Which? Part 31

The cart jolted onward through the dense and jeering crowd until it reached the foot of the steps leading to the awful guillotine. The aged man and his youthful companion were yet crying "Vive le Roi!" The Republican, accursed of _Moderantisme_, was still regarding them with an air of ironical compa.s.sion. The priest was yet reciting prayers and canticles with the three women. None of these unfortunates paid the slightest attention either to the hooting mob or the dreadful doom from which but a few instants separated them.

The cart suddenly stopped and the condemned were roughly ordered to leave it. They did so mechanically and without resistance. The executioner's a.s.sistants seized upon them, dragging them into an open s.p.a.ce, as if, instead of human beings, they had been merely dumb animals, awaiting slaughter in a butcher's shambles. The sans-culottes cheered; the tricoteuses, seated in knots, clapped their hands wildly in savage joy, delighted that more blood was speedily to be spilled. It was an appalling scene, steeped in horror.

Coursegol moved towards Dolores to put his arm about her and sustain her trembling form. He was rudely pulled back by the a.s.sistant who had him in charge.

"If you are a man and have a heart, show some mercy!" he pleaded. "Let me go to my daughter who is about to die!"

The a.s.sistant gave a demoniac scowl.

"There is no mercy for the enemies of the Republic!" he snarled. "Remain where you are!"

Dolores glanced at Coursegol tenderly. The utmost thankfulness was in her look. But she uttered not a word. She felt that speech would merely augment her companion's misery and her own.

Those of the mob who were near enough to catch the a.s.sistant's brutal reply to Coursegol applauded it. Their hearts seemed turned to stone.

Not a morsel of pity or human feeling was left in them. They were like so many wild beasts eager to lap blood.

The executioner had bared his brawny arms for his fiendish task. His face glowed with intense satisfaction.

"Come," said he, addressing his a.s.sistants. "We are wasting the Nation's time and keeping hosts of patriots waiting for their just revenge. Death to the enemies of the Republic!"

An officer unfolded a soiled and crumpled paper. He began to call the death-roll.

The aged Royalist went to the guillotine first. In an instant the huge knife descended; his life blood gushed forth and his head fell into the basket. The executioner grasped the head by its white locks and held it up, streaming with gore, to the gaze of the howling concourse.

"So perish all who hate France and liberty!" he shouted.

His shout was taken up and repeated from one end of the Place de la Revolution to the other.

"So perish all who hate France and liberty!"

It was a sublime mockery of justice, a deliberate treading under foot of all the rights of man. The sans-culottes and the tricoteuses rivaled each other in the loudness and strength of their applause.

The youthful Royalist was the next victim, and the preceding scene with all its horrors was repeated.

Then the Republican, accused of _Moderantisme_, met his fate, then the priest, and then, one by one, the three women, each execution having a similar finale.

Dolores and Coursegol alone were left of all the condemned. They looked at each other, encouraging each other to be brave by signs and glances.

The officer with the death-roll read Dolores' name. Coursegol bowed his head, trembling in every limb. The supreme moment had come. The fainting girl was dragged forward. Her foot was already on the first step of the guillotine platform, when suddenly there was a great commotion in the crowd and a stentorian voice cried out:

"In the name of the Republic, hold!"

At the same instant the throng parted like a wave of the ocean and three men appeared at the foot of the guillotine. Two of them were clerks from Robespierre's bureau, clad in the well-known uniform and wearing the revolutionary c.o.c.kade. The third was Bridoul. He wore the dress of the terrible Committee of Public Safety. It was he who had uttered the stentorian cry:

"In the name of the Republic, hold!"

The a.s.sistant who was dragging Dolores forward paused, astounded. The executioner dropped his arms to his sides and glanced at the three men in speechless amazement. An interruption of the guillotine's deadly work was something that had never yet come his knowledge or experience in the b.l.o.o.d.y days of the Reign of Terror. He could not comprehend it. The suddenly silenced mob was equally unable to grasp the situation. What could be the matter? Had the flinty and inexorable Robespierre turned fainthearted at last? No! That was impossible! The patriots waited with open mouths for an explanation of this bewildering phenomenon.

As for Dolores, she saw nothing, heard nothing. At the foot of the guillotine steps she had fainted dead away in the a.s.sistant's arms.

Coursegol had seen Bridoul and heard his words, but they were as much of an enigma to him as to the rest. How was it that Bridoul was with Robespierre's clerks, and how was it that he wore the dress of the Committee of Public Safety? Coursegol, however, realized one thing--that Bridoul had in some inexplicable way acquired power and had come at the last moment to save Dolores and himself!

Meanwhile Bridoul and the clerks had mounted the guillotine steps and were standing on the platform of death, facing the awed and amazed mob.

Bridoul produced a huge doc.u.ment and held it up to the people. On it was seen the great red seal of the Republic. At the bottom, those nearest could make out the well-known signature of Robespierre!

Bridoul proceeded to read the doc.u.ment. It declared that a mistake had been made in the condemnation of Citoyenne Antoinette de Mirandol and Citoyen Coursegol, that they were altogether innocent of any crime whatever against the Republic, and ordered them to be set at liberty immediately.

A subdued murmur followed the reading of this surprising paper, but, though the mob was dissatisfied and disappointed, no one dare dispute the command of the formidable and dreaded Dictator!

Bridoul folded the precious doc.u.ment and placed it in his pocket; then he turned to the a.s.sistant who was supporting Dolores and ordered him to deliver his charge to Robespierre's clerks; the man at once obeyed.

Bridoul then came down from the platform and went to Coursegol. The latter began at once to question him.

"Hus.h.!.+" said he. "Not a word now! I will explain all in time! For the present the girl and yourself are safe! That must suffice you! Come with me!"

A carriage was waiting a few paces away. Bridoul led Coursegol to it and thither also Dolores was borne by the two clerks, who, after placing her on a seat, bowed respectfully to Bridoul and departed.

"We are going to my house," said Bridoul, as the vehicle started off at the top of its horses' speed, the crowd leaving it an open pa.s.sage.

Dolores revived and opened her eyes just as they reached the wine-shop.

CHAPTER XVI.

IN THE CHeVREUSE VALLEY.

The first thing Dolores saw was the kindly face of Cornelia Bridoul, who was bending over her with tears of joy in her eyes. The good woman had been waiting at the door of the "Bonnet Rouge" and had sprang into the carriage the moment it stopped. Dolores was still very faint and utterly bewildered. She glanced at Cornelia, at Bridoul and then at Coursegol.

Then she swooned again. Taking her in his arms, the wine-shop keeper carried her to the chamber she had formerly occupied, where he placed her upon the bed, leaving his wife to bestow such care on her as in her weak condition she might require. This done, he repaired to the back shop, where, by his direction, Coursegol had preceded him.

"You want to know what all this means and how it was accomplished," said he, as he entered the room and carefully closed the door behind him. "I am now ready to tell you. But first you must have something to strengthen you, for you have just pa.s.sed through a trial sufficient to break down even Hercules himself."

As he spoke he took a flask of brandy from a closet and filled gla.s.ses for his companion and himself. After they had drunk the liquor and seated themselves, he continued:

"Time is precious, and it will not do for Dolores and yourself to remain long here, or, for that matter, in Paris! You are safe for the moment, but at what instant you may again be in deadly peril it is impossible to say! I have succeeded in cheating the guillotine of its prey, and I will tell you how in as few words as I can. When I learned that Dolores was in prison and heard of your own arrest, I determined to move heaven and earth to save you, but was at a loss to know either where to turn or what to do. Just at that critical juncture word was brought me that I had been chosen a member of the Committee of Public Safety, on the recommendation of no less a personage than Robespierre himself, and that the Dictator wished to see me at once. I saw my opportunity and hastened to him without an instant's delay.

"Robespierre received me cordially and informed me that I could be of the greatest service to him and the Republic. I answered that as a true patriot I was not only willing but anxious to do all that lay in my power. He smiled and said that he had a mission of the utmost importance to entrust to me, that he had selected me for it because of my well-known zeal for the Nation's welfare and my equally well-known integrity. I bowed, and he went on to say that certain members of the Committee of Public Safety were plotting against himself and the continuance of his power. My mission was to win over those members to his interest and restore harmony in the Committee. I accepted the mission and succeeded.

"The Dictator's delight and exultation were boundless. He told me to name the price of my distinguished service and, whatever it might be, it should instantly be paid. He undoubtedly expected that I would demand money and position, but I demanded neither. I simply asked for his warrant, under his own signature and the great seal of the Republic, to save from prison and the guillotine two of my friends who were accused of crimes of which they were entirely innocent. Robespierre was surprised. He hesitated; then he asked the names of my friends. I gave them and he showed further hesitation. Finally, he drew up the warrant, signed it, placed the great seal upon it, and directed me to take two of his clerks and have it at once carried into effect. You may well imagine that I did not let the gra.s.s grow under my feet. I took the precious doc.u.ment and, accompanied by the clerks, fairly flew to the Conciergerie, where I had learned you were confined previous to going to the guillotine.

"When I arrived I was informed, to my terror and dismay that the cart laden with the condemned had already started for the Place de la Revolution and that Dolores and yourself were among the victims. I procured a carriage and with my companions drove at headlong speed to the very steps of the guillotine. The rest you know. Now, Robespierre is treacherous and forgetful of services when his end has been attained. He may revoke his warrant and order your re-arrest at any moment. Hence I say that time is precious and that it will not do for you to remain long either here or elsewhere in Paris. You must seek safety as soon as possible in the little cottage in the Chevreuse valley, where the Dictator and his myrmidoms will not think of searching for you. This is imperative!"

Coursegol grasped his friend's hand.

"You are a man, Bridoul!" said he. "You have saved our lives and won our undying grat.i.tude! We will follow your advice to the letter! But you must do something more. Antoinette de Mirandol and Philip de Chamondrin are still in the Conciergerie. They have an order for their release, but cannot use it without your help. You must aid them to escape and join us in the Chevreuse valley!"

"I will do it!" said Bridoul, solemnly. "I swear it!"