"What! Through those heavy beams? No, no, there"s no chance of his escaping; the shutters are covered with iron plates and strengthened with two bars of iron, the door is nailed up outside with large boat-nails three inches long. His coffin is more solid than if it were made of oak and lead."
"I say, though, when La Louve comes out of prison, and makes her way here, to see her man, as she calls him?"
"Well, we shall say, "Look for him.""
"By the way, do you know that, if mother had not shut up those young "rips" of children, they would have gnawed their ways through the door, like young rats, to free Martial? That little vagabond Francois is quite furious since he suspects we have packed away his tall brother."
"But, you know, they mustn"t be left in the room up-stairs whilst we leave the island; the window is not barred, and they have only to drop down outside."
At this moment the attention of Nicholas and Calabash was attracted by the sound of cries and sobs which came from the house. They saw the door of the ground floor, which had been open until then, close violently, and a minute afterwards the pale and sinister countenance of Mere Martial appeared through the bars of the kitchen window. With her long lean arm the culprit"s widow made a sign to her children to come to her.
"There"s a row, I know; I"ll bet that it is Francois, who"s giving himself some airs again," said Nicholas. "That beggar Martial! But for him, this young scamp would be by himself. You keep a good look-out, and, if you see the two women coming, give me a call."
Whilst Calabash again mounted the bench, and looked out for the arrival of Seraphin and the Goualeuse, Nicholas entered the house. Little Amandine was on her knees in the centre of the kitchen, sobbing and asking pardon for her Brother Francois. Enraged and threatened, the lad, ensconced in one of the angles of the apartment, had Nicholas"s hatchet in his hand, and appeared determined this time to offer the most desperate resistance to his mother"s wishes. Impa.s.sive as usual, showing Nicholas the cellar, the widow made a sign to her son to shut Francois up there.
"I will never be shut up there!" cried the boy, in a determined tone.
"You want to make us die of hunger, like Brother Martial."
The widow looked at Nicholas with an impatient air, as if to reproach him for not instantly executing her commands, as, with another imperious gesture, she pointed to Francois. Seeing his brother advance towards him, the young boy brandished the axe with a desperate air and cried:
"If you try to shut me up there, whether it is mother, brother, or Calabash, so much the worse. I shall strike, and the hatchet cuts."
Nicholas felt as the widow did the pressing necessity there was to prevent the two children from going to Martial"s succour whilst the house was left to itself, as well as to put them out of the way of seeing the scenes which were about to pa.s.s, for their window looked onto the river in which they were about to drown Fleur-de-Marie. But Nicholas was as cowardly as he was ferocious, and, afraid of receiving a blow from the dangerous hatchet with which his young brother was armed, hesitated to approach him. The widow, angry at his hesitation, pushed him towards Francois; but Nicholas, again retreating, exclaimed:
"But, mother, if he cuts me? You know I want all my arms and fingers at this time, and I feel still the thump that brute Martial gave me."
The widow shrugged her shoulders, and advanced towards Francois.
"Don"t come near me, mother," shrieked the boy in a fury, "or you"ll pay dear for all the beatings you have given me and Amandine!"
"Let "em shut us up; don"t strike mother!" cried Amandine, in fear.
At this moment Nicholas saw upon a chair a large blanket which he used to wrap his booty in at times, and, taking hold of and partly unfolding it, he threw it completely over Francois"s head, who, in spite of his efforts, finding himself entangled under its folds, could not make use of his weapon. Nicholas then seized hold of him, and, with his mother"s help, carried him into the cellar. Amandine had continued kneeling in the centre of the kitchen, and, as soon as she saw her brother overcome, she sprang up and, in spite of her fright, went to join him in the dark hole. The door was then double-locked on the brother and sister.
"It will still be that infernal Martial"s fault, if these children behave in this outrageous manner to us," said Nicholas.
"Nothing has been heard in his room since this morning," said the widow, with a pensive air, and she shuddered, "nothing!"
"That"s a sign, mother, that you were right to say to Pere Ferot, the fisherman at Asnieres, that Martial had been so dangerously ill as to be confined to his bed for the last two days; for now, when all is known, it will not astonish anybody."
After a moment"s silence, as and if she wished to escape a painful thought, the widow replied, suddenly:
"Didn"t the Chouette come here whilst I was at Asnieres?"
"Yes, mother."
"Why didn"t she stay and accompany us to Bras-Rouge"s? I mistrust her."
"Bah! You mistrust everybody, mother; you are always fancying they are going to play you some trick. To-day it is the Chouette, yesterday it was Bras-Rouge."
"Bras-Rouge is at liberty,--my son is at Toulon, yet they committed the same robbery."
"You are always saying this. Bras-Rouge escaped because he is as cunning as a fox--that"s it; the Chouette did not stay, because she had an appointment at two o"clock, near the Observatory, with the tall man in black, at whose desire she has carried off this young country girl, by the help of the Schoolmaster and Tortillard; and Barbillon drove the hackney-coach which the tall man in black had hired for the job. So how, mother, do you suppose the Chouette would inform against us, when she tells us the "jobs" she has in hand, and we do not tell her ours? for she knows nothing of this drowning job that is to come off directly. Be easy, mother; wolves don"t eat each other, and this will be a good day"s work; and when I recollect, too, that the jewel-matcher has often about her twenty to thirty thousand francs" worth of diamonds in her bag, and that, in less than two hours, we shall have her in Bras-Rouge"s cellar!
Thirty thousand francs" worth of diamonds, mother! Think of that!"
"And, whilst we lay hands on this woman, Bras-Rouge is to remain outside the cabaret?" inquired the widow, with an air of suspicion.
"Well, and where would you have him, I should like to know? If any one comes to his house, mustn"t he be outside the door to answer them, and prevent them from entering the place whilst we are doing our "job?""
"Nicholas! Nicholas!" cried Calabash, at this moment from outside, "here come the two women!"
"Quick, quick, mother! Your shawl! I will land you on the other side, and that will be so much done," said Nicholas.
The widow had replaced her mourning head-dress with a high black cap, in which she now made her appearance. At the instigation of Nicholas, she wrapped herself in a large plaid shawl, with gray and white checks; and, after having carefully closed and secured the kitchen door, she placed the key behind one of the window-shutters on the ground-floor, and followed her son, who was hastily pursuing his way to the landing-place.
Almost involuntarily, as she quitted the island, she cast a long and meditative look at Martial"s window; and the train of thought to which its firmly nailed and iron-bound exterior gave rise seemed, to judge by their effect, to be of a very mingled and complicated character, for she knitted her brows, pursed her lips, and then, after a sudden convulsive shudder, she murmured, in a low hesitating voice:
"It is his own fault--it is his own fault!"
"Nicholas, do you see them? Just down there, along the path,--a country girl and an old woman!" exclaimed Calabash, pointing to the other side of the river, where Madame Seraphin and Fleur-de-Marie were descending a narrow, winding path which pa.s.sed by a high bank, on the top of which were the lime-kilns.
"Let us wait for the signal; don"t let us spoil the job by too much haste," said Nicholas.
"What! Are you blind? Don"t you recognise the stout woman who came the day before yesterday? Look at her orange shawl; and the little country girl, what a hurry she seems in! She"s a good little thing, I know; and it"s plain she has no idea of what is going to happen to her, or she wouldn"t hasten on at that pace, I"m thinking."
"Yes, I recollect the stout woman now. It"s all right, then--all right!
Although they are so much behind the time I had almost given up the job as bad. But let us quite understand the thing, Calabash. I shall take the old woman and the young girl in the boat with a valve to it; you will follow me close on, stern to stern; and mind and row steadily, so that, with one spring, I may jump from one boat to the other, as soon as I have opened the pipe and the water begins to sink the boat."
"Don"t be afraid about me, it is not the first time I"ve pulled a boat, is it?"
"I am not afraid of being drowned, you know I can swim; but, if I did not jump well into the other boat, why, the women, in their struggles against drowning, might catch hold of me and--much obliged to you, but I have no fancy for a bath with the two ladies."
"The old woman waves her handkerchief," said Calabash; "there they are on the bank."
"Come, come along, mother, let"s push off," said Nicholas, unmooring.
"Come you into the boat with the valve, then the two women will not have any fear; and you, Calabash, jump into t"other, and use your arms, my girl, and pull a good one. Ah, by the way, take the boat-hook and put it beside you, it is as sharp as a lance, and it may be useful," added the ruffian, as he placed beside Calabash in the boat a long hook with a sharp iron point.
A few moments, and the two boats, one rowed by Nicholas and the other by Calabash, reached the sh.o.r.e where, for some moments, Madame Seraphin and Fleur-de-Marie had been waiting. Whilst Nicholas was fastening his boat to a post on the bank, Madame Seraphin approached him, and said, in a low and rapid tone:
"Say that Madame Georges is waiting for us at the island,--you understand?" And then, in a louder voice, she added, "We are rather late, my lad."
"Yes, my good lady, Madame Georges has been asking for you several times."
"You see, my dear young lady, Madame Georges is waiting for us," said Madame Seraphin, turning to Fleur-de-Marie, who, in spite of her confidence, had felt considerable repugnance at the sight of the sinister countenances of Calabash, Nicholas, and the widow; but the mention of Madame Georges rea.s.sured her, and she replied:
"I am just as impatient to see Madame Georges; fortunately, it is not a long way across."
"How delighted the dear lady will be!" said Madame Seraphin. Then, addressing Nicholas, "Now, then, my lad, bring your boat a little closer that we may get in." Adding, in an undertone, "The girl must be drowned, mind; if she comes up thrust her back again into the water."
"All right, ma"am; and don"t be alarmed yourself, but, when I make you the signal, give me your hand, she"ll then pa.s.s under all alone, for everything"s ready, and you have nothing to fear," replied Nicholas, in a similar tone; and then, with savage brutality, unmoved by Fleur-de-Marie"s youth and beauty, he put his hand out to her. The young girl leaned lightly on him and entered the boat.