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第55节

classic mystery and detective stories-第55节

小说: classic mystery and detective stories 字数: 每页4000字

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delicious voice; that was true in song; though when she spoke;

false as Eblis!  You are aware that I possess in rather a

remarkable degree what we have agreed to call the mesmeric power。

I set the unhappy girl to sleep。  THEN she was obliged to tell me

all。  It was as I had surmised。  Goby de Mouchy; my wretched;

besotted miserable secretary; in his visits to the chateau of the

Marquis de Bechamel; who was one of our society; had seen Blanche。

I suppose it was because she had been warned that he was worthless;

and poor; artful and a coward; she loved him。  She wormed out of

the besotted wretch the secrets of our Order。  'Did he tell you the

NUMBER ONE?' I asked。



〃She said; 'Yes。'



〃'Did he;' I further inquired; 'tell you the'



〃'Oh; don't ask me; don't ask me!' she said; writhing on the sofa;

where she lay in the presence of the Marquis de Bechamel; her most

unhappy father。  Poor Bechamel; poor Bechamel!  How pale he looked

as I spoke!  'Did he tell you;' I repeated with a dreadful calm;

'the NUMBER TWO?'  She said; 'Yes。'



〃The poor old marquis rose up; and clasping his hands; fell on his

knees before Count Cagl  Bah!  I went by a different name then。

Vat's in a name?  Dat vich ye call a Rosicrucian by any other name

vil smell as sveet。  'Monsieur;' he said; 'I am oldI am rich。  I

have five hundred thousand livres of rentes in Picardy。  I have

half as much in Artois。  I have two hundred and eighty thousand on

the Grand Livre。  I am promised by my Sovereign a dukedom and his

orders with a reversion to my heir。  I am a Grandee of Spain of the

First Class; and Duke of Volovento。  Take my titles; my ready

money; my life; my honor; everything I have in the world; but don't

ask the THIRD QUESTION。'



〃'Godfroid de Bouillon; Comte de Bechamel; Grandee of Spain and

Prince of Volovento; in our Assembly what was the oath you swore?'

The old man writhed as he remembered its terrific purport。



〃Though my heart was racked with agony; and I would have died; aye;

cheerfully〃 (died; indeed; as if THAT were a penalty!) 〃to spare

yonder lovely child a pang; I said to her calmly; 'Blanche de

Bechamel; did Goby de Mouchy tell you secret NUMBER THREE?'



〃She whispered a oui that was quite faint; faint and small。  But

her poor father fell in convulsions at her feet。



〃She died suddenly that night。  Did I not tell you those I love

come to no good?  When General Bonaparte crossed the Saint Bernard;

he saw in the convent an old monk with a white beard; wandering

about the corridors; cheerful and rather stout; but madmad as a

March hare。  'General;' I said to him; 'did you ever see that face

before?'  He had not。  He had not mingled much with the higher

classes of our society before the Revolution。  I knew the poor old

man well enough; he was the last of a noble race; and I loved his

child。〃



〃And did she die by?〃



〃Man! did I say so?  Do I whisper the secrets of the Vehmgericht?

I say she died that night: and hehe; the heartless; the villain;

the betrayer;you saw him seated in yonder curiosity shop; by

yonder guillotine; with his scoundrelly head in his lap。



〃You saw how slight that instrument was?  It was one of the first

which Guillotin made; and which he showed to private friends in a

hangar in the Rue Picpus; where he lived。  The invention created

some little conversation among scientific men at the time; though I

remember a machine in Edinburgh of a very similar construction; two

hundredwell; many; many years agoand at a breakfast which

Guillotin gave he showed us the instrument; and much talk arose

among us as to whether people suffered under it。



〃And now I must tell you what befell the traitor who had caused all

this suffering。  Did he know that the poor child's death was a

SENTENCE?  He felt a cowardly satisfaction that with her was gone

the secret of his treason。  Then he began to doubt。  I had MEANS to

penetrate all his thoughts; as well as to know his acts。  Then he

became a slave to a horrible fear。  He fled in abject terror to a

convent。  They still existed in Paris; and behind the walls of

Jacobins the wretch thought himself secure。  Poor fool!  I had but

to set one of my somnambulists to sleep。  Her spirit went forth and

spied the shuddering wretch in his cell。  She described the street;

the gate; the convent; the very dress which he wore; and which you

saw to…day。



〃And now THIS is what happened。  In his chamber in the Rue St。

Honore; at Paris; sat a man ALONEa man who has been maligned; a

man who has been called a knave and charlatan; a man who has been

persecuted even to the death; it is said; in Roman Inquisitions;

forsooth; and elsewhere。  Ha! ha!  A man who has a mighty will。



〃And looking toward the Jacobins Convent (of which; from his

chamber; he could see the spires and trees); this man WILLED。  And

it was not yet dawn。  And he willed; and one who was lying in his

cell in the convent of Jacobins; awake and shuddering with terror

for a crime which he had committed; fell asleep。



〃But though he was asleep his eyes were open。



〃And after tossing and writhing; and clinging to the pallet; and

saying 'No; I will not go;' he rose up and donned his clothesa

gray coat; a vest of white pique; black satin small…clothes; ribbed

silk stockings; and a white stock with a steel buckle; and he

arranged his hair; and he tied his queue; all the while being in

that strange somnolence which walks; which moves; which FLIES

sometimes; which sees; which is indifferent to pain; which OBEYS。

And he put on his hat; and he went forth from his cell: and though

the dawn was not yet; he trod the corridors as seeing them。  And he

passed into the cloister; and then into the garden where lie the

ancient dead。  And he came to the wicket; which Brother Jerome was

opening just at the dawning。  And the crowd was already waiting

with their cans and bowls to receive the alms of the good brethren。



〃And he passed through the crowd and went on his way; and the few

people then abroad who marked him; said; 'Tiens!  How very odd he

looks!  He looks like a man walking in his sleep!'  This was said

by various persons:



〃By milk women; with their cans and carts; coming into the town。



〃By roysterers who had been drinking at the taverns of the Barrier;

for it was Mid…Lent。



〃By the sergeants of the watch; who eyed him sternly as he passed

near their halberds。



〃But he passed on unmoved by their halberds;



〃Unmoved by the cries of the roysterers;



〃By the market women coming with their milk and eggs。



〃He walked through the Rue St。 Honore; I say:



〃By the Rue Rambuteau;



〃By the Rue St。 Antoine;



〃By the King's Chateau of the Bastille;



〃By the Faubourg St。 Antoine。



〃And he came to No。 29 in the Rue Picpusa house which then stood

between a court and garden



〃That is; there was a building of one story; with a great coach

door。



〃Then there was a court; around which were stables; coach…houses;

offices。



〃Then there was a housea two…storied house; with a perron in

front。



〃Behind the house was a gardena garden of two hundred and fifty

French feet in length。



〃And as one hundred feet of France equal one hundred and six feet

of England; this garden; my friend; equaled exactly two hundred and

sixty…five feet of British measure。



〃In the center of the garden was a fountain and a statueor; to

speak more correctly; two statues。  One was recumbent;a man。

Over him; saber in hand; stood a Woman。



〃The man was Olofernes。  The woman was Judith。  From the head; from

the trunk; the water gushed。  It was the taste of the doctor:was

it not a droll of taste?



〃At the end of the garden was the doctor's cabinet of study。  My

faith; a singular cabinet; and singular pictures!



〃Decapitation of Charles Premier at Vitehall。



〃Decapitation of Montrose at Edimbourg。



〃Decapitation of Cinq Mars。  When I tell you that he was a man of

taste; charming!



〃Through this garden; by these statues; up these stairs; went the

pale figure of him who; the porter said; knew the way of the house。

He did。  Turning neither right nor left; he seemed to walk THROUGH

the statues; the obstacles; the flower beds; the stairs; the door;

the tables; the chairs。



〃In the corner of the room was THAT INSTRUMENT; which Guillotin had

just invented and perfected。  One day he was to lay his own head

under his own ax。  Peace be to his name!  With him I deal not!



〃In a frame of mahogany; neatly worked; was a board with a half

circle in it; over which another board fitted。  Above was a heavy

ax; which fellyou know how。  It was held up by a rope; and when

this rope was untied; or cut; the steel fell。



〃To the story which I now have to relate; you may give credence; or

not; as you will。  The sleeping man went up to that instrument。



〃He laid his head in it; asleep。〃

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