The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon. Alexandre Dumas

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СКАЧАТЬ was clear that the Companions were planning to bivouac that night in the caves. But without their chief leader. So no matter how successfully Roland and Diana accomplished their mission, their victory would be incomplete if they were unable to take Morgan along with the others.

      “Might Morgan come back during the night? If he were to, when? With their plans already set in motion, Roland and Diana decided to proceed, as it would be better to capture three leaders than to let four of them escape. Further, unless Morgan left the country, it would be easier to take him alone rather than with three other leaders and their band. Once Morgan realized how isolated he was, perhaps he would surrender.

      “Thanks to the watchwords, Roland was able to again approach the sentinel at the cave’s entrance without arousing suspicion. After a brief exchange, the sentinel collapsed and fell facedown on the ground. Roland had knifed him. The second fell like the first, without a cry.

      “Then, on hearing the agreed-upon signal, the colonel appeared with his twenty dragoons. Though not an intelligent man, the colonel was a veteran soldier as brave as his sword, which he had drawn as he advanced at the head of his men. Roland joined him on his right, Diana on his left.

      “They had not taken more than ten steps into the cave when two gunshots rang out. The fire came from one of the stagecoach thieves who, sent by Montbar to Ceyzériat village, had just then happened upon Roland’s dragoons. One of the shots went wild; the other broke a man’s arm.

      “‘To arms!’ someone shouted; and a man rushed into one of the twenty or thirty rooms on either side of the main tunnel where torches flickered on the walls; his rifle was still smoking. ‘To arms!’ he shouted. ‘To arms! It’s the dragoons!’

      “‘I’ll take command,’ cried Montbar. ‘Put out all the lights! Retreat toward the church!’

      “They all promptly obeyed; they understood the danger. Hard on the heels of Montbar, who knew the tunnel’s every twist and turn, they followed him deeper and deeper into the caves.

      “Suddenly, Montbar thought he heard, some forty yards ahead, someone whisper an order—and then the sound of guns being cocked. ‘Halt!’ he said, his voice tense, his hand raised.

      “‘Fire!’ ordered a voice up ahead.

      “‘Facedown!’ shouted Montbar.

      “Scarcely had they dropped to the floor than the tunnel was lit by a terrible explosion. All those who’d had the time to obey Montbar’s order heard the bullets whistle over their heads. Among those who had not, two or three collapsed. In the light of the explosion, brief though it was, Montbar and his companions recognized the uniform of the gendarmes.

      “‘Fire!’ Montbar shouted in turn.

      “Twelve or fifteen shots rang out, and once again the dark vault grew bright. Three of the Companions of Jehu lay stretched out on the ground.

      “‘Our escape has been cut off,’ said Montbar. ‘We must go back. Our only chance, if we have one, is through the forest.’

      “As Montbar and his companions, at a run, started back, a second volley from the gendarmes shook the tunnel. A couple of sighs and the sound of a body hitting the ground evidenced that it had not been without effect.

      “‘Forward, my friends!’ Montbar cried. ‘Let’s sell our lives for what they’re worth, as dearly as possible.’

      “‘Forward!’ his companions repeated.

      “But as they moved forward, Montbar was worried by the smell of smoke. ‘I think those scoundrels are trying to smoke us out,’ he said.

      “‘I’m afraid so,’ Adler agreed.

      “‘They must think they’re dealing with foxes.’

      “‘When they see our claws, they’ll know we are lions.’

      “The more they advanced, the thicker the smoke rose, and the brighter grew the glow. They made the final turn. About fifty paces from the opening to the cave, a large fire, set more for its light than for smoke, was burning. In the light of the fire, they could see the dragoons’ guns and swords gleaming.

      “‘And now we shall die,’ cried Montbar. ‘But first let us kill!’

      “He was the first to leap into the circle of light, shooting from both barrels of his shotgun into the dragoons. Then, the emptied shotgun tossed aside, he pulled his pistols from his belt and, lowering his head, rushed toward the dragoons.”

      “I won’t even try,” said the young count to Claire, “to tell you everything that happened then. It was a horrible battle, the swearing and cursing and shouting like the skies rumbling, the pistol shots like bolts of lightning. And when the pistols had been all discharged, they turned to the daggers.

      “The gendarmes joined the battle, wielding their weapons in the dense, smoky red air, stumbling, falling, getting back up, falling once more. You could hear roars of rage and cries of agony. And sometimes a man’s last gasp.

      “The killing lasted about a quarter of an hour, maybe twenty minutes. At the end, twenty-two bodies lay dead in the Ceyzériat caves. Thirteen of them were dragoons or gendarmes; nine were Companions of Jehu.

      “Overwhelmed by numbers, only five Companions had survived. They had been taken alive, and Mademoiselle de Fargas regarded them as might the ancients’ Nemesis, while the gendarmes and dragoons, swords in hand, surrounded them.

      “The old captain’s arm was broken, and the colonel had been shot in the thigh. Roland, covered with the blood of his opponents, had not sustained even a scratch.

      “Torches were lit, and they all started back toward town. Two of the prisoners had to be carried on stretchers because they were unable to walk.

      “As the weary procession was reaching the highway, a horse came galloping toward them. Roland stopped. ‘Keep moving,’ he said. ‘I’ll stay to see who this is.’

      “When the horseman was about twenty paces away, Roland called out, ‘Who’s there?’

      “‘One more prisoner, monsieur,’ the horseman answered. ‘I was not able to be present for the battle, so I insist on being present at the scaffold! Where are my friends?’

      “‘Here, monsieur,’ said Roland.

      “‘Please excuse me, monsieur,’ Morgan said. ‘I would like to claim my rightful place with my three friends, the Vicomte de Jahiat, the Comte de Valensolles, and the Marquis de Ribier.… I am the Comte Charles de Sainte-Hermine.’

      “The three prisoners cried out in admiration. Diana cried out in joy. She now had all her prey; not one of the four leaders had escaped.

      “The same night, according to the promise Roland had made to Diana and she to Cadoudal, the one hundred thousand francs from the Companions of Jehu left for Brittany.

      “Now that the Companions of Jehu were in the hands of justice, Roland’s mission was completed. He came back to his post with the First Consul, then left for Brittany, where in vain he tried to persuade Cadoudal to join the Republican cause, returned to Paris, and accompanied the First Consul on his Italian campaign, in which СКАЧАТЬ