IV
The old man sank back in his chair, half fainting. Burton gave him morebrandy. Aghast at the atrocious villainy of the scheme--incredible butfor the crimes which had already stained the German arms--he was for themoment unable to think of anything but the scene he saw inimagination--flames illuminating the dawn, eating away the staircase,enclosing the three helpless people above in a fiery furnace.
The old man groaned aloud.
"Take care!" whispered Burton. "Tell me, are there arms in the house?"
"Why, yes, monsieur; a rifle and two revolvers, in the captain'sroom--well hidden, par exemple!"
"Is there a back staircase to the upper rooms?"
"By that door yonder, monsieur," replied Pierre, pointing to a smalldoor in the corner.
"If anybody comes and asks about me, say that I have gone home. Pullyourself together for the sake of monsieur and madame."
"But, monsieur----"
"Chut! The party is breaking up. Listen! They are going to their roomsin the east wing. Courage, my friend!"
He extinguished the oil lamp, pressed Pierre's hand, and stolenoiselessly through the door in the corner. It opened to a narrowstaircase. At the head of this there was a passage leading betweenbedrooms to the main staircase farther along. There was no lamp in thepassage, but a faint shine through a skylight lit dimly its farther end.And just as Burton gained the top step, and peered cautiously round theedge of the wall, he was amazed to see Major Schwikkard unlock a door onthe left, and enter the room.
"Go into the next room," came the curt command in French.
"Monsieur, I cannot leave my son," protested the marquise. "Have you nohumanity at all?"
"Gabble is useless. Go into the next room, and take the old man withyou. Or shall I shoot him before your eyes?"
The two old people came into the passage, followed by the major, whohustled them into the adjoining apartment, locked them in, and returned.Burton, dreading lest he intended to proceed at once to extremes withthe wounded man, and resolved at any cost to prevent it, darted ontip-toe along the passage to the room in which the marquis and his wifewere shut up, silently unlocked the door, and whispering, "Courage,monsieur et madame: await my return," he left them, and went to the nextdoor. It was closed.
Through it he heard the German's voice. It was no time to shirk risks.Grasping the handle firmly, he turned it, and gently pushed the door,little by little, until he could see into the room.
The German was seated on a chair by the bedside, his back to the door,ostentatiously cutting a fresh cigar. Beside him was a small cabinetwith medicines. On it he had laid his revolver, out of the reach of theyoung soldier on the bed. They presented a strange contrast, the blond,bulky German, red-faced, brimming with physical energy, and theFrenchman, whose eyes, feverishly bright, gleamed out of pale sunkencheeks, and whose emaciated hands lay idle on the coverlet. His darkhead propped on the pillow, he lay perfectly still, corpse-like save forhis burning eyes.
"An excellent cigar!" said the German. "Who should know that better thanI? Once more I am indebted to your amiable parents for theirhospitality. I make my acknowledgments. Madame la marquise has beenmost attentive; she looked charming, if a little faded, in cap andapron; and you would have been delighted to see her handing the plates."
The invalid's fingers twitched; a flush mantled his cheeks. He tried tolift his head, but it sank back weakly upon the pillow. Burton feltthat the German was watching his victim with malicious satisfaction.The shaft had struck home.
"Don't rise, don't rise, my dear sir. I realise how little our goodGerman shells suit the constitution of you Frenchmen. You have nostamina, you know: a puff"--he blew out a cloud of smoke--"and you aregone!
"You scarcely hoped, perhaps, to see me again after our last parting atthe gates of your hospitable chateau? You find it, perhaps, a strangechance that brings me again beneath this roof? Yet perhaps it is not sostrange after all, for, helpless though I was at the time, I vowed thatsome day or other I would return. And thus we meet, sooner than I couldhave hoped--our parts somewhat changed. I was then a helpless German inFrance; you are now a helpless Frenchman in what is going to be Germany.When you were up and I was down, you heaped upon me insults and abuse,and struck me--me, a well-born Prussian!--because I did my duty to mycountry. Did you reflect? Did it ever cross your French mind that aGerman, a Junker, a soldier, a man of culture, would not brook theinsolent perversity of one of your decadent race? Now I am up and youare down, and we can square accounts. You are to learn what it is tostrike a German. Of this your chateau, of you and the vile French broodwithin it, there shall not remain to-morrow aught but ashes. That iswhat I have promised myself these three years. I will pay my vow!"
During this speech, hissed out in a tone of the bitterest rancour, theGerman had held his cigar between finger and thumb, lifting his hand nowand then to emphasise his words. Perceiving that it had gone out, hecut another, lit it, and lolled insolently in his chair, his long legsstretched beneath the bed, as if gloating over his intended victim. Theyoung captain had not uttered a word. No change of countenance revealedhis feelings, or so much as hinted that he had heard the German'stirade. His eyes appeared to look past his tormentor, but nothing intheir expression warned Schwikkard of what he saw.
There was a brief interval of silence; then the German drew up his legs.
"Sleep well!" he said. "I assure you your sleep shall be a long one!"
He flicked the ash of his cigar into one of the medicine glasses, andwas about to rise, when a hand shot over his shoulder, and grasped hisrevolver. Turning on his chair with a start, he flinched as his rightear touched the cold muzzle of a second revolver which Burton pointed athim.
AN INTERRUPTION]
"Sit down!" said Burton, quietly, in French. "If you make the slightestsound, I will shoot you on the spot."
The German's face blanched under its sun-tan. A muzzle to the right, amuzzle to the left, each within a few inches of his head! Speechless, hesank down into his chair, and the cigar fell upon the floor.