CHAPTER XIII
In the Hands of the Reds
The next morning Harry went out, as usual, immediately afterbreakfast, for a walk for two or three hours. This he did partlyto allow the girls to tidy the rooms, an office which had naturallyfallen to them since the commencement of their old nurse's illness;partly because in active exercise he found some relief from theburden of his anxieties. To-day he felt more anxious than ever. Theconversation with Marthe Pichon had afforded good grounds of hopethat in a day or two a fair prospect of escape would be open to them;but this only seemed to make the present anxiety all the sharper.The woman had promised to get disguises, and make the arrangementswith her friends at the village below during the course of the day,and by night, if all went well, they might start. He told himselfthat he had no reason for supposing that the vague suspicions whichwere, he knew, afloat would suddenly be converted into action. Hedetermined to take his place that afternoon with the committee asusual, and endeavour to allay their doubts by assuming a violentattitude. He felt, however, that the day would be more trying thanany he had passed, and that he would give a great deal if the nexttwenty-four hours were over. Scarcely heeding where he walked hewas out longer than usual, and it was nearly three hours after hestarted before he approached the town again by the road along theriver bank. Just when he came to the first houses a woman, who wasstanding there knitting, came up to him.
"You are the citizen who lives with his two sisters next door toLa Mere Pichon, are you not?"
Harry assented hurriedly, with a strange presentiment of evil.
"La Mere Pichon bids me tell you," the woman said, "that half anhour after you started this morning six men, with an official withthe red scarf, came to the house and arrested your sisters andcarried them off. They are watching there for your return."
Harry staggered as if struck with a blow.
"Poor young man," the woman said compassionately, seeing the ghastlypallor of his face, "but I pity you. The street is furious thatthese wretches should have carried off that sweet young creature,who was so good to everyone; but what could we do? We hissed the men,and we would have pelted them had we not been afraid of strikingyour sisters. When they had gone La Mere Pichon said to some ofus, 'The best thing we can do for that angel is to save her brotherfrom being caught also. So do one of you post yourself on eachroad leading to the house, and warn him in time. He generally walksbeyond the town. I heard one of his sisters say so.' So some ofus came out on all the roads, and two remained, one at each end ofthe street, in case we should miss you. La Mere said, whoever metyou was to tell you to be on this road, by the river, just outsidethe town, after dark, and she would bring you some clothes, andtake you where you would be safe; but till then you were to go awayagain, and keep far from the town. Do you understand?" she asked,laying her hand on his arm, for he seemed dazed and stupid withthe shock he had received.
"I understand," he said in a low voice. "Thank you all for yourwarning. Yes, I will be here this evening."
So saying he turned and moved away, walking unsteadily as if hewere drunk. The woman looked after him pityingly, and then, shakingher head and muttering execrations against the "Reds," she madeher way home to tell Mere Pichon that she had fulfilled her mission.
Harry walked on slowly until some distance from the town, and thenthrew himself down on a bank by the road and lay for a time silentand despairing. At last tears came to his relief, and his broadshoulders shook with a passion of sobbing to think that just atthe moment when a chance of escape was opened--just when all thedangers seemed nearly past--the girls should have fallen intothe hands of the enemy, and he not there to strike a blow in theirdefence. To think of Jeanne--his bright, fearless Jeanne--andclinging little Virginie, in the hands of these human tigers. Itwas maddening! But after a time the passion of weeping calmed down,and Harry sat up suddenly.
"I am a fool," he said as he rose to his feet; "a nice sort of fellowfor a protector, lying here crying like a girl when I had begun tofancy I was a man; wasting my time here when I know the only hopefor the girls is for me to keep myself free to help them. I neednot lose all hope yet. After Marie has been saved, why shouldn'tI save my Jeanne? I am better off than I was then, for we havefriends who will help. These women whose hearts Jeanne has won willaid if they can, and may get some of their husbands and brothersto aid. The battle is not lost yet, and Jeanne will know I shallmove heaven and earth to save her."
Harry's fit of crying, unmanly as he felt it, had afforded him animmense relief, for he hardly knew himself how great the strainhad been upon him of late, and with a more elastic step he strodeaway into the country, and for hours walked on, revolving planafter plan in his mind for rescuing the girls. Although nothingvery plausible had occurred to him he felt brighter in mind, thoughweary in body, when, just after nightfall, he again approached thespot where he had that morning received so heavy a blow. He wasnot disheartened at the difficulty before him, for he knew that heshould have some time yet to hit upon a a plan, and the jails wereso crowded with prisoners that he might fairly reckon upon weeksbefore there was any actual necessity for action. Marthe Pichonwas waiting for him.
"Ah, Monsieur," she began, "but this is a terrible day! Oh, if Ihad but known a day or two earlier they could have moved in time,and now they are in the power of those wolves; but we will tryto save them. We have been talking it over. We will all go to thetribunal, and we will take our husbands and our children with us,and we will demand their release. We will not let them be murdered.And now here are the clothes, but you need not put them on now.There will be a boat here in a few minutes. We have told some ofthe sailors how they misjudged you, and they are sorry, now it istoo late, that they would not listen when you spoke to them. However,they will do all they can for you. I have sent a message by a boyto my sister to say that I shall be down this evening, so they willbe expecting us. Ah, here is the boat!"
The splash of oars was heard, and a boat rowed along close to thebank.
"Is that you, Pierre?"
"It is us, sure enough, Mere Pichon. Is all right?"
"Yes, we are both here."
In another minute the boat was rowed alongside, and Harry and thewoman got on board. There were few words spoken as the two men rowedvigorously down stream. In three quarters of an hour some lightswere seen on the opposite bank, and the boat was headed towardsthem and soon reached a little causeway.
"I shall not be more than twenty minutes," Mere Pichon said as shegot out.
"All right, we will wait!" was the reply, and mounting the causewayLa Mere Pichon led the way to the farthest cottage in the littlefishing-village. A light was burning within, and lifting the latchshe entered, followed by Harry. A fisherman and his wife weresitting by the fire.
"Here, sister Henriette and brother Pierre," Marthe said; "youhave heard from me how a dear angel, who lived next door to me, hasnursed and tended my little Julie, and by blessing of the Virginbrought her round from her illness; and those wretches, the Reds,have carried her off to-day with her sister, and you know what itis to fall into their hands. This is her brother, and I am goingto ask you to give him shelter and let him stay here with you. Ihave brought him a suit of clothes with me, and no one will guessthat he is not the son of some comrade of yours. He will pay youwell for sheltering him till we can put him on board Adolphe'slugger and send him across the water. If it had not been that theReds had come to-day I should have brought his sisters with him. Iwas just starting to arrange it with you when those wretches cameand took them away, and it may be that they would pay a hundredcrowns to you, and that is not a sum to be earned every day."
"No, indeed," her sister said briskly; "that will buy Pierre a newboat, and a good one, such as he can go out to sea in; besides, asyou say, after what his sister did for Julie we are bound to helpthem. What do you say, Pierre?"
Pierre's face had expressed anything but satisfaction until themoney was mentioned, but it then changed entirely. The times werebad--his boat was o
ld and unseaworthy--a hundred crowns was afortune to him.
"I have risked my life often," he said, "to earn five crowns,therefore I do not say no to the offer. Monsieur, I accept; for ahundred crowns I will run the risk of keeping you here, and yoursisters too if they should come, until you can cross the water."
"Very well then," Marthe Pichon said. "That's settled, now I shallbe off at once. They will be watching the street for monsieur, andto-morrow, when they find he has not come back, they will be askingquestions, so the sooner I am back the better."
"We cannot give you much accommodation, monsieur," the fishermansaid. "There is only the loft upstairs, and, for to-night, the sailsto sleep on; but we will try and make you more comfortable to-morrow."
"I care nothing for comfort," Harry answered, "so make no changefor me. Just treat me as if I were what I shall seem to be--a youngfisherman who has come to work with you for a bit. I will row withyou and help you with your nets. Your sister has promised to senda boy every day with all the news she can gather. Now, if you havea piece of bread I will gladly eat it, for I have touched nothingsince breakfast."
"We can do better than that for you," the woman replied, and in afew minutes some fish were frying over the fire. Fortunately thelong hours he had been on his feet had thoroughly tired Harry out,and after eating his supper he at once ascended to the loft, threwhimself on the heap of sails, and in a few minutes was sound asleep.The next morning he dressed himself in the fisherman's clothes withwhich he had been provided, and went down stairs.
"You will do," Pierre said, looking at him; "but your hands and faceare too white. But I was tanning my sails yesterday, and there issome of the stuff left in the boiler; if you rub your hands andface with that you will do well."
Harry took the advice, and the effect was to give him the appearanceof a lad whose face was bronzed by long exposure to the sea andair.
"You will pass anywhere now," Pierre said approvingly. "I shall giveout that you belong to St. Nazaire, and are the son of a friend ofmine whose fishing-boat was lost in the last gale, and so you havecome to work for a time with me; no one would ask you any more.Besides, we are all comrades, and hate the Reds, who have spoiltour trade by killing all our best customers, so if they come askingquestions here they won't get a word out of anyone."
For ten days Harry lived with the fisherman. Adolphe had returnedin his lugger the day after his arrival there, and came over thenext evening to see him. He said that it would be some little timebefore the lugger sailed again, but that if he was ready to startbefore she sailed he would manage to procure him a passage in someother craft. He said that he had already been talking to some ofthe sailors on the wharves, and that they had promised to go tothe Tribunal when the girls were brought up before it, and that hewould manage to get news from a friend employed in the prison whenthat would be.
Harry frequently went up in a boat to Nantes with Pierre with thefish they had caught. He had no fear of being recognized, and didnot hesitate to land, though he seldom went far from the boat.Adolphe was generally there, and he and two or three of his comrades,who were in the secret, always hailed him as an old acquaintance,so that had any of the spies of the Revolutionists been standingthere, no suspicion that Harry was other than he seemed would haveentered their minds.
One evening, three weeks after Harry's arrival at the hut, Adolphecame in with his head bound up by a bandage.
"What is the matter, Adolphe?" Harry exclaimed.
"I have bad news for you, monsieur. I learned this morning thatmesdemoiselles were to-day to be brought before the Tribunal, andwe filled the hall with women and two or three score of sailors.Mesdemoiselles were brought out. The young one seemed frightened,but the elder was as calm and brave as if she feared nothing. Theywere asked their names, and she said:
"'I am Jeanne de St. Caux, and this is my sister Virginie. We havecommitted no crime.'
"Carrier himself was there, and he said:
"'You are charged with being enemies of France, with being herein disguise, and with trying to leave France contrary to the lawsagainst emigration, and with being in company with one who, underfalse pretenses, obtained admission to the Committee of Safetyhere, but who is an enemy and traitor to France. What do you say?'
"'I do not deny that we were in disguise,' she said in her clearvoice. 'Nor do I deny that we should have escaped if we could. Andas you treat us as enemies, and our lives are in danger, I cannotsee that we were to blame in doing so. I deny that we are enemiesof France, or that the gentleman who was with us was so either. Hedid not obtain a place on the committee by fraud, for he was reallythe secretary of Monsieur Robespierre, and he could not refuse thepost when it was offered to him.'
"Then we thought it was time to speak, and the women cried outfor mercy, and said how good she had been to the poor; and we mencried out too. And then Carrier got into a passion, and said theywere traitors and worthy of death, and that they should die. Andwe shouted we would not have it, and broke into the Tribunal andsurrounded mesdemoiselles, and then the guards rushed in and therewas a fight. We beat them off and got outside, and then a regimentcame up, and they were too strong for us, though we fought stoutly,I can tell you, for our blood was up; but it was no use. The dearladies were captured again, and many of us got severe wounds. Butthe feeling was strong, I can tell you, among the sailors when thenews spread through the town, for some of the women got hurt, too,in the melee, and I think we could get five hundred men togetherto storm the jail."
Harry was bitterly disappointed, for he had hoped that theintercession of the women might have availed with the judges, anddoubtless would have done so had not Carrier himself been present.However, he thanked the sailor warmly for the efforts he had madeand gave him some money to distribute among the wounded, for healways carried half his money concealed in a belt under his clothes.The other half was hidden away under a board in his lodgings,so that in case of his being captured the girls would still havefunds available for their escape. As to the prospects of stormingthe jail he did not feel sanguine. It was strongly guarded, andthere were three regiments of troops in the town, and these couldbe brought up before the fishermen could force the strong defencesof the jail. However, as a last resource, this might be attempted.
Two days later Adolphe again returned, and was obliged to confessin answer to Harry's inquiries that he feared the sailors as a bodywould not join in the attempt.
"I can hardly blame them, monsieur. For though I myself would riskeverything, and some of the others would do so too, it is a terriblething for men with wives and families to brave the anger of thesemonsters. They would think nothing of putting us all to death.It isn't the fighting we are afraid of, though the odds are heavyagainst us, but it's the vengeance they would take afterwards,whether we happened to win or whether we didn't."
"I cannot blame them," Harry said. "As you say, even if they succeededthere would be a terrible vengeance for it afterwards. No; if thegirls are to be rescued it must be by some other way. I have beenquiet so long because I hoped that the intercession of the womenwould have saved them. As that has failed I must set to work. Ihave thought of every method, but bribery seems the only chance.Will you speak to the man you know in the prison, and sound himwhether it will be possible to carry out any plan in that way?"
"I will speak again to him," Adolphe said. "But I have alreadysounded him, and he said that there were so many guards and jailersthat he feared that it would be impossible. But I will try again."
The next day, soon after dinner, Adolphe came again, and there wasa white scared look upon his face which filled Harry with alarm.
"What is it, Adolphe? What is your news?"
"Monsieur, I can hardly tell it," Adolphe said in a low awe-strickenvoice. "It is too awful even for these fiends."
"What is it, Adolphe? Tell me. If they have been murdered I willgo straight to Nantes and kill Carrier the first time he leaveshis house, though they may tear me to pieces afterwards."
"
They are not murdered yet," Adolphe said; "but they are to be, andeveryone else." And this time the sailor sat down and cried likea child.
At last, in answer to Harry's entreaties, he raised his head andtold the story. The Revolutionary Committee had that day been downat the wharf, and had taken for the public service four old luggerspast service which were lying on the mud, and they had openlyboasted that an end was going to put to the aristocrats; that theguillotine was too slow, that the prison must be cleared, and thatthey were going to pack the aristocrats on board the luggers andsink them.
Harry gave a cry of horror, in which the fisherman and his wifejoined, the latter pouring out voluble curses against Carrier andthe Reds.
After his first cry Harry was silent; he sank down on to a low chair,and sat there with his face hidden in his hands for some minutes,while the fisherman and his wife poured question after question uponAdolphe. Presently Harry rose to his feet, and saying to Adolphe,"Do not go away, I shall be back presently, I must think by myself,"went out bareheaded into the night.
It was half an hour before he returned.
"Now, Adolphe," he said, "I can think again. Now, how are they tobe saved?"
"I cannot say, monsieur," Adolphe said hesitatingly. "It does notseem to me--"
"They have to be saved," Harry interrupted him in a grave, steadyvoice. "The question is how?"
"Yes, monsieur," Adolphe agreed hesitatingly, "that is the question.You can rely upon me, monsieur," he went on, "to do my best whateveryou may decide; but I have no head to invent things. You tell meand I will do it."
"I know I can rely upon you, Adolphe. As far as I can see thereare but two ways. One is for me to go to Carrier's house, find themonster, place a pistol at his head, compel him to order them tobe released, stand with him at the prison door till they come out,embark with him and them in a boat, row down the river, and put tosea."
"And then, monsieur?" Adolphe asked after a pause, seeing thatHarry was speaking to himself rather than to him.
"Yes, that is the question that I cannot answer," Harry replied."I can see all the rest as if it were passing. I can feel Carriertrembling in my grasp, and shrinking as the pistol touches hisforehead. I can hear him giving his orders, I can see the crowdfalling back as I walk with him through the street, I can hear himcrying to the people to stand aside and let us pass, I can see usgoing down the river together; but what am I to do in a boat withtwo ladies at sea?"
"Could you not embark in a lugger?" Adolphe exclaimed, carriedaway by the picture which Harry seemed to be describing as if hesaw it. "Why not start in a lugger at once? I might have the TroisFreres ready, and the men will all stand by you; and when we areonce outside the river we will throw Carrier over to the fishesand make for England."
"Thank you, Adolphe. If the other plans seem impossible we willtry that, but only as a last resource; for I know the chances area hundred to one against its success. I should have no fear as toCarrier himself, but as I went through the streets some one elsemight place a musket at the back of my head and shoot me. If Icould get him alone it would be different. You could go with me;I would force him to sign the order of release; you could take it;and I would stand over him till you had time to embark with them;then I would blow out his brains and make my way down to the river.But there would be no chance of finding him alone. Monsters likethis are always fearful of assassination."
"And what is monsieur's other plan?"
"The other plan is to get on board the boat in which they are to beplaced--you might find out which it is from your friend in prison--hidedown in the hold until the guards leave her; then join them;and when she sinks fasten them to a spar and drift down the riverwith them till out of sight of the town, when Pierre could row offand pick them up."
"They say there are to be soldiers on each side of the river,"Adolphe said despondently, "to shoot down any who may try to swimto shore. But there would not be many who would try. Most of them,they say, will be women and children; but the heads would be seenas you drifted down."
"Yes; but we must think of something, Adolphe--think, man,think--and you, Pierre, think; if you were in a sinking ship, and youwanted something which would hide you from the eyes of people ahundred yards away, what would you take?"
"But you would be seen on anything you climbed on to or clung to,monsieur.
"But we need not climb on to it," Harry said. "I can take piecesof cork with me and wrap round them so as to keep their faces justafloat. I should only want something that would hide their faces."
"A hatch might do," Pierre said.
"The very thing!" Harry exclaimed with a fresh ring of animationand hopefulness in his voice. "The very thing! Of course therewould be a hatchway to the forecastle of the lugger. We might getthat loosened beforehand, so that it would float off. What is thesize of such a hatch?"
"Some four feet square, monsieur."
"That will be enough," Harry said; "but how high would a hatchfloat out of water, because there must be room between the top ofthe water for us to breathe as we lie on our backs. Four incheswould be enough. Are the sides buoyant enough to keep the top thatmuch out of water?"
"I do not think so, monsieur," Pierre said with a shake of thehead. "It would float nearly level with the water."
"But see here, monsieur," Adolphe said eagerly; "I have an idea!The hatches are covered with tarpaulin. If you could hide in theforecastle during the night you might cut away all the top underneaththe tarpaulin and prop it up, so that if anyone trod on it in themorning they would not notice what had been done. Then when theyhave pushed off you could knock away the props, the board wouldtumble down, and there would be only the tarpaulin cover on thesides. It would float then quite four inches out of the water, andthat in the middle of the stream would look almost level with it."
"I will try it," Harry said; "there is a chance of success."
"It is a terrible risk, monsieur," Pierre said.
"I know it," Harry replied; "but it is just possible. The chancesare a hundred to one against it, but it may succeed. Well, Pierre,do you be with your boat on the river just below the point wherethe town can be seen. If you see a hatch floating down row to it.If we are beneath it, well and good; if not--"
"If not, monsieur," the fisherman's wife said solemnly, "we willpray for your souls."
"Adolphe will send down to you in the morning the two fisher-girls'dresses his wife had prepared for the ladies. Have some brandy inthe boat and your little charcoal stove, and keep water boiling.They will want it. And now good-bye, my good friends! Pray for usto-night. Now, Adolphe, let us hasten back to the town, for thereis much to be done. And first of all you must see your friend inthe prison; find out if mesdemoiselles are on the list of thoseto be murdered. I have no doubt they will be, for after the emeutethere has been about them they are almost sure to be among thefirst victims. But above all, find out, if you can, which vesselthey are to be placed in.
"But if I cannot find that out, monsieur; if there is no arrangementmade at all--though I should think there would be, for the butcherswill like to have everything done in order--"
"Then I will get you to find a dozen men you can trust to volunteerto row the boats to put them on board. And you must be sure to takethe boat in which they are to the lugger we have prepared."
"I will try," Adolphe said, "though I would rather cut off my handthan pull an oar to take these poor creatures out to be murdered.But I will do it, monsieur. But except for that I warrant me theywill not get a sailor in Nantes to put his hand to an oar to aidtheir accursed work."
It was four o'clock when they arrived at Nantes. Adolphe wentstraight to the prison, while Harry walked along the quay. Whenhe came abreast the centre of the town a number of sailors andfishermen were standing talking in low tones, and looking withhorror at four luggers moored in a line in the centre of the river.A number of men drawn from the scum of the town were painting themwhite, while a strong body of troops were drawn up on the quay inreadiness to put a
summary stop to any demonstration of hostilityon the part of the sailors. These did not indeed venture to expressopenly their detestation of the proceedings, but the mutteredexecrations and curses that rose from the little group showed howdeep were their feelings.
Harry joined a little knot of three or four men who had been, withAdolphe, in the habit of greeting him when he landed.
"All is lost, you see!" one of them said in a tone of deepcommiseration. "There is nothing left but vengeance--we will takethat one of these days--but that is a poor consolation for younow."
"All is not quite lost," Harry said. "I have yet one hope."
"We dare not try force," one of the other men said. "They have marchedthree more regiments of Reds in to-day. What can we do against themwithout arms? I could cry to think that we are so helpless in theface of these things."
"No; I know force is useless," Harry said. "Still I have just onehope left. It is a desperate one, and I cannot tell you what it isnow; but to-night, maybe, Adolphe may ask you to help us. I expecthim here soon."
In half an hour Adolphe returned, and Harry at once joined him.
"I have got the news I wanted," he said. "Mesdemoiselles are to bein the first batch brought out. Boats have already been bought bythe Reds to row them out, and men hired. They were forced to buythe boats, for not a man would let his craft for such a purpose.It would be accursed ever afterwards, no sailor would ever put afoot on board. The first boats will go to the ship lying lowest inthe stream; then they will come back and take the next batch outto the vessel next above; and so until all are on board. There willbe fifty placed on board each lugger; and I hear, monsieur, thatis only the first of it, and that the drownings will go on untilthe prisons are cleared."
"Thank God we know that much, Adolphe! Now, in the first place,I want you to get me some tools--a sharp saw, a chisel, a largescrew-driver, and half a dozen large screws; also, two beams ofwood to fasten across the hatchway and keep the boards up after Ihave sawn through them; also, I want three bundles of cork--flatpieces will be the best if you can get them, but that doesn't mattermuch. I may as well have an auger too. When you go back to yourhouse will you go in next door and ask our landlady, Mere Leflo--"
"She died three days ago," the man said.
"Then go into the house without asking, and in the farthest cornerto the right-hand side of the kitchen scratch away the earth, andyou will find a little bag of money. If I fail to-morrow, keep itfor yourself; if I succeed, bring it to me at Pierre's. When doesyour lugger sail for England?"
"In three days, monsieur. I have already sounded the captain, andI think he will take you. And what shall I do next?"
"At nine o'clock this evening have a boat with the things on boardhalf a mile below the town. Give a low whistle, and I will answerit. Wrap some flannel round the rowlocks to muffle the sound. Itwill be a dark night, and there's a mist rising already from theriver. I do not think there's much chance of our meeting any boatsnear those vessels."
"No, indeed," Adolphe agreed. "It makes me shiver to look at them.There will be no boat out on the river to-night except ours. Willyou not come home with me, monsieur, until it is time to start?You will need supper, for you must keep up your strength."
Harry accepted the sailor's invitation; and after partaking ofa meal with Adolphe and his wife, who was informed of the attemptwhich was about to be made, he sat looking quietly into the fire,arranging in his mind all the details of the enterprise, utteringmany a silent but fervent prayer that he might be permitted to savethe lives of the two girls.
Adolphe went in and out making his preparations. At half-past eighthe said, touching Harry on the shoulder: "It is time to start,monsieur. I have got the bag of money. Everything is in the boat,and I saw the men start with it. It is time for us to go and meetthem."
Marthe burst into tears as she said good-bye to Harry.
"I shall spend all night on my knees," she said, "praying God andthe Holy Virgin to aid you and save those dear angels. Here isa packet, monsieur, with some food for you to eat in the morning,and a bottle of good wine. You will want strength for your adventure."
Three or four minutes after Harry and Adolphe had gainedthe appointed spot they heard a low whistle on the water. Adolphewhistled in return, and in another minute a dark object appearedthrough the mist. They took their places in the stern, and the boatrowed quietly off again. So well were the oars muffled that Harrycould hear no sound save an almost imperceptible splash each timethey dipped into the water.
The town was very still and scarce a sound was heard. The aweof the horrible event which was about to take place hung over thetown, and although there was drinking and exultations among theruffians in the back lanes, even these instinctively avoided theneighbourhood of the river.
So thick was the fog that they were some little time before theyfound the white luggers. When they did so they rowed to that mooredlowest down the stream and made fast alongside. Noiselessly thetools and beams were handed on board. Then Harry said:
"That is all, Adolphe."
"Not at all, monsieur. We are not going to leave you till the workis done. We have settled that four sets of hands can work betterthan one, and besides, we may hit on some idea. No one can say."
Finding it useless to remonstrate, Harry let the good fellows havetheir way. The men had already removed their boots, and noiselesslymade their way to the hatch of the forecastle.
"Ah, it is just as well I brought a file with me," Adolphe said ina low voice, as he knelt down and felt the hatch. "It is fasteneddown with a staple and padlock. They are old, but you might havesome trouble in breaking them. But let us see first. No, it moves.Now, a wrench all together."
As he spoke the staple came up through the rotten wood of the deck.The hatch was then lifted.
"Lower it down corner-ways into the fo'castle," Adolphe said. "Wecan work all the better at it there. Jacques, do you get that sailup out of the boat and throw it over the hatch. It isn't likelyanyone will come out here through the fog; but it's just as wellnot to run any risk."
As soon as all were below, and the sail spread over the openingabove, Adolphe produced a dark lantern from the great pocket of hisfisherman's cloak, together with two or three candles. These werelit at the lantern, and the party then set to work.
Two saws had been brought on board, and a piece three feet squarewas cut out of the top of the hatch, leaving six inches of woodall round. Great pains were taken not to saw through the tarpaulincover.
"Now, the next thing to do," Harry said, "is to fix the beams soas to hold the wood in its place again." Four pieces of wood, eachthree inches long, were screwed against the combing of the hatchwayin such a position that when the beams were placed upon them theywere exactly level with the top, and supported the piece cut outfrom the hatchway in its original position.
"That will do rarely," Adolphe said, when it was finished and thehatchway experimentally placed in its position. "Now, all you haveto do is just to knock the ends of the beams off their ledges. Thebit we have cut out will fall down, and you will be able easilyenough to lift the hatchway from its place. It is no great weightnow.
"It will do capitally," Harry agreed, "and when it floats thetarpaulin will certainly be three inches above the water. Yes, Ihave no fear of that part of the adventure going wrong. You don'tthink that it will be noticed from the shore, Adolphe?"
"Not it," Adolphe answered confidently. "Why, from the shore itwill look awash with the water. No one will ever dream that therecould be a soul alive underneath it. I begin to think you will doit, monsieur. At first it seemed hopeless. Now I really do thinkthere is a chance. I should feel pretty confident if it was youand two of us who had to do it; but the difficulty will be to getthe young ladies under it, and then to get them to lie quiet there."
"That is the difficulty," Harry admitted. "I am sure of the eldest.Her nerves are as good as mine; what I fear is about the younger."
"I'll tell you what, monsieur," one of the other m
en said; "if youtake my advice you will have a piece of rope in readiness and tieit round her arms so as to prevent her struggling."
"That would be the best way," Harry agreed. "Yes, if I see shewon't be calm and do as I tell her, that is what I will do."
"Now, monsieur, I will bore a couple of auger-holes through thebulkhead here so that you can see what is going on in the hold.They have got the hatch off there. I suppose it wasn't padlocked,and they will no doubt go down to bore the holes the last thing.Like enough they have bored them already, and will only have toknock out the plugs. I will just go and see anyhow. If that is soyou may set your mind at rest that none of them will come down herein the morning."
So saying, taking the dark lantern he climbed up on deck, anddescended the hold.
"That's it," he said when he returned; "there are six holes boredwith plugs in them, so they won't be coming down here. When wego up we will put the staple into its hole again, so that it willlook all right. Now, monsieur, we will just have one nip of brandyapiece out of this bottle, and then we will be off. It's justgone midnight, and it were best we should leave you to sleep for afew hours. You will want your strength in the morning, unless, ofcourse, you would rather we stopped with you for a bit."
"No, thank you, Adolphe, I don't think I shall sleep; I shall sitand think out every detail."
"Then good night, monsieur. May the good God bless you and aid youto-morrow, and I think he will! I do think you are the bravest manI ever met."
"I am not brave for myself, Adolphe, but for them."
The three men shook hands with Harry, and one after another inhusky voices gave him their good wishes. Then they ascended to thedeck, put on the hatch, pressed the staple down through its holesin the deck, got into the boat, cast off the head-rope, and gotout the oars.
"Mon Dieu, what courage!" one of them exclaimed. "His hand is assteady, and his voice as firm as if he were going fishing to-morrow."
"I think he will succeed;" Adolphe said, "anyhow, we will have ourboat out below the bend of the river, and lend a hand to Pierre toget them out."