XXIV
Of how François got into good society underground—Of what he saw, and of the value of a cat’s eyes—From darkness to light—Of how François made friends for life.
“It was dark indeed; I had never imagined such darkness,” says François in his memoirs.1 He adds that he has heard the story of this wonderful escape from the catacombs told over and over by M. des Illes. He does not consider that it did him (François), the principal person, sufficient justice. He had also heard the old Duke Philippe relate the matter, and it was incredible how crooked he got it. But, then, Duke Philippe was a man who had no sense of humor. As to his dear Mme. des Illes, when she did tell this story, the baby was the chief hero. Duke Henri,—that is, the present man,—although only a lad when these events took place, remembered them well.
“When he was seventeen,” says François, “we used to fence together. I have often heard him relate to the other young fellows how we made our escape; but Duke Henri has too much imagination, and that, you see, makes a man inaccurate. I knew two very accomplished thieves who were inaccurate. I am not. Duke Henri’s tale got stronger, like wine, as time went on. The rats grew to be of the size of cats; three of them pulled the baby out of madame’s lap. And as to the people we killed, it would have satisfied M. Dumas, who is the greatest and most correct of such as write history.”
The present author grieves that he has not the narration of this famous escape at the hands of Mme. des Illes and the two dukes, father and son. Those who have found leisure to read “A Little More Burgundy” have heard Des Illes’s narrative as M. des Illes related it. Those who have not read that rendering may incline to hear François’s own statement of what happened after he thus found himself in darkness with people he had never seen. I have followed his memoir pretty closely. It tells some things of which the other people concerned did not know. Evidently he considered it a less tragic affair than did they. It has been needful to condense François’s account, and to do this especially where he speaks of his own intermediate adventures, which were singular enough.
When, as I have said, François, obeying Duke Philippe, put out his lantern, he sat still awhile, and said nothing. Like the rest, he was fearful lest the officers he had disturbed so rudely should make a too effective search. Their inspection of the upper cellar would be perilous enough. The anxious people beneath held their breaths when a man overhead stumbled across the staves the thief had set to fall on the trap-door. After a while all noises faded away, and in the evening the duke proposed to reconnoiter once more; but when he tried to lift the trap, it was found impossible to do so. The municipals, in their examination, must have rolled a full barrel of wine upon the door. This discovery was, or seemed, an overwhelming calamity.
François during the day came to understand that here in the darkness were Duke Philippe de St. Maur, his son Henri, a lad, another rather older boy, Des Illes, Mme. des Illes, and the baby, who made himself terribly well known by occasional protests in the tongue of babyhood. As the thief became accustomed to the gloom and the company, his usual cheeriness returned; and when they could not open the trap he began to propose all manner of schemes. He would bore a hole and let out the wine, and so lighten the barrel. He would shoot a ball through the trap and the barrel, and thus let out the weight of wine. The duke, who never lost respect for his own dignity, was disgusted, and would listen to none of his counsels.
Toward bedtime the baby began to wail dismally; the boys sobbed; and Mme. des Illes cried out to them that they should be ashamed to complain, and then, by way of comment, herself burst into tears; while the duke stumbled about, and swore under his breath. This was all very astonishing to François, who had seen little of any world but his own, and to whom calamity served only as a hint to consider some way to escape its effects. He remained silent for a while, after the duke had let him plainly understand that he was a fool and had better hold his tongue. This lasted for a half-hour, during which he sat still, thinking, with full eyes, of his dead dog. By degrees the children grew quiet, and the baby, having exhausted his vocabulary and himself, fell asleep. Then the duke said irritably:
“Why the deuce don’t you do something, Master Thief? If you can get into places where you do not belong, why cannot you get out of this abominable box?”
François laughed. “Get out I would, and gladly; but how? We might wait, monsieur, till they drink up the wine, or until it dries up, or—” But here the boys laughed, and even the duke forgot himself, and said François was a merry fellow. Indeed, he was of use to them all; for, soon becoming at ease, he regaled the boys with his adventures; but how many he invented I do not know. Some were queer, and some silly; but all tales are good in the dark, for then what can one do but attend?
After a while, all being still, François lighted his lantern, on which Duke Philippe said: “Put out that light; we have too few candles as it is; and keep quiet. You are prowling about like a cat on the tiles, and twice you have stumbled over my legs.”
“But I have twice said I was sorry,” said François, getting tired of this duke with an uncertain temper, who repeated: “Put out that light, and sit down.”
Then madame spoke: “He may have a reason to want to see and to move about.”
“’T is so,” said François. “If I walk, my wits walk; if I sit, they go to sleep; and as to cats, madame, I am a street cat”; and, thinking of Suzanne, he laughed.
“Ah, confound your laughing!” The duke felt that to laugh at a joke he did not share was, to say the least, disrespectful. “What is there to laugh at?”
François, who had been moving as he spoke, was suddenly elated. He said it was Suzanne he was thinking of; and when madame would know if she were his wife, the duke was silent out of lack of interest for low company, and François began to tell about the elders and the Hebrew maid, and of the Amalekites who lived on the next roof. The boys were charmed, and madame said, “Fie! fie!” but it served to amuse. An hour later he began to move about restlessly, and at last cried out, from the far end of the cellar:
“This way, monsieur; what is this? A candle—and quick!” When they all came to see, he rolled aside an empty cask, and showed a heavy planking. He seized the decayed timbers and tore them away, so that as they fell a black gap was to be seen. The air blew in, cool and damp.
“Mon Dieu! ’t is the catacombs. My husband’s grandfather cut off this end for a wine-cave. It is strange I should have quite forgotten it.”
“But what then?” said the duke. “It is only a grave you have opened. You might as well have kept quiet.”
The thief’s feelings were hurt; he began to care less and less for this useless nobleman.
Madame said thoughtfully: “It may be a way out. If it come to the worst, we can but try it.”
“Madame is right; and as to keeping quiet, I never could. Sleeping cats catch no rats.” He believed in his luck. “We shall get out,” he said, with cool assurance. “I always do. I have been in many scrapes. I got out of the Madelonnettes, and I was once near to decorating a rope.”
“A rope!” exclaimed madame.
“Yes. Parbleu! I wear my cravat loose ever since. I like to have full swing, but not in that way.” He was gay and talkative. The boys liked it; but not so the duke, who said:
“Well, what next?”
“We must explore. I will enter and see a little.”
“But,” said the woman, “you will get lost; and then, what to do?” She had come to trust the thief. He saw this, and liked it. “If we lose you, what shall we do?—what shall we do?”
The thief turned to her as he stood, lantern in hand. He was grave. “Madame, I am a poor thief of the streets; I have had to live as I could; and since I was a boy I can count the kind words ever said to me by man or woman. I shall not forget.”
Madame was moved, and said they were all alike come upon evil days, and that perhaps now he would turn from his wicked ways.
Poor François was not quite clear as to his ways having been wicked.
“Well, if you are going,” said the duke, “you had better be about it.”
It was then young Des Illes said he must have a string, like people who went into caves, else he might never find his way back. The thief thought it a fine idea; and here was madame’s big ball of knitting-wool. With no more delay, he took it, and leaving an end in Des Illes’s hand, boldly walked away into the darkness with his lantern, and was soon lost to view.
When he came back to this anxious company, he had to report such a tangle of passages as caused him to say that to try to escape through these must be a last resort. He thought they might live on the rats if provisions gave out, but they must eat them raw.
“Hélas! what a fate!” said madame.
The little Duke Henri spoke eagerly, and said the Chinese ate rats.
“But not raw,” cried the young Des Illes, which set them all to laughing.
Soon again they were quiet, because talk in the dark does not prosper. A little later madame called softly to the thief to sit by her, and would hear of his life. François related his exploits with pride. She made no comment, but said at last: “Your name, my friend?” And when he replied, “François,” she declared that he was no more to be any one’s thief, but always François; and this was a hint to the duke, who took it in silence, and was evidently depressed.
After this, madame bade the boys say their prayers; and soon all were asleep, except François, who sat against a cask, and saw Toto’s brown eyes in the darkness.
At last the morrow came. The provisions were shared, and, as usual with François, his spirits rose as he filled his stomach. He held the baby, and was queerly interested in this mystery of unwinking eyes. Might he give it of the bottle? He satisfied the child, who seemed fearless of that long, good-humored face. Might he hold it longer? It would relieve madame. He sang low to it a queer thief-song, and then another none there could understand.
“Ciel!” said the duke, who had slept off his splenetic mood; “you have a fine voice.”
“Ah, would it were a hymn,” said madame, “or a psalm of Clément Marot!”
“I know no hymns,” said François, “but only some old choir chants.”
Upon this he began to sing, low and sweet, one of the old Latin songs:
Salve, mundi salutare,
Salve, salve, Jesu care!
Cruel tuæ me aptare
Vellem vere, tu sols quare,
Da mihi tui capiam.
The rich voice which in his boyhood days had soared like a lark up among the arches of Notre Dame had come again. He heard himself with wonder and with sad thoughts of the chances his boyish haste had forever lost for him.
“And you a thief!” cried madame. “Where—where did you learn—”
But at this moment noises overhead put an end to all but listening. At last François said: “They move the casks. It were well to take to the caves.” And this was hastily agreed to, when, of a sudden, the noises ceased.
François still urged instant flight; but the duke said, “No; we must wait,” and gave no reasons. The thief did not agree, but held his tongue, as Mme. des Illes said nothing, and since, after all, this was a duke.
An hour later he started up. “By Heaven, they are at the trap!”
The duke was no coward. He ran up the steps, pistol in hand, and gave his second weapon to François, who stood below. The trap was cast wide open, and a big municipal was seen stooping over the open space; for beyond him the cellar was well lighted up. The duke fired without an instant’s indecision.
“By St. Denis! ’t is a man, this duke,” cried François, as the officer pitched head down into the cave. The thief set a foot on him as he lay, and reached up the second pistol to the duke, while young Des Illes, too curious for fear, crawled up the broad stone stairs to see. The thief heard a second shot, and followed the lad. There were several candles set on casks, and through the smoke he saw a municipal in a heap at the far end of the upper cellar. He was groaning piteously.
“Load again, monsieur,” cried François. “Quick! there may be more.” He himself went past the duke, and young Des Illes after him. He turned the officer over.
“He is not dead,” he said. “Best to finish him.”
But here was madame at his side, saying: “No, no! No more—I will not have it. Mon Dieu! it is bad enough. I will have no murder.”
“Then let us go back; he is as good as dead.”
“Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!” cried the woman; and so in haste the upper trap was closed, and all went again down to the cave.
The officer below was dead, with a ball through his head. Mother and children huddled away in the far corner, scared. The duke said:
“What now must we do?”
“We must go, and at once,” said François. “They will soon come back, and then—”
“Yes, yes,” cried madame; “you are right. You were right; we should have gone before, and saved all this bloodshed.”
The duke made no comment, except to mutter, “I suppose so”; and at once began to assist François’s preparations for flight.
And now the thief’s readiness and efficiency were shown. He arranged every one’s loads, filled baskets, laughed over a shoulder at the boys as he strapped blankets on the duke, and at last loaded himself with all that was left. They took the arms of the dead man, and soon trooped out into the darkness. The duke, who at once went on ahead, carried a lantern.
At the first turn, François called out to wait, and ran back. The duke swore. He was now eager to go on, and declared that the thief would deliver them up, and save his own head. But madame was of other mind, and so they stood expectant. At last came François, laughing.
“Ah, monsieur, this comes of honest company. I forgot the bag of gold. And these—these are priceless. I have the fellow’s clothes. When a man does not resist, the temptation is great; neither did he assist.”
“Stop that talk, and come on. Are we going to set up a shop for old clothes?”
François fell behind. “The duke would make a poor thief,” he said to the boys. Young Henri de St. Maur said: “You are insolent. My father a thief!”
“Tiens! There are times when to steal is virtue. Allons donc!” and he strode on, laughing, and telling the boys stories.
There were many little incidents that day, but the worst was at evening, when they found a great cave, lofty and wide, where had been cast, long before, the bones out of the overfilled cemeteries. Here it was that skulls fell from the great heap, and rolled away on every side into the darkness, while the rats ran out in armies. The thief was of all the most alarmed, and stood still, saying paternosters and aves by the dozen. After this they went on aimlessly, now and then hearing overhead the roar and rumble of wagons. Their nights proved to be full of sore trials. The rats assembled, and grew bolder. One bit the baby, who cried until the thief lighted a candle and watched while the rest slept, or tried to do so.
The dismalness of, these underground labyrinths was such as no man could imagine. One day they walked a half-mile through a wet cave-passage so narrow that two persons could not move abreast. It ended in a blank wall, and they were forced to go back, over shoe-top in water. Or, again, they went up rude stairs, stumbling, but hopeful, only to descend once more into the depths of the earth. Now and then a putrid rain fell on them, and at every turn the rats fled by them, now one and now a scurry of countless troops. Twice a mass of rock fell in some distant passage, and strange echoes reverberated in cavern spaces, so that the boys cried out in terror, and even François shivered at the thought of how they might be buried alive by one of these downfalls. Each sad day of weariness had its incident of terror or disappointment; and still, with lessening hope, they trailed on after the dim light which the duke carried as he led them—none knew whither. Each morning they rose cold, wet, and unrefreshed, ate of their lessening food, and after some little talk as to how this day they should keep turning to left or to right, set out anew, the duke still in advance, with an ever-changing mind as to where they were or what they should do. As day followed day, their halts became more frequent. They lingered where the dripping rain from the sewage of the great city overhead was least; or at times paused suddenly to listen to mysterious sounds, or to let the rats go by them, splashing in the noisome puddles underfoot. The night was as the day, the day as the night. They had no way to tell the one from the other, except by the duke’s watch.
So confusing was this monotonous tramp underground, the days so much alike, that at last these sad people became bewildered as to how long they had wandered. Their food was becoming less and less, and on the evening of the fifth day the duke and François knew that very soon their stock of candles would be exhausted. These had, in fact, been of small use, except to keep the scared children more cheerful when night came on and the rats grew bold.
This evening of the fifth day, and earlier than usual, Mme. des Illes declared of a sudden that she could go no farther, and must rest for the night. The duke had a new plan, and urged her to go on. She cried over the baby on her lap, and made no answer. They sat down to pass another night of discomfort. After a little talk with the boys, François drew apart from the rest, and began to think over the wanderings of the day. Their situation this evening was somewhat better than it had usually been, for they sat in a dry end of one of the many excavations, and did not feel the cold, moist winds which howled along these stony caves, carrying a changeful variety of unwholesome stenches. A silent hour went by in utter darkness. At times François rose to drive away adventurous rats. At last he lighted a candle, and set it at the open end of the cul-de-sac. When he saw that the rats would not pass the lantern, he whispered to madame of this, and that he meant to explore a little, and bade her have no fear. The duke had thus far had his own way, and it had not been to François’s taste. He took a second lantern, and moved off around a corner, resolute to find a means of escape. The duke ordered him to return and to put out the candle. François made no reply. He counted the turns as he went on, and listened for the noise of vehicles above him.
“A pretty duke, that!” he said. “I should have made as good a one. I like better that devil of a marquis; but diantre! neither is much afraid—nor I, for that matter.”
Sometimes he turned back, at others went on boldly, noting whence blew any current of warmer air. At last he came upon an enormous excavation. In the middle was a mass of partly tumbled stone, laid in courses. This broken heap was large, and irregularly conical. He moved around it in wonder, having seen nothing like it in his explorations. He turned the yellow and feeble lantern-light upon the heap, and at first concluded that the old makers of these quarries had here built for themselves a house, which had fallen to ruin.
But where was he, and what part of Paris was over his head? He remembered at last to have heard that these catacombs were once used as receptacles for the dead, in order to relieve the overpeopled graveyards. Had he been less alarmed, he might have guessed where he was when they came upon the bones; for that must have been near to the cemetery of the Church of the Innocents. But while the duke had led, François had taken less than his usual active notice, and had been content to follow. Here, now, was a new landmark. This before him could be no dwelling of quarriers, but must be a house fallen into the great cave. He had heard of such happenings. To be certain where and on what street so strange a thing had occurred would afford knowledge as to the part of Paris under which he stood. He would ask the duke; he might know. Thus reflecting, he began to walk around the tumbled mass. A vast amount of earth must have come down with it. He pried here and there, and at last found a gap in the ruin, and crawled in between fallen timbers until he could stand up. On one side was a wall and a wide chimney-place, and on the top of this wall the great beams of the ceiling still rested. Their farther ends lay on what seemed the wreck of the opposite wall, thus leaving a triangular space filled in at each side by broken stone. Amid this were the crushed steps of a staircase, quite blocked up. The lantern gave little light. Only close to the fireplace could the tall thief stand erect. He turned his lantern, and cried out:
“Ye saints!” Close beside him were the remains of a high-backed chair, and on these, and beside them, portions of the bones of a man. Two great jack-boots lay beside him, gnawed by rats. His skull was broken, and lay where the eager animals had dragged it.
Few could have stood here alone, and not felt its terror and its mystery. François stood a moment, appalled, and unable to think or to observe. At last he began to study the place with care and increasing interest. A rusty sword, sheathed, was caught in the arm of the ruined chair. Here and there lay bits of gold lace. He picked up the rusted clasp of a purse, gnawed by the rats. Near it lay scattered a number of gold and silver coins, a rosary, and a small ring set with red stones. He put them all in his pocket. There was scarce a remnant of the man’s dress.
François looked at the tumbled bones. “Mon Dieu!” said he; “am I like that?” and turned to see what else was here. On the lowest stair was a glint of yellow—a cross of gold. “Good luck!” he cried. On the hearth was a copper kettle, green with rust. Soon he began to see better, and at last found a fragment of wood less damp than the rest of the floor and what lay upon it; for a steady, slow, irregular rain fell in drops, with dull patter here and there. He shaved off some slivers of the wood, and, getting at the drier inside, soon, with paper from his pouch, made a fire on the stone pavement. Presently he had a bright little blaze, and in the brilliant glow began to shed his terror. He found other wood, and nourished the flame. But when he saw that the fragments were from the end of a crushed cradle, he ceased to use them; because here were little bones lying scattered, and the man guessed at the extent of the tragedy, and was strangely stirred. He moved to and fro in the tent-like space in awe and wonder, in thought reconstructing the house, and seeming to share in the horror of its story.
Before leaving, he looked again at the overturned chair, the stones lying about it, and the moldering remains of the man. He must have been asleep, and died instantly when the house fell into the great cave. There was no more to be seen. “God rest his soul!” said the thief, and crawled backward out of the tangle of broken beams and stones.
In a few minutes he was again with those he had left, and, saying only, “’T is well, madame; we shall get out,” fell into a peaceful sleep.
The next day every one dragged on wearily, the duke still leading, and François hoping that he would be asked advice. The water rained on them a noisome downfall, the rats came out in hordes; and still François cheered his companions, now carrying the baby, and now encouraging the tired boys.
I have not given in full detail all the miseries of these weary days and sorrowful nights. They have been more fully told elsewhere by one who felt them as more serious than did François, whose narrative I now am following. These unhappy victims of the Terror had been altogether six days in the cave, but François not so long. By this time their spirit was quite broken. The thief alone remained gay, hopeful, and even confident, but saw clearly enough that these people, used to easy lives, could not endure much longer the strain of this unguided wandering in the dark and somber alleys of this horrible labyrinth of darkness and foul odors. The duke seemed also to be of a like mind, for on the morning of the seventh day he awakened François at six, and, of a sudden grown sadly familiar, whispered low to him:
“Is there any hope? Madame and the boys are failing. Soon we shall have to carry them.”
“We shall get out,” said François.
“But how? how? Why to-day any more than yesterday? Do you think of any way to help us?”
“If monsieur will permit me to lead—”
“Good! Why did you not say so before?”
François made no direct reply, but asked: “Did ever a house fall into these quarry-caves?”
“A house? Why do you ask? Yes; it was long ago. The house of the lieutenant of the guard it was. I do not recall the date. A house in the Rue des Pêches.”
“Will this help to know when it was?” and François showed his coins and told his story.
“Yes, yes; I see. How wonderful! These are of the time of Francis I.”
“Rue des Pêches?”
“Yes; it is now the Rue des Bon Secours. It is close to the Asile des Innocents.”
“Dieu! monsieur, then I know. I think we may get out to-day; but it may be well not yet to tell madame. I think we are still near to the fallen house.”
“Then you shall lead,” said the duke. “Tiens! a queer fellow, this thief,” he muttered, and went to waken the sleeping children. No word was said as to the house of the lieutenant of the guard, but François refreshed the tired party by promising a speedy glimpse of day. For, now that the candles were few, they thought more of this than of the perils which the daylight might bring.
The thief led, and all day long they went on and on. Once he was quite dismayed to find that he had lost his way, and once came to the very entrance of the cave he had left the night before. The duke again became querulous and dissatisfied; but François only laughed, and, resolutely concealing his mistake, retraced his steps. It was near to seven o’clock in the evening of July 28 when the thief bade them rest, and he would be back soon. The duke said something cross; but François made no reply, and, turning a corner, lost sight of his party. He took careful note of the turns and windings of this maze, and now and then found himself in a blind alley, and must of need turn back. At the far end of one of these recesses he saw in the gloom two great, green, phosphorescent eyes. Like mighty jewels they were, set in the darkness. They were soon lost to view, and came and went. “They are cats,” he murmured; “and what a hunting estate they have! Ye saints! if I had here my poor Toto!” He began to move toward these eyes, which shot back the light his lantern gave. There were three sets of the pale-green jewels, and now their owners were maneuvering to escape. He began to use caressing cat-talk, such as had won the heart of Suzanne, and, falling on his knees, crept closer. Then there was a quick rush past him of his feline game; but one cat was indecisive, and he had her by the leg. He paid well for his audacity, but held on, and pretty soon began to exercise the curious control he had over all animals. At last pussy lay still and panting. When the scared animal grew quiet, he set her down. For a moment she hesitated, and then began to move away. As he followed she ran. He cast the lantern-light before her, and pursued her with all speed. Once or twice she was nearly lost to view. Then she turned a corner, and another, and of a sudden fled toward a distant archway, through which he saw the light of day. A great rush of warm air went by him. He stood still, murmuring aves. To his surprise, he was near to the place where he had left his companions. He stood a moment in deep thought. “We are out at last,” he murmured. “But ciel! there is much to think about. We may have too much light.”
He went back and told of the discovery, but of the cat not a word. The duke said: “I thought we should soon get out; come, let us be off.”
Madame said gently: “Let us kneel before we go, and thank the good God for this friend he sent us in our trouble.” Then they all knelt, and she prayed, speaking her thankfulness to Heaven, with at the end a word as to her husband, and also asking God’s mercy for him who had led them forth out of darkness into light. When François heard her, he was disturbed as he had never been in all his days. When a man like François sheds tears, it is a great event in his life. He rose from his knees, and asked the duke and the rest to go with him; and thus it was that in a few minutes they stood fifty feet from an open archway, through which came the level light from the western sky.
The duke was moved at last to say how clever François had been; and how had he managed it? The thief declared it had been easy; but the cat got no credit, and never was praised, then or ever, for her share of their escape. Set in this rocky frame before them was a picture as it were of a disused quarry, and beyond it vineyards, with yet farther a red-tiled housetop. Here it was, as they paused, that madame said solemnly, with tears in her eyes:
“‘God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.’”
After the duke and François had peeped out, and seen no one, the duke began to set forth a variety of schemes as to what they should do. None of these was very wise, and at last madame turned to François. He had disappeared, but presently came again, dressed in the clothes of the dead officer. He wore his sword and pistols, and now, as seen clearly in the light of day, was certainly a queer enough figure. The garments were too short below and too wide above, and over them rose the long face, the broad mouth, and the huge ears. The boys, who looked on their troubles as at an end, set up a shout of laughter.
“The deuce! I shall arrest you, citizens,” cried François. “And first, monsieur.” He explained that he proposed to tie the duke’s hands behind his back, and with, as was usual, one end of the rope in his hand, would conduct the ci-devant into Paris by the Barrière d’Enfer. The weeping widow would follow, with the two children, to see the last of their poor papa.
The duke was disgusted, but pretended to be much amused. “Well, it is a pretty comedy,” he said, as Mme. des Illes insisted.
“Dame!” said the thief, “but the tragedy is not far away.”
“And what is to come after?” said she. “Had we not better wait till night?”
“No. The guards are doubled at night. It is boldness which will win.”
“And what then, François?”
“I must find for you a refuge while I go to see if M. des Illes may not have returned; for, madame, you have assured me that he would be released. Pray God it is so. And what better is there?” The duke was forced to consent.
A rope found in the officer’s pocket made part of François’s spoil. He tied the duke’s hands, and showed him how, at need, a pull would release them. The gold was divided. All else they left. François reported the way clear, and they set out. But the boys giggled so much at the duke and his indignant face that François paused.
“Dame!” he cried, “madame must weep.” She was already doing that, her mind on the fate of M. des Illes. “If you boys are fools, and laugh, we are lost. Cry, if you can; but, for the love of Heaven, do not look about you, or smile. Take a hand of madame—so. Cry, if ever you mean to get away safe.”
The road beyond the quarry was little used, and they went on, the duke furious. When they met any one, François cried: “Get on, aristocrat! Pig of a ci-devant, march!”
Duke Philippe muttered: “Sacré, thief!” and got a smart jerk of the rope, and more abuse, until the fun of it nearly upset the thief, who could scarce contain himself. At the Barrière d’Enfer were but two guards; nor were there as many people in the streets as usual.
Suddenly François halted at the summons to leave his prisoner with one of the two men, and to enter the little office and exhibit his papers, as was needful.
“Dame!” muttered the thief, “one cannot know all things. I forgot about the papers.” He showed, however, no indecision. “Guard this wretch, citizen,” he said. “Here, take the rope. He is a returned émigré.” The man took the rope. “I shall not be long.” So saying, he went in after the second guard, closing the door behind them. The man sat down at a desk, and opened a blank-book, saying: “The order, citizen.”
“I am afraid it is lost,” said François, eagerly searching his acquired pockets. “The mischief! What to do?”
“To do? Thou must wait till the lieutenant comes back. He has gone to see the fun.”
“Fun! What fun?”
At this moment the man rose hastily. “Diable! thou art François! I thought I knew thy voice. There are orders to arrest thee. Citizen Amar desires thy society. Best make no fuss. I arrest thee. I am in luck. It is sure promotion. What trick art thou up to? And those folks outside, who axe they?”
“But thou, an old thief, to arrest a comrade! Surely thou wilt not.”
“No use. Come! no nonsense.”
François put out a pleading hand. “But they will kill me, comrade.” He looked all the alarm needed.
“Bah!”
In an instant the strongest grip of the Cité was on the man’s throat, and closed as a vise closes. A faint cry escaped as the man struggled. François threw a leg back of the fellow, and as he fell dropped on his chest. It was brief. The man’s heels clattered on the floor; he was still. The thief rose. The man was to appearance dead. He would revive, perhaps. “Peste!” cried François, “it is hard to keep one’s head.”
Seizing a paper from the table, François went out of the door, closing it after him, and coolly caressing a cat on the step. He said to the guard that his comrade would be out by and by, and that it was all right. As he spoke he waved the paper, and, taking the rope, went on, crying: “Get up, ci-devant!” As they got farther away he hurried the duke. “Death is behind us. Get on. Faster—faster!” He twisted and turned, and was not at ease until they were deep in the sinuous, box-hidden paths of the Luxembourg.
Very few people were to be seen, and these looked at or after them with curiosity.
“We must be a queer party. Get on, citizen. Thou art lazy. Thou wilt soon have a fine carriage.” He was terribly anxious. “Sacré, monsieur! For the love of the saints, go on, and quicker!”
“What the deuce is it?” said the duke.
“That beast at the barrier knew me. He was an old thief.”
“And what then? Why were we not stopped if he knew you?”
“He does not know me nor anybody now.”
“Foi d’honneur, but you are a brave fellow!”
“Thanks; but make haste.”
At last they were in the long Rue de Varennes, where they saw a great crowd filling the street, and were soon in the midst of a mass of excited people.
François cried out: “Room, citizens, room!”
An old woman shook her fist at him, yelling furiously: “Cursed Jacobin!”
The people were wild; and presently a man hustled the supposed officer. Others cried fiercely: “Hang him!” Another screamed out: “Robespierre is dead!” and the crowd took up the cry. A dozen hands seized on François.
“What the deuce is all this?” he shouted. “Take care, or the law will have you.”
“Robespierre is dead! À la lanterne!”
Upon this, the duke exclaimed: “Let him go; it is a good fellow, and not an officer”; and then, amid a maddening tumult, succeeded in hastily explaining enough to secure the release of the officer.
“À bas la guillotine!” cried François. “Down with the Terror!”
The crowd thickened, and went its way with wild cries. Meanwhile the boy Des Illes was lost, and madame in tears. They went on, asking questions, and hearing of the execution of Robespierre, Couthon, Saint-Just, and the rest. The thief said: “Let us go straight to M. des Illes’s house.”
At the door madame fell into her husband’s arms; and soon after dusk the boy came running back with his father, who had gone out to search for him.
Then all was hastily made clear, and the long story told of Des Illes’s release, and how he had found the dog, and in the cave the Jacobins both dead, and of his vain efforts to discover his own people. They were fed and reclothed; and now, it being ten at night of this 10th Thermidor, François rose. “I must go,” he said.
“You? Never!” said madame. “Our house is your home for life. You will wander and sin no more.”
On this, François looked about him, from one kind face to another, and sat down, and broke into tears.
“It shall be as madame desires. I am her servant.”
And this is the end of the adventures of François, the thief. Let who will judge him.
Notes
1 See Epilogue.