He stepped forward, and by the flickering light of the candle which Marie-Anne held, he saw a spectacle which moved him more than the horrors of the bloodiest battle-field.
The baron was lying upon the ground, his head supported on Mme.
d"Escorval"s knee.
His face was not disfigured; but he was pale as death itself, and his eyes were closed.
At intervals a convulsive shudder shook his frame, and a stream of blood gushed from his mouth. His clothing was hacked--literally hacked in pieces; and it was easy to see that his body had sustained many frightful wounds.
Kneeling beside the unconscious man, Abbe Midon, with admirable dexterity, was stanching the blood and applying bandages which had been torn from the linen of those present.
Maurice and one of the officers were a.s.sisting him. "Ah! if I had my hands on the scoundrel who cut the rope," cried the corporal, in a pa.s.sion of indignation; "but patience. I shall have him yet."
"Do you know who it was?"
"Only too well!"
He said no more. The abbe had done all it was possible to do, and he now lifted the wounded man a little higher on Mme. d"Escorval"s knee.
This change of position elicited a moan that betrayed the unfortunate baron"s intense sufferings. He opened his eyes and faltered a few words--they were the first he had uttered.
"Firmin!" he murmured, "Firmin!" It was the name of the baron"s former secretary, a man who had been absolutely devoted to his master, but who had been dead for several years. It was evident that the baron"s mind was wandering. Still he had some vague idea of his terrible situation, for in a stifled, almost inaudible voice, he added:
"Oh! how I suffer! Firmin, I will not fall into the hands of the Marquis de Courtornieu alive. You shall kill me rather--do you hear me? I command it."
This was all; then his eyes closed again, and his head fell back a dead weight. One would have supposed that he had yielded up his last sigh.
Such was the opinion of the officers; and it was with poignant anxiety they drew the abbe a little aside.
"Is it all over?" they asked. "Is there any hope?"
The priest sadly shook his head, and pointing to heaven:
"My hope is in G.o.d!" he said, reverently.
The hour, the place, the terrible catastrophe, the present danger, the threatening future, all combined to lend a deep solemnity to the words of the priest.
So profound was the impression that, for more than a minute, these men, familiar with peril and scenes of horror, stood in awed silence.
Maurice, who approached, followed by Corporal Bavois, brought them back to the exigencies of the present.
"Ought we not to make haste and carry away my father?" he asked. "Must we not be in Piedmont before evening?"
"Yes!" exclaimed the officers, "let us start at once."
But the priest did not move, and in a despondent voice, he said:
"To make any attempt to carry Monsieur d"Escorval across the frontier in his present condition would cost him his life."
This seemed so inevitably a death-warrant for them all, that they shuddered.
"My G.o.d! what shall we do?" faltered Maurice. "What course shall we pursue?"
Not a voice replied. It was clear that they hoped for salvation through the priest alone.
He was lost in thought, and it was some time before he spoke.
"About an hour"s walk from here," he said, at last, "beyond the Croix d"Arcy, is the hut of a peasant upon whom I can rely. His name is Poignot; and he was formerly in Monsieur Lacheneur"s employ. With the a.s.sistance of his three sons, he now tills quite a large farm. We must procure a litter and carry Monsieur d"Escorval to the house of this honest peasant."
"What, Monsieur," interrupted one of the officers, "you wish us to procure a litter at this hour of the night, and in this neighborhood?"
"It must be done."
"But, will it not awaken suspicion?"
"Most a.s.suredly."
"The Montaignac police will follow us."
"I am certain of it."
"The baron will be recaptured!"
"No."
The abbe spoke in the tone of a man who, by virtue of a.s.suming all the responsibility, feels that he has a right to be obeyed.
"When the baron has been conveyed to Poignot"s house," he continued, "one of you gentlemen will take the wounded man"s place upon the litter; the others will carry him, and the party will remain together until it has reached Piedmontese territory. Then you will separate and pretend to conceal yourselves, but do it in such a way that you are seen everywhere." All present comprehended the priest"s simple plan.
They were to throw the emissaries sent by the Duc de Sairmeuse and the Marquis de Courtornieu off the track; and at the very moment it was apparently proven that the baron was in the mountains, he would be safe in Poignot"s house.
"One word more," added the priest. "It will be necessary to make the _cortege_ which accompanies the pretended baron resemble as much as possible the little party that would be likely to attend Monsieur d"Escorval. Mademoiselle Lacheneur will accompany you; Maurice also.
People know that I would not leave the baron, who is my friend; my priestly robe would attract attention; one of you must a.s.sume it. G.o.d will forgive this deception on account of its worthy motive."
It was now necessary to procure the litter; and the officers were trying to decide where they should go to obtain it, when Corporal Bavois interrupted them.
"Give yourselves no uneasiness," he remarked; "I know an inn not far from here where I can procure one."
He departed on the run, and five minutes later reappeared with a small litter, a thin mattress, and a coverlid. He had thought of everything.
The wounded man was lifted carefully and placed upon the mattress.
A long and difficult operation which, in spite of extreme caution, drew many terrible groans from the baron.
When all was ready, each officer took an end of the litter, and the little procession, headed by the abbe, started on its way. They were obliged to proceed slowly on account of the suffering which the least jolting inflicted upon the baron. Still they made some progress, and by daybreak they were about half way to Poignot"s house.
It was then that they met some peasants going to their daily toil. Both men and women paused to look at them, and when the little _cortege_ had pa.s.sed they still stood gazing curiously after these people who were apparently carrying a dead body.
The priest did not seem to trouble himself in regard to these encounters; at least, he made no attempt to avoid them.