Volume II Part 71 (2/2)
I told Balbi all that had happened, and said that if the as far enough advanced he need only come above h I ht of the 31st of October, and that we should be four in all, counting his cohth of thethe e wasof h the last board and this would be done in fourto sleep, and Lawrence said nothing to him I kept my eyes upon hiled hihtest h to betray h discourses and exalted expressions, which I uttered as sole hihten the effect of my mystic exhortation I dosed hio till he had fallen into a drunken sleep
Though a stranger to all metaphysical speculations, and afaculties except in devising some piece of spy-craft, the fellow confusedthat he could not conceive how an angel should have to take soeon-cell, I said,
”The ways of God are inscrutable; and since the ht single bloould be enough), he works like a man, whose form he has doubtless taken, as we are not worthy to look upon his celestial body And, furthermore,” said I, like a true Jesuit, who kno to draw advantage froel, to punish us for your evil thought, which has offended the Holy Virgin, will not cohts are not those of an honest, pious, and religious man, but those of a sinner who thinks he has to do with Messer-Grande and his myrmidons”
I wanted to drive hian to weep bitterly, and his sobs aln of the angel was heard Instead of cal he was obedient to my orders, for when Lawrence asked hi his head He behaved in the sa, and until I sarence for the last tiave him the book for Barbi, and told theI feared nothing, as Lawrence had told me that the Inquisitors and the secretary had already set out for the country I had no reason to dread the arrival of a new coe one I told Soradaci that the angel would co about noon
”He will bring a pair of scissors with hiel's beard and el a beard?”
”Yes, you shall see it for yourself Afterwards ill get out of the cell and proceed to break the roof of the palace, whence we shall descend into St Mark's Place and set out for Ger He had to eat by himself, for my mind was too much occupied to think about dinner--indeed, I had been unable to sleep
The appointed hour struck--and the angel ca to fall down on his face, but I told hie was completed, the piece of board fell at my feet, and Father Balbi into un,” said I to hiave me the pike and a pair of scissors I told Soradaci to cut our beards, but I could not help laughing to see the creature--his el, as h quite beside himself, he cut our beards admirably
Anxious to see how the land lay, I told the monk to stay with Soradaci, as I did not care to leave him alone, and I went out I found the hole in the wall narrow, but I succeeded in getting through it I was above the count's cell, and I careeted the worthy old man The man before me was not fitted to encounter such difficulties as would be involved in an escape by a steep roof covered with plates of lead
He asked ht I had acted rather inconsiderately ”I only ask to go forward,” said I, ”till I find death or freedom” ”If you intend,” he answered, ”to pierce the roof and to descend fros; and I at all events have not the courage to accompany you I will remain here, and pray to God on your behalf”
I went out again to look at the roof, getting as close as I could to the sides of the loft Touching the lower part of the roof, I took up a position between the bea the ith the end of the bar I luckily found them to be half rotten At every blow of the bar they fell to dust, so feeling certain of h hole in less than a hour I returned toup sheets, coverlets, and bedding, to make ropes I took care to th, for a single weak knot ht cost us our lives At last I had ready a hundred fathos there are certain critical points which the leader who deserves to succeed trusts to no one but himself When the rope was ready I s, and handkerchiefs, and the three of us went into the count's cell The first thing the count did was to congratulate Soradaci on having been placed in the saain his liberty His air of speechless confusion h I took no more trouble about him, for I had thrown off the mask of Tartuffe which I had found terribly inconvenient all the time I had worn it for the rascal's sake He knew, I could see, that he had been deceived, but he understood nothing else, as he could not el to coo at certain fixed times
He listened attentively to the count, who told us ere going to our destruction, and like the coward that he was, he began to plan how to escape froether while I wasthe hole in the roof by the side of the loft
At eight o'clock, without needing any help,was made I had broken up the beaot the plate of lead off in one piece I could not do it by myself, because it was riveted Thethe bar between the gutter and the lead I succeeded in loosening it, and then, heaving at it with our shoulders, we beat it up till the opening ide enough On putting h the hole I was distressed to see the brilliant light of the crescentin its first quarter This was a piece of bad luck which must be borne patiently, and we should have to wait till ht up the Antipodes On such a fine night as this everybody would be walking in St Mark's Place, and I dared not shew e shadow of me on the place, and have draards me all eyes, especially those of Messer-Grande and his ht to nothing by their detestable activity I immediately decided that we could not escape till after the moon set; in the mean time I prayed for the help of God, but did not ask Him to work any miracles for me I was at the ive her any advantages; and if ht that I had not le mistake The moon would set at eleven and sunrise was at six, so we had seven hours of perfect darkness at our service; and though we had a hard task, I considered that in seven hours it would be accomplished
I told Father Balbi that we could pass the three hours in talking to Count Asquin I requested hio first and ask the count to lend me thirty sequins, which would be as necessary to e, and a few o myself, as the count wished to talk to reat politeness that I really stood in no need of e family, that if I was killed the money would be lost, with a thousand other futilities of the sauise his avarice, or the dislike he felt to parting with his money My reply lasted for half an hour, and contained souments, which never have had and never will have any force, as the finest weapons of oratory are blunted when used against one of the strongest of the passions It was a h to use force towards an unhappy oldthat if he would flee with us I would carry hioing to stay in prison to offer up prayers for our success, his prayers would be observed, as it would be a case of praying God to give success when he himself had refused to contribute the most ordinary aid
He replied by a flood of tears, which affected h, and I answered in the affiron the roof I saisest course would be to co somewhat astonished that he should deem me capable of a retreat
He little knew me, for I would have preferred death to an i
I called e near the hole I divided the hundred fatho over the chances of our undertaking The first proof which Father Balbi gave me of his fine character was to tell me, ten times over, that I had broken my ith him, since I had assured him that my sche of the kind He went so far as to tell me that if he had known as much he would not have taken ht of his seventy years, told ive up so hazardous an undertaking, in which success was impossible and death probable As he was a barrister he made uessing that he was inspired by the thought of the two sequins which I should have had to give hi me to stay where I was:
”The incline of the roof covered with lead plates,” said he, ”will render it impossible for you to walk, indeed you will scarcely be able to stand on your feet It is true that the roof has seven or eight s, but they are all barred with iron, and you could not keep your footing near them since they are far fro whereon to fasten theht cannot reach the ground by himself One of you will therefore have to lower the two others one at a time as one lowers a bucket or a bundle of wood, and he who does so will have to stay behind and go back to his cell Which of you three has a vocation for this dangerous work of charity? And supposing that one of you is heroic enough to do so, can you tellto descend? Not by the side towards the palace, for you would be seen; not by the church, as you would find yourselves still shut up, and as to the court side you surely would not think of it, for you would fall into the hands of the 'arsenalotti' who are always going their rounds there You have only the canal side left, and where is your gondola to take you off? Not having any such thing, you will be obliged to throw yourself in and escape by swi towards St Appollonia, which you will reach in a wretched condition, not knohere to turn to next You must remember that the leads are slippery, and that if you were to fall into the canal, considering the height of the fall and the shallowness of the water, you would most certainly be killed if you could swim like sharks You would be crushed to death, for three or four feet of water are not sufficient to counteract the effect of a fall froht In short, the best fate you can expect is to find yourselves on the ground with broken ars”
The effect of this discourse--a very unseasonable one, under the circumstances--was to make n to ed me, and inclined me to answer him in his oay; but I felt that my position was a difficult one, and that unless I was careful I ht ruin all, for I had to do with a coward quite capable of saying that he was not going to risk his life, and by myself I could not hope to succeed
I constrained myself, therefore, and as politely as I could I told theh I could not as yet communicate the details of my plan ”I shall profit by your wise counsels,” said I to Count Asquin, ”and be very prudent, but h all difficulties”
From time to time I stretched out my hand to assure myself that Soradaci was there, for he did not speak a word I laughed toin his head now that he was convinced that I had deceived hio and see as the position of thethat in an hour and a-half it would have disappeared, and that there was a thick fog which would erous
”All I ask,” I said, ”is that the fog be not made of oil Put your cloak in a packet with some of the rope which must be divided equally between us”
At this I was astonished to find hi me not to kill him ”I should be sure,” said he, ”to fall over into the canal, and I should not be of any use to you Ah! leave ht I will pray to St Francis for you You can kill me or save me alive; but of this I am determined, never to follow you”