Part 19 (1/2)
The next nition followed M Ernest Berty, or Aristide Fournier, whichever he was, acknowledged with a feords looue outline of three men and a couple of mules which appeared to be heavily laden
They were asseround which appeared like a roofless cavern carved out of the mountain side The walls of rock around thee They seeht before thelish
However, presently M Fournier-Berty gave the signal for the start to beto take leave of his ht the welco of feet, and before any of the rascals there could realise as happening, their as barred by Leroux and his gendarave the order, ”Hands up, in the name of the Emperor!”
I was only conscious of a confused murmur of voices, of the click of firear to and fro, and of several violent oaths uttered in the not unfamiliar voice of M Aristide Fournier But already I had spied Leroux I only exchanged a feords with hi's as done as far as he was concerned, and I h the darkness and the rain along the lonely oal where chivalry and manly ardour beckoned tofor ues, and by the pro the driver whip up his horses to some purpose Less than an hour later we drew up at Gex outside the little inn, pretentiously called Le Roi de Ro I was met by the proprietress who, in answer to my inquiry after two ladies who had arrived that afternoon, at once conductedup visions of the fair lady of yester-eve The landlady threw open a door and ushered me into a small room which reeked of stale food and damp clothes I stepped in and found ly old woman who rose with difficulty from the sofa as I entered
”M Aristide Barrot,” she said as soon as the landlady had closed the door behind me
”At your service, Madahast Never in in with she was more than ordinarily stout and unwieldy--indeed, she appeared like a veritabletobut a hideous caricature of her lovely daughter, whose dainty features she grotesquely recalled Her face was seamed and wrinkled, her white hair was plastered down above her yellow forehead She wore an old-fashi+oned bonnet tied under her chin, and her huge bulk was draped in a large-patterned cashhter besidewith renity
”I confess, Mada has sacrificed herself for h my son was out of the way, he had set his abominable servants to watch over us Soon we realized that we could not both get away Itbehind to act the part of unconcern and to throw dust in the eyes of our jailers My daughter--ah! she is an angel, Monsieur--feared that the disappointment and my son's cruelty, when he returned on the morrow and found that he had been tricked, would seriously endanger o and that she would remain”
”But, Madame--” I protested
”I know, Monsieur,” she rejoined with the sanity which already had commanded my respect, ”I know that you think el, of a truth!--ements, and I could not help but obey her But have no fears for her safety, Monsieur My son would not dare lay hands on her as often as he has done on ele will be brave, and our relations at St
Claude will, directly we arrive,her back to me My brother is an influential man; he would never have allowed ele had he knoe have had to endure”
Of course I could not then tell her that all her fears for herself and the lovely Angele could now be laid to rest Her ruffianly son was even now being conveyed by Leroux and his gendarmes to the frontier, where the laould take its course I was indeed not sorry for him I was not sorry to think that he would end his evil life upon the guillotine or the gallows I was only grieved for Angele ould spend a night and a day, perhapsof the events which at one great sould free her and her beloved mother from the tyranny of a hated brother and send hirieve, Sir, for the tender victim of that man's brutality, but I trembled for her safety I did not knohat minions or confederates Fournier-Berty had left in the lonely house yonder, or under what orders they were in case he did not return from his nocturnal expedition
Indeed for the el's peril that I looked doith anger and scorn at the fat old wohter to comfort and to shi+eld her
I was on the point of telling her everything, and dragging her back to her post of duty which she should never have relinquished Fortunately nity prevented ue My first duty was to stand by this helpless woe, and to convey her safely to St Claude After which I could see to it that Made too as quickly as influential relatives could contrive
In the ht that at any rate for the next four and twenty hours the lovely creature would be safe No news of the arrest of Aristide Fournier could possibly reach the lonely house until I myself could return thither and take her under allantry, just as if fat Mged her to give herself the trouble offor her
It took time and trouble, Sir, to hoist that ruht However, his horses were powerful, wiry, h the darkness and along the smooth, departmental road at moderate speed I may say that it was a , as I was forced to do, on the narrow front seat of the carriage, without support for s But Madame's bulk filled the whole of the back seat, and it never seeht like the use of a cushi+on However, even the worst moments and the weariest journeys must come to an end, and we reached the frontier in the s Here we found the custoht require Leroux had not failed to order the fresh relay of horses, and whilst these were being put to, the polite officers of the station gave Madame and myself some excellent coffee
Beyond the for to declare for His Majesty's custo, Monsieur, except s,” they did not ply us with questions, and after half an hour's halt we again proceeded on our way
We reached St Claude at daybreak, and following Madae house in the Avenue du Jura
Again there was the sa the unwieldy lady out of the vehicle, but this tiorous pull at the outside bell, the concierge and another man came out of the house, and very respectfully they approached Madame and conveyed her into the house
While they did so she apparently gave thee returned, and with extrereatly hoped that I would stay in St