The Mysteries of Paris. Эжен Сю

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СКАЧАТЬ That was not all, I still wanted M. Rodolph. I sprang at the Chouette; remembering the tooth of the poor dear Goualeuse, I grasped her arm and twisted it, saying, 'Where is M. Rodolph?' She bore it well, and silently. I took a second turn, and then she screeched out, 'At Bras Rouge's, in the vault at the Bleeding Heart!' All right! As I went, I meant to take Tortillard from his cabbage-bed, as it was on my road. I looked for him, but only found my blouse—he had gnawed his way out with his teeth. I reached the Bleeding Heart, and I laid hold of Bras Rouge. 'Where is the young man who came here this evening with the Schoolmaster?' 'Don't squeeze so hard, and I'll tell you. They wanted to play him a trick and shut him up in my cellar; we'll go now and let him out.' We went down, but there was no one to be seen. 'He must have gone out whilst my back was turned,' says Bras Rouge; 'you see plain enough he is not here.' I was going away sad enough, when, by the light of the lantern, I saw at the bottom of the cellar another door. I ran towards it and opened the door, and had, as it were, a pail of water thrown at me. I saw your two poor arms in the air. I fished you out and brought you here on my back, as there was nobody at hand to get a coach. That's all my tale, M. Rodolph; and I may say, without bragging, that I am satisfied with myself."

      "My man, I owe my life to you; it is a heavy debt, but be assured I will pay it. David, will you go and learn how Murphy is," added Rodolph, "and return again instantly?"

      The black went out.

      "Where is the Schoolmaster, my good fellow?"

      "In another room, with the Chouette. You will send for the police, M. Rodolph?"

      "No."

      "You surely will not let him go! Ah, M. Rodolph, none of that nonsensical generosity! I say again, he is a mad dog—let the passengers look out!"

      "He will never bite again, be assured."

      "Then you are going to shut him up somewhere?"

      "No; in half an hour he will leave this house."

      "The Schoolmaster?"

      "Yes."

      "Without gens-d'armes?"

      "Yes."

      "He will go out from here, and free?"

      "Free."

      "And quite alone?"

      "Quite alone."

      "But he will go—"

      "Wherever he likes," said Rodolph, interrupting the Chourineur with a meaning smile.

      The black returned.

      "Well, David, well, and how is Murphy?"

      "He sleeps, my lord," said the doctor, despondingly; "his respiration is very difficult."

      "Not out of danger?"

      "His case is very critical, my lord; yet there is hope."

      "Oh, Murphy! vengeance! vengeance!" exclaimed Rodolph, in a tone of concentrated rage. Then he added, "David, a word—"

      And he whispered something in the ear of the black. He started back.

      "Do you hesitate?" said Rodolph. "Yet I have often suggested this idea to you; the moment is come to put it into practice."

      "I do not hesitate, my lord; the suggestion is well worthy the consideration of the most elevated jurists, for this punishment is at the same time terrible and yet fruitful for repentance. In this case it is most applicable. Without enumerating the crimes which have accumulated to send this wretch to the Bagne for his life, he has committed three murders—the cattle-dealer, Murphy, and yourself; it is in his case justice—"

      "He will have before him an unlimited horizon for expiation," added Rodolph. After a moment's silence he resumed: "And five thousand francs will suffice, David?"

      "Amply, my lord."

      "My good fellow," said Rodolph to the bewildered Chourineur, "I have two words to say to M. David; will you go into that chamber on the other side, where you will see a large red pocketbook on a bureau; open it and take out five notes of a thousand francs each, and bring them to me."

      "And," inquired the Chourineur, involuntarily, "who are those five thousand francs for?"

      "For the Schoolmaster. And do you, at the same time, tell them to bring him in here."

[8] Receiver of stolen goods.

      CHAPTER XVII.

      THE PUNISHMENT.

       Table of Contents

      The scene we are about to describe took place in a room hung with red, and brilliantly lighted. Rodolph, clothed in a long dressing-gown of black velvet, which increased the pallor of his features, was seated before a large table covered with a green cloth. On this table was the Schoolmaster's pocketbook, the pinchbeck chain of the Chouette (to which was suspended the little Saint Esprit of lapis lazuli), the blood-stained stiletto with which Murphy had been stabbed, the crowbar with which the door had been forced, and the five notes of a thousand francs each, which the Chourineur had fetched out of the next apartment.

      The negro doctor was seated at one side of the table, the Chourineur on the other. The Schoolmaster, tightly bound with cords, and unable to move a limb, was placed in a large armchair on casters, in the middle of the salon. The people who had brought in this man had withdrawn, and Rodolph, the doctor, the Chourineur, and the assassin were left alone. Rodolph was no longer out of temper, but calm, sad, and collected; he was about to discharge a solemn, self-imposed, and important duty. The doctor was lost in meditation. The Chourineur felt an indescribable fear; he could not take his eyes off Rodolph. The Schoolmaster's countenance was ghastly; he was in an agony of fear. The most profound silence reigned within; nothing was heard but the splash, splash of the rain without, as it fell from the roof on to the pavement. Rodolph addressed the Schoolmaster:

      "Anselm Duresnel, you have escaped from the Bagne at Rochefort, where you were condemned for life for forgery, robbery, and murder!"

      "It's false!" said the Schoolmaster, in a hollow voice, and looking about him with his restless and glaring glance.

      "You are Anselm Duresnel, and you murdered and robbed a cattle-dealer on the road to Poissy—"

      "It's a lie!"

      "You shall confess it presently."

      The scoundrel looked at Rodolph with an air of astonishment.

      "This very night you came here to rob, and you have stabbed the master of this house—"

      "It was you who suggested this robbery!" assuming an air of assurance. "I was attacked, and I defended myself."

      "The man you stabbed did not attack you—he was unarmed. True, I did suggest this robbery to you—I'll tell you why. Last night only, after having robbed a man and woman in the Cité, you offered to kill me for a thousand СКАЧАТЬ