THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ÉMILE ZOLA. Эмиль Золя

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СКАЧАТЬ I repeat he is mad with grief. I only heard him murmur: ‘I hope to heaven I may succeed.’”

      At that moment, the stocks of the muskets were heard knocking more violently at the door and the terrifying cry resounded:

      “Open, in the name of. the law!”

      Fine placed her finger on her lips to tell Philippe to preserve absolute silence. Each blow, each word made them start and increased their alarm. Little Joseph continued sleeping between them, but in an uneasy and agitated slumber.

      The gendarmes had already been knocking and shouting for five minutes, and in the end one of them said to M. de Cazalis that the cottage appeared empty, and they had no power to burst open the door.

      “If we were sure your man was inside,” he added, “we would soon send the lock flying; but we cannot run the risk of such a thing, with the chance of not finding him there.”

      “The man is certainly there,” exclaimed Mathéus, “I saw him enter.”

      “I will answer for everything,” added M. de Cazalis, “I’d be responsible for what you do.”

      The two gendarmes shook their heads, knowing perfectly well that they alone would be punished if they broke into a house. They only had orders to arrest the person pointed out to them and were not inclined to go beyond their instructions.

      M. de Cazalis was in despair at their irresolution and at seeing them unwilling to proceed any further, when a voice was heard inside the dwelling.

      “Do you hear?” he said. “You can see the house is not empty and that our man is within!”

      It was little Joseph who had just opened his eyes. Frightened at finding himself in the dark and at the sound of loud voices, he had burst out crying. Fine, in alarm, had endeavoured in vain to quiet him with kisses, but unsuccessfully. The son betrayed the father.

      The gendarmes knocked again and shouted out:

      “If you don’t open, we’ll burst in the door!”

      At the violent blows from the stocks of the muskets against the wood, Philippe understood that the door would not resist for very long. He got up and lit the lamp, no longer afraid of the light betraying him. Joseph terrified by the battering outside, which shook the whole house, screamed louder than ever, and Fine, who had risen and was nursing him in her arms, walked backwards and forwards in despair, powerless to calm him.

      “Oh! let him cry,” Philippe said to her. “They know I am here now.”

      And he went and kissed his child, murmuring in a broken voice:

      “Poor little darling!”

      As he looked at him his eyes were filled with great tears. When he had kissed him a last time, he quickly advanced towards the door.

      Fine stopped him.

      “What! Are you going to open to them?” she inquired in agony.

      “Eh! yes,” he answered. “Don’t you hear? The wood’s giving way and the lock’s ready to fly off. Ayasse may return at any moment, and besides, now that flight is impossible, I won’t have the door damaged any further.”

      “For pity’s sake, wait a little longer. Let us gain time.”

      “Gain time. Why? Isn’t it all up?”

      “No, I’ve faith in Marius. He impressed on me to put as many obstacles as possible in the way of your arrest, and I implore you to conform to his entreaty. It is a question of your own safety.”

      Philippe shook his head.

      “They will make me pay dearly for every minute’s resistance,” he said. “It’s better not to struggle uselessly.”

      Fine saw that despair had transformed him into a coward, and she knew not what to say to instil energy into him. All at once she had an idea:

      “But,” she exclaimed, “what will become of Joseph? As soon as you are arrested, these men will take him.”

      The young man, who already had a hand almost on a bolt, turned round pale and trembling and returned to Fine’s side.

      “Didn’t you tell me Cazalis was there with the gendarmes?” he inquired.

      “Yes,” she answered.

      He turned very pale again, and stammered out in a choking voice.

      “Oh! I understand it all now. Wretched egotist that I am, I was only thinking of my own safety and my child was in greater danger than myself! You are right, they only come to arrest me here, in order to steal Joseph. What is there to be done? Good heavens!”

      At that moment such a violent blow was given to the door, that the wood cracked, as if it were about to split in two, and Philippe gazed round about him bewildered.

      “No issue!” he continued, “and in a few moments the door will be broken in. What can be done, good heavens! to escape them!”

      The blows became more and more redoutable. One felt that the gendarmes were becoming furious at the long resistance. Philippe remained for a few seconds with his head between his hands trying to think, to discover a means of escape. Then, in a low and rapid voice he said:

      “I am of your opinion. We must try and gain time. Marius has always been my guardian angel.”

      “Let us barricade the door with the furniture,” exclaimed the young woman.

      “No, that’s not advisable. Open resistance will only hasten on events.”

      “What are you going to do then?”

      “Open the door and give myself up. But before doing so, you must run to the loft with Joseph, and hide yourself as well as possible; in the meanwhile I will arrange to make the details of my arrest last as long as I can, so as to give my brother time to help us.”

      “And if they take you away at once, and if I am left at the mercy of these men?”

      “Then everything will, indeed, be against us. However, there is no time to argue, and there is no choice. Do you hear? The door is giving way. For love of heaven hurry upstairs and hide yourself well!”

      He pushed Fine towards the staircase; then, when she had disappeared in the dark, he went and drew back the bolts.

      CHAPTER IX

      PARDON! PARDON!

      PHILIPPE had taken the precaution of putting out the lamp before opening the door, and the gendarmes who were on the point of rushing forward, stopped short on the threshold, fearing that the darkness might conceal some snare. Perhaps the trap door of a cellar was gaping open before them or perhaps they would be attacked from behind, as soon as they entered. The mass of darkness that expanded before them struck terror into their hearts.

      “We must have a light,” one of them murmured. “We cannot СКАЧАТЬ