Volume Ii Part 70 (1/2)
”Perhaps they have been informed of the duel,” said Edmond; ”and in that case they must be terribly anxious; let us make haste to set their minds at rest.--See, Ami is going on ahead!”
The dog had already taken the road leading to Ch.e.l.les. His master and the two young men soon reached the village and went in the direction of Madame Dalmont's house. But just before they reached it, at a place where three roads met, Ami, instead of taking the road that ran by Honorine's house, darted along a different road.
”Ami! Ami! where are you going? Don't you recognize the road that leads to the ladies you are so fond of? How strange! he won't listen to me!”
”Stay here! Wait for me!” cried Edmond; ”we are within two minutes' walk of their house. I will run there and inquire.”
The young man disappeared on one road, the dog continued along the other. Paul and Freluchon anxiously awaited Edmond's return, for Ami's behavior seemed to indicate that something had happened.
In a moment Edmond came running back to his friends.
”They're not there!” he shouted; ”they were told about my duel. They received a letter this morning, and they left the house in a great hurry, saying to Poucette: 'We are going to prevent them from fighting.'--But what road can they have taken? The one by which we came is the only one leading to the place of meeting.”
”Do you hear Ami, messieurs? He is barking to call us!”
”Believe me, he is the one to help us find the ladies. Come along!”
”Yes, yes, here we are, Ami! here we are!”
The three men followed the path that the dog had taken. Ami's barking guided them, for it was incessant. They soon reached the main road leading to Gournay; but it also led to Paul's house, and Freluchon said:
”The dog acts as if he wanted to go home!”
”In that case,” said Edmond, ”that is where the ladies have gone, hoping to find us there.”
”No, there must be something else,” said Paul; ”that note that they received--who could have written it, as no one of us did? Ami's barking means anger, yes, frantic pa.s.sion. Something tells me that that infernal woman has had a hand in this business too.”
The dog, which was still far in advance, turned to the left toward the river; when he reached the bridge, his barking became fiercer than ever; but in a minute he leaped upon the bridge and darted across.
”He certainly is going to your house,” said Edmond.
”No,--see! on leaving the bridge he turned--he is running along the bank of the river; he no longer hesitates, he is on the scent.”
”Mon Dieu! what can have happened?--Agathe! Honorine!--Poor women! Can it be that you came in this direction to look for us?”
”If they came here, they must have been lured by wilfully false information. Let us go on! Ami won't deceive us!”
”Ah! look! Ami has gone down to the brink of the stream; he is helping someone to save himself.”
”Why, no, he isn't; on the contrary, he is preventing a man from coming ash.o.r.e; see! he rushes at him, snaps at him, bites him whenever he tries to leave the water.”
”I know that man!” cried Freluchon: ”It's the _soi-disant_ Baron von Schtapelmerg; it's Madame de Belleville's brother!”
”And it's the same man whom she once induced me to engage as secretary, and who would have robbed me in the night if Ami had not attacked him.
His face is easily recognizable.”
”But Agathe--Honorine!”
Suddenly Paul uttered an exclamation. He had caught sight of a boat in the distance, quite near the obstructions in the river--a boat containing two frantic women, who, unable to manage it for lack of oars, were looking wildly about in every direction and shrieking for help, in vain. The roar of the cascades prevented their voices from making themselves heard. And they saw that they were in danger of death at any moment; indeed, they would have perished long before if Croque had followed his sister's instructions to the letter. But as he did not care to run the risk of drowning himself by jumping into the water too near the rapids, he had not rowed the boat close up to the obstructions, but had jumped overboard farther up stream, in order to reach the sh.o.r.e more easily.