"There are those who would wed to-morrow, yet die to-night," the dwarf went on. "It"s a world of minutes for us all. You come to understand these things when you roam through St. Etienne at nights. I"ll set you on your way to Pa.s.sey within an hour unless "twixt now and then time ends for me. If so, you must needs shift for yourself."
He caught hold of the rope as he spoke, and swung himself to the window-ledge with the agility of an ape. Impeded by his unaccustomed garments, Herrick found it a more difficult matter; but he was strong and athletic, and in a few moments was crouching on his knees beside the dwarf.
The bars were placed midway in the thickness of the wall, so that on either side there was room for them both.
"We"ll shut our door," whispered the dwarf when they had crawled through the opening, and he replaced the movable bar and drew up the rope. The next instant he had gripped his companion"s arm to compel him to silence and to keep him motionless. Below was the sound of a heavy step, which came to a halt immediately beneath them, and from within the cell came a grating noise. It was the great key being thrust into the lock.
CHAPTER IV
THE ROAD TO Pa.s.sEY
That intricate calculations occupied Father Bertrand"s mind as he slowly paced his room from end to end was apparent in his face.
Ascetic in appearance, wont to present a calm exterior under the most trying circ.u.mstances, the fact of his restlessness proved that he had reached some crisis, that some part of his scheme was on the point of settlement. Father Bertrand was a power in Vayenne. Not greatly beloved, perhaps--he was too stern and unbending for that--his priestly office, nevertheless, appealed strongly to a people naturally superst.i.tious, while his learning and political ac.u.men made him forceful with those who ruled. He held no office; but even the late Duke, strong as he was, had sometimes been guided by his opinion, and Count Felix recognized long ago, that, in his claim to the Dukedom, the support of Father Bertrand would be of very real value.
If he is a weak man who cannot refrain from speaking his thoughts, the priest was a very strong man, for to no one had he betrayed himself.
Count Felix felt confident of his support; Mademoiselle de Liancourt believed that he heartily shared her ideas of right and justice; while, as a priest, he spoke with authority to the great ma.s.s of the people, who believed his policy based entirely upon his religion. A few who fondly believed themselves in his confidence, but were in reality little more than his tools, knew at least that other schemes were working in his mind, and that, as a member of a secret order, his information was invariably correct and reached him long before it was known in the castle. In a peculiar sense he was all things to all men, yet really known by none. Such a man must needs walk warily, for his path is beset with snares.
Father Bertrand, moreover, was a man of wealth. His charity was known in Vayenne, yet he fared simply himself, it was whispered; and there were those who could tell of the mean, poor room he occupied in his house in the Rue St. Romain, a room little removed as regards comfort from that of the ordinary toiler of the city. But there were other rooms in the house in the Rue St. Romain, and there was no lack of luxury in the large chamber on the upper floor which the priest paced slowly from end to end to-night. It was evidence not only of wealth, but of taste, too, and had they known of it, many in Vayenne would probably have formed a different estimate of Father Bertrand"s character.
Absorbed as he was in his calculations, the priest was keenly alive to every new sound in the street or in the house. Several times he paused to listen, and once drew aside the heavy window curtains to look down into the street below. The Rue St. Romain lay along the north side of the Church of St. Etienne, and was little frequented after nightfall.
Any excitement resulting from the death of the Duke would hardly penetrate here.
There was a knocking at the door at last, and Father Bertrand immediately took his seat at a large writing-table, and, drawing some of the papers with which it was covered toward him, began to study them carefully. No matter how agitated he might be in thought, his visitor would only see him calm and self-possessed, and doubtless be more impressed than ever with the priest"s strength of character.
A man entered and closed the door behind him.
"We have failed, father."
"Only a weak man admits that, Monsieur Mercier. Where is Nicolas Pigou?"
"At death"s door. He is still unconscious, and the surgeon I got to him declares that half of his ribs at least must be broken."
The priest did not speak, but by a gesture asked the reason of this catastrophe.
"Our opportunity came when the stranger had pa.s.sed through the arch of the great clock into the dark street beyond," said Mercier. "We had approached close behind him when he suddenly turned, coming into collision with us. We had planned to take him quickly, place him in a carriage which had followed us, and bring him here, but his unexpected action thwarted this. Pigou pa.s.sed on, and to gain time I began to apologize. Then Pigou seized him from behind, and I immediately closed with the man. Pigou is strong, as you are aware, but he was a babe in the hands of this stranger, who, with a heave of his body threw him over his head into the roadway. I should have fared no better had I not slipped to the ground and, holding his legs, shouted "Spy!" The street was alive in a minute; but I have bruises about me which will last for many a day to come."
"And then?" said the priest quietly.
"The crowd hustled him to the end of the street, and would have hanged him there, probably, but it seems they were met by a company of soldiers, and the stranger is now a prisoner in the castle."
"You saw the soldiers take him?"
"No; I heard that later," Mercier answered. "I slipped from the crowd, and went to look after poor Pigou. There might have been awkward questions asked had he been found in the street."
"I am sorry for Nicolas Pigou," said Father Bertrand, "but if a broken rib or two is all the payment, our enterprise is cheaply won. Why do you talk of failure, Monsieur Mercier?"
"Is it not failure then?"
"Surely not. There are more ways of reaching a place than by the high road. This stranger is no spy. I shall prove that to Count Felix, and we gain our end. Indeed, circ.u.mstances have favored us. The stranger will look upon me as his deliverer, and will be the more ready to be advised. I doubt not we shall have him in this house within a few hours. Were you recognized by the crowd to-night?"
"No. I am known to few in Vayenne."
"Then, my dear Monsieur Mercier, two desperate villains set upon this poor stranger in the streets; one is like to die, it is said--the other has succeeded in escaping. This is my story--a good and plausible one, eh?" said Father Bertrand, with a smile; "and since justice done quickly has the greater mercy in it, I will go to the castle at once."
"And Gaspard Lemasle?" said Mercier as the priest rose.
"He will dance to our piping, but we shall keep him always on the chain. Untrammelled he might be dangerous."
"Is the chain forged that will hold him?"
"My son, I never confide in a man of whom I am ignorant. My friends may rest a.s.sured that I treasure some knowledge of them, some episode, perhaps, which they have forgotten, but which in an emergency will compel them to remain my friends." And while he laid one hand on his companion"s arm, he touched his own forehead significantly with the other. "Come with me into another room. My servant shall set before you wine of such a vintage that you shall forget your bruises. And do not leave, Monsieur Mercier, until you are rested. Indeed, if I find you asleep in your chair when I return, I will not quarrel with you."
As he followed the priest, Mercier"s estimate of his companion possibly took a wider scope than it had done before, and he wondered which of the many episodes in his life which he was unlikely to talk of the priest knew most about.
It was conclusive proof of Father Bertrand"s power with the late Duke and Count Felix that he was admitted to the castle without question at so late an hour; and that the soldiers bowed to his authority was apparent when his suggestion that he should see the spy before he saw the Count met with no opposition.
"Lodged in the South Tower?" he said as he followed the jailer.
"Ay, father; it"s the safest cage we have."
"Too safe for an innocent bird, master jailer."
"Well, I know naught of his innocence," said the jailer as he thrust the great key into the lock, "but I"m not regretting that he should cheat death. There"s no fear about him, and there"s none too many brave men in the world that we should want to hurry them out of it."
The jailer had a torch, and he preceded the priest down the narrow pa.s.sage in the thickness of the walls.
"Asleep, prisoner?" he called out. "Here"s a reverend father to see you, and he comes as a friend."
There was no answer, and priest and jailer looked slowly round the cell, then at each other, and then at the barred window. No ray of moonlight came through it now, but the moonlit sky was clear without, and there was no one crouching on the ledge!
The measured tread halting suddenly below, and the sound of the grating key within, had had a paralyzing effect upon both fugitive and guide for a moment. Although prepared to make a fight for it, the position appeared hopeless to Herrick; but the dwarf, who had perhaps foreseen that they would have the sentry to deal with, was quick to grasp the situation and see the way out of the difficulty. The terrace, which was considerably above the level of the floor of the cell, was only some twelve or fourteen feet below them. It was comparatively narrow and bounded by a low, battlemented wall.
"That"s our road," whispered the dwarf, pointing to a certain point in this wall a little to their right. "Jump, and make for it."
As he spoke he whipped out his knife, and tucking his legs under him suddenly let himself drop upon the sentry. The thud of the fall and a feeble, stifled groan were all Herrick heard as he, too, jumped from the ledge, and, trusting implicitly to his companion, ran to the spot he had indicated. As he looked back, the dwarf rose and came quickly after him, but the sentry lay under the window and did not move.
"You have killed him!" Herrick exclaimed.
"Sharp, after me," the dwarf said, springing onto the wall, and then, as Herrick followed him, he threw himself on his stomach, twisted himself round, and holding onto the rough stonework let his legs hang down on the outside of the wall. "That"s it, do the same. There"s a rope here. Go steady! I"ll go first. Now let me catch hold of your feet, and get the rope between them. The stones are rough enough to lower yourself by until you get a grasp on the rope with your hands."
This was the outer wall of the castle, and in the angle formed by a b.u.t.tress a stout rope had been fixed.
Herrick found it no easy matter to follow the dwarf"s instructions, and had he paused to consider, might have declined to make the perilous descent at all. But with Jean"s help from below he managed to get the rope between his knees, and the rest was comparatively easy.