Part 28 (1/2)
”I ought to have said that you drank them,” replied Lambernier, with his usual sneer.
”Rousselet, out of the way!” exclaimed the burly lackey at this new insult; the old peasant not moving as quickly as he desired, he seized him by the arm and sent him whirling ten steps away.
At this moment, a new person completed the scene, joining in it, if not as actor at least as interested spectator. If the two champions had suspected his presence they would have probably postponed their fight until a more opportune moment, for this spectator was no other than the Baron himself. As he saw from a distance the trio gesticulating in a very animated manner, he judged that a disorderly scene was in preparation, and as he had wished for a long time to put an end to the quarrelsome ways of the chateau servants, he was not sorry to catch them in the very act, so as to make an example of them. At first, he stooped and concealed himself in the thickets, ready to appear for the denouement.
As Lambernier saw the giant's fist coming down upon him, he darted to one side and the blow only struck the air, making the coachman stumble from the force of his impetuosity. Lambernier profited by this position to gather all his strength, and threw himself upon his adversary, whom he seized by the flank and gave such a severe blow as to bring him down upon his knees. He then gave him a dozen more blows upon the head, and succeeded in overthrowing him completely.
If the coachman had not had a cranium as hard as iron, he probably could not have received such a storm of fisticuffs without giving up the ghost. Fortunately for him, he had one of those excellent Breton heads that break the sticks which beat them. Save for a certain giddiness, he came out of the scramble safe and sound. Far from losing his presence of mind by the disadvantageous position in which he found himself, he supported himself upon the ground with his left hand, and, pa.s.sing his other arm behind him, he wound it around the workman's legs, who thus found himself reaped down, so to speak, and a moment later was lying on his back in front of his adversary. The latter, holding him fast with his strong hands, placed a knee, as large as a plate, upon his chest and then pulled off the cap that his enemy had pushed down over his eyes, and proceeded to administer full justice to him.
”Ah! you thought you'd attack me treacherously, did you?” said he, with a derisive chuckle as if to slacken the speed of his horses. ”You know short reckonings make good friends. Oh! what a fine thras.h.i.+ng you are going to receive, my friend! Take care! if you try to bite my hand, I'll choke you with my two fingers, do you hear! Now, then, take this for the green toad; this, for my horses' sake; this, for Mademoiselle Marianne!”
He followed each ”this” with a heavy blow from his fist. At the third blow the blood poured out of the mouth of the carpenter, who writhed under the pressure of his adversary's knee like a buffalo stifled by a boa-constrictor; he succeeded at last in freeing one hand, which he thrust into his trousers' pocket.
”Ah! you rascal! I am killed!” howled the coachman, giving a bound backward. Lambernier, profiting by his freedom, jumped upon his feet, and, without troubling himself as to his adversary, who had fallen on his knees and was pressing his hand to his left thigh; he picked up his cap and vest and started off through the clearing. Rousselet, who until then had prudently kept aside, tried to stop the workman, at a cry from his companion, but the scoundrel brandished his iron compa.s.s before his eyes with such an ugly look that the peasant promptly left the way open for him.
At this tragic and unexpected denouement, Bergenheim, who was getting ready to make his appearance from behind the trees and to interpose his authority, started in full pursuit of the would-be murderer. From the direction he took, he judged that he would try to reach the river by pa.s.sing over the rock. He walked in this direction, with his gun over his shoulder, until he reached the foot of the steps which descended into the grotto. Christian crouched behind some bushes to wait for Lambernier, who must pa.s.s this way, and it was at this moment that Gerfaut, who was forty feet below him, saw him without suspecting the reason for his att.i.tude.
Bergenheim soon found out that he had calculated correctly when he heard a sound like that made by a wild boar when he rushes through the thickets and breaks the small branches in his path, as if they were no more than blades of gra.s.s. Soon Lambernier appeared with a haggard, wild look and a face bleeding from the blows he had received. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and to wipe off his compa.s.s with a handful of gra.s.s; he then staunched the blood streaming from his nose and mouth, and after putting on his coat started rapidly in the direction of the river.
”Halt!” exclaimed the Baron, suddenly, rising before him and barring his pa.s.sage.
The workman jumped back in terror; then he drew out his compa.s.s a second time and made a movement as if to throw himself upon this new adversary, out of sheer desperation. Christian, at this threatening pantomime, raised his gun to his cheek with as much coolness and precision as he would have shown at firing into a body of soldiers.
”Down with your weapon!” he exclaimed, in his commanding voice, ”or I will shoot you down like a rabbit.”
The carpenter uttered a hoa.r.s.e cry as he saw the muzzle of the gun within an inch of his head, ready to blow his brains out. Feeling a.s.sured that there was no escape for him, he closed his compa.s.s and threw it with an angry gesture at the Baron's feet.
”Now,” said the latter, ”you will walk straight ahead of me as far as the chateau, and if you turn one step to the right or left, I will send the contents of my gun into you. So right about march!”
As he said these words, he stooped, without losing sight of the workman, and picked up the compa.s.s, which he put in his pocket.
”Monsieur le Baron, it was the coachman who attacked me first; I had to defend myself,” stammered Lambernier.
”All right, we will see about that later. March on!”
”You will deliver me up to the police--I am a ruined man!”
”That will make one rascal the less,” exclaimed Christian, repelling with disgust the workman, who had thrown himself on his knees before him.
”I have three children, Monsieur, three children,” he repeated, in a supplicating tone.
”Will you march!” replied Bergenheim imperiously, as he made a gesture with his gun as if to shoot him.
Lambernier arose suddenly, and the expression of terror upon his countenance gave place to one of resolution mingled with hatred and scorn.
”Very well,” he exclaimed, ”let us go on! but remember what I tell you; if you have me arrested, you will be the first to repent of it, Baron though you are. If I appear before a judge, I will tell something that you would pay a good price for.”
Bergenheim looked fixedly at Lambernier.
”What do you mean by such insolence?” said he.