THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ÉMILE ZOLA. Эмиль Золя

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СКАЧАТЬ a crowd as soon as he got out of the shop. When he had taken him aside, he said, in a jeering tone:

      “Well! don’t you congratulate me? I have been doing a tremendous lot of work.”

      “I didn’t see you on the barricade,” answered the ex-deputy.

      “Of course! those simpletons took the precaution of placing me beyond danger of the bullets, by shutting me up in a shop, and I feel very thankful to them for doing so. Come, victory is on our side.”

      “Where did you take the child to?”

      “Eh! you’re in too great a hurry. I’ll hand you the child presently. Look! he is there, in that house, where they are bursting open the door.”

      Mathéus then explained to M. de Cazalis what he had done, and what there still remained to do. He was certain of success.

      “However,” he added, “we must act promptly. They imprisoned with me, I was unable to understand why, two friends of the Cayols. Look! they’re still standing on the threshold of our common gaol. I am afraid their presence will be to our disadvantage.”

      M. de Cazalis looked, and recognised M. Martelly and Abbé Chastanier. He did not see M. de Girousse, who was turning his back to him.

      “Bah!” he murmured, “they’re not troubling about us. To work, Mathéus! I’ll double the promised reward if you succeed.”

      The sappers had just given the first strokes of the axe, which were producing dull thuds on the door.

      “And do you know where that villain Philippe has got to?” inquired M. de Cazalis.

      “I hope he’s been arrested,” answered Mathéus, “in any case he will be caught if he has taken refuge in the house. Have no anxiety, his affair is settled, he’ll get at least ten years’ transportation.”

      “I’d sooner finish with him here. I had him at the end of my gun. Aren’t you afraid that if he be in the house, he will interfere with your plans?”

      “Bah! he’s hidden at the bottom of some cupboard. Look out! the door is giving way. Don’t meddle with anything, watch me act, if it amuses you, and as soon as I have the child, follow me quickly. We’ll settle our account later on.”

      Mathéus left his master in the centre of the square and mixed with the soldiers. The axes of the sappers had cut through the woodwork of the door, and although the hinges and lock still held good, it was on the point of being broken down. Sauvaire had followed this performance with anxiety. He had counted on gathering his own men together, and entering the house first. Just as the door began to give way, he felt a hand on his arm, and turning round, recognised his old manager Cadet, Fine’s brother. The young man dragged him quickly aside, and in a choking voice asked:

      “What has happened? Have you seen my sister?”

      But before the ex-master-stevedore could answer, he continued:

      “I and my men have been confined to the office since this morning. The authorities, being aware of my opinions, placed a picket of National Guards at my door, and I have only just been able to escape. I ran to my brother-in-law’s lodging, on the Cours Bonaparte, and found the house empty. Goodness, gracious! what has happened? Speak, quick!”

      “Good Heavens!” murmured Sauvaire, “a misfortune never comes singly. The whole family must be in this house.”

      “Do you think my sister is there?”

      “Eh! I don’t know. What I do know is that I saw Philippe, on the barricade fighting like a maniac. Ah! my poor Cadet. I’m very much afraid all this will end very badly. But I forgot: your enemy is prowling about the square.’’

      “What enemy?”

      “M. de Cazalis. He’s disguised as a National Guard.’’

      Cadet shuddered. All at once he perceived the door had been broken in.

      “Let’s run there quick!” he exclaimed.

      As soon as the entrance was clear, a swarm of soldiers rushed forward, but three or four shots were fired from the staircase and the besiegers withdrew in disorder. For a few moments no one dared penetrate within the passage. The insurgents had spent their last cartridges, and after this show of defence, had bounded up on to the roof to try and escape. After the first moment of panic, the soldiers made up their minds to advance cautiously to the foot of the staircase; then, seeing they met with no resistance, they invaded the house and searched in every corner.

      Sauvaire and Cadet had committed the imprudence of retiring a short distance away, for the purpose of talking, and when they endeavoured to approach the door again, they found themselves behind a regular crowd, which prevented them advancing. Notwithstanding all their efforts they had to beat time a long while, and when they at last entered, they were only able to get up the staircase very slowly, on account of its being so full of soldiers and National Guards.

      As they reached the third floor they were jostled by a man who was running away and knocking up against everyone. This individual, whom the besiegers took for a terrified lodger, had a child in his arms. He passed so rapidly, half hiding his charge beneath his frock coat, that Cadet did not get a good view of him; the young man, however, turned round, as if feeling a presentiment that something was wrong, but the man had then already descended five or six stairs. Fine’s brother, pushed on by Sauvaire, who had seen nothing, continued to ascend, and soon found himself at the entrance to the little lodging.

      This door was wide open, and in the middle of the first room, Fine lay unconscious on the ground. Joseph had disappeared.

      CHAPTER XX

      HOW PHILIPPE FIRED A LAST SHOT

      FINE’S anguish during the struggle had been terrible. Each shot had made her tremble, for she thought to herself with horror, that the bullet had perhaps killed one of hers. She would have liked to have been below in the street, sharing the peril of Marius and Philippe, but the necessity of looking after Joseph confined her to that room where she was dying with anxiety. The poor child was as white as a sheet and his teeth were set firmly together, but he was not crying. With his face hidden in the young woman’s lap, and his little arms clutching her waist, he stood motionless and mute.

      On several occasions bullets entered by the window, cutting up the furniture and becoming embedded in the wall. Fine gazed at the holes made by these projectiles with stupor. She tried to make herself smaller, caught up Joseph, and clasped him closely in her arms. She did not care about herself, but an icy shiver ran through her frame when she thought that a bullet might rebound and strike the child she was pressing to her bosom.

      This torment lasted more than an hour, she listened with anxiety to the least sound. All at once from the tumult that arose from the Square, she understood that the barricades had been carried. She felt relieved, but this feeling was soon followed by increased anxiety. As the firing had ceased, she ventured to approach the window, and throw a glance outside.

      Suddenly she was seized with the most horrible fear. She asked herself why Marius and Philippe had not come upstairs again after the barricades had been taken? They ought to have hurried up there, to hide themselves beside her. If they had not come, it was because they were taken prisoners or perhaps killed. Her mind СКАЧАТЬ