made his voice tremble, but he struggled +on, forced back his tears, and ended by conquering himself. It was as if +he were no longer of the world, no longer one of mankind. + +"No, brother, you have not convinced me," said Pierre, who on his side +did not seek to hide his tears, "and it is precisely because I love you +as you love me, with my whole being, my whole soul, that I cannot go +away. It is impossible! You cannot be the madman, the murderer you would +try to be." + +"Why not? Am I not free. I have rid my life of all responsibilities, all +ties. . . . I have brought up my sons, they have no further need of me. +But one heart-link remained--Marie, and I have given her to you." + +At this a disturbing argument occurred to Pierre, and he passionately +availed himself of it. "So you want to die because you have given me +Marie," said he. "You still love her, confess it!" + +"No!" cried Guillaume, "I no longer love her, I swear it. I gave her to +you. I love her no more." + +"So you fancied; but you can see now that you still love her, for here +you are, quite upset; whereas none of the terrifying things of which we +spoke just now could even move you. . . . Yes, if you wish to die it is +because you have lost Marie!" + +Guillaume quivered, shaken by what his brother said, and in low, broken +words he tried to question himself. "No, no, that any love pain should +have urged me to this terrible deed would be unworthy--unworthy of my +great design. No, no, I decided on it in the free exercise of my reason, +and I am accomplishing it from no personal motive, but in the name of +justice and for the benefit of humanity, in order that war and want may +cease." + +Then, in sudden anguish, he went on: "Ah! it is cruel of you, brother, +cruel of you to poison my delight at dying. I have created all the +happiness I could, I was going off well pleased at leaving you all happy, +and now you poison my death. No, no! question it how I may, my heart does +not ache; if I love Marie, it is simply in the same way as I love you." + +Nevertheless, he remained perturbed, as if fearing lest he might be lying +to himself; and by degrees gloomy anger came over him: "Listen, that is +enough, Pierre," he exclaimed, "time is flying. . . . For the last time, +go away! I order you to do so; I will have it!" + +"I will not obey you, Guillaume. . . . I will stay, and as all my +reasoning cannot save you from your insanity, fire your mine, and I will +die with you." + +"You? Die? But you have no right to do so, you are not free!" + +"Free, or not, I swear that I will die with you. And if it merely be a +question of flinging this candle into that hole, tell me so, and I will +take it and fling it there myself." + +He made a gesture at which his brother thought that he was about to carry +out his threat. So he caught him by the arm, crying: "Why should you die? +It would be absurd. That others should die may be necessary, but you, no! +Of what use could be this additional monstrosity? You are endeavouring to +soften me, you are torturing my heart!" Then all at once, imagining that +Pierre's offer had concealed another design, Guillaume thundered in a +fury: "You don't want to take the candle in order to throw it there. What +you want to do is to blow it out! And you think I shan't be able +then--ah! you bad brother!" + +In his turn Pierre exclaimed: "Oh! certainly, I'll use every means to +prevent you from accomplishing such a frightful and foolish deed!" + +"You'll prevent me!" + +"Yes, I'll cling to you, I'll fasten my arms to your shoulders, I'll hold +your hands if necessary." + +"Ah! you'll prevent me, you bad brother! You think you'll prevent me!" + +Choking and trembling with rage, Guillaume had already caught hold of +Pierre, pressing his ribs with his powerful muscular arms. They were +closely linked together, their eyes fixed upon one another, and their +breath mingling in that kind of subterranean dungeon, where their big +dancing shadows looked like ghosts. They seemed to be vanishing into the +night, the candle now showed merely like a little yellow tear in the +midst of the darkness; and at that moment, in those far depths, a quiver +sped through the silence of the earth which weighed so heavily upon them. +Distant but sonorous peals rang out, as if death itself were somewhere +ringing its invisible bell. + +"You hear," stammered Guillaume, "it's their bell up there. The time has +come. I have vowed to act, and you want to prevent me!" + +"Yes, I'll prevent you as long as I'm here alive." + +"As long as you are alive, you'll prevent me!" + +Guillaume could hear "La Savoyarde" pealing joyfully up yonder; he could +see the triumphant basilica, overflowing with its ten thousand pilgrims, +and blazing with the splendour of the Host amidst the smoke of incense; +and blind frenzy came over him at finding himself unable to act, at +finding an obstacle suddenly barring the road to his fixed idea. + +"As long as you are alive, as long as you are alive!" he repeated, beside +himself. "Well, then, die, you wretched brother!" + +A fratricidal gleam had darted from his blurred eyes. He hastily stooped, +picked up a large brick forgotten there, and raised it with both hands as +if it were a club. + +"Ah! I'm willing," cried Pierre. "Kill me, then; kill your own brother +before you kill the others!" + +The brick was already descending, but Guillaume's arms must have +deviated, for the weapon only grazed one of Pierre's shoulders. +Nevertheless, he sank upon his knees in the gloom. When Guillaume saw him +there he fancied he had dealt him a mortal blow. What was it that had +happened between them, what had he done? For a moment he remained +standing, haggard, his mouth open, his eyes dilating with terror. He +looked at his hands, fancying that blood was streaming from them. Then he +pressed them to his brow, which seemed to be bursting with pain, as if +his fixed idea had been torn from him, leaving his skull open. And he +himself suddenly sank upon the ground with a great sob. + +"Oh! brother, little brother, what have I done?" he called. "I am a +monster!" + +But Pierre had passionately caught him in his arms again. "It is nothing, +nothing, brother, I assure you," he replied. "Ah! you are weeping now. +How pleased I am! You are saved, I can feel it, since you are weeping. +And what a good thing it is that you flew into such a passion, for your +anger with me has dispelled your evil dream of violence." + +"I am horrified with myself," gasped Guillaume, "to think that I wanted +to kill you! Yes, I'm a brute beast that would kill his brother! And the +others, too, all the others up yonder. . . . Oh! I'm cold, I feel so +cold." + +His teeth were chattering, and he shivered. It was as if he had awakened, +half stupefied, from some evil dream. And in the new light which his +fratricidal deed cast upon things, the scheme which had haunted him and +goaded him to madness appeared like some act of criminal folly, projected +by another. + +"To kill you!" he repeated almost in a whisper. "I shall never forgive +myself. My life is ended, I shall never find courage enough to live." + +But Pierre clasped him yet more tightly. "What do you say?" he answered. +"Will there not rather be a fresh and stronger tie of affection between +us? Ah! yes, brother, let me save you as you saved me, and we shall be +yet more closely united! Don't you remember that evening at Neuilly, when +you consoled me and held me to your heart as I am holding you to mine? I +had confessed my torments to you, and you told me that I must live and +love! . . . And you did far more afterwards: you plucked your own love +from your breast and gave it to me. You wished to ensure my happiness at +the price of your own! And how delightful it is that, in my turn, I now +have an opportunity to console you, save you, and bring you back to +life!" + +"No, no, the bloodstain is there and it is ineffaceable. I can hope no +more!" + +"Yes, yes, you can. Hope in life as you bade me do! Hope in love and hope +in labour!" + +Still weeping and clasping one another, the brothers continued speaking +in low voices. The expiring candle suddenly went out unknown to them, and +in the inky night and deep silence their tears of redeeming affection +flowed freely. On the one hand, there was joy at being able to repay a +debt of brotherliness, and on the other, acute emotion at having been led +by a fanatical love of justice and mankind to the very verge of crime. +And there were yet other things in the depths of those tears which +cleansed and purified them; there were protests against suffering in +every form, and ardent wishes that the world might some day be relieved +of all its dreadful woe. + +At last, after pushing the flagstone over the cavity near the pillar, +Pierre groped his way out of the vault, leading Guillaume like a child. + +Meantime Mere-Grand, still seated near the window of the workroom, had +impassively continued sewing. Now and again, pending the arrival of four +o'clock, she had looked up at the timepiece hanging on the wall on her +left hand, or else had glanced out of the window towards the unfinished +pile of the basilica, which a gigantic framework of scaffoldings +encompassed. Slowly and steadily plying her needle, the old lady remained +very pale and silent, but full of heroic serenity. On the other hand, +Marie, who sat near her, embroidering, shifted her position a score of +times, broke her thread, and grew impatient, feeling strangely nervous, a +prey to unaccountable anxiety, which oppressed her heart. For their part, +the three young men could not keep in place at all; it was as if some +contagious fever disturbed them. Each had gone to his work: Thomas was +filing something at his bench; Francois and Antoine were on either side +of their table, the first trying to solve a mathematical problem, and the +other copying a bunch of poppies in a vase before him. It was in vain, +however, that they strove to be attentive. They quivered at the slightest +sound, raised their heads, and darted questioning glances at one another. +What could be the matter? What could possess them? What did they fear? +Now and again one or the other would rise, stretch himself, and then, +resume his place. However, they did not speak; it was as if they dared +not say anything, and thus the heavy silence grew more and more terrible. + +When it was a few minutes to four o'clock Mere-Grand felt weary, or else +desired to collect her thoughts. After another glance at the timepiece, +she let her needlework fall on her lap and turned towards the basilica. +It seemed to her that she had only enough strength left to wait; and she +remained with her eyes fixed on the huge walls and the forest of +scaffolding which rose over yonder with such triumphant pride under the +blue sky. Then all at once, however brave and firm she might be, she +could not restrain a start, for "La Savoyarde" had raised a joyful clang. +The consecration of the Host was now at hand, the ten thousand pilgrims +filled the church, four o'clock was about to strike. And thereupon an +irresistible impulse forced the old lady to her feet; she drew herself +up, quivering, her hands clasped, her eyes ever turned yonder, waiting in +mute dread. + +"What is the matter?" cried Thomas, who noticed her. "Why are you +trembling, Mere-Grand?" + +Francois and Antoine raised their heads, and in turn sprang forward. + +"Are you ill? Why are you turning so pale, you who are so courageous?" + +But she did not answer. Ah! might the force of the explosion rend the +earth asunder, reach the house and sweep it into the flaming crater of +the volcano! Might she and the three young men, might they all die with +the father, this was her one ardent wish in order that grief might be +spared them. And she remained waiting and waiting, quivering despite +herself, but with her brave, clear eyes ever gazing yonder. + +"Mere-Grand, Mere-Grand!" cried Marie in dismay; "you frighten us by +refusing to answer us, by looking over there as if some misfortune were +coming up at a gallop!" + +Then, prompted by the same anguish, the same cry suddenly came from +Thomas, Francois and Antoine: "Father is in peril--father is going to +die!" + +What did they know? Nothing precise, certainly. Thomas no doubt had been +astonished to see what a large quantity of the explosive his father had +recently prepared, and both Francois and Antoine were aware of the ideas +of revolt which he harboured in his mind. But, full of filial deference, +they never sought to know anything beyond what he might choose to confide +to them. They never questioned him; they bowed to whatever he might do. +And yet now a foreboding came to them, a conviction that their father was +going to die, that some most frightful catastrophe was impending. It must +have been that which had already sent such a quiver through the +atmosphere ever since the morning, making them shiver with fever, feel +ill at ease, and unable to work. + +"Father is going to die, father is going to die!" + +The three big fellows had drawn close together, distracted by one and the +same anguish, and furiously longing to know what the danger was, in order +that they might rush upon it and die with their father if they could not +save him. And amidst Mere-Grand's stubborn silence death once more +flitted through the room: there came a cold gust such as they had already +felt brushing past them during _dejeuner_. + +At last four o'clock began to strike, and Mere-Grand raised her white +hands with a gesture of supreme entreaty. It was then that she at last +spoke: "Father is going to die. Nothing but the duty of living can save +him." + +At this the three young men again wished to rush yonder, whither they +knew not; but they felt that they must throw down all obstacles and +conquer. Their powerlessness rent their hearts, they were both so frantic +and so woeful that their grandmother strove to calm them. "Father's own +wish was to die," said she, "and he is resolved to die alone." + +They shuddered as they heard her, and then, on their side, strove to be +heroic. But the minutes crept by, and it seemed as if the cold gust had +slowly passed away. Sometimes, at the twilight hour, a night-bird will +come in by the window like some messenger of misfortune, flit round the +darkened room, and then fly off again, carrying its sadness with it. And +it was much like that; the gust passed, the basilica remained standing, +the earth did not open to swallow it. Little by little the atrocious +anguish which wrung their hearts gave place to hope. And when at last +Guillaume appeared, followed by Pierre, a great cry of resurrection came +from one and all: "Father!" + +Their kisses, their tears, deprived him of his little remaining strength. +He was obliged to sit down. He had glanced round him as if he were +returning to life perforce. Mere-Grand, who understood what bitter +feelings must have followed the subjugation of his will, approached him +smiling, and took hold of both his hands as if to tell him that she was +well pleased at seeing him again, and at finding that he accepted his +task and was unwilling to desert the cause of life. For his part he +suffered dreadfully, the shock had been so great. The others spared him +any narrative of their feelings; and he, himself, related nothing. With a +gesture, a loving word, he simply indicated that it was Pierre who had +saved him. + +Thereupon, in a corner of the room, Marie flung her arms round the young +man's neck. "Ah! my good Pierre, I have never yet kissed you," said she; +"I want it to be for something serious the first time. . . . I love you, +my good Pierre, I love you with all my heart." + +Later that same evening, after night had fallen, Guillaume and Pierre +remained for a moment alone in the big workroom. The young men had gone +out, and Mere-Grand and Marie were upstairs sorting some house linen, +while Madame Mathis, who had brought some work back, sat patiently in a +dim corner waiting for another bundle of things which might require +mending. The brothers, steeped in the soft melancholy of the twilight +hour, and chatting in low tones, had quite forgotten her. + +But all at once the arrival of a visitor upset them. It was Janzen with +the fair, Christ-like face. He called very seldom nowadays; and one never +knew from what gloomy spot he had come or into what darkness he would +return when he took his departure. He disappeared, indeed, for months +together, and was then suddenly to be seen like some momentary passer-by +whose past and present life were alike unknown. + +"I am leaving to-night," he said in a voice sharp like a knife. + +"Are you going back to your home in Russia?" asked Guillaume. + +A faint, disdainful smile appeared on the Anarchist's lips. "Home!" said +he, "I am at home everywhere. To begin with, I am not a Russian, and then +I recognise no other country than the world." + +With a sweeping gesture he gave them to understand what manner of man he +was, one who had no fatherland of his own, but carried his gory dream of +fraternity hither and thither regardless of frontiers. From some words he +spoke the brothers fancied he was returning to Spain, where some +fellow-Anarchists awaited him. There was a deal of work to be done there, +it appeared. He had quietly seated himself, chatting on in his cold way, +when all at once he serenely added: "By the by, a bomb had just been +thrown into the Cafe de l'Univers on the Boulevard. Three _bourgeois_ +were killed." + +Pierre and Guillaume shuddered, and asked for particulars. Thereupon +Janzen related that he had happened to be there, had heard the explosion, +and seen the windows of the cafe shivered to atoms. Three customers were +lying on the floor blown to pieces. Two of them were gentlemen, who had +entered the place by chance and whose names were not known, while the +third was a regular customer, a petty cit of the neighbourhood, who came +every day to play a game at dominoes. And the whole place was wrecked; +the marble tables were broken, the chandeliers twisted out of shape, the +mirrors studded with projectiles. And how great the terror and the +indignation, and how frantic the rush of the crowd! The perpetrator of +the deed had been arrested immediately--in fact, just as he was turning +the corner of the Rue Caumartin. + +"I thought I would come and tell you of it," concluded Janzen; "it is +well you should know it." + +Then as Pierre, shuddering and already suspecting the truth, asked him if +he knew who the man was that had been arrested, he slowly replied: "The +worry is that you happen to know him--it was little Victor Mathis." + +Pierre tried to silence Janzen too late. He had suddenly remembered that +Victor's mother had been sitting in a dark corner behind them a short +time previously. Was she still there? Then he again pictured Victor, +slight and almost beardless, with a straight, stubborn brow, grey eyes +glittering with intelligence, a pointed nose and thin lips expressive of +stern will and unforgiving hatred. He was no simple and lowly one from +the ranks of the disinherited. He was an educated scion of the +_bourgeoisie_, and but for circumstances would have entered the Ecole +Normale. There was no excuse for his abominable deed, there was no +political passion, no humanitarian insanity, in it. He was the destroyer +pure and simple, the theoretician of destruction, the cold energetic man +of intellect who gave his cultivated mind to arguing the cause of murder, +in his desire to make murder an instrument of the social evolution. True, +he was also a poet, a visionary, but the most frightful of all +visionaries: a monster whose nature could only be explained by mad pride, +and who craved for the most awful immortality, dreaming that the coming +dawn would rise from the arms of the guillotine. Only one thing could +surpass him: the scythe of death which blindly mows the world. + +For a few seconds, amidst the growing darkness, cold horror reigned in +the workroom. "Ah!" muttered Guillaume, "he had the daring to do it, he +had." + +Pierre, however, lovingly pressed his arm. And he felt that he was as +distracted, as upset, as himself. Perhaps this last abomination had been +needed to ravage and cure him. + +Janzen no doubt had been an accomplice in the deed. He was relating that +Victor's purpose had been to avenge Salvat, when all at once a great sigh +of pain was heard in the darkness, followed by a heavy thud upon the +floor. It was Madame Mathis falling like a bundle, overwhelmed by the +news which chance had brought her. At that moment it so happened that +Mere-Grand came down with a lamp, which lighted up the room, and +thereupon they hurried to the help of the wretched woman, who lay there +as pale as a corpse in her flimsy black gown. + +And this again brought Pierre an indescribable heart-pang. Ah! the poor, +sad, suffering creature! He remembered her at Abbe Rose's, so discreet, +so shamefaced, in her poverty, scarce able to live upon the slender +resources which persistent misfortunes had left her. Hers had indeed been +a cruel lot: first, a home with wealthy parents in the provinces, a love +story and elopement with the man of her choice; next, ill-luck steadily +pursuing her, all sorts of home troubles, and at last her husband's +death. Then, in the retirement of her widowhood, after losing the best +part of the little income which had enabled her to bring up her son, +naught but this son had been left to her. He had been her Victor, her +sole affection, the only one in whom she had faith. She had ever striven +to believe that he was very busy, absorbed in work, and on the eve of +attaining to some superb position worthy of his merits. And now, all at +once, she had learnt that this fondly loved son was simply the most +odious of assassins, that he had flung a bomb into a cafe, and had there +killed three men. + +When Madame Mathis had recovered her senses, thanks to the careful +tending of Mere-Grand, she sobbed on without cessation, raising such a +continuous doleful wail, that Pierre's hand again sought Guillaume's, and +grasped it, whilst their hearts, distracted but healed, mingled lovingly +one with the other. + + + +V + +LIFE'S WORK AND PROMISE + +FIFTEEN months later, one fine golden day in September, Bache and +Theophile Morin were taking _dejeuner_ at Guillaume's, in the big +workroom overlooking the immensity of Paris. + +Near the table was a cradle with its little curtains drawn. Behind them +slept Jean, a fine boy four months old, the son of Pierre and Marie. The +latter, simply in order to protect the child's social rights, had been +married civilly at the town-hall of Montmartre. Then, by way of pleasing +Guillaume, who wished to keep them with him, and thus enlarge the family +circle, they had continued living in the little lodging over the +work-shop, leaving the sleepy house at Neuilly in the charge of Sophie, +Pierre's old servant. And life had been flowing on happily for the +fourteen months or so that they had now belonged to one another. + +There was simply peace, affection and work around the young couple. +Francois, who had left the Ecole Normale provided with every degree, +every diploma, was now about to start for a college in the west of +France, so as to serve his term of probation as a professor, intending to +resign his post afterwards and devote himself, if he pleased, to science +pure and simple. Then Antoine had lately achieved great success with a +series of engravings he had executed--some views and scenes of Paris +life; and it was settled that he was to marry Lise Jahan in the ensuing +spring, when she would have completed her seventeenth year. Of the three +sons, however, Thomas was the most triumphant, for he had at last devised +and constructed his little motor, thanks to a happy idea of his father's. +One morning, after the downfall of all his huge chimerical schemes, +Guillaume, remembering the terrible explosive which he had discovered and +hitherto failed to utilise, had suddenly thought of employing it as a +motive force, in the place of petroleum, in the motor which his eldest +son had so long been trying to construct for the Grandidier works. So he +had set to work with Thomas, devising a new mechanism, encountering +endless difficulties, and labouring for a whole year before reaching +success. But now the father and son had accomplished their task; the +marvel was created, and stood there riveted to an oak stand, and ready to +work as soon as its final toilet should have been performed. + +Amidst all the changes which had occurred, Mere-Grand, in spite of her +great age, continued exercising her active, silent sway over the +household, which was now again so gay and peaceful. Though she seldom +seemed to leave her chair in front of her work-table, she was really +here, there and everywhere. Since the birth of Jean, she had talked of +rearing the child in the same way as she had formerly reared Thomas, +Francois and Antoine. She was indeed full of the bravery of devotion, and +seemed to think that she was not at all likely to die so long as she +might have others to guide, love and save. Marie marvelled at it all. She +herself, though she was always gay and in good health, felt tired at +times now that she was suckling her infant. Little Jean indeed had two +vigilant mothers near his cradle; whilst his father, Pierre, who had +become Thomas's assistant, pulled the bellows, roughened out pieces of +metal, and generally completed his apprenticeship as a working +mechanician. + +On the particular day when Bache and Theophile Morin came to Montmartre, +the _dejeuner_ proved even gayer than usual, thanks perhaps to their +presence. The meal was over, the table had been cleared, and the coffee +was being served, when a little boy, the son of a doorkeeper in the Rue +Cortot, came to ask for Monsieur Pierre Froment. When they inquired his +business, he answered in a hesitating way that Monsieur l'Abbe Rose was +very ill, indeed dying, and that he had sent him to fetch Monsieur Pierre +Froment at once. + +Pierre followed the lad, feeling much affected; and on reaching the Rue +Cortot he there found Abbe Rose in a little damp ground-floor room +overlooking a strip of garden. The old priest was in bed, dying as the +boy had said, but he still retained the use of his faculties, and could +speak in his wonted slow and gentle voice. A Sister of Charity was +watching beside him, and she seemed so surprised and anxious at the +arrival of a visitor whom she did not know, that Pierre understood she +was there to guard the dying man and prevent him from having intercourse +with others. The old priest must have employed some stratagem in order to +send the doorkeeper's boy to fetch him. However, when Abbe Rose in his +grave and kindly way begged the Sister to leave them alone for a moment, +she dared not refuse this supreme request, but immediately left the room. + +"Ah! my dear child," said the old man, "how much I wanted to speak to +you! Sit down there, close to the bed, so that you may be able to hear +me, for this is the end; I shall no longer be here to-night. And I have +such a great service to ask of you." + +Quite upset at finding his friend so wasted, with his face white like a +sheet, and scarce a sign of life save the sparkle of his innocent, loving +eyes, Pierre responded: "But I would have come sooner if I had known you +were in need of me! Why did you not send for me before? Are people being +kept away from you?" + +A faint smile of shame and confession appeared on the old priest's +embarrassed face. "Well, my dear child," said he, "you must know that I +have again done some foolish things. Yes, I gave money to some people +who, it seems, were not deserving of it. In fact, there was quite a +scandal; they scolded me at the Archbishop's palace, and accused me of +compromising the interests of religion. And when they heard that I was +ill, they put that good Sister beside me, because they said that I should +die on the floor, and give the very sheets off my bed if I were not +prevented." + +He paused to draw breath, and then continued: "So you understand, that +good Sister--oh! she is a very saintly woman--is here to nurse me and +prevent me from still doing foolish things. To overcome her vigilance I +had to use a little deceit, for which God, I trust, will forgive me. As +it happens, it's precisely my poor who are in question; it was to speak +to you about them that I so particularly wished to see you." + +Tears had come to Pierre's eyes. "Tell me what you want me to do," he +answered; "I am yours, both heart and soul." + +"Yes, yes, I know it, my dear child. It was for that reason that I +thought of you--you alone. In spite of all that has happened, you are the +only one in whom I have any confidence, who can understand me, and give +me a promise which will enable me to die in peace." + +This was the only allusion he would venture to make to the cruel rupture +which had occurred after the young man had thrown off his cassock and +rebelled against the Church. He had since heard of Pierre's marriage, and +was aware that he had for ever severed all religious ties. But at that +supreme moment nothing of this seemed of any account to the old priest. +His knowledge of Pierre's loving heart sufficed him, for all that he now +desired was simply the help of that heart which he had seen glowing with +such passionate charity. + +"Well," he resumed, again finding sufficient strength to smile, "it is a +very simple matter. I want to make you my heir. Oh! it isn't a fine +legacy I am leaving you; it is the legacy of my poor, for I have nothing +else to bestow on you; I shall leave nothing behind me but my poor." + +Of these unhappy creatures, three in particular quite upset his heart. He +recoiled from the prospect of leaving them without chance of succour, +without even the crumbs which he had hitherto distributed among them, and +which had enabled them to live. One was the big Old'un, the aged +carpenter whom he and Pierre had vainly sought one night with the object +of sending him to the Asylum for the Invalids of Labour. He had been sent +there a little later, but he had fled three days afterwards, unwilling as +he was to submit to the regulations. Wild and violent, he had the most +detestable disposition. Nevertheless, he could not be left to starve. He +came to Abbe Rose's every Saturday, it seemed, and received a franc, +which sufficed him for the whole week. Then, too, there was a bedridden +old woman in a hovel in the Rue du Mont-Cenis. The baker, who every +morning took her the bread she needed, must be paid. And in particular +there was a poor young woman residing on the Place du Tertre, one who was +unmarried but a mother. She was dying of consumption, unable to work, and +tortured by the idea that when she should have gone, her daughter must +sink to the pavement like herself. And in this instance the legacy was +twofold: there was the mother to relieve until her death, which was near +at hand, and then the daughter to provide for until she could be placed +in some good household. + +"You must forgive me, my dear child, for leaving you all these worries," +added Abbe Rose. "I tried to get the good Sister, who is nursing me, to +take an interest in these poor people, but when I spoke to her of the big +Old'un, she was so alarmed that she made the sign of the cross. And it's +the same with my worthy friend Abbe Tavernier. I know nobody of more +upright mind. Still I shouldn't be at ease with him, he has ideas of his +own. . . . And so, my dear child, there is only you whom I can rely upon, +and you must accept my legacy if you wish me to depart in peace." + +Pierre was weeping. "Ah! certainly, with my whole soul," he answered. "I +shall regard your desires as sacred." + +"Good! I knew you would accept. . . . So it is agreed: a franc for the +big Old'un every Saturday, the bread for the bedridden woman, some help +for the poor young mother, and then a home for her little girl. Ah! if +you only knew what a weight it is off my heart! The end may come now, it +will be welcome to me." + +His kind white face had brightened as if with supreme joy. Holding +Pierre's hand within his own he detained him beside the bed, exchanging a +farewell full of serene affection. And his voice weakening, he expressed +his whole mind in faint, impressive accents: "Yes, I shall be pleased to +go off. I could do no more, I could do no more! Though I gave and gave, I +felt that it was ever necessary to give more and more. And how sad to +find charity powerless, to give without hope of ever being able to stamp +out want and suffering! I rebelled against that idea of yours, as you +will remember. I told you that we should always love one another in our +poor, and that was true, since you are here, so good and affectionate to +me and those whom I am leaving behind. But, all the same, I can do no +more, I can do no more; and I would rather go off, since the woes of +others rise higher and higher around me, and I have ended by doing the +most foolish things, scandalising the faithful and making my superiors +indignant with me, without even saving one single poor person from the +ever-growing torrent of want. Farewell, my dear child. My poor old heart +goes off aching, my old hands are weary and conquered." + +Pierre embraced him with his whole soul, and then departed. His eyes were +full of tears and indescribable emotion wrung his heart. Never had he +heard a more woeful cry than that confession of the impotence of charity, +on the part of that old candid child, whose heart was all simplicity and +sublime benevolence. Ah! what a disaster, that human kindness should be +futile, that the world should always display so much distress and +suffering in spite of all the compassionate tears that had been shed, in +spite of all the alms that had fallen from millions and millions of hands +for centuries and centuries! No wonder that it should bring desire for +death, no wonder that a Christian should feel pleased at escaping from +the abominations of this earth! + +When Pierre again reached the workroom he found that the table had long +since been cleared, and that Bache and Morin were chatting with +Guillaume, whilst the latter's sons had returned to their customary +occupations. Marie, also, had resumed her usual place at the work-table +in front of Mere-Grand; but from time to time she rose and went to look +at Jean, so as to make sure that he was sleeping peacefully, with his +little clenched fists pressed to his heart. And when Pierre, who kept his +emotion to himself, had likewise leant over the cradle beside the young +woman, whose hair he discreetly kissed, he went to put on an apron in +order that he might assist Thomas, who was now, for the last time, +regulating his motor. + +Then, as Pierre stood there awaiting an opportunity to help, the room +vanished from before his eyes; he ceased to see or hear the persons who +were there. The scent of Marie's hair alone lingered on his lips amidst +the acute emotion into which he had been thrown by his visit to Abbe +Rose. A recollection had come to him, that of the bitterly cold morning +when the old priest had stopped him outside the basilica of the Sacred +Heart, and had timidly asked him to take some alms to that old man +Laveuve, who soon afterwards had died of want, like a dog by the wayside. +How sad a morning it had been; what battle and torture had Pierre not +felt within him, and what a resurrection had come afterwards! He had that +day said one of his last masses, and he recalled with a shudder his +abominable anguish, his despairing doubts at the thought of nothingness. +Two experiments which he had previously made had failed most miserably. +First had come one at Lourdes, where the glorification of the absurd had +simply filled him with pity for any such attempt to revert to the +primitive faith of young nations, who bend beneath the terror born of +ignorance; and, secondly, there had been an experiment at Rome, which he +had found incapable of any renewal, and which he had seen staggering to +its death amidst its ruins, a mere great shadow, which would soon be of +no account, fast sinking, as it was, to the dust of dead religions. And, +in his own mind, Charity itself had become bankrupt; he no longer +believed that alms could cure the sufferings of mankind, he awaited +naught but a frightful catastrophe, fire and massacre, which would sweep +away the guilty, condemned world. His cassock, too, stifled him, a lie +alone kept it on his shoulders, the idea, unbelieving priest though he +was, that he could honestly and chastely watch over the belief of others. +The problem of a new religion, a new hope, such as was needful to ensure +the peace of the coming democracies tortured him, but between the +certainties of science and the need of the Divine, which seemed to +consume humanity, he could find no solution. If Christianity crumbled +with the principle of Charity, there could remain nothing else but +Justice, that cry which came from every breast, that battle of Justice +against Charity in which his heart must contend in that great city of +Paris. It was there that began his third and decisive experiment, the +experiment which was to make truth as plain to him as the sun itself, and +give him back health and strength and delight in life. + +At this point of his reverie Pierre was roused by Thomas, who asked him +to fetch a tool. As he did so he heard Bache remarking: "The ministry +resigned this morning. Vignon has had enough of it, he wants to reserve +his remaining strength." + +"Well, he has lasted more than a twelvemonth," replied Morin. "That's +already an achievement." + +After the crime of Victor Mathis, who had been tried and executed within +three weeks, Monferrand had suddenly fallen from power. What was the use +of having a strong-handed man at the head of the Government if bombs +still continued to terrify the country? Moreover, he had displeased the +Chamber by his voracious appetite, which had prevented him from allowing +others more than an infinitesimal share of all the good things. And this +time he had been succeeded by Vignon, although the latter's programme of +reforms had long made people tremble. He, Vignon, was honest certainly, +but of all these reforms he had only been able to carry out a few +insignificant ones, for he had found himself hampered by a thousand +obstacles. And thus he had resigned himself to ruling the country as +others had done; and people had discovered that after all there were but +faint shades of difference between him and Monferrand. + +"You know that Monferrand is being spoken of again?" said Guillaume. + +"Yes, and he has some chance of success. His creatures are bestirring +themselves tremendously," replied Bache, adding, in a bitter, jesting +way, that Mege, the Collectivist leader, played the part of a dupe in +overthrowing ministry after ministry. He simply gratified the ambition of +each coterie in turn, without any possible chance of attaining to power +himself. + +Thereupon Guillaume pronounced judgment. "Oh! well, let them devour one +another," said he. "Eager as they all are to reign and dispose of power +and wealth, they only fight over questions of persons. And nothing they +do can prevent the evolution from continuing. Ideas expand, and events +occur, and, over and above everything else, mankind is marching on." + +Pierre was greatly struck by these words, and he again recalled the past. +His dolorous Parisian experiment had begun, and he was once more roaming +through the city. Paris seemed to him to be a huge vat, in which a world +fermented, something of the best and something of the worst, a frightful +mixture such as sorceresses might have used; precious powders mingled +with filth, from all of which was to come the philter of love and eternal +youth. And in that vat Pierre first marked the scum of the political +world: Monferrand who strangled Barroux, who purchased the support of +hungry ones such as Fonsegue, Duthil and Chaigneux, who made use of those +who attained to mediocrity, such as Taboureau and Dauvergne; and who +employed even the sectarian passions of Mege and the intelligent ambition +of Vignon as his weapons. Next came money the poisoner, with that affair +of the African Railways, which had rotted the Parliament and turned +Duvillard, the triumphant _bourgeois_, into a public perverter, the very +cancer as it were of the financial world. Then as a just consequence of +all this there was Duvillard's own home infected by himself, that +frightful drama of Eve contending with her daughter Camille for the +possession of Gerard, then Camille stealing him from her mother, and +Hyacinthe, the son, passing his crazy mistress Rosemonde on to that +notorious harlot Silviane, with whom his father publicly exhibited +himself. Then there was the old expiring aristocracy, with the pale, sad +faces of Madame de Quinsac and the Marquis de Morigny; the old military +spirit whose funeral was conducted by General de Bozonnet; the magistracy +which slavishly served the powers of the day, Amadieu thrusting himself +into notoriety by means of sensational cases, Lehmann, the public +prosecutor, preparing his speeches in the private room of the Minister +whose policy he defended; and, finally, the mendacious and cupid Press +which lived upon scandal, the everlasting flood of denunciation and filth +which poured from Sagnier, and the gay impudence shown by the +unscrupulous and conscienceless Massot, who attacked all and defended +all, by profession and to order! And in the same way as insects, on +discovering one of their own kind dying, will often finish it off and +fatten upon it, so the whole swarm of appetites, interests and passions +had fallen upon a wretched madman, that unhappy Salvat, whose idiotic +crime had brought them all scrambling together, gluttonously eager to +derive some benefit from that starveling's emaciated carcass. And all +boiled in the huge vat of Paris; the desires, the deeds of violence, the +strivings of one and another man's will, the whole nameless medley of the +bitterest ferments, whence, in all purity, the wine of the future would +at last flow. + +Then Pierre became conscious of the prodigious work which went on in the +depths of the vat, beneath all the impurity and waste. As his brother had +just said, what mattered the stains, the egotism and greed of +politicians, if humanity were still on the march, ever slowly and +stubbornly stepping forward! What mattered, too, that corrupt and +emasculate _bourgeoisie_, nowadays as moribund as the aristocracy, whose +place it took, if behind it there ever came the inexhaustible reserve of +men who surged up from the masses of the country-sides and the towns! +What mattered the debauchery, the perversion arising from excess of +wealth and power, the luxuriousness and dissoluteness of life, since it +seemed a proven fact that the capitals that had been queens of the world +had never reigned without extreme civilisation, a cult of beauty and of +pleasure! And what mattered even the venality, the transgressions and the +folly of the press, if at the same time it remained an admirable +instrument for the diffusion of knowledge, the open conscience, so to +say, of the nation, a river which, though there might be horrors on its +surface, none the less flowed on, carrying all nations to the brotherly +ocean of the future centuries! The human lees ended by sinking to the +bottom of the vat, and it was not possible to expect that what was right +would triumph visibly every day; for it was often necessary that years +should elapse before the realisation of some hope could emerge from the +fermentation. Eternal matter is ever being cast afresh into the crucible +and ever coming from it improved. And if in the depths of pestilential +workshops and factories the slavery of ancient times subsists in the +wage-earning system, if such men as Toussaint still die of want on their +pallets like broken-down beasts of burden, it is nevertheless a fact that +once already, on a memorable day of tempest, Liberty sprang forth from +the vat to wing her flight throughout the world. And why in her turn +should not Justice spring from it, proceeding from those troubled +elements, freeing herself from all dross, flowing forth with dazzling +limpidity and regenerating the nations? + +However, the voices of Bache and Morin, rising in the course of their +chat with Guillaume, once more drew Pierre from his reverie. They were +now speaking of Janzen, who after being compromised in a fresh outrage at +Barcelona had fled from Spain. Bache fancied that he had recognised him +in the street only the previous day. To think that a man with so clear a +mind and such keen energy should waste his natural gifts in such a +hateful cause! + +"When I remember," said Morin slowly, "that Barthes lives in exile in a +shabby little room at Brussels, ever quivering with the hope that the +reign of liberty is at hand--he who has never had a drop of blood on his +hands and who has spent two-thirds of his life in prison in order that +the nations may be freed!" + +Bache gently shrugged his shoulders: "Liberty, liberty, of course," said +he; "only it is worth nothing if it is not organised." + +Thereupon their everlasting discussion began afresh, with Saint-Simon and +Fourier on one side and Proudhon and Auguste Comte on the other. Bache +gave a long account of the last commemoration which had taken place in +honour of Fourier's memory, how faithful disciples had brought wreaths +and made speeches, forming quite a meeting of apostles, who all +stubbornly clung to their faith, as confident in the future as if they +were the messengers of some new gospel. Afterwards Morin emptied his +pockets, which were always full of Positivist tracts and pamphlets, +manifestos, answers and so forth, in which Comte's doctrines were +extolled as furnishing the only possible basis for the new, awaited +religion. Pierre, who listened, thereupon remembered the disputes in his +little house at Neuilly when he himself, searching for certainty, had +endeavoured to draw up the century's balance-sheet. He had lost his +depth, in the end, amidst the contradictions and incoherency of the +various precursors. Although Fourier had sprung from Saint-Simon, he +denied him in part, and if Saint-Simon's doctrine ended in a kind of +mystical sensuality, the other's conducted to an inacceptable regimenting +of society. Proudhon, for his part, demolished without rebuilding +anything. Comte, who created method and declared science to be the one +and only sovereign, had not even suspected the advent of the social +crisis which now threatened to sweep all away, and had finished +personally as a mere worshipper of love, overpowered by woman. +Nevertheless, these two, Comte and Proudhon, entered the lists and fought +against the others, Fourier and Saint-Simon; the combat between them or +their disciples becoming so bitter and so blind that the truths common to +them all at first seemed obscured and disfigured beyond recognition. Now, +however, that evolution had slowly transformed Pierre, those common +truths seemed to him as irrefutable, as clear as the sunlight itself. +Amidst the chaos of conflicting assertions which was to be found in the +gospels of those social messiahs, there were certain similar phrases and +principles which recurred again and again, the defence of the poor, the +idea of a new and just division of the riches of the world in accordance +with individual labour and merit, and particularly the search for a new +law of labour which would enable this fresh distribution to be made +equitably. Since all the precursory men of genius agreed so closely upon +those points, must they not be the very foundations of to-morrow's new +religion, the necessary faith which this century must bequeath to the +coming century, in order that the latter may make of it a human religion +of peace, solidarity and love? + +Then, all at once, there came a leap in Pierre's thoughts. He fancied +himself at the Madeleine once more, listening to the address on the New +Spirit delivered by Monseigneur Martha, who had predicted that Paris, now +reconverted to Christianity, would, thanks to the Sacred Heart, become +the ruler of the world. But no, but no! If Paris reigned, it was because +it was able to exercise its intelligence freely. To set the cross and the +mystic and repulsive symbolism of a bleeding heart above it was simply so +much falsehood. Although they might rear edifices of pride and domination +as if to crush Paris with their very weight, although they might try to +stop science in the name of a dead ideal and in the hope of setting their +clutches upon the coming century, these attempts would be of no avail. +Science will end by sweeping away all remnants of their ancient +sovereignty, their basilica will crumble beneath the breeze of Truth +without any necessity of raising a finger against it. The trial has been +made, the Gospel as a social code has fallen to pieces, and human wisdom +can only retain account of its moral maxims. Ancient Catholicism is on +all sides crumbling into dust, Catholic Rome is a mere field of ruins +from which the nations turn aside, anxious as they are for a religion +that shall not be a religion of death. In olden times the overburdened +slave, glowing with a new hope and seeking to escape from his gaol, +dreamt of a heaven where in return for his earthly misery he would be +rewarded with eternal enjoyment. But now that science has destroyed that +false idea of a heaven, and shown what dupery lies in reliance on the +morrow of death, the slave, the workman, weary of dying for happiness' +sake, demands that justice and happiness shall find place upon this +earth. Therein lies the new hope--Justice, after eighteen hundred years +of impotent Charity. Ah! in a thousand years from now, when Catholicism +will be naught but a very ancient superstition of the past, how amazed +men will be to think that their ancestors were able to endure that +religion of torture and nihility! How astonished they will feel on +finding that God was regarded as an executioner, that manhood was +threatened, maimed and chastised, that nature was accounted an enemy, +that life was looked upon as something accursed, and that death alone was +pronounced sweet and liberating! For well-nigh two thousand years the +onward march of mankind has been hampered by the odious idea of tearing +all that is human away from man: his desires, his passions, his free +intelligence, his will and right of action, his whole strength. And how +glorious will be the awakening when such virginity as is now honoured by +the Church is held in derision, when fruitfulness is again recognised as +a virtue, amidst the hosanna of all the freed forces of nature--man's +desires which will be honoured, his passions which will be utilised, his +labour which will be exalted, whilst life is loved and ever and ever +creates love afresh! + +A new religion! a new religion! Pierre remembered the cry which had +escaped him at Lourdes, and which he had repeated at Rome in presence of +the collapse of old Catholicism. But he no longer displayed the same +feverish eagerness as then--a puerile, sickly desire that a new Divinity +should at once reveal himself, an ideal come into being, complete in all +respects, with dogmas and form of worship. The Divine certainly seemed to +be as necessary to man as were bread and water; he had ever fallen back +upon it, hungering for the mysterious, seemingly having no other means of +consolation than that of annihilating himself in the unknown. But who can +say that science will not some day quench the thirst for what lies beyond +us? If the domain of science embraces the acquired truths, it also +embraces, and will ever do so, the truths that remain to be acquired. And +in front of it will there not ever remain a margin for the thirst of +knowledge, for the hypotheses which are but so much ideality? Besides, is +not the yearning for the divine simply a desire to behold the Divinity? +And if science should more and more content the yearning to know all and +be able to do all, will not that yearning be quieted and end by mingling +with the love of acquired truth? A religion grafted on science is the +indicated, certain, inevitable finish of man's long march towards +knowledge. He will come to it at last as to a natural haven, as to peace +in the midst of certainty, after passing every form of ignorance and +terror on his road. And is there not already some indication of such a +religion? Has not the idea of the duality of God and the Universe been +brushed aside, and is not the principle of unity, _monisme_, becoming +more and more evident--unity leading to solidarity, and the sole law of +life proceeding by evolution from the first point of the ether that +condensed to create the world? But if precursors, scientists and +philosophers--Darwin, Fourier and all the others--have sown the seed of +to-morrow's religion by casting the good word to the passing breeze, how +many centuries will doubtless be required to raise the crop! People +always forget that before Catholicism grew up and reigned in the +sunlight, it spent four centuries in germinating and sprouting from the +soil. Well, then, grant some centuries to this religion of science of +whose sprouting there are signs upon all sides, and by-and-by the +admirable ideas of some Fourier will be seen expanding and forming a new +gospel, with desire serving as the lever to raise the world, work +accepted by one and all, honoured and regulated as the very mechanism of +natural and social life, and the passions of man excited, contented and +utilised for human happiness! The universal cry of Justice, which rises +louder and louder, in a growing clamour from the once silent multitude, +the people that have so long been duped and preyed upon, is but a cry for +this happiness towards which human beings are tending, the happiness that +embodies the complete satisfaction of man's needs, and the principle of +life loved for its own sake, in the midst of peace and the expansion of +every force and every joy. The time will come when this Kingdom of God +will be set upon the earth; so why not close that other deceptive +paradise, even if the weak-minded must momentarily suffer from the +destruction of their illusions; for it is necessary to operate even with +cruelty on the blind if they are to be extricated from their misery, from +their long and frightful night of ignorance! + +All at once a feeling of deep joy came over Pierre. A child's faint cry, +the wakening cry of his son Jean had drawn him from his reverie. And he +had suddenly remembered that he himself was now saved, freed from +falsehood and fright, restored to good and healthy nature. How he +quivered as he recalled that he had once fancied himself lost, blotted +out of life, and that a prodigy of love had extricated him from his +nothingness, still strong and sound, since that dear child of his was +there, sturdy and smiling. Life had brought forth life; and truth had +burst forth, as dazzling as the sun. He had made his third experiment +with Paris, and this had been conclusive; it had been no wretched +miscarriage with increase of darkness and grief, like his other +experiments at Lourdes and Rome. In the first place, the law of labour +had been revealed to him, and he had imposed upon himself a task, as +humble a one as it was, that manual calling which he was learning so late +in life, but which was, nevertheless, a form of labour, and one in which +he would never fail, one too that would lend him the serenity which comes +from the accomplishment of duty, for life itself was but labour: it was +only by effort that the world existed. And then, moreover, he had loved; +and salvation had come to him from woman and from his child. Ah! what a +long and circuitous journey he had made to reach this finish at once so +natural and so simple! How he had suffered, how much error and anger he +had known before doing what all men ought to do! That eager, glowing love +which had contended against his reason, which had bled at sight of the +arrant absurdities of the miraculous grotto of Lourdes, which had bled +again too in presence of the haughty decline of the Vatican, had at last +found contentment now that he was husband and father, now that he had +confidence in work and believed in the just laws of life. And thence had +come the indisputable truth, the one solution--happiness in certainty. + +Whilst Pierre was thus plunged in thought, Bache and Morin had already +gone off with their customary handshakes and promises to come and chat +again some evening. And as Jean was now crying more loudly, Marie took +him in her arms and unhooked her dress-body to give him her breast. + +"Oh! the darling, it's his time, you know, and he doesn't forget it!" she +said. "Just look, Pierre, I believe he has got bigger since yesterday." + +She laughed; and Pierre, likewise laughing, drew near to kiss the child. +And afterwards he kissed his wife, mastered as he was by emotion at the +sight of that pink, gluttonous little creature imbibing life from that +lovely breast so full of milk. + +"Why! he'll eat you," he gaily said to Marie. "How he's pulling!" + +"Oh! he does bite me a little," she replied; "but I like that the better, +it shows that he profits by it." + +Then Mere-Grand, she who as a rule was so serious and silent, began to +talk with a smile lighting up her face: "I weighed him this morning," +said she, "he weighs nearly a quarter of a pound more than he did the +last time. And if you had only seen how good he was, the darling! He will +be a very intelligent and well-behaved little gentleman, such as I like. +When he's five years old, I shall teach him his alphabet, and when he's +fifteen, if he likes, I'll tell him how to be a man. . . . Don't you +agree with me, Thomas? And you, Antoine, and you, too, Francois?" + +Raising their heads, the three sons gaily nodded their approval, grateful +as they felt for the lessons in heroism which she had given them, and +apparently finding no reason why she might not live another twenty years +in order to give similar lessons to Jean. + +Pierre still remained in front of Marie, basking in all the rapture of +love, when he felt Guillaume lay his hands upon his shoulders from +behind. And on turning round he saw that his brother was also radiant, +like one who felt well pleased at seeing them so happy. "Ah! brother," +said Guillaume softly, "do you remember my telling you that you suffered +solely from the battle between your mind and your heart, and that you +would find quietude again when you loved what you could understand? It +was necessary that our father and mother, whose painful quarrel had +continued beyond the grave, should be reconciled in you. And now it's +done, they sleep in peace within you, since you yourself are pacified." + +These words filled Pierre with emotion. Joy beamed upon his face, which +was now so open and energetic. He still had the towering brow, that +impregnable fortress of reason, which he had derived from his father, and +he still had the gentle chin and affectionate eyes and mouth which his +mother had given him, but all was now blended together, instinct with +happy harmony and serene strength. Those two experiments of his which had +miscarried, were like crises of his maternal heredity, the tearful +tenderness which had come to him from his mother, and which for lack of +satisfaction had made him desperate; and his third experiment had only +ended in happiness because he had contented his ardent thirst for love in +accordance with sovereign reason, that paternal heredity which pleaded so +loudly within him. Reason remained the queen. And if his sufferings had +thus always come from the warfare which his reason had waged against his +heart, it was because he was man personified, ever struggling between his +intelligence and his passions. And how peaceful all seemed, now that he +had reconciled and satisfied them both, now that he felt healthy, perfect +and strong, like some lofty oak, which grows in all freedom, and whose +branches spread far away over the forest. + +"You have done good work in that respect," Guillaume affectionately +continued, "for yourself and for all of us, and even for our dear parents +whose shades, pacified and reconciled, now abide so peacefully in the +little home of our childhood. I often think of our dear house at Neuilly, +which old Sophie is taking care of for us; and although, out of egotism, +a desire to set happiness around me, I wished to keep you here, your Jean +must some day go and live there, so as to bring it fresh youth." + +Pierre had taken hold of his brother's hands, and looking into his eyes +he asked: "And you--are you happy?" + +"Yes, very happy, happier than I have ever been; happy at loving you as I +do, and happy at being loved by you as no one else will ever love me." + +Their hearts mingled in ardent brotherly affection, the most perfect and +heroic affection that can blend men together. And they embraced one +another whilst, with her babe on her breast, Marie, so gay, healthful and +loyal, looked at them and smiled, with big tears gathering in her eyes. + +Thomas, however, having finished his motor's last toilet, had just set it +in motion. It was a prodigy of lightness and strength, of no weight +whatever in comparison with the power it displayed. And it worked with +perfect smoothness, without noise or smell. The whole family was gathered +round it in delight, when there came a timely visit, one from the learned +and friendly Bertheroy, whom indeed Guillaume had asked to call, in order +that he might see the motor working. + +The great chemist at once expressed his admiration; and when he had +examined the mechanism and understood how the explosive was employed as +motive power--an idea which he had long recommended,--he tendered +enthusiastic congratulations to Guillaume and Thomas. "You have created a +little marvel," said he, "one which may have far-reaching effects both +socially and humanly. Yes, yes, pending the invention of the electrical +motor which we have not yet arrived at, here is an ideal one, a system of +mechanical traction for all sorts of vehicles. Even aerial navigation may +now become a possibility, and the problem of force at home is finally +solved. And what a grand step! What sudden progress! Distance again +diminished, all roads thrown open, and men able to fraternise! This is a +great boon, a splendid gift, my good friends, that you are bestowing on +the world." + +Then he began to jest about the new explosive, whose prodigious power he +had divined, and which he now found put to such a beneficent purpose. +"And to think, Guillaume," he said, "that I fancied you acted with so +much mysteriousness and hid the formula of your powder from me because +you had an idea of blowing up Paris!" + +At this Guillaume became grave and somewhat pale. And he confessed the +truth. "Well, I did for a moment think of it." + +However, Bertheroy went on laughing, as if he regarded this answer as +mere repartee, though truth to tell he had felt a slight chill sweep +through his hair. "Well, my friend," he said, "you have done far better +in offering the world this marvel, which by the way must have been both a +difficult and dangerous matter. So here is a powder which was intended to +exterminate people, and which in lieu thereof will now increase their +comfort and welfare. In the long run things always end well, as I'm quite +tired of saying." + +On beholding such lofty and tolerant good nature, Guillaume felt moved. +Bertheroy's words were true. What had been intended for purposes of +destruction served the cause of progress; the subjugated, domesticated +volcano became labour, peace and civilisation. Guillaume had even +relinquished all idea of his engine of battle and victory; he had found +sufficient satisfaction in this last invention of his, which would +relieve men of some measure of weariness, and help to reduce their labour +to just so much effort as there must always be. In this he detected some +little advance towards Justice; at all events it was all that he himself +could contribute to the cause. And when on turning towards the window he +caught sight of the basilica of the Sacred Heart, he could not explain +what insanity had at one moment cone over him, and set him dreaming of +idiotic and useless destruction. Some miasmal gust must have swept by, +something born of want that scattered germs of anger and vengeance. But +how blind it was to think that destruction and murder could ever bear +good fruit, ever sow the soil with plenty and happiness! Violence cannot +last, and all it does is to rouse man's feeling of solidarity even among +those on whose behalf one kills. The people, the great multitude, rebel +against the isolated individual who seeks to wreak justice. No one man +can take upon himself the part of the volcano; this is the whole +terrestrial crust, the whole multitude which internal fire impels to rise +and throw up either an Alpine chain or a better and freer society. And +whatever heroism there may be in their madness, however great and +contagious may be their thirst for martyrdom, murderers are never +anything but murderers, whose deeds simply sow the seeds of horror. And +if on the one hand Victor Mathis had avenged Salvat, he had also slain +him, so universal had been the cry of reprobation roused by the second +crime, which was yet more monstrous and more useless than the first. + +Guillaume, laughing in his turn, replied to Bertheroy in words which +showed how completely he was cured: "You are right," he said, "all ends +well since all contributes to truth and justice. Unfortunately, thousands +of years are sometimes needed for any progress to be accomplished. . . . +However, for my part, I am simply going to put my new explosive on the +market, so that those who secure the necessary authorisation may +manufacture it and grow rich. Henceforth it belongs to one and all. . . . +And I've renounced all idea of revolutionising the world." + +But Bertheroy protested. This great official scientist, this member of +the Institute laden with offices and honours, pointed to the little +motor, and replied with all the vigour of his seventy years: "But that is +revolution, the true, the only revolution. It is with things like that +and not with stupid bombs that one revolutionises the world! It is not by +destroying, but by creating, that you have just done the work of a +revolutionist. And how many times already have I not told you that +science alone is the world's revolutionary force, the only force which, +far above all paltry political incidents, the vain agitation of despots, +priests, sectarians and ambitious people of all kinds, works for the +benefit of those who will come after us, and prepares the triumph of +truth, justice and peace. . . . Ah, my dear child, if you wish to +overturn the world by striving to set a little more happiness in it, you +have only to remain in your laboratory here, for human happiness can +spring only from the furnace of the scientist." + +He spoke perhaps in a somewhat jesting way, but one could feel that he +was convinced of it all, that he held everything excepting science in +utter contempt. He had not even shown any surprise when Pierre had cast +his cassock aside; and on finding him there with his wife and child he +had not scrupled to show him as much affection as in the past. + +Meantime, however, the motor was travelling hither and thither, making no +more noise than a bluebottle buzzing in the sunshine. The whole happy +family was gathered about it, still laughing with delight at such a +victorious achievement. And all at once little Jean, Monsieur Jean, +having finished sucking, turned round, displaying his milk-smeared lips, +and perceived the machine, the pretty plaything which walked about by +itself. At sight of it, his eyes sparkled, dimples appeared on his plump +cheeks, and, stretching out his quivering chubby hands, he raised a crow +of delight. + +Marie, who was quietly fastening her dress, smiled at his glee and +brought him nearer, in order that he might have a better view of the toy. +"Ah! my darling, it's pretty, isn't it? It moves and it turns, and it's +strong; it's quite alive, you see." + +The others, standing around, were much amused by the amazed, enraptured +expression of the child, who would have liked to touch the machine, +perhaps in the hope of understanding it. + +"Yes," resumed Bertheroy, "it's alive and it's powerful like the sun, +like that great sun shining yonder over Paris, and ripening men and +things. And Paris too is a motor, a boiler in which the future is +boiling, while we scientists keep the eternal flame burning underneath. +Guillaume, my good fellow, you are one of the stokers, one of the +artisans of the future, with that little marvel of yours, which will +still further extend the influence of our great Paris over the whole +world." + +These words impressed Pierre, and he again thought of a gigantic vat +stretching yonder from one horizon to the other, a vat in which the +coming century would emerge from an extraordinary mixture of the +excellent and the vile. But now, over and above all passions, ambitions, +stains and waste, he was conscious of the colossal expenditure of labour +which marked the life of Paris, of the heroic manual efforts in +work-shops and factories, and the splendid striving of the young men of +intellect whom he knew to be hard at work, studying in silence, +relinquishing none of the conquests of their elders, but glowing with +desire to enlarge their domain. And in all this Paris was exalted, +together with the future that was being prepared within it, and which +would wing its flight over the world bright like the dawn of day. If +Rome, now so near its death, had ruled the ancient world, it was Paris +that reigned with sovereign sway over the modern era, and had for the +time become the great centre of the nations as they were carried on from +civilisation to civilisation, in a sunward course from east to west. +Paris was the world's brain. Its past so full of grandeur had prepared it +for the part of initiator, civiliser and liberator. Only yesterday it had +cast the cry of Liberty among the nations, and to-morrow it would bring +them the religion of Science, the new faith awaited by the democracies. +And Paris was also gaiety, kindness and gentleness, passion for knowledge +and generosity without limit. Among the workmen of its faubourgs and the +peasants of its country-sides there were endless reserves of men on whom +the future might freely draw. And the century ended with Paris, and the +new century would begin and spread with it. All the clamour of its +prodigious labour, all the light that came from it as from a beacon +overlooking the earth, all the thunder and tempest and triumphant +brightness that sprang from its entrails, were pregnant with that final +splendour, of which human happiness would be compounded. + +Marie raised a light cry of admiration as she pointed towards the city. +"Look! just look!" she exclaimed; "Paris is all golden, covered with a +harvest of gold!" + +They all re-echoed her admiration, for the effect was really one of +extraordinary magnificence. The declining sun was once more veiling the +immensity of Paris with golden dust. But this was no longer the city of +the sower, a chaos of roofs and edifices suggesting brown land turned up +by some huge plough, whilst the sun-rays streamed over it like golden +seed, falling upon every side. Nor was it the city whose divisions had +one day seemed so plain to Pierre: eastward, the districts of toil, misty +with the grey smoke of factories; southward, the districts of study, +serene and quiet; westward, the districts of wealth, bright and open; and +in the centre the districts of trade, with dark and busy streets. It now +seemed as if one and the same crop had sprung up on every side, imparting +harmony to everything, and making the entire expanse one sole, boundless +field, rich with the same fruitfulness. There was corn, corn everywhere, +an infinity of corn, whose golden wave rolled from one end of the horizon +to the other. Yes, the declining sun steeped all Paris in equal +splendour, and it was truly the crop, the harvest, after the sowing! + +"Look! just look," repeated Marie, "there is not a nook without its +sheaf; the humblest roofs are fruitful, and every blade is full-eared +wherever one may look. It is as if there were now but one and the same +soil, reconciled and fraternal. Ah! Jean, my little Jean, look! see how +beautiful it is!" + +Pierre, who was quivering, had drawn close beside her. And Mere-Grand and +Bertheroy smiled upon that promise of a future which they would not see, +whilst beside Guillaume, whom the sight filled with emotion, were his +three big sons, the three young giants, looking quite grave, they who +ever laboured and were ever hopeful. Then Marie, with a fine gesture of +enthusiasm, stretched out her arms and raised her child aloft, as if +offering it in gift to the huge city. + +"See, Jean! see, little one," she cried, "it's you who'll reap it all, +who'll store the whole crop in the barn!" + +And Paris flared--Paris, which the divine sun had sown with light, and +where in glory waved the great future harvest of Truth and of Justice. + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 5, by +Emile Zola + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES TRILOGY: PARIS VOL 5 *** + +***** This file should be named 9168.txt or 9168.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/6/9168/ + +Produced by Dagny, and David Widger. 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Pierre tried to dissuade him from doing so; and +finding his efforts vain, became somewhat anxious. He accordingly +resolved to spend the night at Montmartre, accompany his brother and +watch over him. In former times, when engaged with Abbe Rose in +charitable work in the Charonne district, he had learnt that the +guillotine could be seen from the house where Mege, the Socialist deputy, +resided at the corner of the Rue Merlin. He therefore offered himself as +a guide. As the execution was to take place as soon as it should legally +be daybreak, that is, about half-past four o'clock, the brothers did not +go to bed but sat up in the workroom, feeling somewhat drowsy, and +exchanging few words. Then as soon as two o'clock struck, they started +off. + +The night was beautifully serene and clear. The full moon, shining like a +silver lamp in the cloudless, far-stretching heavens, threw a calm, +dreamy light over the vague immensity of Paris, which was like some +spell-bound city of sleep, so overcome by fatigue that not a murmur arose +from it. It was as if beneath the soft radiance which spread over its +roofs, its panting labour and its cries of suffering were lulled to +repose until the dawn. Yet, in a far, out of the way district, dark work +was even now progressing, a knife was being raised on high in order that +a man might be killed. + +Pierre and Guillaume paused in the Rue St. Eleuthere, and gazed at the +vaporous, tremulous city spread out below then. And as they turned they +perceived the basilica of the Sacred Heart, still domeless but already +looking huge indeed in the moonbeams, whose clear white light accentuated +its outlines and brought them into sharp relief against a mass of +shadows. Under the pale nocturnal sky, the edifice showed like a colossal +monster, symbolical of provocation and sovereign dominion. Never before +had Guillaume found it so huge, never had it appeared to him to dominate +Paris, even in the latter's hours of slumber, with such stubborn and +overwhelming might. + +This wounded him so keenly in the state of mind in which he found +himself, that he could not help exclaiming: "Ah! they chose a good site +for it, and how stupid it was to let them do so! I know of nothing more +nonsensical; Paris crowned and dominated by that temple of idolatry! How +impudent it is, what a buffet for the cause of reason after so many +centuries of science, labour, and battle! And to think of it being reared +over Paris, the one city in the world which ought never to have been +soiled in this fashion! One can understand it at Lourdes and Rome; but +not in Paris, in the very field of intelligence which has been so deeply +ploughed, and whence the future is sprouting. It is a declaration of war, +an insolent proclamation that they hope to conquer Paris also!" + +Guillaume usually evinced all the tolerance of a /savant/, for whom +religions are simply social phenomena. He even willingly admitted the +grandeur or grace of certain Catholic legends. But Marie Alacoque's +famous vision, which has given rise to the cult of the Sacred Heart, +filled him with irritation and something like physical disgust. He +suffered at the mere idea of Christ's open, bleeding breast, and the +gigantic heart which the saint asserted she had seen beating in the +depths of the wound--the huge heart in which Jesus placed the woman's +little heart to restore it to her inflated and glowing with love. What +base and loathsome materialism there was in all this! What a display of +viscera, muscles and blood suggestive of a butcher's shop! And Guillaume +was particularly disgusted with the engraving which depicted this horror, +and which he found everywhere, crudely coloured with red and yellow and +blue, like some badly executed anatomical plate. + +Pierre on his side was also looking at the basilica as, white with +moonlight, it rose out of the darkness like a gigantic fortress raised to +crush and conquer the city slumbering beneath it. It had already brought +him suffering during the last days when he had said mass in it and was +struggling with his torments. "They call it the national votive +offering," he now exclaimed. "But the nation's longing is for health and +strength and restoration to its old position by work. That is a thing the +Church does not understand. It argues that if France was stricken with +defeat, it was because she deserved punishment. She was guilty, and so +to-day she ought to repent. Repent of what? Of the Revolution, of a +century of free examination and science, of the emancipation of her mind, +of her initiatory and liberative labour in all parts of the world? That +indeed is her real transgression; and it is as a punishment for all our +labour, search for truth, increase of knowledge and march towards justice +that they have reared that huge pile which Paris will see from all her +streets, and will never be able to see without feeling derided and +insulted in her labour and glory." + +With a wave of his hand he pointed to the city, slumbering in the +moonlight as beneath a sheet of silver, and then set off again with his +brother, down the slopes, towards the black and deserted streets. + +They did not meet a living soul until they reached the outer boulevard. +Here, however, no matter what the hour may be, life continues with +scarcely a pause. No sooner are the wine shops, music and dancing halls +closed, than vice and want, cast into the street, there resume their +nocturnal existence. Thus the brothers came upon all the homeless ones: +low prostitutes seeking a pallet, vagabonds stretched on the benches +under the trees, rogues who prowled hither and thither on the lookout for +a good stroke. Encouraged by their accomplice--night, all the mire and +woe of Paris had returned to the surface. The empty roadway now belonged +to the breadless, homeless starvelings, those for whom there was no place +in the sunlight, the vague, swarming, despairing herd which is only +espied at night-time. Ah! what spectres of destitution, what apparitions +of grief and fright there were! What a sob of agony passed by in Paris +that morning, when as soon as the dawn should rise, a man--a pauper, a +sufferer like the others--was to be guillotined! + +As Guillaume and Pierre were about to descend the Rue des Martyrs, the +former perceived an old man lying on a bench with his bare feet +protruding from his gaping, filthy shoes. Guillaume pointed to him in +silence. Then, a few steps farther on, Pierre in his turn pointed to a +ragged girl, crouching, asleep with open month, in the corner of a +doorway. There was no need for the brothers to express in words all the +compassion and anger which stirred their hearts. At long intervals +policemen, walking slowly two by two, shook the poor wretches and +compelled them to rise and walk on and on. Occasionally, if they found +them suspicious or refractory, they marched them off to the +police-station. And then rancour and the contagion of imprisonment often +transformed a mere vagabond into a thief or a murderer. + +In the Rue des Martyrs and the Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre, the brothers +found night-birds of another kind, women who slunk past them, close to +the house-fronts, and men and hussies who belaboured one another with +blows. Then, upon the grand boulevards, on the thresholds of lofty black +houses, only one row of whose windows flared in the night, pale-faced +individuals, who had just come down from their clubs, stood lighting +cigars before going home. A lady with a ball wrap over her evening gown +went by accompanied by a servant. A few cabs, moreover, still jogged up +and down the roadway, while others, which had been waiting for hours, +stood on their ranks in rows, with drivers and horses alike asleep. And +as one boulevard after another was reached, the Boulevard Poissonniere, +the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, the Boulevard St. Denis, and so forth, as +far as the Place de la Republique, there came fresh want and misery, more +forsaken and hungry ones, more and more of the human "waste" that is cast +into the streets and the darkness. And on the other hand, an army of +street-sweepers was now appearing to remove all the filth of the past +four and twenty hours, in order that Paris, spruce already at sunrise, +might not blush for having thrown up such a mass of dirt and +loathsomeness in the course of a single day. + +It was, however, more particularly after following the Boulevard +Voltaire, and drawing near to the districts of La Roquette and Charonne, +that the brothers felt they were returning to a sphere of labour where +there was often lack of food, and where life was but so much pain. Pierre +found himself at home here. In former days, accompanied by good Abbe +Rose, visiting despairing ones, distributing alms, picking up children +who had sunk to the gutter, he had a hundred times perambulated every one +of those long, densely populated streets. And thus a frightful vision +arose before his mind's eye; he recalled all the tragedies he had +witnessed, all the shrieks he had heard, all the tears and bloodshed he +had seen, all the fathers, mothers and children huddled together and +dying of want, dirt and abandonment: that social hell in which he had +ended by losing his last hopes, fleeing from it with a sob in the +conviction that charity was a mere amusement for the rich, and absolutely +futile as a remedy. It was this conviction which now returned to him as +he again cast eyes upon that want and grief stricken district which +seemed fated to everlasting destitution. That poor old man whom Abbe Rose +had revived one night in yonder hovel, had he not since died of +starvation? That little girl whom he had one morning brought in his arms +to the refuge after her parents' death, was it not she whom he had just +met, grown but fallen to the streets, and shrieking beneath the fist of a +bully? Ah! how great was the number of the wretched! Their name was +legion! There were those whom one could not save, those who were hourly +born to a life of woe and want, even as one may be born infirm, and +those, too, who from every side sank in the sea of human injustice, that +ocean which has ever been the same for centuries past, and which though +one may strive to drain it, still and for ever spreads. How heavy was the +silence, how dense the darkness in those working-class streets where +sleep seems to be the comrade of death! Yet hunger prowls, and misfortune +sobs; vague spectral forms slink by, and then are lost to view in the +depths of the night. + +As Pierre and Guillaume went along they became mixed with dark groups of +people, a whole flock of inquisitive folk, a promiscuous, passionate +tramp, tramp towards the guillotine. It came from all Paris, urged on by +brutish fever, a hankering for death and blood. In spite, however, of the +dull noise which came from this dim crowd, the mean streets that were +passed remained quite dark, not a light appeared at any of their windows; +nor could one hear the breathing of the weary toilers stretched on their +wretched pallets from which they would not rise before the morning +twilight. + +On seeing the jostling crowd which was already assembled on the Place +Voltaire, Pierre understood that it would be impossible for him and his +brother to ascend the Rue de la Roquette. Barriers, moreover, must +certainly have been thrown across that street. In order therefore to +reach the corner of the Rue Merlin, it occurred to him to take the Rue de +la Folie Regnault, which winds round in the rear of the prison, farther +on. + +Here indeed they found solitude and darkness again. + +The huge, massive prison with its great bare walls on which a moonray +fell, looked like some pile of cold stones, dead for centuries past. At +the end of the street they once more fell in with the crowd, a dim +restless mass of beings, whose pale faces alone could be distinguished. +The brothers had great difficulty in reaching the house in which Mege +resided at the corner of the Rue Merlin. All the shutters of the +fourth-floor flat occupied by the Socialist deputy were closed, though +every other window was wide open and crowded with surging sightseers. +Moreover, the wine shop down below and the first-floor room connected +with it flared with gas, and were already crowded with noisy customers, +waiting for the performance to begin. + +"I hardly like to go and knock at Mege's door," said Pierre. + +"No, no, you must not do so!" replied Guillaume. + +"Let us go into the wine shop. We may perhaps be able to see something +from the balcony." + +The first-floor room was provided with a very large balcony, which women +and gentlemen were already filling. The brothers nevertheless managed to +reach it, and for a few minutes remained there, peering into the darkness +before them. The sloping street grew broader between the two prisons, the +"great" and the "little" Roquette, in such wise as to form a sort of +square, which was shaded by four clumps of plane-trees, rising from the +footways. The low buildings and scrubby trees, all poor and ugly of +aspect, seemed almost to lie on a level with the ground, under a vast sky +in which stars were appearing, as the moon gradually declined. And the +square was quite empty save that on one spot yonder there seemed to be +some little stir. Two rows of guards prevented the crowd from advancing, +and even threw it back into the neighbouring streets. On the one hand, +the only lofty houses were far away, at the point where the Rue St. Maur +intersects the Rue de la Roquette; while, on the other, they stood at the +corners of the Rue Merlin and the Rue de la Folie Regnault, so that it +was almost impossible to distinguish anything of the execution even from +the best placed windows. As for the inquisitive folk on the pavement they +only saw the backs of the guards. Still this did not prevent a crush. The +human tide flowed on from all sides with increasing clamour. + +Guided by the remarks of some women who, leaning forward on the balcony, +had been watching the square for a long time already, the brothers were +at last able to perceive something. It was now half-past three, and the +guillotine was nearly ready. The little stir which one vaguely espied +yonder under the trees, was that of the headsman's assistants fixing the +knife in position. A lantern slowly came and went, and five or six +shadows danced over the ground. But nothing else could be distinguished, +the square was like a large black pit, around which ever broke the waves +of the noisy crowd which one could not see. And beyond the square one +could only identify the flaring wine shops, which showed forth like +lighthouses in the night. All the surrounding district of poverty and +toil was still asleep, not a gleam as yet came from workrooms or yards, +not a puff of smoke from the lofty factory chimneys. + +"We shall see nothing," Guillaume remarked. + +But Pierre silenced him, for he has just discovered that an elegantly +attired gentleman leaning over the balcony near him was none other than +the amiable deputy Duthil. He had at first fancied that a woman muffled +in wraps who stood close beside the deputy was the little Princess de +Harn, whom he had very likely brought to see the execution since he had +taken her to see the trial. On closer inspection, however, he had found +that this woman was Silviane, the perverse creature with the virginal +face. Truth to tell, she made no concealment of her presence, but talked +on in an extremely loud voice, as if intoxicated; and the brothers soon +learnt how it was that she happened to be there. Duvillard, Duthil, and +other friends had been supping with her at one o'clock in the morning, +when on learning that Salvat was about to be guillotined, the fancy of +seeing the execution had suddenly come upon her. Duvillard, after vainly +entreating her to do nothing of the kind, had gone off in a fury, for he +felt that it would be most unseemly on his part to attend the execution +of a man who had endeavoured to blow up his house. And thereupon Silviane +had turned to Duthil, whom her caprice greatly worried, for he held all +such loathsome spectacles in horror, and had already refused to act as +escort to the Princess. However, he was so infatuated with Silviane's +beauty, and she made him so many promises, that he had at last consented +to take her. + +"He can't understand people caring for amusement," she said, speaking of +the Baron. "And yet this is really a thing to see. . . . But no matter, +you'll find him at my feet again to-morrow." + +Duthil smiled and responded: "I suppose that peace has been signed and +ratified now that you have secured your engagement at the Comedie." + +"Peace? No!" she protested. "No, no. There will be no peace between us +until I have made my /debut/. After that, we'll see." + +They both laughed; and then Duthil, by way of paying his court, told her +how good-naturedly Dauvergne, the new Minister of Public Instruction and +Fine Arts, had adjusted the difficulties which had hitherto kept the +doors of the Comedie closed upon her. A really charming man was +Dauvergne, the embodiment of graciousness, the very flower of the +Monferrand ministry. His was the velvet hand in that administration whose +leader had a hand of iron. + +"He told me, my beauty," said Duthil, "that a pretty girl was in place +everywhere." And then as Silviane, as if flattered, pressed closely +beside him, the deputy added: "So that wonderful revival of 'Polyeucte,' +in which you are going to have such a triumph, is to take place on the +day after to-morrow. We shall all go to applaud you, remember." + +"Yes, on the evening of the day after to-morrow," said Silviane, "the +very same day when the wedding of the Baron's daughter will take place. +There'll be plenty of emotion that day!" + +"Ah! yes, of course!" retorted Duthil, "there'll be the wedding of our +friend Gerard with Mademoiselle Camille to begin with. We shall have a +crush at the Madeleine in the morning and another at the Comedie in the +evening. You are quite right, too; there will be several hearts throbbing +in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy." + +Thereupon they again became merry, and jested about the Duvillard +family--father, mother, lover and daughter--with the greatest possible +ferocity and crudity of language. Then, all at once Silviane exclaimed: +"Do you know, I'm feeling awfully bored here, my little Duthil. I can't +distinguish anything, and I should like to be quite near so as to see it +all plainly. You must take me over yonder, close to that machine of +theirs." + +This request threw Duthil into consternation, particularly as at that +same moment Silviane perceived Massot outside the wine shop, and began +calling and beckoning to him imperiously. A brief conversation then +ensued between the young woman and the journalist: "I say, Massot!" she +called, "hasn't a deputy the right to pass the guards and take a lady +wherever he likes?" + +"Not at all!" exclaimed Duthil. "Massot knows very well that a deputy +ought to be the very first to bow to the laws." + +This exclamation warned Massot that Duthil did not wish to leave the +balcony. "You ought to have secured a card of invitation, madame," said +he, in reply to Silviane. "They would then have found you room at one of +the windows of La Petite Roquette. Women are not allowed elsewhere. . . . +But you mustn't complain, you have a very good place up there." + +"But I can see nothing at all, my dear Massot." + +"Well, you will in any case see more than Princess de Harn will. Just now +I came upon her carriage in the Rue du Chemin Vert. The police would not +allow it to come any nearer." + +This news made Silviane merry again, whilst Duthil shuddered at the idea +of the danger he incurred, for Rosemonde would assuredly treat him to a +terrible scene should she see him with another woman. Then, an idea +occurring to him, he ordered a bottle of champagne and some little cakes +for his "beautiful friend," as he called Silviane. She had been +complaining of thirst, and was delighted with the opportunity of +perfecting her intoxication. When a waiter had managed to place a little +table near her, on the balcony itself, she found things very pleasant, +and indeed considered it quite brave to tipple and sup afresh, while +waiting for that man to be guillotined close by. + +It was impossible for Pierre and Guillaume to remain up there any longer. +All that they heard, all that they beheld filled them with disgust. The +boredom of waiting had turned all the inquisitive folks of the balcony +and the adjoining room into customers. The waiter could hardly manage to +serve the many glasses of beer, bottles of expensive wine, biscuits, and +plates of cold meat which were ordered of him. And yet the spectators +here were all /bourgeois/, rich gentlemen, people of society! On the +other hand, time has to be killed somehow when it hangs heavily on one's +hands; and thus there were bursts of laughter and paltry and horrible +jests, quite a feverish uproar arising amidst the clouds of smoke from +the men's cigars. When Pierre and Guillaume passed through the wine shop +on the ground-floor they there found a similar crush and similar tumult, +aggravated by the disorderly behaviour of the big fellows in blouses who +were drinking draught wine at the pewter bar which shone like silver. +There were people, too, at all the little tables, besides an incessant +coming and going of folks who entered the place for a "wet," by way of +calming their impatience. And what folks they were! All the scum, all the +vagabonds who had been dragging themselves about since daybreak on the +lookout for whatever chance might offer them, provided it were not work! + +On the pavement outside, Pierre and Guillaume felt yet a greater +heart-pang. In the throng which the guards kept back, one simply found so +much mire stirred up from the very depths of Paris life: prostitutes and +criminals, the murderers of to-morrow, who came to see how a man ought to +die. Loathsome, bareheaded harlots mingled with bands of prowlers or ran +through the crowd, howling obscene refrains. Bandits stood in groups +chatting and quarrelling about the more or less glorious manner in which +certain famous /guillotines/ had died. Among these was one with respect +to whom they all agreed, and of whom they spoke as of a great captain, a +hero whose marvellous courage was deserving of immortality. Then, as one +passed along, one caught snatches of horrible phrases, particulars about +the instrument of death, ignoble boasts, and filthy jests reeking with +blood. And over and above all else there was bestial fever, a lust for +death which made this multitude delirious, an eagerness to see life flow +forth fresh and ruddy beneath the knife, so that as it coursed over the +soil they might dip their feet in it. As this execution was not an +ordinary one, however, there were yet spectators of another kind; silent +men with glowing eyes who came and went all alone, and who were plainly +thrilled by their faith, intoxicated with the contagious madness which +incites one to vengeance or martyrdom. + +Guillaume was just thinking of Victor Mathis, when he fancied that he saw +him standing in the front row of sightseers whom the guards held in +check. It was indeed he, with his thin, beardless, pale, drawn face. +Short as he was, he had to raise himself on tiptoes in order to see +anything. Near him was a big, red-haired girl who gesticulated; but for +his part he never stirred or spoke. He was waiting motionless, gazing +yonder with the round, ardent, fixed eyes of a night-bird, seeking to +penetrate the darkness. At last a guard pushed him back in a somewhat +brutal way; but he soon returned to his previous position, ever patient +though full of hatred against the executioners, wishing indeed to see all +he could in order to increase his hate. + +Then Massot approached the brothers. This time, on seeing Pierre without +his cassock, he did not even make a sign of astonishment, but gaily +remarked: "So you felt curious to see this affair, Monsieur Froment?" + +"Yes, I came with my brother," Pierre replied. "But I very much fear that +we shan't see much." + +"You certainly won't if you stay here," rejoined Massot. And thereupon in +his usual good-natured way--glad, moreover, to show what power a +well-known journalist could wield--he inquired: "Would you like me to +pass you through? The inspector here happens to be a friend of mine." + +Then, without waiting for an answer, he stopped the inspector and hastily +whispered to him that he had brought a couple of colleagues, who wanted +to report the proceedings. At first the inspector hesitated, and seemed +inclined to refuse Massot's request; but after a moment, influenced by +the covert fear which the police always has of the press, he made a weary +gesture of consent. + +"Come, quick, then," said Massot, turning to the brothers, and taking +them along with him. + +A moment later, to the intense surprise of Pierre and Guillaume, the +guards opened their ranks to let them pass. They then found themselves in +the large open space which was kept clear. And on thus emerging from the +tumultuous throng they were quite impressed by the death-like silence and +solitude which reigned under the little plane-trees. The night was now +paling. A faint gleam of dawn was already falling from the sky. + +After leading his companions slantwise across the square, Massot stopped +them near the prison and resumed: "I'm going inside; I want to see the +prisoner roused and got ready. In the meantime, walk about here; nobody +will say anything to you. Besides, I'll come back to you in a moment." + +A hundred people or so, journalists and other privileged spectators, were +scattered about the dark square. Movable wooden barriers--such as are set +up at the doors of theatres when there is a press of people waiting for +admission--had been placed on either side of the pavement running from +the prison gate to the guillotine; and some sightseers were already +leaning over these barriers, in order to secure a close view of the +condemned man as he passed by. Others were walking slowly to and fro, and +conversing in undertones. The brothers, for their part, approached the +guillotine. + +It stood there under the branches of the trees, amidst the delicate +greenery of the fresh leaves of spring. A neighbouring gas-lamp, whose +light was turning yellow in the rising dawn, cast vague gleams upon it. +The work of fixing it in position--work performed as quietly as could be, +so that the only sound was the occasional thud of a mallet--had just been +finished; and the headsman's "valets" or assistants, in frock-coats and +tall silk hats, were waiting and strolling about in a patient way. But +the instrument itself, how base and shameful it looked, squatting on the +ground like some filthy beast, disgusted with the work it had to +accomplish! What! those few beams lying on the ground, and those others +barely nine feet high which rose from it, keeping the knife in position, +constituted the machine which avenged Society, the instrument which gave +a warning to evil-doers! Where was the big scaffold painted a bright red +and reached by a stairway of ten steps, the scaffold which raised high +bloody arms over the eager multitude, so that everybody might behold the +punishment of the law in all its horror! The beast had now been felled to +the ground, where it simply looked ignoble, crafty and cowardly. If on +the one hand there was no majesty in the manner in which human justice +condemned a man to death at its assizes: on the other, there was merely +horrid butchery with the help of the most barbarous and repulsive of +mechanical contrivances, on the terrible day when that man was executed. + +As Pierre and Guillaume gazed at the guillotine, a feeling of nausea came +over them. Daylight was now slowly breaking, and the surroundings were +appearing to view: first the square itself with its two low, grey +prisons, facing one another; then the distant houses, the taverns, the +marble workers' establishments, and the shops selling flowers and +wreaths, which are numerous hereabouts, as the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise +is so near. Before long one could plainly distinguish the black lines of +the spectators standing around in a circle, the heads leaning forward +from windows and balconies, and the people who had climbed to the very +house roofs. The prison of La Petite Roquette over the way had been +turned into a kind of tribune for guests; and mounted Gardes de Paris +went slowly to and fro across the intervening expanse. Then, as the sky +brightened, labour awoke throughout the district beyond the crowd, a +district of broad, endless streets lined with factories, work-shops and +work-yards. Engines began to snort, machinery and appliances were got +ready to start once more on their usual tasks, and smoke already curled +away from the forest of lofty brick chimneys which, on all sides, sprang +out of the gloom. + +It then seemed to Guillaume that the guillotine was really in its right +place in that district of want and toil. It stood in its own realm, like +a /terminus/ and a threat. Did not ignorance, poverty and woe lead to it? +And each time that it was set up amidst those toilsome streets, was it +not charged to overawe the disinherited ones, the starvelings, who, +exasperated by everlasting injustice, were always ready for revolt? It +was not seen in the districts where wealth and enjoyment reigned. It +would there have seemed purposeless, degrading and truly monstrous. And +it was a tragical and terrible coincidence that the bomb-thrower, driven +mad by want, should be guillotined there, in the very centre of want's +dominion. + +But daylight had come at last, for it was nearly half-past four. The +distant noisy crowd could feel that the expected moment was drawing nigh. +A shudder suddenly sped through the atmosphere. + +"He's coming," exclaimed little Massot, as he came back to Pierre and +Guillaume. "Ah! that Salvat is a brave fellow after all." + +Then he related how the prisoner had been awakened; how the governor of +the prison, magistrate Amadieu, the chaplain, and a few other persons had +entered the cell where Salvat lay fast asleep; and then how the condemned +man had understood the truth immediately upon opening his eyes. He had +risen, looking pale but quite composed. And he had dressed himself +without assistance, and had declined the nip of brandy and the cigarette +proffered by the good-hearted chaplain, in the same way as with a gentle +but stubborn gesture he had brushed the crucifix aside. Then had come the +"toilette" for death. With all rapidity and without a word being +exchanged, Salvat's hands had been tied behind his back, his legs had +been loosely secured with a cord, and the neckband of his shirt had been +cut away. He had smiled when the others exhorted him to be brave. He only +feared some nervous weakness, and had but one desire, to die like a hero, +to remain the martyr of the ardent faith in truth and justice for which +he was about to perish. + +"They are now drawing up the death certificate in the register," +continued Massot in his chattering way. "Come along, come along to the +barriers if you wish a good view. . . . I turned paler, you know, and +trembled far more than he did. I don't care a rap for anything as a rule; +but, all the same, an execution isn't a pleasant business. . . . You +can't imagine how many attempts were made to save Salvat's life. Even +some of the papers asked that he might be reprieved. But nothing +succeeded, the execution was regarded as inevitable, it seems, even by +those who consider it a blunder. Still, they had such a touching +opportunity to reprieve him, when his daughter, little Celine, wrote that +fine letter to the President of the Republic, which I was the first to +publish in the 'Globe.' Ah! that letter, it cost me a lot of running +about!" + +Pierre, who was already quite upset by this long wait for the horrible +scene, felt moved to tears by Massot's reference to Celine. He could +again see the child standing beside Madame Theodore in that bare, cold +room whither her father would never more return. It was thence that he +had set out on a day of desperation with his stomach empty and his brain +on fire, and it was here that he would end, between yonder beams, beneath +yonder knife. + +Massot, however, was still giving particulars. The doctors, said he, were +furious because they feared that the body would not be delivered to them +immediately after the execution. To this Guillaume did not listen. He +stood there with his elbows resting on the wooden barrier and his eyes +fixed on the prison gate, which still remained shut. His hands were +quivering, and there was an expression of anguish on his face as if it +were he himself who was about to be executed. The headsman had again just +left the prison. He was a little, insignificant-looking man, and seemed +annoyed, anxious to have done with it all. Then, among a group of +frock-coated gentlemen, some of the spectators pointed out Gascogne, the +Chief of the Detective Police, who wore a cold, official air, and +Amadieu, the investigating magistrate, who smiled and looked very spruce, +early though the hour was. He had come partly because it was his duty, +and partly because he wished to show himself now that the curtain was +about to fall on a wonderful tragedy of which he considered himself the +author. Guillaume glanced at him, and then as a growing uproar rose from +the distant crowd, he looked up for an instant, and again beheld the two +grey prisons, the plane-trees with their fresh young leaves, and the +houses swarming with people beneath the pale blue sky, in which the +triumphant sun was about to appear. + +"Look out, here he comes!" + +Who had spoken? A slight noise, that of the opening gate, made every +heart throb. Necks were outstretched, eyes gazed fixedly, there was +laboured breathing on all sides. Salvat stood on the threshold of the +prison. The chaplain, stepping backwards, had come out in advance of him, +in order to conceal the guillotine from his sight, but he had stopped +short, for he wished to see that instrument of death, make acquaintance +with it, as it were, before he walked towards it. And as he stood there, +his long, aged sunken face, on which life's hardships had left their +mark, seemed transformed by the wondrous brilliancy of his flaring, +dreamy eyes. Enthusiasm bore him up--he was going to his death in all the +splendour of his dream. When the executioner's assistants drew near to +support him he once more refused their help, and again set himself in +motion, advancing with short steps, but as quickly and as straightly as +the rope hampering his legs permitted. + +All at once Guillaume felt that Salvat's eyes were fixed upon him. +Drawing nearer and nearer the condemned man had perceived and recognised +his friend; and as he passed by, at a distance of no more than six or +seven feet, he smiled faintly and darted such a deep penetrating glance +at Guillaume, that ever afterwards the latter felt its smart. But what +last thought, what supreme legacy had Salvat left him to meditate upon, +perhaps to put into execution? It was all so poignant that Pierre feared +some involuntary call on his brother's part; and so he laid his hand upon +his arm to quiet him. + +"Long live Anarchy!" + +It was Salvat who had raised this cry. But in the deep silence his husky, +altered voice seemed to break. The few who were near at hand had turned +very pale; the distant crowd seemed bereft of life. The horse of one of +the Gardes de Paris was alone heard snorting in the centre of the space +which had been kept clear. + +Then came a loathsome scramble, a scene of nameless brutality and +ignominy. The headsman's helps rushed upon Salvat as he came up slowly +with brow erect. Two of them seized him by the head, but finding little +hair there, could only lower it by tugging at his neck. Next two others +grasped him by the legs and flung him violently upon a plank which tilted +over and rolled forward. Then, by dint of pushing and tugging, the head +was got into the "lunette," the upper part of which fell in such wise +that the neck was fixed as in a ship's port-hole--and all this was +accomplished amidst such confusion and with such savagery that one might +have thought that head some cumbrous thing which it was necessary to get +rid of with the greatest speed. But the knife fell with a dull, heavy, +forcible thud, and two long jets of blood spurted from the severed +arteries, while the dead man's feet moved convulsively. Nothing else +could be seen. The executioner rubbed his hands in a mechanical way, and +an assistant took the severed blood-streaming head from the little basket +into which it had fallen and placed it in the large basket into which the +body had already been turned. + +Ah! that dull, that heavy thud of the knife! It seemed to Guillaume that +he had heard it echoing far away all over that district of want and toil, +even in the squalid rooms where thousands of workmen were at that moment +rising to perform their day's hard task! And there the echo of that thud +acquired formidable significance; it spoke of man's exasperation with +injustice, of zeal for martyrdom, and of the dolorous hope that the blood +then spilt might hasten the victory of the disinherited. + +Pierre, for his part, at the sight of that loathsome butchery, the abject +cutthroat work of that killing machine, had suddenly felt his chilling +shudder become more violent; for before him arose a vision of another +corpse, that of the fair, pretty child ripped open by a bomb and +stretched yonder, at the entrance of the Duvillard mansion. Blood +streamed from her delicate flesh, just as it had streamed from that +decapitated neck. It was blood paying for blood; it was like payment for +mankind's debt of wretchedness, for which payment is everlastingly being +made, without man ever being able to free himself from suffering. + +Above the square and the crowd all was still silent in the clear sky. How +long had the abomination lasted? An eternity, perhaps, compressed into +two or three minutes. And now came an awakening: the spectators emerged +from their nightmare with quivering hands, livid faces, and eyes +expressive of compassion, disgust and fear. + +"That makes another one. I've now seen four executions," said Massot, who +felt ill at ease. "After all, I prefer to report weddings. Let us go off, +I have all I want for my article." + +Guillaume and Pierre followed him mechanically across the square, and +again reached the corner of the Rue Merlin. And here they saw little +Victor Mathis, with flaming eyes and white face, still standing in +silence on the spot where they had left him. He could have seen nothing +distinctly; but the thud of the knife was still echoing in his brain. A +policeman at last gave him a push, and told him to move on. At this he +looked the policeman in the face, stirred by sudden rage and ready to +strangle him. Then, however, he quietly walked away, ascending the Rue de +la Roquette, atop of which the lofty foliage of Pere-Lachaise could be +seen, beneath the rising sun. + +The brothers meantime fell upon a scene of explanations, which they heard +without wishing to do so. Now that the sight was over, the Princess de +Harn arrived, and she was the more furious as at the door of the wine +shop she could see her new friend Duthil accompanying a woman. + +"I say!" she exclaimed, "you are nice, you are, to have left me in the +lurch like this! It was impossible for my carriage to get near, so I've +had to come on foot through all those horrid people who have been +jostling and insulting me." + +Thereupon Duthil, with all promptitude, introduced Silviane to her, +adding, in an aside, that he had taken a friend's place as the actress's +escort. And then Rosemonde, who greatly wished to know Silviane, calmed +down as if by enchantment, and put on her most engaging ways. "It would +have delighted me, madame," said she, "to have seen this sight in the +company of an /artiste/ of your merit, one whom I admire so much, though +I have never before had an opportunity of telling her so." + +"Well, dear me, madame," replied Silviane, "you haven't lost much by +arriving late. We were on that balcony there, and all that I could see +were a few men pushing another one about. . . . It really isn't worth the +trouble of coming." + +"Well, now that we have become acquainted, madame," said the Princess, "I +really hope that you will allow me to be your friend." + +"Certainly, madame, my friend; and I shall be flattered and delighted to +be yours." + +Standing there, hand in hand, they smiled at one another. Silviane was +very drunk, but her virginal expression had returned to her face; whilst +Rosemonde seemed feverish with vicious curiosity. Duthil, whom the scene +amused, now had but one thought, that of seeing Silviane home; so calling +to Massot, who was approaching, he asked him where he should find a +cab-rank. Rosemonde, however, at once offered her carriage, which was +waiting in an adjacent street. + +She would set the actress down at her door, said she, and the deputy at +his; and such was her persistence in the matter that Duthil, greatly +vexed, was obliged to accept her offer. + +"Well, then, till to-morrow at the Madeleine," said Massot, again quite +sprightly, as he shook hands with the Princess. + +"Yes, till to-morrow, at the Madeleine and the Comedie." + +"Ah! yes, of course!" he repeated, taking Silviane's hand, which he +kissed. "The Madeleine in the morning and the Comedie in the evening. . . +. We shall all be there to applaud you." + +"Yes, I expect you to do so," said Silviane. "Till to-morrow, then!" + +"Till to-morrow!" + +The crowd was now wearily dispersing, to all appearance disappointed and +ill at ease. A few enthusiasts alone lingered in order to witness the +departure of the van in which Salvat's corpse would soon be removed; +while bands of prowlers and harlots, looking very wan in the daylight, +whistled or called to one another with some last filthy expression before +returning to their dens. The headsman's assistants were hastily taking +down the guillotine, and the square would soon be quite clear. + +Pierre for his part wished to lead his brother away. Since the fall of +the knife, Guillaume had remained as if stunned, without once opening his +lips. In vain had Pierre tried to rouse him by pointing to the shutters +of Mege's flat, which still remained closed, whereas every other window +of the lofty house was wide open. Although the Socialist deputy hated the +Anarchists, those shutters were doubtless closed as a protest against +capital punishment. Whilst the multitude had been rushing to that +frightful spectacle, Mege, still in bed, with his face turned to the +wall, had probably been dreaming of how he would some day compel mankind +to be happy beneath the rigid laws of Collectivism. Affectionate father +as he was, the recent death of one of his children had quite upset his +private life. His cough, too, had become a very bad one; but he ardently +wished to live, for as soon as that new Monferrand ministry should have +fallen beneath the interpellation which he already contemplated, his own +turn would surely come: he would take the reins of power in hand, abolish +the guillotine and decree justice and perfect felicity. + +"Do you see, Guillaume?" Pierre gently repeated. "Mege hasn't opened his +windows. He's a good fellow, after all; although our friends Bache and +Morin dislike him." Then, as his brother still refrained from answering, +Pierre added, "Come, let us go, we must get back home." + +They both turned into the Rue de la Folie Regnault, and reached the outer +Boulevards by way of the Rue du Chemin Vert. All the toilers of the +district were now at work. In the long streets edged with low buildings, +work-shops and factories, one heard engines snorting and machinery +rumbling, while up above, the smoke from the lofty chimneys was assuming +a rosy hue in the sunrise. Afterwards, when the brothers reached the +Boulevard de Menilmontant and the Boulevard de Belleville, which they +followed in turn at a leisurely pace, they witnessed the great rush of +the working classes into central Paris. The stream poured forth from +every side; from all the wretched streets of the faubourgs there was an +endless exodus of toilers, who, having risen at dawn, were now hurrying, +in the sharp morning air, to their daily labour. Some wore short jackets +and others blouses; some were in velveteen trousers, others in linen +overalls. Their thick shoes made their tramp a heavy one; their hanging +hands were often deformed by work. And they seemed half asleep, not a +smile was to be seen on any of those wan, weary faces turned yonder +towards the everlasting task--the task which was begun afresh each day, +and which--'twas their only chance--they hoped to be able to take up for +ever and ever. There was no end to that drove of toilers, that army of +various callings, that human flesh fated to manual labour, upon which +Paris preys in order that she may live in luxury and enjoyment. + +Then the procession continued across the Boulevard de la Villette, the +Boulevard de la Chapelle, and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, where one +reached the height of Montmartre. More and more workmen were ever coming +down from their bare cold rooms and plunging into the huge city, whence, +tired out, they would that evening merely bring back the bread of +rancour. And now, too, came a stream of work-girls, some of them in +bright skirts, some glancing at the passers-by; girls whose wages were so +paltry, so insufficient, that now and again pretty ones among them never +more turned their faces homewards, whilst the ugly ones wasted away, +condemned to mere bread and water. A little later, moreover, came the +/employes/, the clerks, the counter-jumpers, the whole world of +frock-coated penury--"gentlemen" who devoured a roll as they hastened +onward, worried the while by the dread of being unable to pay their rent, +or by the problem of providing food for wife and children until the end +of the month should come.* And now the sun was fast ascending on the +horizon, the whole army of ants was out and about, and the toilsome day +had begun with its ceaseless display of courage, energy and suffering. + + * In Paris nearly all clerks and shop-assistants receive + monthly salaries, while most workmen are paid once a + fortnight.--Trans. + +Never before had it been so plainly manifest to Pierre that work was a +necessity, that it healed and saved. On the occasion of his visit to the +Grandidier works, and later still, when he himself had felt the need of +occupation, there had cone to him the thought that work was really the +world's law. And after that hateful night, after that spilling of blood, +after the slaughter of that toiler maddened by his dreams, there was +consolation and hope in seeing the sun rise once more, and everlasting +labour take up its wonted task. However hard it might prove, however +unjustly it might be lotted out, was it not work which would some day +bring both justice and happiness to the world? + +All at once, as the brothers were climbing the steep hillside towards +Guillaume's house, they perceived before and above them the basilica of +the Sacred Heart rising majestically and triumphantly to the sky. This +was no sublunar apparition, no dreamy vision of Domination standing face +to face with nocturnal Paris. The sun now clothed the edifice with +splendour, it looked golden and proud and victorious, flaring with +immortal glory. + +Then Guillaume, still silent, still feeling Salvat's last glance upon +him, seemed to come to some sudden and final decision. He looked at the +basilica with glowing eyes, and pronounced sentence upon it. + + + +II + +IN VANITY FAIR + +THE wedding was to take place at noon, and for half an hour already +guests had been pouring into the magnificently decorated church, which +was leafy with evergreens and balmy with the scent of flowers. The high +altar in the rear glowed with countless candles, and through the great +doorway, which was wide open, one could see the peristyle decked with +shrubs, the steps covered with a broad carpet, and the inquisitive crowd +assembled on the square and even along the Rue Royale, under the bright +sun. + +After finding three more chairs for some ladies who had arrived rather +late, Duthil remarked to Massot, who was jotting down names in his +note-book: "Well, if any more come, they will have to remain standing." + +"Who were those three?" the journalist inquired. + +"The Duchess de Boisemont and her two daughters." + +"Indeed! All the titled people of France, as well as all the financiers +and politicians, are here! It's something more even than a swell Parisian +wedding." + +As a matter of fact all the spheres of "society" were gathered together +there, and some at first seemed rather embarrassed at finding themselves +beside others. Whilst Duvillard's name attracted all the princes of +finance and politicians in power, Madame de Quinsac and her son were +supported by the highest of the French aristocracy. The mere names of the +witnesses sufficed to indicate what an extraordinary medley there was. On +Gerard's side these witnesses were his uncle, General de Bozonnet, and +the Marquis de Morigny; whilst on Camille's they were the great banker +Louvard, and Monferrand, the President of the Council and Minister of +Finances. The quiet bravado which the latter displayed in thus supporting +the bride after being compromised in her father's financial intrigues +imparted a piquant touch of impudence to his triumph. And public +curiosity was further stimulated by the circumstance that the nuptial +blessing was to be given by Monseigneur Martha, Bishop of Persepolis, the +Pope's political agent in France, and the apostle of the endeavours to +win the Republic over to the Church by pretending to "rally" to it. + +"But, I was mistaken," now resumed Massot with a sneer. "I said a really +Parisian wedding, did I not? But in point of fact this wedding is a +symbol. It's the apotheosis of the /bourgeoisie/, my dear fellow--the old +nobility sacrificing one of its sons on the altar of the golden calf in +order that the Divinity and the gendarmes, being the masters of France +once more, may rid us of those scoundrelly Socialists!" + +Then, again correcting himself, he added: "But I was forgetting. There +are no more Socialists. Their head was cut off the other morning." + +Duthil found this very funny. Then in a confidential way he remarked: +"You know that the marriage wasn't settled without a good deal of +difficulty. . . . Have you read Sagnier's ignoble article this morning?" + +"Yes, yes; but I knew it all before, everybody knew it." + +Then in an undertone, understanding one another's slightest allusion, +they went on chatting. It was only amidst a flood of tears and after a +despairing struggle that Baroness Duvillard had consented to let her +lover marry her daughter. And in doing so she had yielded to the sole +desire of seeing Gerard rich and happy. She still regarded Camille with +all the hatred of a defeated rival. Then, an equally painful contest had +taken place at Madame de Quinsac's. The Countess had only overcome her +revolt and consented to the marriage in order to save her son from the +dangers which had threatened him since childhood; and the Marquis de +Morigny had been so affected by her maternal abnegation, that in spite of +all his anger he had resignedly agreed to be a witness, thus making a +supreme sacrifice, that of his conscience, to the woman whom he had ever +loved. And it was this frightful story that Sagnier--using transparent +nicknames--had related in the "Voix du Peuple" that morning. He had even +contrived to make it more horrid than it really was; for, as usual, he +was badly informed, and he was naturally inclined to falsehood and +invention, as by sending an ever thicker and more poisonous torrent from +his sewer, he might, day by day, increase his paper's sales. Since +Monferrand's victory had compelled him to leave the African Railways +scandal on one side, he had fallen back on scandals in private life, +stripping whole families bare and pelting them with mud. + +All at once Duthil and Massot were approached by Chaigneux, who, with his +shabby frock coat badly buttoned, wore both a melancholy and busy air. +"Well, Monsieur Massot," said he, "what about your article on Silviane? +Is it settled? Will it go in?" + +As Chaigneux was always for sale, always ready to serve as a valet, it +had occurred to Duvillard to make use of him to ensure Silviane's success +at the Comedie. He had handed this sorry deputy over to the young woman, +who entrusted him with all manner of dirty work, and sent him scouring +Paris in search of applauders and advertisements. His eldest daughter was +not yet married, and never had his four women folk weighed more heavily +on his hands. His life had become a perfect hell; they had ended by +beating him, if he did not bring a thousand-franc note home on the first +day of every month. + +"My article!" Massot replied; "no, it surely won't go in, my dear deputy. +Fonsegue says that it's written in too laudatory a style for the 'Globe.' +He asked me if I were having a joke with the paper." + +Chaigneux became livid. The article in question was one written in +advance, from the society point of view, on the success which Silviane +would achieve in "Polyeucte," that evening, at the Comedie. The +journalist, in the hope of pleasing her, had even shown her his "copy"; +and she, quite delighted, now relied upon finding the article in print in +the most sober and solemn organ of the Parisian press. + +"Good heavens! what will become of us?" murmured the wretched Chaigneux. +"It's absolutely necessary that the article should go in." + +"Well, I'm quite agreeable. But speak to the governor yourself. He's +standing yonder between Vignon and Dauvergne, the Minister of Public +Instruction." + +"Yes, I certainly will speak to him--but not here. By-and-by in the +sacristy, during the procession. And I must also try to speak to +Dauvergne, for our Silviane particularly wants him to be in the +ministerial box this evening. Monferrand will be there; he promised +Duvillard so." + +Massot began to laugh, repeating the expression which had circulated +through Paris directly after the actress's engagement: "The Silviane +ministry. . . . Well, Dauvergne certainly owes that much to his +godmother!" said he. + +Just then the little Princess de Harn, coming up like a gust of wind, +broke in upon the three men. "I've no seat, you know!" she cried. + +Duthil fancied that it was a question of finding her a well-placed chair +in the church. "You mustn't count on me," he answered. "I've just had no +end of trouble in stowing the Duchess de Boisemont away with her two +daughters." + +"Oh, but I'm talking of this evening's performance. Come, my dear Duthil, +you really must find me a little corner in somebody's box. I shall die, I +know I shall, if I can't applaud our delicious, our incomparable friend!" + +Ever since setting Silviane down at her door on the previous day, +Rosemonde had been overflowing with admiration for her. + +"Oh! you won't find a single remaining seat, madame," declared Chaigneux, +putting on an air of importance. "We have distributed everything. I have +just been offered three hundred francs for a stall." + +"That's true, there has been a fight even for the bracket seats, however +badly they might be placed," Duthil resumed. "I am very sorry, but you +must not count on me. . . . Duvillard is the only person who might take +you in his box. He told me that he would reserve me a seat there. And so +far, I think, there are only three of us, including his son. . . . Ask +Hyacinthe by-and-by to procure you an invitation." + +Rosemonde, whom Hyacinthe had so greatly bored that she had given him his +dismissal, felt the irony of Duthil's suggestion. Nevertheless, she +exclaimed with an air of delight: "Ah, yes! Hyacinthe can't refuse me +that. Thanks for your information, my dear Duthil. You are very nice, you +are; for you settle things gaily even when they are rather sad. . . . And +don't forget, mind, that you have promised to teach me politics. Ah! +politics, my dear fellow, I feel that nothing will ever impassion me as +politics do!" + +Then she left them, hustled several people, and in spite of the crush +ended by installing herself in the front row. + +"Ah! what a crank she is!" muttered Massot with an air of amusement. + +Then, as Chaigneux darted towards magistrate Amadieu to ask him in the +most obsequious way if he had received his ticket, the journalist said to +Duthil in a whisper: "By the way, my dear friend, is it true that +Duvillard is going to launch his famous scheme for a Trans-Saharan +railway? It would be a gigantic enterprise, a question of hundreds and +hundreds of millions this time. . . . At the 'Globe' office yesterday +evening, Fonsegue shrugged his shoulders and said it was madness, and +would never come off!" + +Duthil winked, and in a jesting way replied: "It's as good as done, my +dear boy. Fonsegue will be kissing the governor's feet before another +forty-eight hours are over." + +Then he gaily gave the other to understand that golden manna would +presently be raining down on the press and all faithful friends and +willing helpers. Birds shake their feathers when the storm is over, and +he, Duthil, was as spruce and lively, as joyous at the prospect of the +presents he now expected, as if there had never been any African Railways +scandal to upset him and make him turn pale with fright. + +"The deuce!" muttered Massot, who had become serious. "So this affair +here is more than a triumph: it's the promise of yet another harvest. +Well, I'm no longer surprised at the crush of people." + +At this moment the organs suddenly burst into a glorious hymn of +greeting. The marriage procession was entering the church. A loud clamour +had gone up from the crowd, which spread over the roadway of the Rue +Royale and impeded the traffic there, while the /cortege/ pompously +ascended the steps in the bright sunshine. And it was now entering the +edifice and advancing beneath the lofty, re-echoing vaults towards the +high altar which flared with candles, whilst on either hand crowded the +congregation, the men on the right and the women on the left. They had +all risen and stood there smiling, with necks outstretched and eyes +glowing with curiosity. + +First, in the rear of the magnificent beadle, came Camille, leaning on +the arm of her father, Baron Duvillard, who wore a proud expression +befitting a day of victory. Veiled with superb /point d'Alencon/ falling +from her diadem of orange blossom, gowned in pleated silk muslin over an +underskirt of white satin, the bride looked so extremely happy, so +radiant at having conquered, that she seemed almost pretty. Moreover, she +held herself so upright that one could scarcely detect that her left +shoulder was higher than her right. + +Next came Gerard, giving his arm to his mother, the Countess de +Quinsac,--he looking very handsome and courtly, as was proper, and she +displaying impassive dignity in her gown of peacock-blue silk embroidered +with gold and steel beads. But it was particularly Eve whom people wished +to see, and every neck was craned forward when she appeared on the arm of +General Bozonnet, the bridegroom's first witness and nearest male +relative. She was gowned in "old rose" taffetas trimmed with Valenciennes +of priceless value, and never had she looked younger, more deliciously +fair. Yet her eyes betrayed her emotion, though she strove to smile; and +her languid grace bespoke her widowhood, her compassionate surrender of +the man she loved. Monferrand, the Marquis de Morigny, and banker +Louvard, the three other witnesses, followed the Baroness and General +Bozonnet, each giving his arm to some lady of the family. A considerable +sensation was caused by the appearance of Monferrand, who seemed on +first-rate terms with himself, and jested familiarly with the lady he +accompanied, a little brunette with a giddy air. Another who was noticed +in the solemn, interminable procession was the bride's eccentric brother +Hyacinthe, whose dress coat was of a cut never previously seen, with its +tails broadly and symmetrically pleated. + +When the affianced pair had taken their places before the prayer-stools +awaiting them, and the members of both families and the witnesses had +installed themselves in the rear in large armchairs, all gilding and red +velvet, the ceremony was performed with extraordinary pomp. The cure of +the Madeleine officiated in person; and vocalists from the Grand Opera +reinforced the choir, which chanted the high mass to the accompaniment of +the organs, whence came a continuous hymn of glory. All possible luxury +and magnificence were displayed, as if to turn this wedding into some +public festivity, a great victory, an event marking the apogee of a +class. Even the impudent bravado attaching to the loathsome private drama +which lay behind it all, and which was known to everybody, added a touch +of abominable grandeur to the ceremony. But the truculent spirit of +superiority and domination which characterised the proceedings became +most manifest when Monseigneur Martha appeared in surplice and stole to +pronounce the blessing. Tall of stature, fresh of face, and faintly +smiling, he had his wonted air of amiable sovereignty, and it was with +august unction that he pronounced the sacramental words, like some +pontiff well pleased at reconciling the two great empires whose heirs he +united. His address to the newly married couple was awaited with +curiosity. It proved really marvellous, he himself triumphed in it. Was +it not in that same church that he had baptised the bride's mother, that +blond Eve, who was still so beautiful, that Jewess whom he himself had +converted to the Catholic faith amidst the tears of emotion shed by all +Paris society? Was it not there also that he had delivered his three +famous addresses on the New Spirit, whence dated, to his thinking, the +rout of science, the awakening of Christian spirituality, and that policy +of rallying to the Republic which was to lead to its conquest? + +So it was assuredly allowable for him to indulge in some delicate +allusions, by way of congratulating himself on his work, now that he was +marrying a poor scion of the old aristocracy to the five millions of that +/bourgeoise/ heiress, in whose person triumphed the class which had won +the victory in 1789, and was now master of the land. The fourth estate, +the duped, robbed people, alone had no place in those festivities. But by +uniting the affianced pair before him in the bonds of wedlock, +Monseigneur Martha sealed the new alliance, gave effect to the Pope's own +policy, that stealthy effort of Jesuitical Opportunism which would take +democracy, power and wealth to wife, in order to subdue and control them. +When the prelate reached his peroration he turned towards Monferrand, who +sat there smiling; and it was he, the Minister, whom he seemed to be +addressing while he expressed the hope that the newly married pair would +ever lead a truly Christian life of humility and obedience in all fear of +God, of whose iron hand he spoke as if it were that of some gendarme +charged with maintaining the peace of the world. Everybody was aware that +there was some diplomatic understanding between the Bishop and the +Minister, some secret pact or other whereby both satisfied their passion +for authority, their craving to insinuate themselves into everything and +reign supreme; and thus when the spectators saw Monferrand smiling in his +somewhat sly, jovial way, they also exchanged smiles. + +"Ah!" muttered Massot, who had remained near Duthil, "how amused old +Justus Steinberger would be, if he were here to see his granddaughter +marrying the last of the Quinsacs!" + +"But these marriages are quite the thing, quite the fashion, my dear +fellow," the deputy replied. "The Jews and the Christians, the +/bourgeois/ and the nobles, do quite right to come to an understanding, +so as to found a new aristocracy. An aristocracy is needed, you know, for +otherwise we should be swept away by the masses." + +None the less Massot continued sneering at the idea of what a grimace +Justus Steinberger would have made if he had heard Monseigneur Martha. It +was rumoured in Paris that although the old Jew banker had ceased all +intercourse with his daughter Eve since her conversion, he took a keen +interest in everything she was reported to do or say, as if he were more +than ever convinced that she would prove an avenging and dissolving agent +among those Christians, whose destruction was asserted to be the dream of +his race. If he had failed in his hope of overcoming Duvillard by giving +her to him as a wife, he doubtless now consoled himself with thinking of +the extraordinary fortune to which his blood had attained, by mingling +with that of the harsh, old-time masters of his race, to whose corruption +it gave a finishing touch. Therein perhaps lay that final Jewish conquest +of the world of which people sometimes talked. + +A last triumphal strain from the organ brought the ceremony to an end; +whereupon the two families and the witnesses passed into the sacristy, +where the acts were signed. And forthwith the great congratulatory +procession commenced. + +The bride and bridegroom at last stood side by side in the lofty but +rather dim room, panelled with oak. How radiant with delight was Camille +at the thought that it was all over, that she had triumphed and married +that handsome man of high lineage, after wresting him with so much +difficulty from one and all, her mother especially! She seemed to have +grown taller. Deformed, swarthy, and ugly though she was, she drew +herself up exultingly, whilst scores and scores of women, friends or +acquaintances, scrambled and rushed upon her, pressing her hands or +kissing her, and addressing her in words of ecstasy. Gerard, who rose +both head and shoulders above his bride, and looked all the nobler and +stronger beside one of such puny figure, shook hands and smiled like some +Prince Charming, who good-naturedly allowed himself to be loved. +Meanwhile, the relatives of the newly wedded pair, though they were drawn +up in one line, formed two distinct groups past which the crowd pushed +and surged with arms outstretched. Duvillard received the congratulations +offered him as if he were some king well pleased with his people; whilst +Eve, with a supreme effort, put on an enchanting mien, and answered one +and all with scarcely a sign of the sobs which she was forcing back. +Then, on the other side of the bridal pair, Madame de Quinsac stood +between General de Bozonnet and the Marquis de Morigny. Very dignified, +in fact almost haughty, she acknowledged most of the salutations +addressed to her with a mere nod, giving her little withered hand only to +those people with whom she was well acquainted. A sea of strange +countenances encompassed her, and now and again when some particularly +murky wave rolled by, a wave of men whose faces bespoke all the crimes of +money-mongering, she and the Marquis exchanged glances of deep sadness. +This tide continued sweeping by for nearly half an hour; and such was the +number of those who wanted to shake hands with the bridal pair and their +relatives, that the latter soon felt their arms ache. + +Meantime, some folks lingered in the sacristy; little groups collected, +and gay chatter rang out. Monferrand was immediately surrounded. Massot +pointed out to Duthil how eagerly Public Prosecutor Lehmann rushed upon +the Minister to pay him court. They were immediately joined by +investigating magistrate Amadieu. And even M. de Larombiere, the judge, +approached Monferrand, although he hated the Republic, and was an +intimate friend of the Quinsacs. But then obedience and obsequiousness +were necessary on the part of the magistracy, for it was dependent on +those in power, who alone could give advancement, and appoint even as +they dismissed. As for Lehmann, it was alleged that he had rendered +assistance to Monferrand by spiriting away certain documents connected +with the African Railways affair, whilst with regard to the smiling and +extremely Parisian Amadieu, was it not to him that the government was +indebted for Salvat's head? + +"You know," muttered Massot, "they've all come to be thanked for +guillotining that man yesterday. Monferrand owes that wretched fellow a +fine taper; for in the first place his bomb prolonged the life of the +Barroux ministry, and later on it made Monferrand prime minister, as a +strong-handed man was particularly needed to strangle Anarchism. What a +contest, eh? Monferrand on one side and Salvat on the other. It was all +bound to end in a head being cut off; one was wanted. . . . Ah! just +listen, they are talking of it." + +This was true. As the three functionaries of the law drew near to pay +their respects to the all-powerful Minister, they were questioned by lady +friends whose curiosity had been roused by what they had read in the +newspapers. Thereupon Amadieu, whom duty had taken to the execution, and +who was proud of his own importance, and determined to destroy what he +called "the legend of Salvat's heroic death," declared that the scoundrel +had shown no true courage at all. His pride alone had kept him on his +feet. Fright had so shaken and choked him that he had virtually been dead +before the fall of the knife. + +"Ah! that's true!" cried Duthil. "I was there myself." + +Massot, however, pulled him by the arm, quite indignant at such an +assertion, although as a rule he cared a rap for nothing. "You couldn't +see anything, my dear fellow," said he; "Salvat died very bravely. It's +really stupid to continue throwing mud at that poor devil even when he's +dead." + +However, the idea that Salvat had died like a coward was too pleasing a +one to be rejected. It was, so to say, a last sacrifice deposited at +Monferrand's feet with the object of propitiating him. He still smiled in +his peaceful way, like a good-natured man who is stern only when +necessity requires it. And he showed great amiability towards the three +judicial functionaries, and thanked them for the bravery with which they +had accomplished their painful duty to the very end. On the previous day, +after the execution, he had obtained a formidable majority in the Chamber +on a somewhat delicate matter of policy. Order reigned, said he, and all +was for the very best in France. Then, on seeing Vignon--who like a cool +gamester had made a point of attending the wedding in order to show +people that he was superior to fortune--the Minister detained him, and +made much of him, partly as a matter of tactics, for in spite of +everything he could not help fearing that the future might belong to that +young fellow, who showed himself so intelligent and cautious. When a +mutual friend informed them that Barroux' health was now so bad that the +doctors had given him up as lost, they both began to express their +compassion. Poor Barroux! He had never recovered from that vote of the +Chamber which had overthrown him. He had been sinking from day to day, +stricken to the heart by his country's ingratitude, dying of that +abominable charge of money-mongering and thieving; he who was so upright +and so loyal, who had devoted his whole life to the Republic! But then, +as Monferrand repeated, one should never confess. The public can't +understand such a thing. + +At this moment Duvillard, in some degree relinquishing his paternal +duties, came to join the others, and the Minister then had to share the +honours of triumph with him. For was not this banker the master? Was he +not money personified--money, which is the only stable, everlasting +force, far above all ephemeral tenure of power, such as attaches to those +ministerial portfolios which pass so rapidly from hand to hand? +Monferrand reigned, but he would pass away, and a like fate would some +day fall on Vignon, who had already had a warning that one could not +govern unless the millions of the financial world were on one's side. So +was not the only real triumpher himself, the Baron--he who laid out five +millions of francs on buying a scion of the aristocracy for his daughter, +he who was the personification of the sovereign /bourgeoisie/, who +controlled public fortune, and was determined to part with nothing, even +were he attacked with bombs? All these festivities really centred in +himself, he alone sat down to the banquet, leaving merely the crumbs from +his table to the lowly, those wretched toilers who had been so cleverly +duped at the time of the Revolution. + +That African Railways affair was already but so much ancient history, +buried, spirited away by a parliamentary commission. All who had been +compromised in it, the Duthils, the Chaigneux, the Fonsegues and others, +could now laugh merrily. They had been delivered from their nightmare by +Monferrand's strong fist, and raised by Duvillard's triumph. Even +Sagnier's ignoble article and miry revelations in the "Voix du Peuple" +were of no real account, and could be treated with a shrug of the +shoulders, for the public had been so saturated with denunciation and +slander that it was now utterly weary of all noisy scandal. The only +thing which aroused interest was the rumour that Duvillard's big affair +of the Trans-Saharan Railway was soon to be launched, that millions of +money would be handled, and that some of them would rain down upon +faithful friends. + +Whilst Duvillard was conversing in a friendly way with Monferrand and +Dauvergne, the Minister of Public Instruction, who had joined them, +Massot encountered Fonsegue, his editor, and said to him in an undertone: +"Duthil has just assured me that the Trans-Saharan business is ready, and +that they mean to chance it with the Chamber. They declare that they are +certain of success." + +Fonsegue, however, was sceptical on the point. "It's impossible," said +he; "they won't dare to begin again so soon." + +Although he spoke in this fashion, the news had made him grave. He had +lately had such a terrible fright through his imprudence in the African +Railways affair, that he had vowed he would take every precaution in +future. Still, this did not mean that he would refuse to participate in +matters of business. The best course was to wait and study them, and then +secure a share in all that seemed profitable. In the present instance he +felt somewhat worried. However, whilst he stood there watching the group +around Duvillard and the two ministers, he suddenly perceived Chaigneux, +who, flitting hither and thither, was still beating up applauders for +that evening's performance. He sang Silviane's praises in every key, +predicted a most tremendous success, and did his very best to stimulate +curiosity. At last he approached Dauvergne, and with his long figure bent +double exclaimed: "My dear Minister, I have a particular request to make +to you on the part of a very charming person, whose victory will not be +complete this evening if you do not condescend to favour her with your +vote." + +Dauvergne, a tall, fair, good-looking man, whose blue eyes smiled behind +his glasses, listened to Chaigneux with an affable air. He was proving a +great success at the Ministry of Public Instruction, although he knew +nothing of University matters. However, like a real Parisian of Dijon, as +people called him, he was possessed of some tact and skill, gave +entertainments at which his young and charming wife outshone all others, +and passed as being quite an enlightened friend of writers and artists. +Silviane's engagement at the Comedie, which so far was his most notable +achievement, and which would have shaken the position of any other +minister, had by a curious chance rendered him popular. It was regarded +as something original and amusing. + +On understanding that Chaigneux simply wished to make sure of his +presence at the Comedie that evening, he became yet more affable. "Why, +certainly, I shall be there, my dear deputy," he replied. "When one has +such a charming god-daughter one mustn't forsake her in a moment of +danger." + +At this Monferrand, who had been lending ear, turned round. "And tell +her," said he, "that I shall be there, too. She may therefore rely on +having two more friends in the house." + +Thereupon Duvillard, quite enraptured, his eyes glistening with emotion +and gratitude, bowed to the two ministers as if they had granted him some +never-to-be-forgotten favour. + +When Chaigneux, on his side also, had returned thanks with a low bow, he +happened to perceive Fonsegue, and forthwith he darted towards him and +led him aside. "Ah! my dear colleague," he declared, "it is absolutely +necessary that this matter should be settled. I regard it as of supreme +importance." + +"What are you speaking of?" inquired Fonsegue, much surprised. + +"Why, of Massot's article, which you won't insert." + +Thereupon, the director of the "Globe" plumply declared that he could not +insert the article. He talked of his paper's dignity and gravity; and +declared that the lavishing of such fulsome praise upon a hussy--yes, a +mere hussy, in a journal whose exemplary morality and austerity had cost +him so much labour, would seem monstrous and degrading. Personally, he +did not care a fig about it if Silviane chose to make an exhibition of +herself, well, he would be there to see; but the "Globe" was sacred. + +Disconcerted and almost tearful, Chaigneux nevertheless renewed his +attempt. "Come, my dear colleague," said he, "pray make a little effort +for my sake. If the article isn't inserted, Duvillard will think that it +is my fault. And you know that I really need his help. My eldest +daughter's marriage has again been postponed, and I hardly know where to +turn." Then perceiving that his own misfortunes in no wise touched +Fonsegue, he added: "And do it for your own sake, my dear colleague, your +own sake. For when all is said Duvillard knows what is in the article, +and it is precisely because it is so favourable a one that he wishes to +see it in the 'Globe.' Think it over; if the article isn't published, he +will certainly turn his back on you." + +For a moment Fonsegue remained silent. Was he thinking of the colossal +Trans-Saharan enterprise? Was he reflecting that it would be hard to +quarrel at such a moment and miss his own share in the coming +distribution of millions among faithful friends? Perhaps so; however, the +idea that it would be more prudent to await developments gained the day +with him. "No, no," he said, "I can't, it's a matter of conscience." + +In the mean time congratulations were still being tendered to the newly +wedded couple. It seemed as if all Paris were passing through the +sacristy; there were ever the same smiles and the same hand shakes. +Gerard, Camille and their relatives, however weary they might feel, were +forced to retain an air of delight while they stood there against the +wall, pent up by the crowd. The heat was now becoming unbearable, and a +cloud of dust arose as when some big flock goes by. + +All at once little Princess de Harn, who had hitherto lingered nobody +knew where, sprang out of the throng, flung her arms around Camille, +kissed even Eve, and then kept Gerard's hand in her own while paying him +extraordinary compliments. Then, on perceiving Hyacinthe, she took +possession of him and carried him off into a corner. "I say," she +exclaimed, "I have a favour to ask you." + +The young man was wonderfully silent that day. His sister's wedding +seemed to him a contemptible ceremony, the most vulgar that one could +imagine. So here, thought he, was another pair accepting the horrid +sexual law by which the absurdity of the world was perpetuated! For his +part, he had decided that he would witness the proceedings in rigid +silence, with a haughty air of disapproval. When Rosemonde spoke to him, +he looked at her rather nervously, for he was glad that she had forsaken +him for Duthil, and feared some fresh caprice on her part. At last, +opening his mouth for the first time that day, he replied: "Oh, as a +friend, you know, I will grant you whatever favour you like." + +Forthwith the Princess explained that she would surely die if she did not +witness the /debut/ of her dear friend Silviane, of whom she had become +such a passionate admirer. So she begged the young man to prevail on his +father to give her a seat in his box, as she knew that one was left +there. + +Hyacinthe smiled. "Oh, willingly, my dear," said he; "I'll warn papa, +there will be a seat for you." + +Then, as the procession of guests at last drew to an end and the vestry +began to empty, the bridal pair and their relatives were able to go off +through the chattering throng, which still lingered about to bow to them +and scrutinise them once more. + +Gerard and Camille were to leave for an estate which Duvillard possessed +in Normandy, directly after lunch. This repast, served at the princely +mansion of the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, provided an opportunity for fresh +display. The dining-room on the first floor had been transformed into a +buffet, where reigned the greatest abundance and the most wonderful +sumptuousness. Quite a reception too was held in the drawing-rooms, the +large red /salon/, the little blue and silver /salon/ and all the others, +whose doors stood wide open. Although it had been arranged that only +family friends should be invited, there were quite three hundred people +present. The ministers had excused themselves, alleging that the weighty +cares of public business required their presence elsewhere. But the +magistrates, the deputies and the leading journalists who had attended +the wedding were again assembled together. And in that throng of hungry +folks, longing for some of the spoils of Duvillard's new venture, the +people who felt most out of their element were Madame de Quinsac's few +guests, whom General de Bozonnet and the Marquis de Morigny had seated on +a sofa in the large red /salon/, which they did not quit. + +Eve, who for her part felt quite overcome, both her moral and physical +strength being exhausted, had seated herself in the little blue and +silver drawing-room, which, with her passion for flowers, she had +transformed into an arbour of roses. She would have fallen had she +remained standing, the very floor had seemed to sink beneath her feet. +Nevertheless, whenever a guest approached her she managed to force a +smile, and appear beautiful and charming. Unlooked-for help at last came +to her in the person of Monseigneur Martha, who had graciously honoured +the lunch with his presence. He took an armchair near her, and began to +talk to her in his amiable, caressing way. He was doubtless well aware of +the frightful anguish which wrung the poor woman's heart, for he showed +himself quite fatherly, eager to comfort her. She, however, talked on +like some inconsolable widow bent on renouncing the world for God, who +alone could bring her peace. Then, as the conversation turned on the +Asylum for the Invalids of Labour, she declared that she was resolved to +take her presidency very seriously, and, in fact, would exclusively +devote herself to it, in the future. + +"And as we are speaking of this, Monseigneur," said she, "I would even +ask you to give me some advice. . . . I shall need somebody to help me, +and I thought of securing the services of a priest whom I much admire, +Monsieur l'Abbe Pierre Froment." + +At this the Bishop became grave and embarrassed; but Princess Rosemonde, +who was passing by with Duthil, had overheard the Baroness, and drawing +near with her wonted impetuosity, she exclaimed: "Abbe Pierre Froment! +Oh! I forgot to tell you, my dear, that I met him going about in jacket +and trousers! And I've been told too that he cycles in the Bois with some +creature or other. Isn't it true, Duthil, that we met him?" + +The deputy bowed and smiled, whilst Eve clasped her hands in amazement. +"Is it possible! A priest who was all charitable fervour, who had the +faith and passion of an apostle!" + +Thereupon Monseigneur intervened: "Yes, yes, great sorrows occasionally +fall upon the Church. I heard of the madness of the unhappy man you speak +of. I even thought it my duty to write to him, but he left my letter +unanswered. I should so much have liked to stifle such a scandal! But +there are abominable forces which we cannot always overcome; and so a day +or two ago the archbishop was obliged to put him under interdict. . . . +You must choose somebody else, madame." + +It was quite a disaster. Eve gazed at Rosemonde and Duthil, without +daring to ask them for particulars, but wondering what creature could +have been so audacious as to turn a priest from the path of duty. She +must assuredly be some shameless demented woman! And it seemed to Eve as +if this crime gave a finishing touch to her own misfortune. With a wave +of the arm, which took in all the luxury around her, the roses steeping +her in perfume, and the crush of guests around the buffet, she murmured: +"Ah! decidedly there's nothing but corruption left; one can no longer +rely on anybody!" + +Whilst this was going on, Camille happened to be alone in her own room +getting ready to leave the house with Gerard. And all at once her brother +Hyacinthe joined her there. "Ah! it's you, youngster!" she exclaimed. +"Well, make haste if you want to kiss me, for I'm off now, thank +goodness!" + +He kissed her as she suggested, and then in a doctoral way replied: "I +thought you had more self-command. The delight you have been showing all +this morning quite disgusts me." + +A quiet glance of contempt was her only answer. However, he continued: +"You know very well that she'll take your Gerard from you again, directly +you come back to Paris." + +At this Camille's cheeks turned white and her eyes flared. She stepped +towards her brother with clenched fists: "She! you say that she will take +him from me!" + +The "she" they referred to was their own mother. + +"Listen, my boy! I'll kill her first!" continued Camille. "Ah, no! she +needn't hope for that. I shall know how to keep the man that belongs to +me. . . . And as for you, keep your spite to yourself, for I know you, +remember; you are a mere child and a fool!" + +He recoiled as if a viper were rearing its sharp, slender black head +before him; and having always feared her, he thought it best to beat a +retreat. + +While the last guests were rushing upon the buffet and finishing the +pillage there, the bridal pair took their leave, before driving off to +the railway station. General de Bozonnet had joined a group in order to +vent his usual complaints about compulsory military service, and the +Marquis de Morigny was obliged to fetch him at the moment when the +Countess de Quinsac was kissing her son and daughter-in-law. The old lady +trembled with so much emotion that the Marquis respectfully ventured to +sustain her. Meantime, Hyacinthe had started in search of his father, and +at last found him near a window with the tottering Chaigneux, whom he was +violently upbraiding, for Fonsegue's conscientious scruples had put him +in a fury. Indeed, if Massot's article should not be inserted in the +"Globe," Silviane might lay all the blame upon him, the Baron, and wreak +further punishment upon him. However, upon being summoned by his son he +had to don his triumphal air once more, kiss his daughter on the +forehead, shake hands with his son-in-law, jest and wish them both a +pleasant journey. Then Eve, near whom Monseigneur Martha had remained, +smiling, in her turn had to say farewell. In this she evinced touching +bravery; her determination to remain beautiful and charming until the +very end lent her sufficient strength to show herself both gay and +motherly. + +She took hold of the slightly quivering hand which Gerard proffered with +some embarrassment, and ventured to retain it for a moment in her own, in +a good-hearted, affectionate way, instinct with all the heroism of +renunciation. "Good by, Gerard," she said, "keep in good health, be +happy." Then turning to Camille she kissed her on both cheeks, while +Monseigneur Martha sat looking at them with an air of indulgent sympathy. +They wished each other "Au revoir," but their voices trembled, and their +eyes in meeting gleamed like swords; in the same way as beneath the +kisses they had exchanged they had felt each other's teeth. Ah! how it +enraged Camille to see her mother still so beautiful and fascinating in +spite of age and grief! And for Eve how great the torture of beholding +her daughter's youth, that youth which had overcome her, and was for ever +wresting love from within her reach! No forgiveness was possible between +them; they would still hate one another even in the family tomb, where +some day they would sleep side by side. + +All the same, that evening Baroness Duvillard excused herself from +attending the performance of "Polyeucte" at the Comedie Francaise. She +felt very tired and wished to go to bed early, said she. As a matter of +fact she wept on her pillow all night long. Thus the Baron's stage-box on +the first balcony tier contained only himself, Hyacinthe, Duthil, and +little Princess de Harn. + +At nine o'clock there was a full house, one of the brilliant chattering +houses peculiar to great dramatic solemnities. All the society people who +had marched through the sacristy of the Madeleine that morning were now +assembled at the theatre, again feverish with curiosity, and on the +lookout for the unexpected. One recognised the same faces and the sane +smiles; the women acknowledged one another's presence with little signs +of intelligence, the men understood each other at a word, a gesture. One +and all had kept the appointment, the ladies with bared shoulders, the +gentlemen with flowers in their button-holes. Fonsegue occupied the +"Globe's" box, with two friendly families. Little Massot had his +customary seat in the stalls. Amadieu, who was a faithful patron of the +Comedie, was also to be seen there, as well as General de Bozonnet and +Public Prosecutor Lehmann. The man who was most looked at, however, on +account of his scandalous article that morning, was Sagnier, the terrible +Sagnier, looking bloated and apoplectical. Then there was Chaigneux, who +had kept merely a modest bracket-seat for himself, and who scoured the +passages, and climbed to every tier, for the last time preaching +enthusiasm. Finally, the two ministers Monferrand and Dauvergne appeared +in the box facing Duvillard's; whereupon many knowing smiles were +exchanged, for everybody was aware that these personages had come to help +on the success of the /debutante/. + +On the latter point there had still been unfavourable rumours only the +previous day. Sagnier had declared that the /debut/ of such a notorious +harlot as Silviane at the Comedie Francaise, in such a part too as that +of "Pauline," which was one of so much moral loftiness, could only be +regarded as an impudent insult to public decency. The whole press, +moreover, had long been up in arms against the young woman's +extraordinary caprice. But then the affair had been talked of for six +months past, so that Paris had grown used to the idea of seeing Silviane +at the Comedie. And now it flocked thither with the one idea of being +entertained. Before the curtain rose one could tell by the very +atmosphere of the house that the audience was a jovial, good-humoured +one, bent on enjoying itself, and ready to applaud should it find itself +at all pleased. + +The performance really proved extraordinary. When Silviane, chastely +robed, made her appearance in the first act, the house was quite +astonished by her virginal face, her innocent-looking mouth, and her eyes +beaming with immaculate candour. Then, although the manner in which she +had understood her part at first amazed people, it ended by charming +them. From the moment of confiding in "Stratonice," from the moment of +relating her dream, she turned "Pauline" into a soaring mystical +creature, some saint, as it were, such as one sees in stained-glass +windows, carried along by a Wagnerian Brunhilda riding the clouds. It was +a thoroughly ridiculous conception of the part, contrary to reason and +truth alike. Still, it only seemed to interest people the more, partly on +account of mysticism being the fashion, and partly on account of the +contrast between Silviane's assumed candour and real depravity. Her +success increased from act to act, and some slight hissing which was +attributed to Sagnier only helped to make the victory more complete. +Monferrand and Dauvergne, as the newspapers afterwards related, gave the +signal for applause; and the whole house joined in it, partly from +amusement and partly perhaps in a spirit of irony. + +During the interval between the fourth and fifth acts there was quite a +procession of visitors to Duvillard's box, where the greatest excitement +prevailed. Duthil, however, after absenting himself for a moment, came +back to say: "You remember our influential critic, the one whom I brought +to dinner at the Cafe Anglais? Well, he's repeating to everybody that +'Pauline' is merely a little /bourgeoise/, and is not transformed by the +heavenly grace until the very finish of the piece. To turn her into a +holy virgin from the outset simply kills the part, says he." + +"Pooh!" repeated Duvillard, "let him argue if he likes, it will be all +the more advertisement. . . . The important point is to get Massot's +article inserted in the 'Globe' to-morrow morning." + +On this point, unfortunately, the news was by no means good. Chaigneux, +who had gone in search of Fonsegue, declared that the latter still +hesitated in the matter in spite of Silviane's success, which he declared +to be ridiculous. Thereupon, the Baron became quite angry. "Go and tell +Fonsegue," he exclaimed, "that I insist on it, and that I shall remember +what he does." + +Meantime Princess Rosemonde was becoming quite delirious with enthusiasm. +"My dear Hyacinthe," she pleaded, "please take me to Silviane's +dressing-room; I can't wait, I really must go and kiss her." + +"But we'll all go!" cried Duvillard, who heard her entreaty. + +The passages were crowded, and there were people even on the stage. +Moreover, when the party reached the door of Silviane's dressing-room, +they found it shut. When the Baron knocked at it, a dresser replied that +madame begged the gentlemen to wait a moment. + +"Oh! a woman may surely go in," replied Rosemonde, hastily slipping +through the doorway. "And you may come, Hyacinthe," she added; "there can +be no objection to you." + +Silviane was very hot, and a dresser was wiping her perspiring shoulders +when Rosemonde darted forward and kissed her. Then they chatted together +amidst the heat and glare from the gas and the intoxicating perfumes of +all the flowers which were heaped up in the little room. Finally, +Hyacinthe heard them promise to see one another after the performance, +Silviane even inviting Rosemonde to drink a cup of tea with her at her +house. At this the young man smiled complacently, and said to the +actress: "Your carriage is waiting for you at the corner of the Rue +Montpensier, is it not? Well, I'll take the Princess to it. That will be +the simpler plan, you can both go off together!" + +"Oh! how good of you," cried Rosemonde; "it's agreed." + +Just then the door was opened, and the men, being admitted, began to pour +forth their congratulations. However, they had to regain their seats in +all haste so as to witness the fifth act. This proved quite a triumph, +the whole house bursting into applause when Silviane spoke the famous +line, "I see, I know, I believe, I am undeceived," with the rapturous +enthusiasm of a holy martyr ascending to heaven. Nothing could have been +more soul-like, it was said. And so when the performers were called +before the curtain, Paris bestowed an ovation on that virgin of the +stage, who, as Sagnier put it, knew so well how to act depravity at home. + +Accompanied by Duthil, Duvillard at once went behind the scenes in order +to fetch Silviane, while Hyacinthe escorted Rosemonde to the brougham +waiting at the corner of the Rue Montpensier. Having helped her into it, +the young man stood by, waiting. And he seemed to grow quite merry when +his father came up with Silviane, and was stopped by her, just as, in his +turn, he wished to get into the carriage. + +"There's no room for you, my dear fellow," said she. "I've a friend with +me." + +Rosemonde's little smiling face then peered forth from the depths of the +brougham. And the Baron remained there open-mouthed while the vehicle +swiftly carried the two women away! + +"Well, what would you have, my dear fellow?" said Hyacinthe, by way of +explanation to Duthil, who also seemed somewhat amazed by what had +happened. "Rosemonde was worrying my life out, and so I got rid of her by +packing her off with Silviane." + +Duvillard was still standing on the pavement and still looking dazed when +Chaigneux, who was going home quite tired out, recognised him, and came +up to say that Fonsegue had thought the matter over, and that Massot's +article would be duly inserted. In the passages, too, there had been a +deal of talk about the famous Trans-Saharan project. + +Then Hyacinthe led his father away, trying to comfort him like a sensible +friend, who regarded woman as a base and impure creature. "Let's go home +to bed," said he. "As that article is to appear, you can take it to her +to-morrow. She will see you, sure enough." + +Thereupon they lighted cigars, and now and again exchanging a few words, +took their way up the Avenue de l'Opera, which at that hour was deserted +and dismal. Meantime, above the slumbering houses of Paris the breeze +wafted a prolonged sigh, the plaint, as it were, of an expiring world. + + + +III + +THE GOAL OF LABOUR + +EVER since the execution of Salvat, Guillaume had become extremely +taciturn. He seemed worried and absent-minded. He would work for hours at +the manufacture of that dangerous powder of which he alone knew the +formula, and the preparation of which was such a delicate matter that he +would allow none to assist him. Then, at other times he would go off, and +return tired out by some long solitary ramble. He remained very gentle at +home, and strove to smile there. But whenever anybody spoke to him he +started as if suddenly called back from dreamland. + +Pierre imagined his brother had relied too much upon his powers of +renunciation, and found the loss of Marie unbearable. Was it not some +thought of her that haunted him now that the date fixed for the marriage +drew nearer and nearer? One evening, therefore, Pierre ventured to speak +out, again offering to leave the house and disappear. + +But at the first words he uttered Guillaume stopped him, and +affectionately replied: "Marie? Oh! I love her, I love her too well to +regret what I have done. No, no! you only bring me happiness, I derive +all my strength and courage from you now that I know you are both happy. +. . . And I assure you that you are mistaken, there is nothing at all the +matter with me; my work absorbs me, perhaps, but that is all." + +That same evening he managed to cast his gloom aside, and displayed +delightful gaiety. During dinner he inquired if the upholsterer would +soon call to arrange the two little rooms which Marie was to occupy with +her husband over the workroom. The young woman, who since her marriage +with Pierre had been decided had remained waiting with smiling patience, +thereupon told Guillaume what it was she desired--first some hangings of +red cotton stuff, then some polished pine furniture which would enable +her to imagine she was in the country, and finally a carpet on the floor, +because a carpet seemed to her the height of luxury. She laughed as she +spoke, and Guillaume laughed with her in a gay and fatherly way. His good +spirits brought much relief to Pierre, who concluded that he must have +been mistaken in his surmises. + +On the very morrow, however, Guillaume relapsed into a dreamy state. And +so disquietude again came upon Pierre, particularly when he noticed that +Mere-Grand also seemed to be unusually grave and silent. Not daring to +address her, he tried to extract some information from his nephews, but +neither Thomas nor Francois nor Antoine knew anything. Each of them +quietly devoted his time to his work, respecting and worshipping his +father, but never questioning him about his plans or enterprises. +Whatever he might choose to do could only be right and good; and they, +his sons, were ready to do the same and help him at the very first call, +without pausing to inquire into his purpose. It was plain, however, that +he kept them apart from anything at all perilous, that he retained all +responsibility for himself, and that Mere-Grand alone was his +/confidante/, the one whom he consulted and to whom he perhaps listened. +Pierre therefore renounced his hope of learning anything from the sons, +and directed his attention to the old lady, whose rigid gravity worried +him the more as she and Guillaume frequently had private chats in the +room she occupied upstairs. They shut themselves up there all alone, and +remained together for hours without the faintest sound coming from the +seemingly lifeless chamber. + +One day, however, Pierre caught sight of Guillaume as he came out of it, +carrying a little valise which appeared to be very heavy. And Pierre +thereupon remembered both his brother's powder, one pound weight of which +would have sufficed to destroy a cathedral, and the destructive engine +which he had purposed bestowing upon France in order that she might be +victorious over all other nations, and become the one great initiatory +and liberative power. Pierre remembered too that the only person besides +himself who knew his brother's secret was Mere-Grand, who, at the time +when Guillaume was fearing some perquisition on the part of the police, +had long slept upon the cartridges of the terrible explosive. But now why +was Guillaume removing all the powder which he had been preparing for +some time past? As this question occurred to Pierre, a sudden suspicion, +a vague dread, came upon him, and gave him strength to ask his brother: +"Have you reason to fear anything, since you won't keep things here? If +they embarrass you, they can all be deposited at my house, nobody will +make a search there." + +Guillaume, whom these words astonished, gazed at Pierre fixedly, and then +replied: "Yes, I have learnt that the arrests and perquisitions have +begun afresh since that poor devil was guillotined; for they are in +terror at the thought that some despairing fellow may avenge him. +Moreover, it is hardly prudent to keep destructive agents of such great +power here. I prefer to deposit them in a safe place. But not at +Neuilly--oh! no indeed! they are not a present for you, brother." +Guillaume spoke with outward calmness; and if he had started with +surprise at the first moment, it had been scarcely perceptible. + +"So everything is ready?" Pierre resumed. "You will soon be handing your +engine of destruction over to the Minister of War, I presume?" + +A gleam of hesitation appeared in the depths of Guillaume's eyes, and he +was for a moment about to tell a falsehood. However, he ended by replying +"No, I have renounced that intention. I have another idea." + +He spoke these last words with so much energy and decision that Pierre +did not dare to question him further, to ask him, for instance, what that +other idea might be. From that moment, however, he quivered with anxious +expectancy. From hour to hour Mere-Grand's lofty silence and Guillaume's +rapt, energetic face seemed to tell him that some huge and terrifying +scheme had come into being, and was growing and threatening the whole of +Paris. + +One afternoon, just as Thomas was about to repair to the Grandidier +works, some one came to Guillaume's with the news that old Toussaint, the +workman, had been stricken with a fresh attack of paralysis. Thomas +thereupon decided that he would call upon the poor fellow on his way, for +he held him in esteem and wished to ascertain if he could render him any +help. Pierre expressed a desire to accompany his nephew, and they started +off together about four o'clock. + +On entering the one room which the Toussaints occupied, the room where +they ate and slept, the visitors found the mechanician seated on a low +chair near the table. He looked half dead, as if struck by lightning. It +was a case of hemiplegia, which had paralysed the whole of his right +side, his right leg and right arm, and had also spread to his face in +such wise that he could no longer speak. The only sound he could raise +was an incomprehensible guttural grunt. His mouth was drawn to the right, +and his once round, good-natured-looking face, with tanned skin and +bright eyes, had been twisted into a frightful mask of anguish. At fifty +years of age, the unhappy man was utterly done for. His unkempt beard was +as white as that of an octogenarian, and his knotty limbs, preyed upon by +toil, were henceforth dead. Only his eyes remained alive, and they +travelled around the room, going from one to another. By his side, eager +to do what she could for him, was his wife, who remained stout even when +she had little to eat, and still showed herself active and clear-headed, +however great her misfortunes. + +"It's a friendly visit, Toussaint," said she. "It's Monsieur Thomas who +has come to see you with Monsieur l'Abbe." Then quietly correcting +herself she added: "With Monsieur Pierre, his uncle. You see that you are +not yet forsaken." + +Toussaint wished to speak, but his fruitless efforts only brought two big +tears to his eyes. Then he gazed at his visitors with an expression of +indescribable woe, his jaws trembling convulsively. + +"Don't put yourself out," repeated his wife. "The doctor told you that it +would do you no good." + +At the moment of entering the room, Pierre had already noticed two +persons who had risen from their chairs and drawn somewhat on one side. +And now to his great surprise he recognised that they were Madame +Theodore and Celine, who were both decently clad, and looked as if they +led a life of comfort. On hearing of Toussaint's misfortune they had come +to see him, like good-hearted creatures, who, on their own side, had +experienced the most cruel suffering. Pierre, on noticing that they now +seemed to be beyond dire want, remembered what he had heard of the +wonderful sympathy lavished on the child after her father's execution, +the many presents and donations offered her, and the generous proposals +that had been made to adopt her. These last had ended in her being +adopted by a former friend of Salvat, who had sent her to school again, +pending the time when she might be apprenticed to some trade, while, on +the other hand, Madame Theodore had been placed as a nurse in a +convalescent home. In such wise both had been saved. + +When Pierre drew near to little Celine in order to kiss her, Madame +Theodore told her to thank Monsieur l'Abbe--for so she still respectfully +called him--for all that he had previously done for her. "It was you who +brought us happiness, Monsieur l'Abbe," said she. "And that's a thing one +can never forget. I'm always telling Celine to remember you in her +prayers." + +"And so, my child, you are now going to school again," said Pierre. + +"Oh yes, Monsieur l'Abbe, and I'm well pleased at it. Besides, we no +longer lack anything." Then, however, sudden emotion came over the girl, +and she stammered with a sob: "Ah! if poor papa could only see us!" + +Madame Theodore, meanwhile, had begun to take leave of Madame Toussaint. +"Well, good by, we must go," said she. "What has happened to you is very +sad, and we wanted to tell you how much it grieved us. The worry is that +when misfortune falls on one, courage isn't enough to set things right. . +. . Celine, come and kiss your uncle. . . . My poor brother, I hope +you'll get back the use of your legs as soon as possible." + +They kissed the paralysed man on the cheeks, and then went off. Toussaint +had looked at them with his keen and still intelligent eyes, as if he +longed to participate in the life and activity into which they were +returning. And a jealous thought came to his wife, who usually was so +placid and good-natured. "Ah! my poor old man!" said she, after propping +him up with a pillow, "those two are luckier than we are. Everything +succeeds with them since that madman, Salvat, had his head cut off. +They're provided for. They've plenty of bread on the shelf." + +Then, turning towards Pierre and Thomas, she continued: "We others are +done for, you know, we're down in the mud, with no hope of getting out of +it. But what would you have? My poor husband hasn't been guillotined, +he's done nothing but work his whole life long; and now, you see, that's +the end of him, he's like some old animal, no longer good for anything." + +Having made her visitors sit down she next answered their compassionate +questions. The doctor had called twice already, and had promised to +restore the unhappy man's power of speech, and perhaps enable him to +crawl round the room with the help of a stick. But as for ever being able +to resume real work that must not be expected. And so what was the use of +living on? Toussaint's eyes plainly declared that he would much rather +die at once. When a workman can no longer work and no longer provide for +his wife he is ripe for the grave. + +"Savings indeed!" Madame Toussaint resumed. "There are folks who ask if +we have any savings. . . . Well, we had nearly a thousand francs in the +Savings Bank when Toussaint had his first attack. And some people don't +know what a lot of prudence one needs to put by such a sum; for, after +all, we're not savages, we have to allow ourselves a little enjoyment now +and then, a good dish and a good bottle of wine. . . . Well, what with +five months of enforced idleness, and the medicines, and the underdone +meat that was ordered, we got to the end of our thousand francs; and now +that it's all begun again we're not likely to taste any more bottled wine +or roast mutton." + +Fond of good cheer as she had always been, this cry, far more than the +tears she was forcing back, revealed how much the future terrified her. +She was there erect and brave in spite of everything; but what a downfall +if she were no longer able to keep her room tidy, stew a piece of veal on +Sundays, and gossip with the neighbours while awaiting her husband's +return from work! Why, they might just as well be thrown into the gutter +and carried off in the scavenger's cart. + +However, Thomas intervened: "Isn't there an Asylum for the Invalids of +Labour, and couldn't your husband get admitted to it?" he asked. "It +seems to me that is just the place for him." + +"Oh dear, no," the woman answered. "People spoke to me of that place +before, and I got particulars of it. They don't take sick people there. +When you call they tell you that there are hospitals for those who are +ill." + +With a wave of his hand Pierre confirmed her statement: it was useless to +apply in that direction. He could again see himself scouring Paris, +hurrying from the Lady President, Baroness Duvillard, to Fonsegue, the +General Manager, and only securing a bed for Laveuve when the unhappy man +was dead. + +However, at that moment an infant was heard wailing, and to the amazement +of both visitors Madame Toussaint entered the little closet where her son +Charles had so long slept, and came out of it carrying a child, who +looked scarcely twenty months old. "Well, yes," she explained, "this is +Charles's boy. He was sleeping there in his father's old bed, and now you +hear him, he's woke up. . . . You see, only last Wednesday, the day +before Toussaint had his stroke, I went to fetch the little one at the +nurse's at St. Denis, because she had threatened to cast him adrift since +Charles had got into bad habits, and no longer paid her. I said to myself +at the time that work was looking up, and that my husband and I would +always be able to provide for a little mouth like that. . . . But just +afterwards everything collapsed! At the same time, as the child's here +now I can't go and leave him in the street." + +While speaking in this fashion she walked to and fro, rocking the baby in +her arms. And naturally enough she reverted to Charles's folly with the +girl, who had run away, leaving that infant behind her. Things might not +have been so very bad if Charles had still worked as steadily as he had +done before he went soldiering. In those days he had never lost an hour, +and had always brought all his pay home! But he had come back from the +army with much less taste for work. He argued, and had ideas of his own. +He certainly hadn't yet come to bomb-throwing like that madman Salvat, +but he spent half his time with Socialists and Anarchists, who put his +brain in a muddle. It was a real pity to see such a strong, good-hearted +young fellow turning out badly like that. But it was said in the +neighbourhood that many another was inclined the same way; that the best +and most intelligent of the younger men felt tired of want and +unremunerative labour, and would end by knocking everything to pieces +rather than go on toiling with no certainty of food in their old age. + +"Ah! yes," continued Madame Toussaint, "the sons are not like the fathers +were. These fine fellows won't be as patient as my poor husband has been, +letting hard work wear him away till he's become the sorry thing you see +there. . . . Do you know what Charles said the other evening when he +found his father on that chair, crippled like that, and unable to speak? +Why, he shouted to him that he'd been a stupid jackass all his life, +working himself to death for those /bourgeois/, who now wouldn't bring +him so much as a glass of water. Then, as he none the less has a good +heart, he began to cry his eyes out." + +The baby was no longer wailing, still the good woman continued walking to +and fro, rocking it in her arms and pressing it to her affectionate +heart. Her son Charles could do no more for them, she said; perhaps he +might be able to give them a five-franc piece now and again, but even +that wasn't certain. It was of no use for her to go back to her old +calling as a seamstress, she had lost all practice of it. And it would +even be difficult for her to earn anything as charwoman, for she had that +infant on her hands as well as her infirm husband--a big child, whom she +would have to wash and feed. And so what would become of the three of +them? She couldn't tell; but it made her shudder, however brave and +motherly she tried to be. + +For their part, Pierre and Thomas quivered with compassion, particularly +when they saw big tears coursing down the cheeks of the wretched, +stricken Toussaint, as he sat quite motionless in that little and still +cleanly home of toil and want. The poor man had listened to his wife, and +he looked at her and at the infant now sleeping in her arms. Voiceless, +unable to cry his woe aloud, he experienced the most awful anguish. What +dupery his long life of labour had been! how frightfully unjust it was +that all his efforts should end in such sufferings! how exasperating it +was to feel himself powerless, and to see those whom he loved and who +were as innocent as himself suffer and die by reason of his own suffering +and death! Ah! poor old man, cripple that he was, ending like some beast +of burden that has foundered by the roadside--that goal of labour! And it +was all so revolting and so monstrous that he tried to put it into words, +and his desperate grief ended in a frightful, raucous grunt. + +"Be quiet, don't do yourself harm!" concluded Madame Toussaint. "Things +are like that, and there's no mending them." + +Then she went to put the child to bed again, and on her return, just as +Thomas and Pierre were about to speak to her of Toussaint's employer, M. +Grandidier, a fresh visitor arrived. Thereupon the others decided to +wait. + +The new comer was Madame Chretiennot, Toussaint's other sister, eighteen +years younger than himself. Her husband, the little clerk, had compelled +her to break off almost all intercourse with her relatives, as he felt +ashamed of them; nevertheless, having heard of her brother's misfortune, +she had very properly come to condole with him. She wore a gown of cheap +flimsy silk, and a hat trimmed with red poppies, which she had freshened +up three times already; but in spite of this display her appearance +bespoke penury, and she did her best to hide her feet on account of the +shabbiness of her boots. Moreover, she was no longer the beautiful +Hortense. Since a recent miscarriage, all trace of her good looks had +disappeared. + +The lamentable appearance of her brother and the bareness of that home of +suffering chilled her directly she crossed the threshold. And as soon as +she had kissed Toussaint, and said how sorry she was to find him in such +a condition, she began to lament her own fate, and recount her troubles, +for fear lest she should be asked for any help. + +"Ah! my dear," she said to her sister-in-law, "you are certainly much to +be pitied! But if you only knew! We all have our troubles. Thus in my +case, obliged as I am to dress fairly well on account of my husband's +position, I have more trouble than you can imagine in making both ends +meet. One can't go far on a salary of three thousand francs a year, when +one has to pay seven hundred francs' rent out of it. You will perhaps say +that we might lodge ourselves in a more modest way; but we can't, my +dear, I must have a /salon/ on account of the visits I receive. So just +count! . . . Then there are my two girls. I've had to send them to +school; Lucienne has begun to learn the piano and Marcelle has some taste +for drawing. . . . By the way, I would have brought them with me, but I +feared it would upset them too much. You will excuse me, won't you?" + +Then she spoke of all the worries which she had had with her husband on +account of Salvat's ignominious death. Chretiennot, vain, quarrelsome +little fellow that he was, felt exasperated at now having a /guillotine/ +in his wife's family. And he had lately begun to treat the unfortunate +woman most harshly, charging her with having brought about all their +troubles, and even rendering her responsible for his own mediocrity, +embittered as he was more and more each day by a confined life of office +work. On some evenings they had downright quarrels; she stood up for +herself, and related that when she was at the confectionery shop in the +Rue des Martyrs she could have married a doctor had she only chosen, for +the doctor found her quite pretty enough. Now, however, she was becoming +plainer and plainer, and her husband felt that he was condemned to +everlasting penury; so that their life was becoming more and more dismal +and quarrelsome, and as unbearable--despite the pride of being +"gentleman" and "lady"--as was the destitution of the working classes. + +"All the same, my dear," at last said Madame Toussaint, weary of her +sister-in-law's endless narrative of worries, "you have had one piece of +luck. You won't have the trouble of bringing up a third child, now." + +"That's true," replied Hortense, with a sigh of relief. "How we should +have managed, I don't know. . . . Still, I was very ill, and I'm far from +being in good health now. The doctor says that I don't eat enough, and +that I ought to have good food." + +Then she rose for the purpose of giving her brother another kiss and +taking her departure; for she feared a scene on her husband's part should +he happen to come home and find her absent. Once on her feet, however, +she lingered there a moment longer, saying that she also had just seen +her sister, Madame Theodore, and little Celine, both of them comfortably +clad and looking happy. And with a touch of jealousy she added: "Well, my +husband contents himself with slaving away at his office every day. He'll +never do anything to get his head cut off; and it's quite certain that +nobody will think of leaving an income to Marcelle and Lucienne. . . . +Well, good by, my dear, you must be brave, one must always hope that +things will turn out for the best." + +When she had gone off, Pierre and Thomas inquired if M. Grandidier had +heard of Toussaint's misfortune and agreed to do anything for him. Madame +Toussaint answered that he had so far made only a vague promise; and on +learning this they resolved to speak to him as warmly as they could on +behalf of the old mechanician, who had spent as many as five and twenty +years at the works. The misfortune was that a scheme for establishing a +friendly society, and even a pension fund, which had been launched before +the crisis from which the works were now recovering, had collapsed +through a number of obstacles and complications. Had things turned out +otherwise, Thomas might have had a pittance assured him, even though he +was unable to work. But under the circumstances the only hope for the +poor stricken fellow lay in his employer's compassion, if not his sense +of justice. + +As the baby again began to cry, Madame Toussaint went to fetch it, and +she was once more carrying it to and fro, when Thomas pressed her +husband's sound hand between both his own. "We will come back," said the +young man; "we won't forsake you, Toussaint. You know very well that +people like you, for you've always been a good and steady workman. So +rely on us, we will do all we can." + +Then they left him tearful and overpowered, in that dismal room, while, +up and down beside him, his wife rocked the squealing infant--that other +luckless creature, who was now so heavy on the old folks' hands, and like +them was fated to die of want and unjust toil. + +Toil, manual toil, panting at every effort, this was what Pierre and +Thomas once more found at the works. From the slender pipes above the +roofs spurted rhythmical puffs of steam, which seemed like the very +breath of all that labour. And in the work-shops one found a continuous +rumbling, a whole army of men in motion, forging, filing, and piercing, +amidst the spinning of leather gearing and the trembling of machinery. +The day was ending with a final feverish effort to complete some task or +other before the bell should ring for departure. + +On inquiring for the master Thomas learnt that he had not been seen since +/dejeuner/, which was such an unusual occurrence that the young man at +once feared some terrible scene in the silent pavilion, whose shutters +were ever closed upon Grandidier's unhappy wife--that mad but beautiful +creature, whom he loved so passionately that he had never been willing to +part from her. The pavilion could be seen from the little glazed +work-shop which Thomas usually occupied, and as he and Pierre stood +waiting there, it looked very peaceful and pleasant amidst the big +lilac-bushes planted round about it. Surely, they thought, it ought to +have been brightened by the gay gown of a young woman and the laughter of +playful children. But all at once a loud, piercing shriek reached their +ears, followed by howls and moans, like those of an animal that is being +beaten or possibly slaughtered. Ah! those howls ringing out amidst all +the stir of the toiling works, punctuated it seemed by the rhythmical +puffing of the steam, accompanied too by the dull rumbling of the +machinery! The receipts of the business had been doubling and doubling +since the last stock-taking; there was increase of prosperity every +month, the bad times were over, far behind. Grandidier was realising a +large fortune with his famous bicycle for the million, the "Lisette"; and +the approaching vogue of motor-cars also promised huge gains, should he +again start making little motor-engines, as he meant to do, as soon as +Thomas's long-projected motor should be perfected. But what was wealth +when in that dismal pavilion, whose shutters were ever closed, those +frightful shrieks continued, proclaiming some terrible drama, which all +the stir and bustle of the prosperous works were unable to stifle? + +Pierre and Thomas looked at one another, pale and quivering. And all at +once, as the cries ceased and the pavilion sank into death-like silence +once more, the latter said in an undertone: "She is usually very gentle, +she will sometimes spend whole days sitting on a carpet like a little +child. He is fond of her when she is like that; he lays her down and +picks her up, caresses her and makes her laugh as if she were a baby. Ah! +how dreadfully sad it is! When an attack comes upon her she gets frantic, +tries to bite herself, and kill herself by throwing herself against the +walls. And then he has to struggle with her, for no one else is allowed +to touch her. He tries to restrain her, and holds her in his arms to calm +her. . . . But how terrible it was just now! Did you hear? I do not think +she has ever had such a frightful attack before." + +For a quarter of an hour longer profound silence prevailed. Then +Grandidier came out of the pavilion, bareheaded and still ghastly pale. +Passing the little glazed work-shop on his way, he perceived Thomas and +Pierre there, and at once came in. But he was obliged to lean against a +bench like a man who is dazed, haunted by a nightmare. His good-natured, +energetic face retained an expression of acute anguish; and his left ear +was scratched and bleeding. However, he at once wished to talk, overcome +his feelings, and return to his life of activity. "I am very pleased to +see you, my dear Thomas," said he, "I have been thinking over what you +told me about our little motor. We must go into the matter again." + +Seeing how distracted he was, it occurred to the young man that some +sudden diversion, such as the story of another's misfortunes, might +perhaps draw him from his haunting thoughts. "Of course I am at your +disposal," he replied; "but before talking of that matter I should like +to tell you that we have just seen Toussaint, that poor old fellow who +has been stricken with paralysis. His awful fate has quite distressed us. +He is in the greatest destitution, forsaken as it were by the roadside, +after all his years of labour." + +Thomas dwelt upon the quarter of a century which the old workman had +spent at the factory, and suggested that it would be only just to take +some account of his long efforts, the years of his life which he had +devoted to the establishment. And he asked that he might be assisted in +the name both of equity and compassion. + +"Ah! monsieur," Pierre in his turn ventured to say. "I should like to +take you for an instant into that bare room, and show you that poor, +aged, worn-out, stricken man, who no longer has even the power of speech +left him to tell people his sufferings. There can be no greater +wretchedness than to die in this fashion, despairing of all kindliness +and justice." + +Grandidier had listened to them in silence. But big tears had +irresistibly filled his eyes, and when he spoke it was in a very low and +tremulous voice: "The greatest wretchedness, who can tell what it is? Who +can speak of it if he has not known the wretchedness of others? Yes, yes, +it's sad undoubtedly that poor Toussaint should be reduced to that state +at his age, not knowing even if he will have food to eat on the morrow. +But I know sorrows that are just as crushing, abominations which poison +one's life in a still greater degree. . . . Ah! yes, food indeed! To +think that happiness will reign in the world when everybody has food to +eat! What an idiotic hope!" + +The whole grievous tragedy of his life was in the shudder which had come +over him. To be the employer, the master, the man who is making money, +who disposes of capital and is envied by his workmen, to own an +establishment to which prosperity has returned, whose machinery coins +gold, apparently leaving one no other trouble than that of pocketing +one's profits; and yet at the same time to be the most wretched of men, +to know no day exempt from anguish, to find each evening at one's hearth +no other reward or prop than the most atrocious torture of the heart! +Everything, even success, has to be paid for. And thus that triumpher, +that money-maker, whose pile was growing larger at each successive +inventory, was sobbing with bitter grief. + +However, he showed himself kindly disposed towards Toussaint, and +promised to assist him. As for a pension that was an idea which he could +not entertain, as it was the negation of the wage-system such as it +existed. He energetically defended his rights as an employer, repeating +that the strain of competition would compel him to avail himself of them +so long as the present system should endure. His part in it was to do +good business in an honest way. However, he regretted that his men had +never carried out the scheme of establishing a relief fund, and he said +that he would do his best to induce them to take it in hand again. + +Some colour had now come back to his checks; for on returning to the +interests of his life of battle he felt his energy restored. He again +reverted to the question of the little motor, and spoke of it for some +time with Thomas, while Pierre waited, feeling quite upset. Ah! he +thought, how universal was the thirst for happiness! Then, in spite of +the many technical terms that were used he caught a little of what the +others were saying. Small steam motors had been made at the works in +former times; but they had not proved successes. In point of fact a new +propelling force was needed. Electricity, though everyone foresaw its +future triumph, was so far out of the question on account of the weight +of the apparatus which its employment necessitated. So only petroleum +remained, and the inconvenience attaching to its use was so great that +victory and fortune would certainly rest with the manufacturer who should +be able to replace it by some other hitherto unknown agent. In the +discovery and adaptation of the latter lay the whole problem. + +"Yes, I am eager about it now," at last exclaimed Grandidier in an +animated way. "I allowed you to prosecute your experiments without +troubling you with any inquisitive questions. But a solution is becoming +imperative." + +Thomas smiled: "Well, you must remain patient just a little longer," said +he; "I believe that I am on the right road." + +Then Grandidier shook hands with him and Pierre, and went off to make his +usual round through his busy, bustling works, whilst near at hand, +awaiting his return, stood the closed pavilion, where every evening he +was fated to relapse into endless, incurable anguish. + +The daylight was already waning when Pierre and Thomas, after +re-ascending the height of Montmartre, walked towards the large work-shop +which Jahan, the sculptor, had set up among the many sheds whose erection +had been necessitated by the building of the Sacred Heart. There was here +a stretch of ground littered with materials, an extraordinary chaos of +building stone, beams and machinery; and pending the time when an army of +navvies would come to set the whole place in order, one could see gaping +trenches, rough flights of descending steps and fences, imperfectly +closing doorways which conducted to the substructures of the basilica. + +Halting in front of Jahan's work-shop, Thomas pointed to one of these +doorways by which one could reach the foundation works. "Have you never +had an idea of visiting the foundations?" he inquired of Pierre. "There's +quite a city down there on which millions of money have been spent. They +could only find firm soil at the very base of the height, and they had to +excavate more than eighty shafts, fill them with concrete, and then rear +their church on all those subterranean columns. . . . Yes, that is so. Of +course the columns cannot be seen, but it is they who hold that insulting +edifice aloft, right over Paris!" + +Having drawn near to the fence, Pierre was looking at an open doorway +beyond it, a sort of dark landing whence steps descended as if into the +bowels of the earth. And he thought of those invisible columns of +concrete, and of all the stubborn energy and desire for domination which +had set and kept the edifice erect. + +Thomas was at last obliged to call him. "Let us make haste," said he, +"the twilight will soon be here. We shan't be able to see much." + +They had arranged to meet Antoine at Jahan's, as the sculptor wished to +show them a new model he had prepared. When they entered the work-shop +they found the two assistants still working at the colossal angel which +had been ordered for the basilica. Standing on a scaffolding they were +rough-hewing its symmetrical wings, whilst Jahan, seated on a low chair, +with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his hands soiled with clay, +was contemplating a figure some three feet high on which he had just been +working. + +"Ah! it's you," he exclaimed. "Antoine has been waiting more than half an +hour for you. He's gone outside with Lise to see the sun set over Paris, +I think. But they will soon be back." + +Then he relapsed into silence, with his eyes fixed on his work. + +This was a bare, erect, lofty female figure, of such august majesty, so +simple were its lines, that it suggested something gigantic. The figure's +abundant, outspread hair suggested rays around its face, which beamed +with sovereign beauty like the sun. And its only gesture was one of offer +and of greeting; its arms were thrown slightly forward, and its hands +were open for the grasp of all mankind. + +Still lingering in his dream Jahan began to speak slowly: "You remember +that I wanted a pendant for my figure of Fecundity. I had modelled a +Charity, but it pleased me so little and seemed so commonplace that I let +the clay dry and spoil. . . . And then the idea of a figure of Justice +came to me. But not a gowned figure with the sword and the scales! That +wasn't the Justice that inspired me. What haunted my mind was the other +Justice, the one that the lowly and the sufferers await, the one who +alone can some day set a little order and happiness among us. And I +pictured her like that, quite bare, quite simple, and very lofty. She is +the sun as it were, a sun all beauty, harmony and strength; for justice +is only to be found in the sun which shines in the heavens for one and +all, and bestows on poor and rich alike its magnificence and light and +warmth, which are the source of all life. And so my figure, you see, has +her hands outstretched as if she were offering herself to all mankind, +greeting it and granting it the gift of eternal life in eternal beauty. +Ah! to be beautiful and strong and just, one's whole dream lies in that." + +Jahan relighted his pipe and burst into a merry laugh. "Well, I think the +good woman carries herself upright. . . . What do you fellows say?" + +His visitors highly praised his work. Pierre for his part was much +affected at finding in this artistic conception the very idea that he had +so long been revolving in his mind--the idea of an era of Justice rising +from the ruins of the world, which Charity after centuries of trial had +failed to save. + +Then the sculptor gaily explained that he had prepared his model there +instead of at home, in order to console himself a little for his big +dummy of an angel, the prescribed triteness of which disgusted him. Some +fresh objections had been raised with respect to the folds of the robe, +which gave some prominence to the thighs, and in the end he had been +compelled to modify all of the drapery. + +"Oh! it's just as they like!" he cried; "it's no work of mine, you know; +it's simply an order which I'm executing just as a mason builds a wall. +There's no religious art left, it has been killed by stupidity and +disbelief. Ah! if social or human art could only revive, how glorious to +be one of the first to bear the tidings!" + +Then he paused. Where could the youngsters, Antoine and Lise, have got +to, he wondered. He threw the door wide open, and, a little distance +away, among the materials littering the waste ground, one could see +Antoine's tall figure and Lise's short slender form standing out against +the immensity of Paris, which was all golden amidst the sun's farewell. +The young man's strong arm supported Lise, who with this help walked +beside him without feeling any fatigue. Slender and graceful, like a girl +blossoming into womanhood, she raised her eyes to his with a smile of +infinite gratitude, which proclaimed that she belonged to him for +evermore. + +"Ah! they are coming back," said Jahan. "The miracle is now complete, you +know. I'm delighted at it. I did not know what to do with her; I had even +renounced all attempts to teach her to read; I left her for days together +in a corner, infirm and tongue-tied like a lack-wit. . . . But your +brother came and took her in hand somehow or other. She listened to him +and understood him, and began to read and write with him, and grow +intelligent and gay. Then, as her limbs still gained no suppleness, and +she remained infirm, ailing and puny, he began by carrying her here, and +then helped her to walk in such wise that she can now do so by herself. +In a few weeks' time she has positively grown and become quite charming. +Yes, I assure you, it is second birth, real creation. Just look at them!" + +Antoine and Lise were still slowly approaching. The evening breeze which +rose from the great city, where all was yet heat and sunshine, brought +them a bath of life. If the young man had chosen that spot, with its +splendid horizon, open to the full air which wafted all the germs of +life, it was doubtless because he felt that nowhere else could he instil +more vitality, more soul, more strength into her. And love had been +created by love. He had found her asleep, benumbed, without power of +motion or intellect, and he had awakened her, kindled life in her, loved +her, that he might be loved by her in return. She was his work, she was +part of himself. + +"So you no longer feel tired, little one?" said Jahan. + +She smiled divinely. "Oh! no, it's so pleasant, so beautiful, to walk +straight on like this. . . . All I desire is to go on for ever and ever +with Antoine." + +The others laughed, and Jahan exclaimed in his good-natured way: "Let us +hope that he won't take you so far. You've reached your destination now, +and I shan't be the one to prevent you from being happy." + +Antoine was already standing before the figure of Justice, to which the +falling twilight seemed to impart a quiver of life. "Oh! how divinely +simple, how divinely beautiful!" said he. + +For his own part he had lately finished a new wood engraving, which +depicted Lise holding a book in her hand, an engraving instinct with +truth and emotion, showing her awakened to intelligence and love. And +this time he had achieved his desire, making no preliminary drawing, but +tackling the block with his graver, straight away, in presence of his +model. And infinite hopefulness had come upon him, he was dreaming of +great original works in which the whole period that he belonged to would +live anew and for ever. + +Thomas now wished to return home. So they shook hands with Jahan, who, as +his day's work was over, put on his coat to take his sister back to the +Rue du Calvaire. + +"Till to-morrow, Lise," said Antoine, inclining his head to kiss her. + +She raised herself on tip-toes, and offered him her eyes, which he had +opened to life. "Till to-morrow, Antoine," said she. + +Outside, the twilight was falling. Pierre was the first to cross the +threshold, and as he did so, he saw so extraordinary a sight that for an +instant he felt stupefied. But it was certain enough: he could plainly +distinguish his brother Guillaume emerging from the gaping doorway which +conducted to the foundations of the basilica. And he saw him hastily +climb over the palings, and then pretend to be there by pure chance, as +though he had come up from the Rue Lamarck. When he accosted his two +sons, as if he were delighted to meet them, and began to say that he had +just come from Paris, Pierre asked himself if he had been dreaming. +However, an anxious glance which his brother cast at him convinced him +that he had been right. And then he not only felt ill at ease in presence +of that man whom he had never previously known to lie, but it seemed to +him that he was at last on the track of all he had feared, the formidable +mystery that he had for some time past felt brewing around him in the +little peaceful house. + +When Guillaume, his sons and his brother reached home and entered the +large workroom overlooking Paris, it was so dark that they fancied nobody +was there. + +"What! nobody in?" said Guillaume. + +But in a somewhat low, quiet voice Francois answered out of the gloom: +"Why, yes, I'm here." + +He had remained at his table, where he had worked the whole afternoon, +and as he could no longer read, he now sat in a dreamy mood with his head +resting on his hands, his eyes wandering over Paris, where night was +gradually falling. As his examination was now near at hand, he was living +in a state of severe mental strain. + +"What, you are still working there!" said his father. "Why didn't you ask +for a lamp?" + +"No, I wasn't working, I was looking at Paris," Francois slowly answered. +"It's singular how the night falls over it by degrees. The last district +that remained visible was the Montague Ste. Genevieve, the plateau of the +Pantheon, where all our knowledge and science have grown up. A sun-ray +still gilds the schools and libraries and laboratories, when the +low-lying districts of trade are already steeped in darkness. I won't say +that the planet has a particular partiality for us at the Ecole Normale, +but it's certain that its beams still linger on our roofs, when they are +to be seen nowhere else." + +He began to laugh at his jest. Still one could see how ardent was his +faith in mental effort, how entirely he gave himself to mental labour, +which, in his opinion, could alone bring truth, establish justice and +create happiness. + +Then came a short spell of silence. Paris sank more and more deeply into +the night, growing black and mysterious, till all at once sparks of light +began to appear. + +"The lamps are being lighted," resumed Francois; "work is being resumed on +all sides." + +Then Guillaume, who likewise had been dreaming, immersed in his fixed +idea, exclaimed: "Work, yes, no doubt! But for work to give a full +harvest it must be fertilised by will. There is something which is +superior to work." + +Thomas and Antoine had drawn near. And Francois, as much for them as for +himself, inquired: "What is that, father?" + +"Action." + +For a moment the three young men remained silent, impressed by the +solemnity of the hour, quivering too beneath the great waves of darkness +which rose from the vague ocean of the city. Then a young voice remarked, +though whose it was one could not tell: "Action is but work." + +And Pierre, who lacked the respectful quietude, the silent faith, of his +nephews, now felt his nervousness increasing. That huge and terrifying +mystery of which he was dimly conscious rose before him, while a great +quiver sped by in the darkness, over that black city where the lamps were +now being lighted for a whole passionate night of work. + + + +IV + +THE CRISIS + +A GREAT ceremony was to take place that day at the basilica of the Sacred +Heart. Ten thousand pilgrims were to be present there, at a solemn +consecration of the Holy Sacrament; and pending the arrival of four +o'clock, the hour fixed for the service, Montmartre would be invaded by +people. Its slopes would be black with swarming devotees, the shops where +religious emblems and pictures were sold would be besieged, the cafes and +taverns would be crowded to overflowing. It would all be like some huge +fair, and meantime the big bell of the basilica, "La Savoyarde," would be +ringing peal on peal over the holiday-making multitude. + +When Pierre entered the workroom in the morning he perceived Guillaume +and Mere-Grand alone there; and a remark which he heard the former make +caused him to stop short and listen from behind a tall-revolving +bookstand. Mere-Grand sat sewing in her usual place near the big window, +while Guillaume stood before her, speaking in a low voice. + +"Mother," said he, "everything is ready, it is for to-day." + +She let her work fall, and raised her eyes, looking very pale. "Ah!" she +said, "so you have made up your mind." + +"Yes, irrevocably. At four o'clock I shall be yonder, and it will all be +over." + +"'Tis well--you are the master." + +Silence fell, terrible silence. Guillaume's voice seemed to come from far +away, from somewhere beyond the world. It was evident that his resolution +was unshakable, that his tragic dream, his fixed idea of martyrdom, +wholly absorbed him. Mere-Grand looked at him with her pale eyes, like an +heroic woman who had grown old in relieving the sufferings of others, and +had ever shown all the abnegation and devotion of an intrepid heart, +which nothing but the idea of duty could influence. She knew Guillaume's +terrible scheme, and had helped him to regulate the pettiest details of +it; but if on the one hand, after all the iniquity she had seen and +endured, she admitted that fierce and exemplary punishment might seem +necessary, and that even the idea of purifying the world by the fire of a +volcano might be entertained, on the other hand, she believed too +strongly in the necessity of living one's life bravely to the very end, +to be able, under any circumstances, to regard death as either good or +profitable. + +"My son," she gently resumed, "I witnessed the growth of your scheme, and +it neither surprised nor angered me. I accepted it as one accepts +lightning, the very fire of the skies, something of sovereign purity and +power. And I have helped you through it all, and have taken upon myself +to act as the mouthpiece of your conscience. . . . But let me tell you +once more, one ought never to desert the cause of life." + +"It is useless to speak, mother," Guillaume replied: "I have resolved to +give my life and cannot take it back. . . . Are you now unwilling to +carry out my desires, remain here, and act as we have decided, when all +is over?" + +She did not answer this inquiry, but in her turn, speaking slowly and +gravely, put a question to him: "So it is useless for me to speak to you +of the children, myself and the house?" said she. "You have thought it +all over, you are quite determined?" And as he simply answered "Yes," she +added: "'Tis well, you are the master. . . . I will be the one who is to +remain behind and act. And you may be without fear, your bequest is in +good hands. All that we have decided together shall be done." + +Once more they became silent. Then she again inquired: "At four o'clock, +you say, at the moment of that consecration?" + +"Yes, at four o'clock." + +She was still looking at him with her pale eyes, and there seemed to be +something superhuman in her simplicity and grandeur as she sat there in +her thin black gown. Her glance, in which the greatest bravery and the +deepest sadness mingled, filled Guillaume with acute emotion. His hands +began to tremble, and he asked: "Will you let me kiss you, mother?" + +"Oh! right willingly, my son," she responded. "Your path of duty may not +be mine, but you see I respect your views and love you." + +They kissed one another, and when Pierre, whom the scene had chilled to +his heart, presented himself as if he were just arriving, Mere-Grand had +quietly taken up her needlework once more, while Guillaume was going to +and fro, setting one of his laboratory shelves in order with all his +wonted activity. + +At noon when lunch was ready, they found it necessary to wait for Thomas, +who had not yet come home. His brothers Francois and Antoine complained +in a jesting way, saying that they were dying of hunger, while for her +part Marie, who had made a /creme/, and was very proud of it, declared +that they would eat it all, and that those who came late would have to go +without tasting it. When Thomas eventually put in an appearance he was +greeted with jeers. + +"But it wasn't my fault," said he; "I stupidly came up the hill by way of +the Rue de la Barre, and you can have no notion what a crowd I fell upon. +Quite ten thousand pilgrims must have camped there last night. I am told +that as many as possible were huddled together in the St. Joseph Refuge. +The others no doubt had to sleep in the open air. And now they are busy +eating, here, there and everywhere, all over the patches of waste ground +and even on the pavements. One can scarcely set one foot before the other +without risk of treading on somebody." + +The meal proved a very gay one, though Pierre found the gaiety forced and +excessive. Yet the young people could surely know nothing of the +frightful, invisible thing which to Pierre ever seemed to be hovering +around in the bright sunlight of that splendid June day. Was it that the +dim presentiment which comes to loving hearts when mourning threatens +them, swept by during the short intervals of silence that followed the +joyous outbursts? Although Guillaume looked somewhat pale, and spoke with +unusual caressing softness, he retained his customary bright smile. But, +on the other hand, never had Mere-Grand been more silent or more grave. + +Marie's /creme/ proved a great success, and the others congratulated her +on it so fulsomely that they made her blush. Then, all at once, heavy +silence fell once more, a deathly chill seemed to sweep by, making every +face turn pale--even while they were still cleaning their plates with +their little spoons. + +"Ah! that bell," exclaimed Francois; "it is really intolerable. I can +feel my head splitting." + +He referred to "La Savoyarde," the big bell of the basilica, which had +now begun to toll, sending forth deep sonorous volumes of sound, which +ever and ever winged their flight over the immensity of Paris. In the +workroom they were all listening to the clang. + +"Will it keep on like that till four o'clock?" asked Marie. + +"Oh! at four o'clock," replied Thomas, "at the moment of the consecration +you will hear something much louder than that. The great peals of joy, +the song of triumph will then ring out." + +Guillaume was still smiling. "Yes, yes," said he, "those who don't want +to be deafened for life had better keep their windows closed. The worst +is, that Paris has to hear it whether it will or no, and even as far away +as the Pantheon, so I'm told." + +Meantime Mere-Grand remained silent and impassive. Antoine for his part +expressed his disgust with the horrible religious pictures for which the +pilgrims fought--pictures which in some respects suggested those on the +lids of sweetmeat boxes, although they depicted the Christ with His +breast ripped open and displaying His bleeding heart. There could be no +more repulsive materialism, no grosser or baser art, said Antoine. Then +they rose from table, talking at the top of their voices so as to make +themselves heard above the incessant din which came from the big bell. + +Immediately afterwards they all set to work again. Mere-Grand took her +everlasting needlework in hand once more, while Marie, sitting near her, +continued some embroidery. The young men also attended to their +respective tasks, and now and again raised their heads and exchanged a +few words. Guillaume, for his part, likewise seemed very busy; Pierre +alone coming and going in a state of anguish, beholding them all as in a +nightmare, and attributing some terrible meaning to the most innocent +remarks. During /dejeuner/, in order to explain the frightful discomfort +into which he was thrown by the gaiety of the meal, he had been obliged +to say that he felt poorly. And now he was looking and listening and +waiting with ever-growing anxiety. + +Shortly before three o'clock, Guillaume glanced at his watch and then +quietly took up his hat. "Well," said he, "I'm going out." + +His sons, Mere-Grand and Marie raised their heads. + +"I'm going out," he repeated, "/au revoir/." + +Still he did not go off. Pierre could divine that he was struggling, +stiffening himself against the frightful tempest which was raging within +him, striving to prevent either shudder or pallor from betraying his +awful secret. Ah! he must have suffered keenly; he dared not give his +sons a last kiss, for fear lest he might rouse some suspicion in their +minds, which would impel them to oppose him and prevent his death! At +last with supreme heroism he managed to overcome himself. + +"/Au revoir/, boys." + +"/Au revoir/, father. Will you be home early?" + +"Yes, yes. . . . Don't worry about me, do plenty of work." + +Mere-Grand, still majestically silent, kept her eyes fixed upon him. Her +he had ventured to kiss, and their glances met and mingled, instinct with +all that he had decided and that she had promised: their common dream of +truth and justice. + +"I say, Guillaume," exclaimed Marie gaily, "will you undertake a +commission for me if you are going down by way of the Rue des Martyrs?" + +"Why, certainly," he replied. + +"Well, then, please look in at my dressmaker's, and tell her that I +shan't go to try my gown on till to-morrow morning." + +It was a question of her wedding dress, a gown of light grey silk, the +stylishness of which she considered very amusing. Whenever she spoke of +it, both she and the others began to laugh. + +"It's understood, my dear," said Guillaume, likewise making merry over +it. "We know it's Cinderella's court robe, eh? The fairy brocade and lace +that are to make you very beautiful and for ever happy." + +However, the laughter ceased, and in the sudden silence which fell, it +again seemed as if death were passing by with a great flapping of wings +and an icy gust which chilled the hearts of everyone remaining there. + +"It's understood; so now I'm really off," resumed Guillaume. "/Au +revoir/, children." + +Then he sallied forth, without even turning round, and for a moment they +could hear the firm tread of his feet over the garden gravel. + +Pierre having invented a pretext was able to follow him a couple of +minutes afterwards. As a matter of fact there was no need for him to dog +Guillaume's heels, for he knew where his brother was going. He was +thoroughly convinced that he would find him at that doorway, conducting +to the foundations of the basilica, whence he had seen him emerge two +days before. And so he wasted no time in looking for him among the crowd +of pilgrims going to the church. His only thought was to hurry on and +reach Jahan's workshop. And in accordance with his expectation, just as +he arrived there, he perceived Guillaume slipping between the broken +palings. The crush and the confusion prevailing among the concourse of +believers favored Pierre as it had his brother, in such wise that he was +able to follow the latter and enter the doorway without being noticed. +Once there he had to pause and draw breath for a moment, so greatly did +the beating of his heart oppress him. + +A precipitous flight of steps, where all was steeped in darkness, +descended from the narrow entry. It was with infinite precaution that +Pierre ventured into the gloom, which ever grew denser and denser. He +lowered his feet gently so as to make no noise, and feeling the walls +with his hands, turned round and round as he went lower and lower into a +kind of well. However, the descent was not a very long one. As soon as he +found beaten ground beneath his feet he paused, no longer daring to stir +for fear of betraying his presence. The darkness was like ink, and there +was not a sound, a breath; the silence was complete. + +How should he find his way? he wondered. Which direction ought he to +take? He was still hesitating when some twenty paces away he suddenly saw +a bright spark, the gleam of a lucifer. Guillaume was lighting a candle. +Pierre recognised his broad shoulders, and from that moment he simply had +to follow the flickering light along a walled and vaulted subterranean +gallery. It seemed to be interminable and to run in a northerly +direction, towards the nave of the basilica. + +All at once the little light at last stopped, while Pierre, anxious to +see what would happen, continued to advance, treading as softly as he +could and remaining in the gloom. He found that Guillaume had stood his +candle upon the ground in the middle of a kind of low rotunda under the +crypt, and that he had knelt down and moved aside a long flagstone which +seemed to cover a cavity. They were here among the foundations of the +basilica; and one of the columns or piles of concrete poured into shafts +in order to support the building could be seen. The gap, which the stone +slab removed by Guillaume had covered, was by the very side of the +pillar; it was either some natural surface flaw, or a deep fissure caused +by some subsidence or settling of the soil. The heads of other pillars +could be descried around, and these the cleft seemed to be reaching, for +little slits branched out in all directions. Then, on seeing his brother +leaning forward, like one who is for the last time examining a mine he +has laid before applying a match to the fuse, Pierre suddenly understood +the whole terrifying business. Considerable quantities of the new +explosive had been brought to that spot. Guillaume had made the journey a +score of times at carefully selected hours, and all his powder had been +poured into the gap beside the pillar, spreading to the slightest rifts +below, saturating the soil at a great depth, and in this wise forming a +natural mine of incalculable force. And now the powder was flush with the +flagstone which Guillaume has just moved aside. It was only necessary to +throw a match there, and everything would be blown into the air! + +For a moment an acute chill of horror rooted Pierre to the spot. He could +neither have taken a step nor raised a cry. He pictured the swarming +throng above him, the ten thousand pilgrims crowding the lofty naves of +the basilica to witness the solemn consecration of the Host. Peal upon +peal flew from "La Savoyarde," incense smoked, and ten thousand voices +raised a hymn of magnificence and praise. And all at once came thunder +and earthquake, and a volcano opening and belching forth fire and smoke, +and swallowing up the whole church and its multitude of worshippers. +Breaking the concrete piles and rending the unsound soil, the explosion, +which was certain to be one of extraordinary violence, would doubtless +split the edifice atwain, and hurl one-half down the slopes descending +towards Paris, whilst the other on the side of the apse would crumble and +collapse upon the spot where it stood. And how fearful would be the +avalanche; a broken forest of scaffoldings, a hail of stonework, rushing +and bounding through the dust and smoke on to the roofs below; whilst the +violence of the shock would threaten the whole of Montmartre, which, it +seemed likely, must stagger and sink in one huge mass of ruins! + +However, Guillaume had again risen. The candle standing on the ground, +its flame shooting up, erect and slender, threw his huge shadow all over +the subterranean vault. Amidst the dense blackness the light looked like +some dismal stationary star. Guillaume drew near to it in order to see +what time it was by his watch. It proved to be five minutes past three. +So he had nearly another hour to wait. He was in no hurry, he wished to +carry out his design punctually, at the precise moment he had selected; +and he therefore sat down on a block of stone, and remained there without +moving, quiet and patient. The candle now cast its light upon his pale +face, upon his towering brow crowned with white hair, upon the whole of +his energetic countenance, which still looked handsome and young, thanks +to his bright eyes and dark moustaches. And not a muscle of his face +stirred; he simply gazed into the void. What thoughts could be passing +through his mind at that supreme moment? Who could tell? There was not a +quiver; heavy night, the deep eternal silence of the earth reigned all +around. + +Then Pierre, having quieted his palpitating heart, drew near. At the +sound of his footsteps Guillaume rose menacingly, but he immediately +recognised his brother, and did not seem astonished to see him. + +"Ah! it's you," he said, "you followed me. . . . I felt that you +possessed my secret. And it grieves me that you should have abused your +knowledge to join me here. You might have spared me this last sorrow." + +Pierre clasped his trembling hands, and at once tried to entreat him. +"Brother, brother," he began. + +"No, don't speak yet," said Guillaume, "if you absolutely wish it I will +listen to you by-and-by. We have nearly an hour before us, so we can +chat. But I want you to understand the futility of all you may think +needful to tell me. My resolution is unshakable; I was a long time coming +to it, and in carrying it out I shall simply be acting in accordance with +my reason and my conscience." + +Then he quietly related that having decided upon a great deed he had long +hesitated as to which edifice he should destroy. The opera-house had +momentarily tempted him, but he had reflected that there would be no +great significance in the whirlwind of anger and justice destroying a +little set of enjoyers. In fact, such a deed might savour of jealousy and +covetousness. Next he had thought of the Bourse, where he might strike a +blow at money, the great agent of corruption, and the capitalist society +in whose clutches the wage-earners groaned. Only, here again the blow +would fall upon a restricted circle. Then an idea of destroying the +Palace of Justice, particularly the assize court, had occurred to him. It +was a very tempting thought--to wreak justice upon human justice, to +sweep away the witnesses, the culprit, the public prosecutor who charges +the latter, the counsel who defends him, the judges who sentence him, and +the lounging public which comes to the spot as to the unfolding of some +sensational serial. And then too what fierce irony there would be in the +summary superior justice of the volcano swallowing up everything +indiscriminately without pausing to enter into details. However, the plan +over which he had most lingered was that of blowing up the Arc de +Triomphe. This he regarded as an odious monument which perpetuated +warfare, hatred among nations, and the false, dearly purchased, +sanguineous glory of conquerors. That colossus raised to the memory of so +much frightful slaughter which had uselessly put an end to so many human +lives, ought, he considered, to be slaughtered in its turn. Could he so +have arranged things that the earth should swallow it up, he might have +achieved the glory of causing no other death than his own, of dying +alone, struck down, crushed to pieces beneath that giant of stone. What a +tomb, and what a memory might he thus have left to the world! + +"But there was no means of approaching it," he continued, "no basement, +no cellar, so I had to give up the idea. . . . And then, although I'm +perfectly willing to die alone, I thought what a loftier and more +terrible lesson there would be in the unjust death of an innocent +multitude, of thousands of unknown people, of all those that might happen +to be passing. In the same way as human society by dint of injustice, +want and harsh regulations causes so many innocent victims, so must +punishment fall as the lightning falls, indiscriminately killing and +destroying whatever it may encounter in its course. When a man sets his +foot on an ant-hill, he gives no heed to all the lives which he stamps +out." + +Pierre, whom this theory rendered quite indignant, raised a cry of +protest: "Oh! brother, brother, is it you who are saying such things?" + +Yet, Guillaume did not pause: "If I have ended by choosing this basilica +of the Sacred Heart," he continued, "it is because I found it near at +hand and easy to destroy. But it is also because it haunts and +exasperates me, because I have long since condemned it. . . . As I have +often said to you, one cannot imagine anything more preposterous than +Paris, our great Paris, crowned and dominated by this temple raised to +the glorification of the absurd. Is it not outrageous that common sense +should receive such a smack after so many centuries of science, that Rome +should claim the right of triumphing in this insolent fashion, on our +loftiest height in the full sunlight? The priests want Paris to repent +and do penitence for its liberative work of truth and justice. But its +only right course is to sweep away all that hampers and insults it in its +march towards deliverance. And so may the temple fall with its deity of +falsehood and servitude! And may its ruins crush its worshippers, so that +like one of the old geological revolutions of the world, the catastrophe +may resound through the very entrails of mankind, and renew and change +it!" + +"Brother, brother!" again cried Pierre, quite beside himself, "is it you +who are talking? What! you, a great scientist, a man of great heart, you +have come to this! What madness is stirring you that you should think and +say such abominable things? On the evening when we confessed our secrets +one to the other, you told me of your proud and lofty dream of ideal +Anarchy. There would be free harmony in life, which left to its natural +forces would of itself create happiness. But you still rebelled against +the idea of theft and murder. You would not accept them as right or +necessary; you merely explained and excused them. What has happened then +that you, all brain and thought, should now have become the hateful hand +that acts?" + +"Salvat has been guillotined," said Guillaume simply, "and I read his +will and testament in his last glance. I am merely an executor. . . . And +what has happened, you ask? Why, all that has made me suffer for four +months past, the whole social evil which surrounds us, and which must be +brought to an end." + +Silence fell. The brothers looked at one another in the darkness. And +Pierre now understood things. He saw that Guillaume was changed, that the +terrible gust of revolutionary contagion sweeping over Paris had +transformed him. It had all come from the duality of his nature, the +presence of contradictory elements within him. On one side one found a +scientist whose whole creed lay in observation and experiment, who, in +dealing with nature, evinced the most cautious logic; while on the other +side was a social dreamer, haunted by ideas of fraternity, equality and +justice, and eager for universal happiness. Thence had first come the +theoretical anarchist that he had been, one in whom science and chimeras +were mingled, who dreamt of human society returning to the harmonious law +of the spheres, each man free, in a free association, regulated by love +alone. Neither Theophile Morin with the doctrines of Proudhon and Comte, +nor Bache with those of St. Simon and Fourier, had been able to satisfy +his desire for the absolute. All those systems had seemed to him +imperfect and chaotic, destructive of one another, and tending to the +same wretchedness of life. Janzen alone had occasionally satisfied him +with some of his curt phrases which shot over the horizon, like arrows +conquering the whole earth for the human family. And then in Guillaume's +big heart, which the idea of want, the unjust sufferings of the lowly and +the poor exasperated, Salvat's tragic adventure had suddenly found place, +fomenting supreme rebellion. For long weeks he had lived on with +trembling hands, with growing anguish clutching at his throat. First had +come that bomb and the explosion which still made him quiver, then the +vile cupidity of the newspapers howling for the poor wretch's head, then +the search for him and the hunt through the Bois de Boulogne, till he +fell into the hands of the police, covered with mud and dying of +starvation. And afterwards there had been the assize court, the judges, +the gendarmes, the witnesses, the whole of France arrayed against one man +and bent on making him pay for the universal crime. And finally, there +had come the guillotine, the monstrous, the filthy beast consummating +irreparable injustice in human justice's name. One sole idea now remained +to Guillaume, that idea of justice which maddened him, leaving naught in +his mind save the thought of the just, avenging flare by which he would +repair the evil and ensure that which was right for all time forward. +Salvat had looked at him, and contagion had done its work; he glowed with +a desire for death, a desire to give his own blood and set the blood of +others flowing, in order that mankind, amidst its fright and horror, +should decree the return of the golden age. + +Pierre understood the stubborn blindness of such insanity; and he felt +utterly upset by the fear that he should be unable to overcome it. "You +are mad, brother!" he exclaimed, "they have driven you mad! It is a gust +of violence passing; they were treated in a wrong way and too +relentlessly at the outset, and now that they are avenging one another, +it may be that blood will never cease to flow. . . . But, listen, +brother, throw off that nightmare. You can't be a Salvat who murders or a +Bergaz who steals! Remember the pillage of the Princess's house and +remember the fair-haired, pretty child whom we saw lying yonder, ripped +open. . . . You do not, you cannot belong to that set, brother--" + +With a wave of his hand, Guillaume brushed these vain reasons aside. Of +what consequence were a few lives, his own included? No change had ever +taken place in the world without millions and millions of existences +being stamped out. + +"But you had a great scheme in hand," cried Pierre, hoping to save him by +reviving his sense of duty. "It isn't allowable for you to go off like +this." + +Then he fervently strove to awaken his brother's scientific pride. He +spoke to him of his secret, of that great engine of warfare, which could +destroy armies and reduce cities to dust, and which he had intended to +offer to France, so that on emerging victorious from the approaching war, +she might afterwards become the deliverer of the world. And it was this +grand scheme that he had abandoned, preferring to employ his explosive in +killing innocent people and overthrowing a church, which would be built +afresh, whatever the cost, and become a sanctuary of martyrs! + +Guillaume smiled. "I have not relinquished my scheme," said he, "I have +simply modified it. Did I not tell you of my doubts, my anxious +perplexity? Ah! to believe that one holds the destiny of the world in +one's grasp, and to tremble and hesitate and wonder if the intelligence +and wisdom, that are needful for things to take the one wise course, will +be forthcoming! At sight of all the stains upon our great Paris, all the +errors and transgressions which we lately witnessed, I shuddered. I asked +myself if Paris were sufficiently calm and pure for one to entrust her +with omnipotence. How terrible would be the disaster if such an invention +as mine should fall into the hands of a demented nation, possibly a +dictator, some man of conquest, who would simply employ it to terrorize +other nations and reduce them to slavery. . . . Ah! no, I do not wish to +perpetuate warfare, I wish to kill it." + +Then in a clear firm voice he explained his new plan, in which Pierre was +surprised to find some of the ideas which General de Bozonnet had one day +laid before him in a very different spirit. Warfare was on the road to +extinction, threatened by its very excesses. In the old days of +mercenaries, and afterwards with conscripts, the percentage of soldiers +designated by chance, war had been a profession and a passion. But +nowadays, when everybody is called upon to fight, none care to do so. By +the logical force of things, the system of the whole nation in arms means +the coming end of armies. How much longer will the nations remain on a +footing of deadly peace, bowed down by ever increasing "estimates," +spending millions and millions on holding one another in respect? Ah! how +great the deliverance, what a cry of relief would go up on the day when +some formidable engine, capable of destroying armies and sweeping cities +away, should render war an impossibility and constrain every people to +disarm! Warfare would be dead, killed in her own turn, she who has killed +so many. This was Guillaume's dream, and he grew quite enthusiastic, so +strong was his conviction that he would presently bring it to pass. + +"Everything is settled," said he; "if I am about to die and disappear, it +is in order that my idea may triumph. . . . You have lately seen me spend +whole afternoons alone with Mere-Grand. Well, we were completing the +classification of the documents and making our final arrangements. She +has my orders, and will execute them even at the risk of her life, for +none has a braver, loftier soul. . . . As soon as I am dead, buried +beneath these stones, as soon as she has heard the explosion shake Paris +and proclaim the advent of the new era, she will forward a set of all the +documents I have confided to her--the formula of my explosive, the +drawings of the bomb and gun--to each of the great powers of the world. +In this wise I shall bestow on all the nations the terrible gift of +destruction and omnipotence which, at first, I wished to bestow on France +alone; and I do this in order that the nations, being one and all armed +with the thunderbolt, may at once disarm, for fear of being annihilated, +when seeking to annihilate others." + +Pierre listened to him, gaping, amazed at this extraordinary idea, in +which childishness was blended with genius. "Well," said he, "if you give +your secret to all the nations, why should you blow up this church, and +die yourself?" + +"Why! In order that I may be believed!" cried Guillaume with +extraordinary force of utterance. Then he added, "The edifice must lie on +the ground, and I must be under it. If the experiment is not made, if +universal horror does not attest and proclaim the amazing destructive +power of my explosive, people will consider me a mere schemer, a +visionary! . . . A lot of dead, a lot of blood, that is what is needed in +order that blood may for ever cease to flow!" Then, with a broad sweep of +his arm, he again declared that his action was necessary. "Besides," he +said, "Salvat left me the legacy of carrying out this deed of justice. If +I have given it greater scope and significance, utilising it as a means +of hastening the end of war, this is because I happen to be a man of +intellect. It would have been better possibly if my mind had been a +simple one, and if I had merely acted like some volcano which changes the +soil, leaving life the task of renewing humanity." + +Much of the candle had now burnt away, and Guillaume at last rose from +the block of stone. He had again consulted his watch, and found that he +had ten minutes left him. The little current of air created by his +gestures made the light flicker, while all around him the darkness seemed +to grow denser. And near at hand ever lay the threatening open mine which +a spark might at any moment fire. + +"It is nearly time," said Guillaume. "Come, brother, kiss me and go away. +You know how much I love you, what ardent affection for you has been +awakened in my old heart. So love me in like fashion, and find love +enough to let me die as I want to die, in carrying out my duty. Kiss me, +kiss me, and go away without turning your head." + +His deep affection for Pierre made his voice tremble, but he struggled +on, forced back his tears, and ended by conquering himself. It was as if +he were no longer of the world, no longer one of mankind. + +"No, brother, you have not convinced me," said Pierre, who on his side +did not seek to hide his tears, "and it is precisely because I love you +as you love me, with my whole being, my whole soul, that I cannot go +away. It is impossible! You cannot be the madman, the murderer you would +try to be." + +"Why not? Am I not free. I have rid my life of all responsibilities, all +ties. . . . I have brought up my sons, they have no further need of me. +But one heart-link remained--Marie, and I have given her to you." + +At this a disturbing argument occurred to Pierre, and he passionately +availed himself of it. "So you want to die because you have given me +Marie," said he. "You still love her, confess it!" + +"No!" cried Guillaume, "I no longer love her, I swear it. I gave her to +you. I love her no more." + +"So you fancied; but you can see now that you still love her, for here +you are, quite upset; whereas none of the terrifying things of which we +spoke just now could even move you. . . . Yes, if you wish to die it is +because you have lost Marie!" + +Guillaume quivered, shaken by what his brother said, and in low, broken +words he tried to question himself. "No, no, that any love pain should +have urged me to this terrible deed would be unworthy--unworthy of my +great design. No, no, I decided on it in the free exercise of my reason, +and I am accomplishing it from no personal motive, but in the name of +justice and for the benefit of humanity, in order that war and want may +cease." + +Then, in sudden anguish, he went on: "Ah! it is cruel of you, brother, +cruel of you to poison my delight at dying. I have created all the +happiness I could, I was going off well pleased at leaving you all happy, +and now you poison my death. No, no! question it how I may, my heart does +not ache; if I love Marie, it is simply in the same way as I love you." + +Nevertheless, he remained perturbed, as if fearing lest he might be lying +to himself; and by degrees gloomy anger came over him: "Listen, that is +enough, Pierre," he exclaimed, "time is flying. . . . For the last time, +go away! I order you to do so; I will have it!" + +"I will not obey you, Guillaume. . . . I will stay, and as all my +reasoning cannot save you from your insanity, fire your mine, and I will +die with you." + +"You? Die? But you have no right to do so, you are not free!" + +"Free, or not, I swear that I will die with you. And if it merely be a +question of flinging this candle into that hole, tell me so, and I will +take it and fling it there myself." + +He made a gesture at which his brother thought that he was about to carry +out his threat. So he caught him by the arm, crying: "Why should you die? +It would be absurd. That others should die may be necessary, but you, no! +Of what use could be this additional monstrosity? You are endeavouring to +soften me, you are torturing my heart!" Then all at once, imagining that +Pierre's offer had concealed another design, Guillaume thundered in a +fury: "You don't want to take the candle in order to throw it there. What +you want to do is to blow it out! And you think I shan't be able +then--ah! you bad brother!" + +In his turn Pierre exclaimed: "Oh! certainly, I'll use every means to +prevent you from accomplishing such a frightful and foolish deed!" + +"You'll prevent me!" + +"Yes, I'll cling to you, I'll fasten my arms to your shoulders, I'll hold +your hands if necessary." + +"Ah! you'll prevent me, you bad brother! You think you'll prevent me!" + +Choking and trembling with rage, Guillaume had already caught hold of +Pierre, pressing his ribs with his powerful muscular arms. They were +closely linked together, their eyes fixed upon one another, and their +breath mingling in that kind of subterranean dungeon, where their big +dancing shadows looked like ghosts. They seemed to be vanishing into the +night, the candle now showed merely like a little yellow tear in the +midst of the darkness; and at that moment, in those far depths, a quiver +sped through the silence of the earth which weighed so heavily upon them. +Distant but sonorous peals rang out, as if death itself were somewhere +ringing its invisible bell. + +"You hear," stammered Guillaume, "it's their bell up there. The time has +come. I have vowed to act, and you want to prevent me!" + +"Yes, I'll prevent you as long as I'm here alive." + +"As long as you are alive, you'll prevent me!" + +Guillaume could hear "La Savoyarde" pealing joyfully up yonder; he could +see the triumphant basilica, overflowing with its ten thousand pilgrims, +and blazing with the splendour of the Host amidst the smoke of incense; +and blind frenzy came over him at finding himself unable to act, at +finding an obstacle suddenly barring the road to his fixed idea. + +"As long as you are alive, as long as you are alive!" he repeated, beside +himself. "Well, then, die, you wretched brother!" + +A fratricidal gleam had darted from his blurred eyes. He hastily stooped, +picked up a large brick forgotten there, and raised it with both hands as +if it were a club. + +"Ah! I'm willing," cried Pierre. "Kill me, then; kill your own brother +before you kill the others!" + +The brick was already descending, but Guillaume's arms must have +deviated, for the weapon only grazed one of Pierre's shoulders. +Nevertheless, he sank upon his knees in the gloom. When Guillaume saw him +there he fancied he had dealt him a mortal blow. What was it that had +happened between them, what had he done? For a moment he remained +standing, haggard, his mouth open, his eyes dilating with terror. He +looked at his hands, fancying that blood was streaming from them. Then he +pressed them to his brow, which seemed to be bursting with pain, as if +his fixed idea had been torn from him, leaving his skull open. And he +himself suddenly sank upon the ground with a great sob. + +"Oh! brother, little brother, what have I done?" he called. "I am a +monster!" + +But Pierre had passionately caught him in his arms again. "It is nothing, +nothing, brother, I assure you," he replied. "Ah! you are weeping now. +How pleased I am! You are saved, I can feel it, since you are weeping. +And what a good thing it is that you flew into such a passion, for your +anger with me has dispelled your evil dream of violence." + +"I am horrified with myself," gasped Guillaume, "to think that I wanted +to kill you! Yes, I'm a brute beast that would kill his brother! And the +others, too, all the others up yonder. . . . Oh! I'm cold, I feel so +cold." + +His teeth were chattering, and he shivered. It was as if he had awakened, +half stupefied, from some evil dream. And in the new light which his +fratricidal deed cast upon things, the scheme which had haunted him and +goaded him to madness appeared like some act of criminal folly, projected +by another. + +"To kill you!" he repeated almost in a whisper. "I shall never forgive +myself. My life is ended, I shall never find courage enough to live." + +But Pierre clasped him yet more tightly. "What do you say?" he answered. +"Will there not rather be a fresh and stronger tie of affection between +us? Ah! yes, brother, let me save you as you saved me, and we shall be +yet more closely united! Don't you remember that evening at Neuilly, when +you consoled me and held me to your heart as I am holding you to mine? I +had confessed my torments to you, and you told me that I must live and +love! . . . And you did far more afterwards: you plucked your own love +from your breast and gave it to me. You wished to ensure my happiness at +the price of your own! And how delightful it is that, in my turn, I now +have an opportunity to console you, save you, and bring you back to +life!" + +"No, no, the bloodstain is there and it is ineffaceable. I can hope no +more!" + +"Yes, yes, you can. Hope in life as you bade me do! Hope in love and hope +in labour!" + +Still weeping and clasping one another, the brothers continued speaking +in low voices. The expiring candle suddenly went out unknown to them, and +in the inky night and deep silence their tears of redeeming affection +flowed freely. On the one hand, there was joy at being able to repay a +debt of brotherliness, and on the other, acute emotion at having been led +by a fanatical love of justice and mankind to the very verge of crime. +And there were yet other things in the depths of those tears which +cleansed and purified them; there were protests against suffering in +every form, and ardent wishes that the world might some day be relieved +of all its dreadful woe. + +At last, after pushing the flagstone over the cavity near the pillar, +Pierre groped his way out of the vault, leading Guillaume like a child. + +Meantime Mere-Grand, still seated near the window of the workroom, had +impassively continued sewing. Now and again, pending the arrival of four +o'clock, she had looked up at the timepiece hanging on the wall on her +left hand, or else had glanced out of the window towards the unfinished +pile of the basilica, which a gigantic framework of scaffoldings +encompassed. Slowly and steadily plying her needle, the old lady remained +very pale and silent, but full of heroic serenity. On the other hand, +Marie, who sat near her, embroidering, shifted her position a score of +times, broke her thread, and grew impatient, feeling strangely nervous, a +prey to unaccountable anxiety, which oppressed her heart. For their part, +the three young men could not keep in place at all; it was as if some +contagious fever disturbed them. Each had gone to his work: Thomas was +filing something at his bench; Francois and Antoine were on either side +of their table, the first trying to solve a mathematical problem, and the +other copying a bunch of poppies in a vase before him. It was in vain, +however, that they strove to be attentive. They quivered at the slightest +sound, raised their heads, and darted questioning glances at one another. +What could be the matter? What could possess them? What did they fear? +Now and again one or the other would rise, stretch himself, and then, +resume his place. However, they did not speak; it was as if they dared +not say anything, and thus the heavy silence grew more and more terrible. + +When it was a few minutes to four o'clock Mere-Grand felt weary, or else +desired to collect her thoughts. After another glance at the timepiece, +she let her needlework fall on her lap and turned towards the basilica. +It seemed to her that she had only enough strength left to wait; and she +remained with her eyes fixed on the huge walls and the forest of +scaffolding which rose over yonder with such triumphant pride under the +blue sky. Then all at once, however brave and firm she might be, she +could not restrain a start, for "La Savoyarde" had raised a joyful clang. +The consecration of the Host was now at hand, the ten thousand pilgrims +filled the church, four o'clock was about to strike. And thereupon an +irresistible impulse forced the old lady to her feet; she drew herself +up, quivering, her hands clasped, her eyes ever turned yonder, waiting in +mute dread. + +"What is the matter?" cried Thomas, who noticed her. "Why are you +trembling, Mere-Grand?" + +Francois and Antoine raised their heads, and in turn sprang forward. + +"Are you ill? Why are you turning so pale, you who are so courageous?" + +But she did not answer. Ah! might the force of the explosion rend the +earth asunder, reach the house and sweep it into the flaming crater of +the volcano! Might she and the three young men, might they all die with +the father, this was her one ardent wish in order that grief might be +spared them. And she remained waiting and waiting, quivering despite +herself, but with her brave, clear eyes ever gazing yonder. + +"Mere-Grand, Mere-Grand!" cried Marie in dismay; "you frighten us by +refusing to answer us, by looking over there as if some misfortune were +coming up at a gallop!" + +Then, prompted by the same anguish, the same cry suddenly came from +Thomas, Francois and Antoine: "Father is in peril--father is going to +die!" + +What did they know? Nothing precise, certainly. Thomas no doubt had been +astonished to see what a large quantity of the explosive his father had +recently prepared, and both Francois and Antoine were aware of the ideas +of revolt which he harboured in his mind. But, full of filial deference, +they never sought to know anything beyond what he might choose to confide +to them. They never questioned him; they bowed to whatever he might do. +And yet now a foreboding came to them, a conviction that their father was +going to die, that some most frightful catastrophe was impending. It must +have been that which had already sent such a quiver through the +atmosphere ever since the morning, making them shiver with fever, feel +ill at ease, and unable to work. + +"Father is going to die, father is going to die!" + +The three big fellows had drawn close together, distracted by one and the +same anguish, and furiously longing to know what the danger was, in order +that they might rush upon it and die with their father if they could not +save him. And amidst Mere-Grand's stubborn silence death once more +flitted through the room: there came a cold gust such as they had already +felt brushing past them during /dejeuner/. + +At last four o'clock began to strike, and Mere-Grand raised her white +hands with a gesture of supreme entreaty. It was then that she at last +spoke: "Father is going to die. Nothing but the duty of living can save +him." + +At this the three young men again wished to rush yonder, whither they +knew not; but they felt that they must throw down all obstacles and +conquer. Their powerlessness rent their hearts, they were both so frantic +and so woeful that their grandmother strove to calm them. "Father's own +wish was to die," said she, "and he is resolved to die alone." + +They shuddered as they heard her, and then, on their side, strove to be +heroic. But the minutes crept by, and it seemed as if the cold gust had +slowly passed away. Sometimes, at the twilight hour, a night-bird will +come in by the window like some messenger of misfortune, flit round the +darkened room, and then fly off again, carrying its sadness with it. And +it was much like that; the gust passed, the basilica remained standing, +the earth did not open to swallow it. Little by little the atrocious +anguish which wrung their hearts gave place to hope. And when at last +Guillaume appeared, followed by Pierre, a great cry of resurrection came +from one and all: "Father!" + +Their kisses, their tears, deprived him of his little remaining strength. +He was obliged to sit down. He had glanced round him as if he were +returning to life perforce. Mere-Grand, who understood what bitter +feelings must have followed the subjugation of his will, approached him +smiling, and took hold of both his hands as if to tell him that she was +well pleased at seeing him again, and at finding that he accepted his +task and was unwilling to desert the cause of life. For his part he +suffered dreadfully, the shock had been so great. The others spared him +any narrative of their feelings; and he, himself, related nothing. With a +gesture, a loving word, he simply indicated that it was Pierre who had +saved him. + +Thereupon, in a corner of the room, Marie flung her arms round the young +man's neck. "Ah! my good Pierre, I have never yet kissed you," said she; +"I want it to be for something serious the first time. . . . I love you, +my good Pierre, I love you with all my heart." + +Later that same evening, after night had fallen, Guillaume and Pierre +remained for a moment alone in the big workroom. The young men had gone +out, and Mere-Grand and Marie were upstairs sorting some house linen, +while Madame Mathis, who had brought some work back, sat patiently in a +dim corner waiting for another bundle of things which might require +mending. The brothers, steeped in the soft melancholy of the twilight +hour, and chatting in low tones, had quite forgotten her. + +But all at once the arrival of a visitor upset them. It was Janzen with +the fair, Christ-like face. He called very seldom nowadays; and one never +knew from what gloomy spot he had come or into what darkness he would +return when he took his departure. He disappeared, indeed, for months +together, and was then suddenly to be seen like some momentary passer-by +whose past and present life were alike unknown. + +"I am leaving to-night," he said in a voice sharp like a knife. + +"Are you going back to your home in Russia?" asked Guillaume. + +A faint, disdainful smile appeared on the Anarchist's lips. "Home!" said +he, "I am at home everywhere. To begin with, I am not a Russian, and then +I recognise no other country than the world." + +With a sweeping gesture he gave them to understand what manner of man he +was, one who had no fatherland of his own, but carried his gory dream of +fraternity hither and thither regardless of frontiers. From some words he +spoke the brothers fancied he was returning to Spain, where some +fellow-Anarchists awaited him. There was a deal of work to be done there, +it appeared. He had quietly seated himself, chatting on in his cold way, +when all at once he serenely added: "By the by, a bomb had just been +thrown into the Cafe de l'Univers on the Boulevard. Three /bourgeois/ +were killed." + +Pierre and Guillaume shuddered, and asked for particulars. Thereupon +Janzen related that he had happened to be there, had heard the explosion, +and seen the windows of the cafe shivered to atoms. Three customers were +lying on the floor blown to pieces. Two of them were gentlemen, who had +entered the place by chance and whose names were not known, while the +third was a regular customer, a petty cit of the neighbourhood, who came +every day to play a game at dominoes. And the whole place was wrecked; +the marble tables were broken, the chandeliers twisted out of shape, the +mirrors studded with projectiles. And how great the terror and the +indignation, and how frantic the rush of the crowd! The perpetrator of +the deed had been arrested immediately--in fact, just as he was turning +the corner of the Rue Caumartin. + +"I thought I would come and tell you of it," concluded Janzen; "it is +well you should know it." + +Then as Pierre, shuddering and already suspecting the truth, asked him if +he knew who the man was that had been arrested, he slowly replied: "The +worry is that you happen to know him--it was little Victor Mathis." + +Pierre tried to silence Janzen too late. He had suddenly remembered that +Victor's mother had been sitting in a dark corner behind them a short +time previously. Was she still there? Then he again pictured Victor, +slight and almost beardless, with a straight, stubborn brow, grey eyes +glittering with intelligence, a pointed nose and thin lips expressive of +stern will and unforgiving hatred. He was no simple and lowly one from +the ranks of the disinherited. He was an educated scion of the +/bourgeoisie/, and but for circumstances would have entered the Ecole +Normale. There was no excuse for his abominable deed, there was no +political passion, no humanitarian insanity, in it. He was the destroyer +pure and simple, the theoretician of destruction, the cold energetic man +of intellect who gave his cultivated mind to arguing the cause of murder, +in his desire to make murder an instrument of the social evolution. True, +he was also a poet, a visionary, but the most frightful of all +visionaries: a monster whose nature could only be explained by mad pride, +and who craved for the most awful immortality, dreaming that the coming +dawn would rise from the arms of the guillotine. Only one thing could +surpass him: the scythe of death which blindly mows the world. + +For a few seconds, amidst the growing darkness, cold horror reigned in +the workroom. "Ah!" muttered Guillaume, "he had the daring to do it, he +had." + +Pierre, however, lovingly pressed his arm. And he felt that he was as +distracted, as upset, as himself. Perhaps this last abomination had been +needed to ravage and cure him. + +Janzen no doubt had been an accomplice in the deed. He was relating that +Victor's purpose had been to avenge Salvat, when all at once a great sigh +of pain was heard in the darkness, followed by a heavy thud upon the +floor. It was Madame Mathis falling like a bundle, overwhelmed by the +news which chance had brought her. At that moment it so happened that +Mere-Grand came down with a lamp, which lighted up the room, and +thereupon they hurried to the help of the wretched woman, who lay there +as pale as a corpse in her flimsy black gown. + +And this again brought Pierre an indescribable heart-pang. Ah! the poor, +sad, suffering creature! He remembered her at Abbe Rose's, so discreet, +so shamefaced, in her poverty, scarce able to live upon the slender +resources which persistent misfortunes had left her. Hers had indeed been +a cruel lot: first, a home with wealthy parents in the provinces, a love +story and elopement with the man of her choice; next, ill-luck steadily +pursuing her, all sorts of home troubles, and at last her husband's +death. Then, in the retirement of her widowhood, after losing the best +part of the little income which had enabled her to bring up her son, +naught but this son had been left to her. He had been her Victor, her +sole affection, the only one in whom she had faith. She had ever striven +to believe that he was very busy, absorbed in work, and on the eve of +attaining to some superb position worthy of his merits. And now, all at +once, she had learnt that this fondly loved son was simply the most +odious of assassins, that he had flung a bomb into a cafe, and had there +killed three men. + +When Madame Mathis had recovered her senses, thanks to the careful +tending of Mere-Grand, she sobbed on without cessation, raising such a +continuous doleful wail, that Pierre's hand again sought Guillaume's, and +grasped it, whilst their hearts, distracted but healed, mingled lovingly +one with the other. + + + +V + +LIFE'S WORK AND PROMISE + +FIFTEEN months later, one fine golden day in September, Bache and +Theophile Morin were taking /dejeuner/ at Guillaume's, in the big +workroom overlooking the immensity of Paris. + +Near the table was a cradle with its little curtains drawn. Behind them +slept Jean, a fine boy four months old, the son of Pierre and Marie. The +latter, simply in order to protect the child's social rights, had been +married civilly at the town-hall of Montmartre. Then, by way of pleasing +Guillaume, who wished to keep them with him, and thus enlarge the family +circle, they had continued living in the little lodging over the +work-shop, leaving the sleepy house at Neuilly in the charge of Sophie, +Pierre's old servant. And life had been flowing on happily for the +fourteen months or so that they had now belonged to one another. + +There was simply peace, affection and work around the young couple. +Francois, who had left the Ecole Normale provided with every degree, +every diploma, was now about to start for a college in the west of +France, so as to serve his term of probation as a professor, intending to +resign his post afterwards and devote himself, if he pleased, to science +pure and simple. Then Antoine had lately achieved great success with a +series of engravings he had executed--some views and scenes of Paris +life; and it was settled that he was to marry Lise Jahan in the ensuing +spring, when she would have completed her seventeenth year. Of the three +sons, however, Thomas was the most triumphant, for he had at last devised +and constructed his little motor, thanks to a happy idea of his father's. +One morning, after the downfall of all his huge chimerical schemes, +Guillaume, remembering the terrible explosive which he had discovered and +hitherto failed to utilise, had suddenly thought of employing it as a +motive force, in the place of petroleum, in the motor which his eldest +son had so long been trying to construct for the Grandidier works. So he +had set to work with Thomas, devising a new mechanism, encountering +endless difficulties, and labouring for a whole year before reaching +success. But now the father and son had accomplished their task; the +marvel was created, and stood there riveted to an oak stand, and ready to +work as soon as its final toilet should have been performed. + +Amidst all the changes which had occurred, Mere-Grand, in spite of her +great age, continued exercising her active, silent sway over the +household, which was now again so gay and peaceful. Though she seldom +seemed to leave her chair in front of her work-table, she was really +here, there and everywhere. Since the birth of Jean, she had talked of +rearing the child in the same way as she had formerly reared Thomas, +Francois and Antoine. She was indeed full of the bravery of devotion, and +seemed to think that she was not at all likely to die so long as she +might have others to guide, love and save. Marie marvelled at it all. She +herself, though she was always gay and in good health, felt tired at +times now that she was suckling her infant. Little Jean indeed had two +vigilant mothers near his cradle; whilst his father, Pierre, who had +become Thomas's assistant, pulled the bellows, roughened out pieces of +metal, and generally completed his apprenticeship as a working +mechanician. + +On the particular day when Bache and Theophile Morin came to Montmartre, +the /dejeuner/ proved even gayer than usual, thanks perhaps to their +presence. The meal was over, the table had been cleared, and the coffee +was being served, when a little boy, the son of a doorkeeper in the Rue +Cortot, came to ask for Monsieur Pierre Froment. When they inquired his +business, he answered in a hesitating way that Monsieur l'Abbe Rose was +very ill, indeed dying, and that he had sent him to fetch Monsieur Pierre +Froment at once. + +Pierre followed the lad, feeling much affected; and on reaching the Rue +Cortot he there found Abbe Rose in a little damp ground-floor room +overlooking a strip of garden. The old priest was in bed, dying as the +boy had said, but he still retained the use of his faculties, and could +speak in his wonted slow and gentle voice. A Sister of Charity was +watching beside him, and she seemed so surprised and anxious at the +arrival of a visitor whom she did not know, that Pierre understood she +was there to guard the dying man and prevent him from having intercourse +with others. The old priest must have employed some stratagem in order to +send the doorkeeper's boy to fetch him. However, when Abbe Rose in his +grave and kindly way begged the Sister to leave them alone for a moment, +she dared not refuse this supreme request, but immediately left the room. + +"Ah! my dear child," said the old man, "how much I wanted to speak to +you! Sit down there, close to the bed, so that you may be able to hear +me, for this is the end; I shall no longer be here to-night. And I have +such a great service to ask of you." + +Quite upset at finding his friend so wasted, with his face white like a +sheet, and scarce a sign of life save the sparkle of his innocent, loving +eyes, Pierre responded: "But I would have come sooner if I had known you +were in need of me! Why did you not send for me before? Are people being +kept away from you?" + +A faint smile of shame and confession appeared on the old priest's +embarrassed face. "Well, my dear child," said he, "you must know that I +have again done some foolish things. Yes, I gave money to some people +who, it seems, were not deserving of it. In fact, there was quite a +scandal; they scolded me at the Archbishop's palace, and accused me of +compromising the interests of religion. And when they heard that I was +ill, they put that good Sister beside me, because they said that I should +die on the floor, and give the very sheets off my bed if I were not +prevented." + +He paused to draw breath, and then continued: "So you understand, that +good Sister--oh! she is a very saintly woman--is here to nurse me and +prevent me from still doing foolish things. To overcome her vigilance I +had to use a little deceit, for which God, I trust, will forgive me. As +it happens, it's precisely my poor who are in question; it was to speak +to you about them that I so particularly wished to see you." + +Tears had come to Pierre's eyes. "Tell me what you want me to do," he +answered; "I am yours, both heart and soul." + +"Yes, yes, I know it, my dear child. It was for that reason that I +thought of you--you alone. In spite of all that has happened, you are the +only one in whom I have any confidence, who can understand me, and give +me a promise which will enable me to die in peace." + +This was the only allusion he would venture to make to the cruel rupture +which had occurred after the young man had thrown off his cassock and +rebelled against the Church. He had since heard of Pierre's marriage, and +was aware that he had for ever severed all religious ties. But at that +supreme moment nothing of this seemed of any account to the old priest. +His knowledge of Pierre's loving heart sufficed him, for all that he now +desired was simply the help of that heart which he had seen glowing with +such passionate charity. + +"Well," he resumed, again finding sufficient strength to smile, "it is a +very simple matter. I want to make you my heir. Oh! it isn't a fine +legacy I am leaving you; it is the legacy of my poor, for I have nothing +else to bestow on you; I shall leave nothing behind me but my poor." + +Of these unhappy creatures, three in particular quite upset his heart. He +recoiled from the prospect of leaving them without chance of succour, +without even the crumbs which he had hitherto distributed among them, and +which had enabled them to live. One was the big Old'un, the aged +carpenter whom he and Pierre had vainly sought one night with the object +of sending him to the Asylum for the Invalids of Labour. He had been sent +there a little later, but he had fled three days afterwards, unwilling as +he was to submit to the regulations. Wild and violent, he had the most +detestable disposition. Nevertheless, he could not be left to starve. He +came to Abbe Rose's every Saturday, it seemed, and received a franc, +which sufficed him for the whole week. Then, too, there was a bedridden +old woman in a hovel in the Rue du Mont-Cenis. The baker, who every +morning took her the bread she needed, must be paid. And in particular +there was a poor young woman residing on the Place du Tertre, one who was +unmarried but a mother. She was dying of consumption, unable to work, and +tortured by the idea that when she should have gone, her daughter must +sink to the pavement like herself. And in this instance the legacy was +twofold: there was the mother to relieve until her death, which was near +at hand, and then the daughter to provide for until she could be placed +in some good household. + +"You must forgive me, my dear child, for leaving you all these worries," +added Abbe Rose. "I tried to get the good Sister, who is nursing me, to +take an interest in these poor people, but when I spoke to her of the big +Old'un, she was so alarmed that she made the sign of the cross. And it's +the same with my worthy friend Abbe Tavernier. I know nobody of more +upright mind. Still I shouldn't be at ease with him, he has ideas of his +own. . . . And so, my dear child, there is only you whom I can rely upon, +and you must accept my legacy if you wish me to depart in peace." + +Pierre was weeping. "Ah! certainly, with my whole soul," he answered. "I +shall regard your desires as sacred." + +"Good! I knew you would accept. . . . So it is agreed: a franc for the +big Old'un every Saturday, the bread for the bedridden woman, some help +for the poor young mother, and then a home for her little girl. Ah! if +you only knew what a weight it is off my heart! The end may come now, it +will be welcome to me." + +His kind white face had brightened as if with supreme joy. Holding +Pierre's hand within his own he detained him beside the bed, exchanging a +farewell full of serene affection. And his voice weakening, he expressed +his whole mind in faint, impressive accents: "Yes, I shall be pleased to +go off. I could do no more, I could do no more! Though I gave and gave, I +felt that it was ever necessary to give more and more. And how sad to +find charity powerless, to give without hope of ever being able to stamp +out want and suffering! I rebelled against that idea of yours, as you +will remember. I told you that we should always love one another in our +poor, and that was true, since you are here, so good and affectionate to +me and those whom I am leaving behind. But, all the same, I can do no +more, I can do no more; and I would rather go off, since the woes of +others rise higher and higher around me, and I have ended by doing the +most foolish things, scandalising the faithful and making my superiors +indignant with me, without even saving one single poor person from the +ever-growing torrent of want. Farewell, my dear child. My poor old heart +goes off aching, my old hands are weary and conquered." + +Pierre embraced him with his whole soul, and then departed. His eyes were +full of tears and indescribable emotion wrung his heart. Never had he +heard a more woeful cry than that confession of the impotence of charity, +on the part of that old candid child, whose heart was all simplicity and +sublime benevolence. Ah! what a disaster, that human kindness should be +futile, that the world should always display so much distress and +suffering in spite of all the compassionate tears that had been shed, in +spite of all the alms that had fallen from millions and millions of hands +for centuries and centuries! No wonder that it should bring desire for +death, no wonder that a Christian should feel pleased at escaping from +the abominations of this earth! + +When Pierre again reached the workroom he found that the table had long +since been cleared, and that Bache and Morin were chatting with +Guillaume, whilst the latter's sons had returned to their customary +occupations. Marie, also, had resumed her usual place at the work-table +in front of Mere-Grand; but from time to time she rose and went to look +at Jean, so as to make sure that he was sleeping peacefully, with his +little clenched fists pressed to his heart. And when Pierre, who kept his +emotion to himself, had likewise leant over the cradle beside the young +woman, whose hair he discreetly kissed, he went to put on an apron in +order that he might assist Thomas, who was now, for the last time, +regulating his motor. + +Then, as Pierre stood there awaiting an opportunity to help, the room +vanished from before his eyes; he ceased to see or hear the persons who +were there. The scent of Marie's hair alone lingered on his lips amidst +the acute emotion into which he had been thrown by his visit to Abbe +Rose. A recollection had come to him, that of the bitterly cold morning +when the old priest had stopped him outside the basilica of the Sacred +Heart, and had timidly asked him to take some alms to that old man +Laveuve, who soon afterwards had died of want, like a dog by the wayside. +How sad a morning it had been; what battle and torture had Pierre not +felt within him, and what a resurrection had come afterwards! He had that +day said one of his last masses, and he recalled with a shudder his +abominable anguish, his despairing doubts at the thought of nothingness. +Two experiments which he had previously made had failed most miserably. +First had come one at Lourdes, where the glorification of the absurd had +simply filled him with pity for any such attempt to revert to the +primitive faith of young nations, who bend beneath the terror born of +ignorance; and, secondly, there had been an experiment at Rome, which he +had found incapable of any renewal, and which he had seen staggering to +its death amidst its ruins, a mere great shadow, which would soon be of +no account, fast sinking, as it was, to the dust of dead religions. And, +in his own mind, Charity itself had become bankrupt; he no longer +believed that alms could cure the sufferings of mankind, he awaited +naught but a frightful catastrophe, fire and massacre, which would sweep +away the guilty, condemned world. His cassock, too, stifled him, a lie +alone kept it on his shoulders, the idea, unbelieving priest though he +was, that he could honestly and chastely watch over the belief of others. +The problem of a new religion, a new hope, such as was needful to ensure +the peace of the coming democracies tortured him, but between the +certainties of science and the need of the Divine, which seemed to +consume humanity, he could find no solution. If Christianity crumbled +with the principle of Charity, there could remain nothing else but +Justice, that cry which came from every breast, that battle of Justice +against Charity in which his heart must contend in that great city of +Paris. It was there that began his third and decisive experiment, the +experiment which was to make truth as plain to him as the sun itself, and +give him back health and strength and delight in life. + +At this point of his reverie Pierre was roused by Thomas, who asked him +to fetch a tool. As he did so he heard Bache remarking: "The ministry +resigned this morning. Vignon has had enough of it, he wants to reserve +his remaining strength." + +"Well, he has lasted more than a twelvemonth," replied Morin. "That's +already an achievement." + +After the crime of Victor Mathis, who had been tried and executed within +three weeks, Monferrand had suddenly fallen from power. What was the use +of having a strong-handed man at the head of the Government if bombs +still continued to terrify the country? Moreover, he had displeased the +Chamber by his voracious appetite, which had prevented him from allowing +others more than an infinitesimal share of all the good things. And this +time he had been succeeded by Vignon, although the latter's programme of +reforms had long made people tremble. He, Vignon, was honest certainly, +but of all these reforms he had only been able to carry out a few +insignificant ones, for he had found himself hampered by a thousand +obstacles. And thus he had resigned himself to ruling the country as +others had done; and people had discovered that after all there were but +faint shades of difference between him and Monferrand. + +"You know that Monferrand is being spoken of again?" said Guillaume. + +"Yes, and he has some chance of success. His creatures are bestirring +themselves tremendously," replied Bache, adding, in a bitter, jesting +way, that Mege, the Collectivist leader, played the part of a dupe in +overthrowing ministry after ministry. He simply gratified the ambition of +each coterie in turn, without any possible chance of attaining to power +himself. + +Thereupon Guillaume pronounced judgment. "Oh! well, let them devour one +another," said he. "Eager as they all are to reign and dispose of power +and wealth, they only fight over questions of persons. And nothing they +do can prevent the evolution from continuing. Ideas expand, and events +occur, and, over and above everything else, mankind is marching on." + +Pierre was greatly struck by these words, and he again recalled the past. +His dolorous Parisian experiment had begun, and he was once more roaming +through the city. Paris seemed to him to be a huge vat, in which a world +fermented, something of the best and something of the worst, a frightful +mixture such as sorceresses might have used; precious powders mingled +with filth, from all of which was to come the philter of love and eternal +youth. And in that vat Pierre first marked the scum of the political +world: Monferrand who strangled Barroux, who purchased the support of +hungry ones such as Fonsegue, Duthil and Chaigneux, who made use of those +who attained to mediocrity, such as Taboureau and Dauvergne; and who +employed even the sectarian passions of Mege and the intelligent ambition +of Vignon as his weapons. Next came money the poisoner, with that affair +of the African Railways, which had rotted the Parliament and turned +Duvillard, the triumphant /bourgeois/, into a public perverter, the very +cancer as it were of the financial world. Then as a just consequence of +all this there was Duvillard's own home infected by himself, that +frightful drama of Eve contending with her daughter Camille for the +possession of Gerard, then Camille stealing him from her mother, and +Hyacinthe, the son, passing his crazy mistress Rosemonde on to that +notorious harlot Silviane, with whom his father publicly exhibited +himself. Then there was the old expiring aristocracy, with the pale, sad +faces of Madame de Quinsac and the Marquis de Morigny; the old military +spirit whose funeral was conducted by General de Bozonnet; the magistracy +which slavishly served the powers of the day, Amadieu thrusting himself +into notoriety by means of sensational cases, Lehmann, the public +prosecutor, preparing his speeches in the private room of the Minister +whose policy he defended; and, finally, the mendacious and cupid Press +which lived upon scandal, the everlasting flood of denunciation and filth +which poured from Sagnier, and the gay impudence shown by the +unscrupulous and conscienceless Massot, who attacked all and defended +all, by profession and to order! And in the same way as insects, on +discovering one of their own kind dying, will often finish it off and +fatten upon it, so the whole swarm of appetites, interests and passions +had fallen upon a wretched madman, that unhappy Salvat, whose idiotic +crime had brought them all scrambling together, gluttonously eager to +derive some benefit from that starveling's emaciated carcass. And all +boiled in the huge vat of Paris; the desires, the deeds of violence, the +strivings of one and another man's will, the whole nameless medley of the +bitterest ferments, whence, in all purity, the wine of the future would +at last flow. + +Then Pierre became conscious of the prodigious work which went on in the +depths of the vat, beneath all the impurity and waste. As his brother had +just said, what mattered the stains, the egotism and greed of +politicians, if humanity were still on the march, ever slowly and +stubbornly stepping forward! What mattered, too, that corrupt and +emasculate /bourgeoisie/, nowadays as moribund as the aristocracy, whose +place it took, if behind it there ever came the inexhaustible reserve of +men who surged up from the masses of the country-sides and the towns! +What mattered the debauchery, the perversion arising from excess of +wealth and power, the luxuriousness and dissoluteness of life, since it +seemed a proven fact that the capitals that had been queens of the world +had never reigned without extreme civilisation, a cult of beauty and of +pleasure! And what mattered even the venality, the transgressions and the +folly of the press, if at the same time it remained an admirable +instrument for the diffusion of knowledge, the open conscience, so to +say, of the nation, a river which, though there might be horrors on its +surface, none the less flowed on, carrying all nations to the brotherly +ocean of the future centuries! The human lees ended by sinking to the +bottom of the vat, and it was not possible to expect that what was right +would triumph visibly every day; for it was often necessary that years +should elapse before the realisation of some hope could emerge from the +fermentation. Eternal matter is ever being cast afresh into the crucible +and ever coming from it improved. And if in the depths of pestilential +workshops and factories the slavery of ancient times subsists in the +wage-earning system, if such men as Toussaint still die of want on their +pallets like broken-down beasts of burden, it is nevertheless a fact that +once already, on a memorable day of tempest, Liberty sprang forth from +the vat to wing her flight throughout the world. And why in her turn +should not Justice spring from it, proceeding from those troubled +elements, freeing herself from all dross, flowing forth with dazzling +limpidity and regenerating the nations? + +However, the voices of Bache and Morin, rising in the course of their +chat with Guillaume, once more drew Pierre from his reverie. They were +now speaking of Janzen, who after being compromised in a fresh outrage at +Barcelona had fled from Spain. Bache fancied that he had recognised him +in the street only the previous day. To think that a man with so clear a +mind and such keen energy should waste his natural gifts in such a +hateful cause! + +"When I remember," said Morin slowly, "that Barthes lives in exile in a +shabby little room at Brussels, ever quivering with the hope that the +reign of liberty is at hand--he who has never had a drop of blood on his +hands and who has spent two-thirds of his life in prison in order that +the nations may be freed!" + +Bache gently shrugged his shoulders: "Liberty, liberty, of course," said +he; "only it is worth nothing if it is not organised." + +Thereupon their everlasting discussion began afresh, with Saint-Simon and +Fourier on one side and Proudhon and Auguste Comte on the other. Bache +gave a long account of the last commemoration which had taken place in +honour of Fourier's memory, how faithful disciples had brought wreaths +and made speeches, forming quite a meeting of apostles, who all +stubbornly clung to their faith, as confident in the future as if they +were the messengers of some new gospel. Afterwards Morin emptied his +pockets, which were always full of Positivist tracts and pamphlets, +manifestos, answers and so forth, in which Comte's doctrines were +extolled as furnishing the only possible basis for the new, awaited +religion. Pierre, who listened, thereupon remembered the disputes in his +little house at Neuilly when he himself, searching for certainty, had +endeavoured to draw up the century's balance-sheet. He had lost his +depth, in the end, amidst the contradictions and incoherency of the +various precursors. Although Fourier had sprung from Saint-Simon, he +denied him in part, and if Saint-Simon's doctrine ended in a kind of +mystical sensuality, the other's conducted to an inacceptable regimenting +of society. Proudhon, for his part, demolished without rebuilding +anything. Comte, who created method and declared science to be the one +and only sovereign, had not even suspected the advent of the social +crisis which now threatened to sweep all away, and had finished +personally as a mere worshipper of love, overpowered by woman. +Nevertheless, these two, Comte and Proudhon, entered the lists and fought +against the others, Fourier and Saint-Simon; the combat between them or +their disciples becoming so bitter and so blind that the truths common to +them all at first seemed obscured and disfigured beyond recognition. Now, +however, that evolution had slowly transformed Pierre, those common +truths seemed to him as irrefutable, as clear as the sunlight itself. +Amidst the chaos of conflicting assertions which was to be found in the +gospels of those social messiahs, there were certain similar phrases and +principles which recurred again and again, the defence of the poor, the +idea of a new and just division of the riches of the world in accordance +with individual labour and merit, and particularly the search for a new +law of labour which would enable this fresh distribution to be made +equitably. Since all the precursory men of genius agreed so closely upon +those points, must they not be the very foundations of to-morrow's new +religion, the necessary faith which this century must bequeath to the +coming century, in order that the latter may make of it a human religion +of peace, solidarity and love? + +Then, all at once, there came a leap in Pierre's thoughts. He fancied +himself at the Madeleine once more, listening to the address on the New +Spirit delivered by Monseigneur Martha, who had predicted that Paris, now +reconverted to Christianity, would, thanks to the Sacred Heart, become +the ruler of the world. But no, but no! If Paris reigned, it was because +it was able to exercise its intelligence freely. To set the cross and the +mystic and repulsive symbolism of a bleeding heart above it was simply so +much falsehood. Although they might rear edifices of pride and domination +as if to crush Paris with their very weight, although they might try to +stop science in the name of a dead ideal and in the hope of setting their +clutches upon the coming century, these attempts would be of no avail. +Science will end by sweeping away all remnants of their ancient +sovereignty, their basilica will crumble beneath the breeze of Truth +without any necessity of raising a finger against it. The trial has been +made, the Gospel as a social code has fallen to pieces, and human wisdom +can only retain account of its moral maxims. Ancient Catholicism is on +all sides crumbling into dust, Catholic Rome is a mere field of ruins +from which the nations turn aside, anxious as they are for a religion +that shall not be a religion of death. In olden times the overburdened +slave, glowing with a new hope and seeking to escape from his gaol, +dreamt of a heaven where in return for his earthly misery he would be +rewarded with eternal enjoyment. But now that science has destroyed that +false idea of a heaven, and shown what dupery lies in reliance on the +morrow of death, the slave, the workman, weary of dying for happiness' +sake, demands that justice and happiness shall find place upon this +earth. Therein lies the new hope--Justice, after eighteen hundred years +of impotent Charity. Ah! in a thousand years from now, when Catholicism +will be naught but a very ancient superstition of the past, how amazed +men will be to think that their ancestors were able to endure that +religion of torture and nihility! How astonished they will feel on +finding that God was regarded as an executioner, that manhood was +threatened, maimed and chastised, that nature was accounted an enemy, +that life was looked upon as something accursed, and that death alone was +pronounced sweet and liberating! For well-nigh two thousand years the +onward march of mankind has been hampered by the odious idea of tearing +all that is human away from man: his desires, his passions, his free +intelligence, his will and right of action, his whole strength. And how +glorious will be the awakening when such virginity as is now honoured by +the Church is held in derision, when fruitfulness is again recognised as +a virtue, amidst the hosanna of all the freed forces of nature--man's +desires which will be honoured, his passions which will be utilised, his +labour which will be exalted, whilst life is loved and ever and ever +creates love afresh! + +A new religion! a new religion! Pierre remembered the cry which had +escaped him at Lourdes, and which he had repeated at Rome in presence of +the collapse of old Catholicism. But he no longer displayed the same +feverish eagerness as then--a puerile, sickly desire that a new Divinity +should at once reveal himself, an ideal come into being, complete in all +respects, with dogmas and form of worship. The Divine certainly seemed to +be as necessary to man as were bread and water; he had ever fallen back +upon it, hungering for the mysterious, seemingly having no other means of +consolation than that of annihilating himself in the unknown. But who can +say that science will not some day quench the thirst for what lies beyond +us? If the domain of science embraces the acquired truths, it also +embraces, and will ever do so, the truths that remain to be acquired. And +in front of it will there not ever remain a margin for the thirst of +knowledge, for the hypotheses which are but so much ideality? Besides, is +not the yearning for the divine simply a desire to behold the Divinity? +And if science should more and more content the yearning to know all and +be able to do all, will not that yearning be quieted and end by mingling +with the love of acquired truth? A religion grafted on science is the +indicated, certain, inevitable finish of man's long march towards +knowledge. He will come to it at last as to a natural haven, as to peace +in the midst of certainty, after passing every form of ignorance and +terror on his road. And is there not already some indication of such a +religion? Has not the idea of the duality of God and the Universe been +brushed aside, and is not the principle of unity, /monisme/, becoming +more and more evident--unity leading to solidarity, and the sole law of +life proceeding by evolution from the first point of the ether that +condensed to create the world? But if precursors, scientists and +philosophers--Darwin, Fourier and all the others--have sown the seed of +to-morrow's religion by casting the good word to the passing breeze, how +many centuries will doubtless be required to raise the crop! People +always forget that before Catholicism grew up and reigned in the +sunlight, it spent four centuries in germinating and sprouting from the +soil. Well, then, grant some centuries to this religion of science of +whose sprouting there are signs upon all sides, and by-and-by the +admirable ideas of some Fourier will be seen expanding and forming a new +gospel, with desire serving as the lever to raise the world, work +accepted by one and all, honoured and regulated as the very mechanism of +natural and social life, and the passions of man excited, contented and +utilised for human happiness! The universal cry of Justice, which rises +louder and louder, in a growing clamour from the once silent multitude, +the people that have so long been duped and preyed upon, is but a cry for +this happiness towards which human beings are tending, the happiness that +embodies the complete satisfaction of man's needs, and the principle of +life loved for its own sake, in the midst of peace and the expansion of +every force and every joy. The time will come when this Kingdom of God +will be set upon the earth; so why not close that other deceptive +paradise, even if the weak-minded must momentarily suffer from the +destruction of their illusions; for it is necessary to operate even with +cruelty on the blind if they are to be extricated from their misery, from +their long and frightful night of ignorance! + +All at once a feeling of deep joy came over Pierre. A child's faint cry, +the wakening cry of his son Jean had drawn him from his reverie. And he +had suddenly remembered that he himself was now saved, freed from +falsehood and fright, restored to good and healthy nature. How he +quivered as he recalled that he had once fancied himself lost, blotted +out of life, and that a prodigy of love had extricated him from his +nothingness, still strong and sound, since that dear child of his was +there, sturdy and smiling. Life had brought forth life; and truth had +burst forth, as dazzling as the sun. He had made his third experiment +with Paris, and this had been conclusive; it had been no wretched +miscarriage with increase of darkness and grief, like his other +experiments at Lourdes and Rome. In the first place, the law of labour +had been revealed to him, and he had imposed upon himself a task, as +humble a one as it was, that manual calling which he was learning so late +in life, but which was, nevertheless, a form of labour, and one in which +he would never fail, one too that would lend him the serenity which comes +from the accomplishment of duty, for life itself was but labour: it was +only by effort that the world existed. And then, moreover, he had loved; +and salvation had come to him from woman and from his child. Ah! what a +long and circuitous journey he had made to reach this finish at once so +natural and so simple! How he had suffered, how much error and anger he +had known before doing what all men ought to do! That eager, glowing love +which had contended against his reason, which had bled at sight of the +arrant absurdities of the miraculous grotto of Lourdes, which had bled +again too in presence of the haughty decline of the Vatican, had at last +found contentment now that he was husband and father, now that he had +confidence in work and believed in the just laws of life. And thence had +come the indisputable truth, the one solution--happiness in certainty. + +Whilst Pierre was thus plunged in thought, Bache and Morin had already +gone off with their customary handshakes and promises to come and chat +again some evening. And as Jean was now crying more loudly, Marie took +him in her arms and unhooked her dress-body to give him her breast. + +"Oh! the darling, it's his time, you know, and he doesn't forget it!" she +said. "Just look, Pierre, I believe he has got bigger since yesterday." + +She laughed; and Pierre, likewise laughing, drew near to kiss the child. +And afterwards he kissed his wife, mastered as he was by emotion at the +sight of that pink, gluttonous little creature imbibing life from that +lovely breast so full of milk. + +"Why! he'll eat you," he gaily said to Marie. "How he's pulling!" + +"Oh! he does bite me a little," she replied; "but I like that the better, +it shows that he profits by it." + +Then Mere-Grand, she who as a rule was so serious and silent, began to +talk with a smile lighting up her face: "I weighed him this morning," +said she, "he weighs nearly a quarter of a pound more than he did the +last time. And if you had only seen how good he was, the darling! He will +be a very intelligent and well-behaved little gentleman, such as I like. +When he's five years old, I shall teach him his alphabet, and when he's +fifteen, if he likes, I'll tell him how to be a man. . . . Don't you +agree with me, Thomas? And you, Antoine, and you, too, Francois?" + +Raising their heads, the three sons gaily nodded their approval, grateful +as they felt for the lessons in heroism which she had given them, and +apparently finding no reason why she might not live another twenty years +in order to give similar lessons to Jean. + +Pierre still remained in front of Marie, basking in all the rapture of +love, when he felt Guillaume lay his hands upon his shoulders from +behind. And on turning round he saw that his brother was also radiant, +like one who felt well pleased at seeing them so happy. "Ah! brother," +said Guillaume softly, "do you remember my telling you that you suffered +solely from the battle between your mind and your heart, and that you +would find quietude again when you loved what you could understand? It +was necessary that our father and mother, whose painful quarrel had +continued beyond the grave, should be reconciled in you. And now it's +done, they sleep in peace within you, since you yourself are pacified." + +These words filled Pierre with emotion. Joy beamed upon his face, which +was now so open and energetic. He still had the towering brow, that +impregnable fortress of reason, which he had derived from his father, and +he still had the gentle chin and affectionate eyes and mouth which his +mother had given him, but all was now blended together, instinct with +happy harmony and serene strength. Those two experiments of his which had +miscarried, were like crises of his maternal heredity, the tearful +tenderness which had come to him from his mother, and which for lack of +satisfaction had made him desperate; and his third experiment had only +ended in happiness because he had contented his ardent thirst for love in +accordance with sovereign reason, that paternal heredity which pleaded so +loudly within him. Reason remained the queen. And if his sufferings had +thus always come from the warfare which his reason had waged against his +heart, it was because he was man personified, ever struggling between his +intelligence and his passions. And how peaceful all seemed, now that he +had reconciled and satisfied them both, now that he felt healthy, perfect +and strong, like some lofty oak, which grows in all freedom, and whose +branches spread far away over the forest. + +"You have done good work in that respect," Guillaume affectionately +continued, "for yourself and for all of us, and even for our dear parents +whose shades, pacified and reconciled, now abide so peacefully in the +little home of our childhood. I often think of our dear house at Neuilly, +which old Sophie is taking care of for us; and although, out of egotism, +a desire to set happiness around me, I wished to keep you here, your Jean +must some day go and live there, so as to bring it fresh youth." + +Pierre had taken hold of his brother's hands, and looking into his eyes +he asked: "And you--are you happy?" + +"Yes, very happy, happier than I have ever been; happy at loving you as I +do, and happy at being loved by you as no one else will ever love me." + +Their hearts mingled in ardent brotherly affection, the most perfect and +heroic affection that can blend men together. And they embraced one +another whilst, with her babe on her breast, Marie, so gay, healthful and +loyal, looked at them and smiled, with big tears gathering in her eyes. + +Thomas, however, having finished his motor's last toilet, had just set it +in motion. It was a prodigy of lightness and strength, of no weight +whatever in comparison with the power it displayed. And it worked with +perfect smoothness, without noise or smell. The whole family was gathered +round it in delight, when there came a timely visit, one from the learned +and friendly Bertheroy, whom indeed Guillaume had asked to call, in order +that he might see the motor working. + +The great chemist at once expressed his admiration; and when he had +examined the mechanism and understood how the explosive was employed as +motive power--an idea which he had long recommended,--he tendered +enthusiastic congratulations to Guillaume and Thomas. "You have created a +little marvel," said he, "one which may have far-reaching effects both +socially and humanly. Yes, yes, pending the invention of the electrical +motor which we have not yet arrived at, here is an ideal one, a system of +mechanical traction for all sorts of vehicles. Even aerial navigation may +now become a possibility, and the problem of force at home is finally +solved. And what a grand step! What sudden progress! Distance again +diminished, all roads thrown open, and men able to fraternise! This is a +great boon, a splendid gift, my good friends, that you are bestowing on +the world." + +Then he began to jest about the new explosive, whose prodigious power he +had divined, and which he now found put to such a beneficent purpose. +"And to think, Guillaume," he said, "that I fancied you acted with so +much mysteriousness and hid the formula of your powder from me because +you had an idea of blowing up Paris!" + +At this Guillaume became grave and somewhat pale. And he confessed the +truth. "Well, I did for a moment think of it." + +However, Bertheroy went on laughing, as if he regarded this answer as +mere repartee, though truth to tell he had felt a slight chill sweep +through his hair. "Well, my friend," he said, "you have done far better +in offering the world this marvel, which by the way must have been both a +difficult and dangerous matter. So here is a powder which was intended to +exterminate people, and which in lieu thereof will now increase their +comfort and welfare. In the long run things always end well, as I'm quite +tired of saying." + +On beholding such lofty and tolerant good nature, Guillaume felt moved. +Bertheroy's words were true. What had been intended for purposes of +destruction served the cause of progress; the subjugated, domesticated +volcano became labour, peace and civilisation. Guillaume had even +relinquished all idea of his engine of battle and victory; he had found +sufficient satisfaction in this last invention of his, which would +relieve men of some measure of weariness, and help to reduce their labour +to just so much effort as there must always be. In this he detected some +little advance towards Justice; at all events it was all that he himself +could contribute to the cause. And when on turning towards the window he +caught sight of the basilica of the Sacred Heart, he could not explain +what insanity had at one moment cone over him, and set him dreaming of +idiotic and useless destruction. Some miasmal gust must have swept by, +something born of want that scattered germs of anger and vengeance. But +how blind it was to think that destruction and murder could ever bear +good fruit, ever sow the soil with plenty and happiness! Violence cannot +last, and all it does is to rouse man's feeling of solidarity even among +those on whose behalf one kills. The people, the great multitude, rebel +against the isolated individual who seeks to wreak justice. No one man +can take upon himself the part of the volcano; this is the whole +terrestrial crust, the whole multitude which internal fire impels to rise +and throw up either an Alpine chain or a better and freer society. And +whatever heroism there may be in their madness, however great and +contagious may be their thirst for martyrdom, murderers are never +anything but murderers, whose deeds simply sow the seeds of horror. And +if on the one hand Victor Mathis had avenged Salvat, he had also slain +him, so universal had been the cry of reprobation roused by the second +crime, which was yet more monstrous and more useless than the first. + +Guillaume, laughing in his turn, replied to Bertheroy in words which +showed how completely he was cured: "You are right," he said, "all ends +well since all contributes to truth and justice. Unfortunately, thousands +of years are sometimes needed for any progress to be accomplished. . . . +However, for my part, I am simply going to put my new explosive on the +market, so that those who secure the necessary authorisation may +manufacture it and grow rich. Henceforth it belongs to one and all. . . . +And I've renounced all idea of revolutionising the world." + +But Bertheroy protested. This great official scientist, this member of +the Institute laden with offices and honours, pointed to the little +motor, and replied with all the vigour of his seventy years: "But that is +revolution, the true, the only revolution. It is with things like that +and not with stupid bombs that one revolutionises the world! It is not by +destroying, but by creating, that you have just done the work of a +revolutionist. And how many times already have I not told you that +science alone is the world's revolutionary force, the only force which, +far above all paltry political incidents, the vain agitation of despots, +priests, sectarians and ambitious people of all kinds, works for the +benefit of those who will come after us, and prepares the triumph of +truth, justice and peace. . . . Ah, my dear child, if you wish to +overturn the world by striving to set a little more happiness in it, you +have only to remain in your laboratory here, for human happiness can +spring only from the furnace of the scientist." + +He spoke perhaps in a somewhat jesting way, but one could feel that he +was convinced of it all, that he held everything excepting science in +utter contempt. He had not even shown any surprise when Pierre had cast +his cassock aside; and on finding him there with his wife and child he +had not scrupled to show him as much affection as in the past. + +Meantime, however, the motor was travelling hither and thither, making no +more noise than a bluebottle buzzing in the sunshine. The whole happy +family was gathered about it, still laughing with delight at such a +victorious achievement. And all at once little Jean, Monsieur Jean, +having finished sucking, turned round, displaying his milk-smeared lips, +and perceived the machine, the pretty plaything which walked about by +itself. At sight of it, his eyes sparkled, dimples appeared on his plump +cheeks, and, stretching out his quivering chubby hands, he raised a crow +of delight. + +Marie, who was quietly fastening her dress, smiled at his glee and +brought him nearer, in order that he might have a better view of the toy. +"Ah! my darling, it's pretty, isn't it? It moves and it turns, and it's +strong; it's quite alive, you see." + +The others, standing around, were much amused by the amazed, enraptured +expression of the child, who would have liked to touch the machine, +perhaps in the hope of understanding it. + +"Yes," resumed Bertheroy, "it's alive and it's powerful like the sun, +like that great sun shining yonder over Paris, and ripening men and +things. And Paris too is a motor, a boiler in which the future is +boiling, while we scientists keep the eternal flame burning underneath. +Guillaume, my good fellow, you are one of the stokers, one of the +artisans of the future, with that little marvel of yours, which will +still further extend the influence of our great Paris over the whole +world." + +These words impressed Pierre, and he again thought of a gigantic vat +stretching yonder from one horizon to the other, a vat in which the +coming century would emerge from an extraordinary mixture of the +excellent and the vile. But now, over and above all passions, ambitions, +stains and waste, he was conscious of the colossal expenditure of labour +which marked the life of Paris, of the heroic manual efforts in +work-shops and factories, and the splendid striving of the young men of +intellect whom he knew to be hard at work, studying in silence, +relinquishing none of the conquests of their elders, but glowing with +desire to enlarge their domain. And in all this Paris was exalted, +together with the future that was being prepared within it, and which +would wing its flight over the world bright like the dawn of day. If +Rome, now so near its death, had ruled the ancient world, it was Paris +that reigned with sovereign sway over the modern era, and had for the +time become the great centre of the nations as they were carried on from +civilisation to civilisation, in a sunward course from east to west. +Paris was the world's brain. Its past so full of grandeur had prepared it +for the part of initiator, civiliser and liberator. Only yesterday it had +cast the cry of Liberty among the nations, and to-morrow it would bring +them the religion of Science, the new faith awaited by the democracies. +And Paris was also gaiety, kindness and gentleness, passion for knowledge +and generosity without limit. Among the workmen of its faubourgs and the +peasants of its country-sides there were endless reserves of men on whom +the future might freely draw. And the century ended with Paris, and the +new century would begin and spread with it. All the clamour of its +prodigious labour, all the light that came from it as from a beacon +overlooking the earth, all the thunder and tempest and triumphant +brightness that sprang from its entrails, were pregnant with that final +splendour, of which human happiness would be compounded. + +Marie raised a light cry of admiration as she pointed towards the city. +"Look! just look!" she exclaimed; "Paris is all golden, covered with a +harvest of gold!" + +They all re-echoed her admiration, for the effect was really one of +extraordinary magnificence. The declining sun was once more veiling the +immensity of Paris with golden dust. But this was no longer the city of +the sower, a chaos of roofs and edifices suggesting brown land turned up +by some huge plough, whilst the sun-rays streamed over it like golden +seed, falling upon every side. Nor was it the city whose divisions had +one day seemed so plain to Pierre: eastward, the districts of toil, misty +with the grey smoke of factories; southward, the districts of study, +serene and quiet; westward, the districts of wealth, bright and open; and +in the centre the districts of trade, with dark and busy streets. It now +seemed as if one and the same crop had sprung up on every side, imparting +harmony to everything, and making the entire expanse one sole, boundless +field, rich with the same fruitfulness. There was corn, corn everywhere, +an infinity of corn, whose golden wave rolled from one end of the horizon +to the other. Yes, the declining sun steeped all Paris in equal +splendour, and it was truly the crop, the harvest, after the sowing! + +"Look! just look," repeated Marie, "there is not a nook without its +sheaf; the humblest roofs are fruitful, and every blade is full-eared +wherever one may look. It is as if there were now but one and the same +soil, reconciled and fraternal. Ah! Jean, my little Jean, look! see how +beautiful it is!" + +Pierre, who was quivering, had drawn close beside her. And Mere-Grand and +Bertheroy smiled upon that promise of a future which they would not see, +whilst beside Guillaume, whom the sight filled with emotion, were his +three big sons, the three young giants, looking quite grave, they who +ever laboured and were ever hopeful. Then Marie, with a fine gesture of +enthusiasm, stretched out her arms and raised her child aloft, as if +offering it in gift to the huge city. + +"See, Jean! see, little one," she cried, "it's you who'll reap it all, +who'll store the whole crop in the barn!" + +And Paris flared--Paris, which the divine sun had sown with light, and +where in glory waved the great future harvest of Truth and of Justice. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, +Vol. 5, by Emile Zola + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES: PARIS, VOL. 5 *** + +This file should be named pari510.txt or pari510.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, pari511.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, pari510a.txt + +Produced by Dagny [dagnypg@yahoo.com] +and David Widger [widger@cecomet.net] + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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