Part 4

"What a bouquet has that Chambertin!" said the Duke. "But go on, my friend."

"In a moment or so my mother exclaimed: 'There is something wrong. I must go and see. My husband was to come with us. It has long been so arranged.'

"With great difficulty the Duke persuaded her to run no farther risk. 'If,' he said, 'your husband has been arrested, you can do no good. If he has not, we shall soon hear, and I, myself, will seek to learn where he is.'

"This quieted her for a little while, and we sat still in the darkness, which seemed to grow deeper. I think it must have been an hour before any one spoke, but at times I could hear my mother sob. At last the baby woke up again and made doleful cries, so that the Duke said--and his was the first voice to break the long silence: 'Is there a way to make a light? It may quiet him.'

"My mother said, 'Yes'; and after groping about we found flint and steel, and presently, with a little care, there was a bit of flame and a candle lit. I declare to you, it made things look the more dismal. Later it caused us all to feel a strange and causeless elation. My mother, who was a resolute woman, began to walk about, and the baby, having been given milk, grew quiet. We boys were set to work arranging the mattresses and blankets and all the material my father had by degrees made ready for this hour of need. There was food enough for a stay of many days, and as to wine, there was of that an abundance, and also a barrel of good water.

"After our brief task was over we two little fellows sat most of that long first day beside each other, rarely opening our lips. My mother lay on a mattress, trying to keep the babe quiet, for he used his lungs dangerously well. The Duke walked to and fro restlessly, and by and by carefully put his pistols in order and laid them on a cask. After some hours he became more tranquil and even gay, and kept us all sustained by his gentle goodness and sweet temper, laughing at our fears, recalling to my mother what hopeful words my father had used, and at last almost making her sure that no one would hurt so good a man.

"When the Duke looked at his jeweled watch, which had been used to number more pleasant hours, he told us it was night, and nine o'clock. My mother said prayers, and the candle having been put out, we all lay down and slept as we could. I must have slept well, for it was nine in the morning when I awakened, and I, for one, had to think a little to recover my orientation.

"In this dismal fashion we passed two days. Then, on the third, about noon, as we had heard no noise above us, the Duke and my mother thought we might look out to see if any one were about. This, as I shall tell you, proved a sad business, and had like to have caused our ruin. But of this later.

"The Duke went up the stair, and with difficulty lifted the trapdoor so as to see a little. As no one was in sight, he heaved off the staves my father had cast down, and at last got himself out into the upper cellar. Then he went thence into the plant-house and garden, and at last boldly entered the house, in which was no one, as it had been closed, and, as we learned long after, the seal of the Republic put on the door. In a half hour the Duke returned and took me back into the house, whence we carried a number of things much needed in our cave, such as more candles, and a blanket or two, although this was chiefly for precaution, since the cellar was never cold, nor, as I think of it, damp. We hurried back, and as we did so I asked the Duke about my father. But neither he nor my mother could tell why he had been arrested, as he had managed to keep in good relations with some of the Jacobins. It was quite common to hear of the head of a house being arrested, and then, within a day or two, of the women being likewise hurried to the common fate which awaited all suspects. The Duke seemed to think my father might have had some such fear for us, and desired to put us all in safety, although how in the end this could be of use did not seem very clear.

"When we all got back to the cave and had shut the trap, I sat a long while much oppressed in my small mind; but so, too, were our elders, I fear. As to this my Duke here, he cried a little, but not so that any one knew but myself.

"In this way four miserable days and nights went by, and, thus imprisoned, we knew not what to do. We had waited long, hopeful of my father's return, and, _mon Dieu!_ he came not at all. The Duke was for going forth again at night and some way escaping alone, fearing that to be caught in our company might more surely bring us into trouble when at last we should be forced, soon or late, to come out to the light. Meanwhile, this blackness, for it was not mere darkness, became more terrible than I can make any one comprehend. As I remember, there were long talks of what to do, with vain endings, and, in between, great, awful silences."

"I used to get frightened then," said the Duke, looking up from the fire. "One seemed so absolutely alone. I used to resist for a time, and at last put out a hand to take hold of your mother's skirt for company. Once or twice the poor baby screamed so loud that he had to be kept quiet by a little _eau de vie_, lest some one coming overhead should hear; for, indeed, in this vault his cries seemed like shouts, and one heard better because one could not see. Do you remember that, Des Illes? But I used to wish that baby would cry all day."

"Do I remember? Yes, indeed. Those were not days or things to be easily forgotten. But to go on. The fifth day, when we were all of us becoming distracted, a thing took place which settled some of our doubts. It may have been about six o'clock in the evening when we heard faint noises in the upper cellar. The Duke was first, I think, to notice them; then a footfall passed over the trap, and this was only too plain. The Duke caught my arm and said quietly, 'Come here,' and so saying, drew me to the foot of the stone stairs. This was about, as you know, ten feet high. I could see nothing, but I heard his step as he went up. Then he said, 'Here is a pistol. Be ready to hand it to me--so--so; do not let the powder fall from the pan. I have one pistol. If there are two men and you are quick, these will suffice. If there are three men, we are lost.' It was dark as I stood, for we never used candles save when we ate, and to quiet the baby. I reflected quickly that, as the Duke could not have put back the staves, they who were searching must easily find the trap; and so it was, for just as he said softly, 'Keep still every one,' the trap was lifted a little and a ray of blinding candle-light shot through the narrow space. For a moment I could see nothing because of the glare. Then the trap was carefully raised still higher, and we saw the figure of a kneeling man sustaining the door with his left hand. In the other he held a lantern and a canvas bag. Luckily for us all, the Duke was a person of calm courage. He had seen that the stranger was not an agent of police. 'If you move, you are dead,' he cried, and the muzzle of a pistol on the man's breast made him for the time motionless, and perhaps quickened his wits, for he exclaimed: 'Great heavens! I am not a municipal. God forbid. I am only a thief. Be merciful, sir. I entered the house by a window, and now the officers have come in by a door and I shall be guillotined as an aristocrat.'

"'A pretty tale; I have half a mind to kill you,' said the Duke.

"'Pray the Lord keep the other half!' cried the thief.

"Upon this I heard my mother exclaim: 'No, no; let him come down.'

"'If you fire, I shall be dead, but your pistol will call these scoundrels. I have stolen only this bag of gold. Take it, sir. So saying, he let it fall on the head of this our Duke Henri, who, having crept near to listen, set up a dismal howl, because of the weight of a hundred gold louis.

"I heard the Duke, his father, call out, 'Idiot, hold your tongue! The animal is right. Come down, you rascal. I would not deny the foul fiend a refuge from these villains.'

"'Sir, you will never regret this good deed,' said the thief, and instantly two long legs were through the opening, as I stepped down to make way for our new lodger. The Duke was about to close the trap when the thief said, 'Permit me, sir,' and set about cleverly arranging the staves on the half-closed trap-door, in order that, as he let it fall, they might cover it at least in part.

"After this he descended, and, bowing in an awkward way, said, 'I am your humble servant, Madam'; and to the Duke, 'You have saved my life. It is a cheap article nowadays, but still--'

"'Enough, master thief; here am I, the Duke de St. Maur, and Madame, my friend's wife, and the baby, and these boys. Put out your lantern. God knows when we shall get out, or how this adventure will end; but, until it is over, you are a stranger within our gates, and we will feed you while our food lasts.' It seemed to me queer to be so near to a thief, but I heard my mother say something, and some one muttered an 'Ave'; it might have been the thief.

"After a little, the Duke asked him a question as to how he entered our house, and then my mother inquired if he had seen my father. He seemed a merry fellow, our thief, and so well pleased to be cared for and let live that by and by he laughed outright until the Duke bade him have a care. Nor was this at all a needless caution, because the next day, quite early on the sixth morning, we could too easily hear feet above us on the floor of the wine-vault. I heard the Duke's 'Hist!' and we were all as still as mice, except that the Duke, as before, gave me a pistol and went up the ladder to be ready. I, following him, waited a little further down. It must have been that they were making free with the wine, because some of it was spilled and ran through the trap and down my neck. It quite scared me, but in peril and in darkness a little thing will do that. One man fell over the staves, but, as the Duke told us later, he swore as if hurt, and so, I fancy, did not chance to see our trap-door. All day long we prayed and listened and watched. When, at nightfall, all sounds were over, we resolved that the Duke should take a look outside, not knowing what to do or how otherwheres to find an exit we might think to use."

"And then," said the Duke to Des Illes, as he paused in his story.

"Ah me! and then,--you remember."

"Remember? I shall never forget it,--the trap could not be moved! When this dreadful thing was discovered, both our thief and the Duke got up high on the ladder, and, with heads on one side and heaving with their shoulders, failed to open it. It was quite in vain. The thief, as usual, took a gay view of the situation. They have, said he, rolled a cask of wine on to the trap. They will drink it up, or steal it by the gallon, and when the cask is lighter we can heave it off, or--'

"'Thou art a merry sinner,' said the Duke, and even my mother laughed, and we boys. The gay noise came back dismally, thus bottled up in the narrow vault. But when we began to reflect, we knew that we were buried alive. Our thief had no end of schemes. We would bore through the door with an auger, and then bore into the barrel and let the wine run out. 'But we have no auger,' said the Duke, 'and the door is covered with sheet-iron.' 'No matter, he would think; if he walked, he could think better,' and so he moved to and fro awhile in search of wisdom.

"By this time, because our young stomachs began to cry out, we lit a candle, and my mother gave us all our portions, while I sat on the ladder top so as to hear if any one came. For a little while we were strangely cheerful, and this I saw happen whenever we lit up our vault. The baby smiled, and we moved about and made believe it was a small matter, after all. As for our thief, he was a treasure of queer stories, and you could not help but laugh, even if you were desolate the minute after.

"Our thief had made ready his lantern, and, as I said, began to prowl about into corners, and at last stumbled over our Duke's legs.

"'_Diable!_' cried the Duke. 'Put out your light; we have few enough candles; and keep quiet, too. You are as uneasy as a cat of the streets.'

"'And I am but a street cat, Monsieur, and have wisdom enough to know that the lazy eat no mice.'

"'I don't see how your stumbling about this cellar will help us or you.'

"'Who knows, Monsieur? When you are in a scrape it is never well to keep quiet. I have been in many, and worse than this--perils by sea and land, and rope--I always get out, but--Ah me, to forget them is not easy.'

"'Rope!' said the Duke. 'Indeed--'

"'Yes; they hang a fellow for so little, nowadays. You will permit, Duke, that I change the conversation; I avoid it usually. Indeed, I am careful not to tie my cravat too tight; it gives one a turn sometimes--a sort of prophetic hint.'

"'You are a droll devil,' laughed the Duke, 'and not bad company--where you can't run away with a purse. Do as you like.'

"'Thanks, Monsieur,' said the thief, and with no more words resumed a careful search, as it seemed to me, after nothing. Indeed, we young fellows laughed as he looked under and back of the casks. 'It is good to laugh,' he said, as we followed him about; 'but in my business, when there is no profit to be had, it is well to cultivate one's powers of observation.' After a while we tired of following him, and sat down; but he continued his search among the cobwebs--of which, trust me, there were enough even in those days.

"At last I saw him mount on top of some empty barrels at the far end of the cave. Unable to see behind them, he lowered his lantern between the casks and the wall of the cellar, and looked. Of a sudden he scrambled down and cried, waving his lantern: 'A thief for luck! A thief for luck!'

"'What! what!' exclaimed the Duke, rising. As to the thief, he knelt down at my mother's feet and said, looking in her face: 'Madame, God has sent you this thief to show you a way out of this grave.' My mother caught his arm and cried, 'Let this jesting cease.' He answered, 'I do not jest,' and we all leaped up and came to where he knelt.

"'What is this?' said the Duke; on which our thief turned to the end of the vault and quite easily spun aside two of the casks.

"'Look!' he said. To our surprise, there were several boards set against the wall, and between their joinings came a current of air which flared a candle-flame. 'There is a space beyond,' said the Duke. 'Is it the catacombs? And was this vault a part? See the masonry here, and over it these boards nailed fast into the cracks.' 'Horrible!' cried my poor mother. I had heard that all of the contents of the Cemetery of the Innocents had been tumbled into some of the openings of these catacombs. '_Mon Dieu_,' I cried; 'they are full of the dead!'

"'It is the live rascals I care not to meet,' laughed the thief; 'as for the dead, they are dead. All their wants are supplied. They neither steal nor kill--and there are ways out--ways out--I am sure.'

"'Pray God, my good thief, that it may be as you say,' said my mother; 'but _mon Dieu!_ one may wander far, they say, in these old quarries.' 'Let us see,' said the thief, and with a strong hand he tore away board after board, the rusted nails breaking and the rotten wood falling at his feet. There, before him and us, was a great, dark gap in the wall. Our thief held his lantern within it.

"'I see little; there is a descent. I must go and find out.'

"'Oh, be careful! You may fall--may die,' said my mother.

"'You have said that, Madame, which would send me smiling on a worse errand. Since I was of this lad's bigness, no one has so much as cared if I lived or died. I was a mere dog of the streets whom all men kicked.'

"'Poor fellow,' said my mother. 'We are alike of the company of misfortune, and perhaps from this day you may forever turn from evil.'

"'Let us waste no more time,' said the Duke; 'but have a care, or we shall lose you.'

"'If he had a long string which he might unroll,' said I. 'I saw that in a book.'

"'Good,' said the Duke, 'if we had it; but we have not.'

"'But we have,' said the thief. 'Here is Madame's knitting-ball. The lad shall hold the end, and I shall be the fish at the other end, and unroll it as I go.'

"Upon this, I, very proud, was given the end to hold, and our thief took his lantern and went on, we watching him until the light was lost because of his turning a corner. He might have been gone half an hour when he came back. My mother said to him: 'We feared for you. And now, what is your name? For if out of jest we have called you Mr. Thief, that is not to be done any more.'

"Upon this he said his name was Francois, and that in the catacombs he had gotten into a labyrinth of wet passages and seen no light anywhere. 'Indeed,' he said, 'if we venture in and lose power to come back whither we started, we may never get out alive. What with the bewilderment of many crossings, underground ways, and the armies of rats, it is a mad resort.' This notion of the rats, I confess, made me quail. So the end of it was that our new hope became but a new despair. _Mon Dieu_! 'T is a long tale."

Both Pierce and I declared our interest, which was in truth real, and he went on.

"The coming of the seventh day still found us reasonably well provisioned, and our elders discussing ways of escape, but finding none available. About noon of this day occurred an event which put an end to these discussions. All the morning there had been noises overhead, and we were kept in continual alarm. At last they were heard just over the trap, and we began to hope they were moving the cask. This, indeed, was the case. They made a great racket. To us underneath, the sounds above were such as to make us wonder what they could be doing. I suppose it was all caused by rolling the full barrels about to get at the bungs. After a while it ceased; but in an hour or so the Duke cried: 'On guard! Be ready! Quick, my other pistol!' As he stood he had now one in each hand. Instantly the trap was pulled up without hesitation or caution. There were several lighted candles standing on the barrels, and thus I saw, stooping over the opening, lantern in hand, a big municipal guard. Instantly there was the flash and roar of the Duke's pistol, and the huge brute, with a cry, pitched head down into the open trap. He rolled off the Duke's shoulder, and as he tumbled over on to me, I half fell, half leaped, and he came down with an awful crash, his head striking the floor of stone. As he fell the thief threw himself upon him. My mother cried, '_Mon Dieu!_' There was a pause--when the thief called out, 'He is dead.' As he spoke I ran up the stone stair, too curious to be afraid, and peeped under the Duke's left arm. The smoke was thick, and I saw nothing for a moment. Then a second officer ran down the stone steps of the upper cellar and drew a pistol. He had a large lantern, and as he turned it on us the Duke fired. I saw the man's right arm sink and the pistol drop; and now a strange thing happened. For a moment the man stood leaning back against a great cask. The hand in which he clutched the lantern shook violently as with a spasm. '_Diable_! That is strange,' cried the Duke. As I stood beside him in fear and wonder, the wounded officer swayed to the left, and I heard a gurgling noise and saw rush out under the man's arm a great gush of red fluid--as it seemed to me blood. Then of a sudden the man doubled up and came down in a heap on the floor. I heard him groan piteously.

"Cried the Duke, 'Stay there.' This was to me. 'Be still, all of you.' Indeed, I had no mind to move; one dead man above and one below were guards enough. The Duke went by the municipal without more than a look, saying, as he set foot on the upper stair, 'I have shot that man and the wine-barrel too. _Sacre bleu_, what a waste!' So it was good Bordeaux, and not blood. This reassured me. In a minute more I heard the Duke say cheerfully: 'All goes well. A lantern, quick! There is no one else.'

"Our thief was ready in a moment, and the two, with my small person in the rear, turned to consider the Jacobin. 'Dead, I think,' said the Duke. 'And if not, it were wise to attend to his case,' said our thief. 'No, no,' I heard my mother cry from the top of the staircase; 'we will have no more bloodshed.'

"Neither Duke nor thief said anything in reply, but laid the man in as easy a posture as could be found for one with an ounce of lead clean through him. After this they went down to look at the other officer. He was past doubt, and dead enough. 'And now,' said the Duke, 'even if we bury these two, which Madame makes impossible, other devils will infest the house, and in a few hours we shall be one and all lost to hope.'

"'There are the catacombs,' said the thief, 'and nothing else. The sooner we leave, the better our chances. No one will follow us, Monsieur.'

"'But shall we ever get out of these caves?' said my mother.

"'To stay is certain death,' returned Duke Philip.

"'And to fly by that great opening uncertain death,' said the thief. 'I like better the uncertain.'

"'We will go,' said my mother.

"Upon this the Duke bade us carry the utmost loads of wine and eatables we could support. The thief packed baskets, and strung bottles of wine and milk on cords so as to let them hang from our shoulders. Each had also a blanket, and we were thus pretty heavily loaded, but the thief carried nearly as much as all the rest together. The Duke sat down a little while to reload his own arms and those taken from the dead guard, and soon we followed one another through the great black hole in mournful procession. With one dim lantern flashing cones of light here and there on the dripping, moldy walls, we went down a slope and along a tunnel not broad enough for two to walk abreast. At the first halt I saw my mother whisper to Duke Philip, and soon after he gave to our thief the sword and pistol of the dead guard. Before and behind us was darkness. We may have gone two hundred yards, the Duke urging haste, when we came to a sharp turn in the tunnel, and stopped as if of one accord.

"The Duke cried, 'Forward! March, boys! A fine adventure, is n't it?' His cheerfulness put spirit into us all, and even the baby gave a little laugh, as if pleased; but why babies laugh no man knows, nor woman either. As for the Duke, he nor we had the least idea of where we were going. As we started down the long stone corridor, the thief cried out, 'Wait a little. I am a fool! A thief of my experience not to know better! Ye saints! An empty bottle is not more stupid!'

"'Hold!' cried the Duke, as the thief darted back up the tunnel.

"'Yes, Monsieur.' But our thief made no pause, and was heard running madly along the stone passage out of which we had just turned. '_Peste!_' said the Duke. You will never see that rascal again. He will buy his own neck with ours. We shall do well to push on and leave no traces behind us.'

"'No,' said my mother, as we stood staring after the man. 'I know not why he went, but he will come again.' And so we waited, and some fifteen minutes went by. At last said Duke Philip, impatient, 'Did any one ever trust a thief, Madame? Pray remember at least that I am free from blame.' He was vexed.

"'A thief has been trusted before,' said my mother, in her quiet way.

"'That was for the next world, not this one. We shall regret.'

"'No,' laughed the dear lady; 'for here he is, Duke.'

"He came in quick, almost breathless haste, and hardly able to say, 'Oh, it was worth while, Madame. I have the bag of gold we left, and that brigand's clothes. That I should have left a bag of gold! I of all men!'