Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 190 — page 70: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

4 ee ee — ee ee ee —=< | ee -- ------ 7 2 — eo ——— SSS = aol Ze t —_ a is — ee Fe A A — x S_e e CS att o * roa - “*. - ——- m — ee ee “ the path she had taken; had, like Athos observed -_ Dut little freqnented. Nevertheleless, Athos evidently was looking out for someone, of whom he could ask a questian. At last, he met a late paasenger, went up to him, and spoke a Tew w The man he addressed started back In fear; but yet he anawered the inquiry of the musketeer by a ge Athos offered the man half a pistole to accompany him, but he refused it. Athos then proceeded down the street which the man had pointed ont with his tinger; but, reaching a spot where several streets met, he stoppec ee in visible embar- rassment. But, as this was a more likely place than any other for some one to be seen, Athos waited there. In fact, in an instant after, a watchman passed. Athos repeated the uestion he had already asked of the person he first met. he watchman showed the same terror, and also refused to am one him; but he pointed to the road he was to take. Athos walked in the direction indicated, and soon reached the suburbs of the town, in the opposite direction to that by which he and his companions had entered. There he again appeared uneasy and embarrassed, and sto for the third time, Fortunately, a beggar who was paasing by, came up to solicit alms. Athos offered him a crown to ng oes im where he was going. The begrar hesitated an ins os f but, at the t of the piece of silver shining in the darkneas, he assented, and walked before Athos. Having igmge A ng corner of the street, he pointed out, at ad , a l, isolated, melancholy-looking house, to which Athos proceeded ; whilst the beggar, who had received his wages, took himself off at his utmost speed. Athos walked quite around this house before he could dis- tinguish the door amid the red color with which the hut was painted. No light pierced through the crevices of tli> shut- rs; no sound gave reason to suppose it wag inhaliied; it was sad and silent asatomb. Athos knocked three tiunes be- fore any answer was . At the thir d knock, how- ever, steps were heard hing, the door was N uncl , and a man of tall stature, pale complexion, anc dlack beard andfuair red. Athoa exchanged a few m D a whiper., and then the tall man made a to the musketeer that he might come in. Athos imme- otetaly availed himself of the permission, and the door closed behind him. The man whom Athos had come so far to seek, and whom he had found with so much difficulty, took him Into a labratory, where he was engaged in joining Copscees with iron wires, the clattering bones of a skeleton. All the body was already adjusted, and the head alone was lying on the table. All the furniture indicated that the owner of the room in which they were was engaged in natural science. There were bottles, full of serpents, labeled according to thetr kinds; and dried lizards, shining like emeralds, set in large frames of black wood. And, lastly, boxes of wild, sweet- smelling ye gifted undoubted! with virtues unknown to mankind in general, were fastened to the ceiling, and hung n the corners of the room. But there was no lly, no rvant; the tall man inhabited the house alone, “Athos cast a cold and indifferent glance on the objects we have just described, and, on the invitation of the man whom he had come to seek, sat down beside him, He then explain- ed the cause of his visit, and the service he required of him; bat, scarcely had he stated his demand, before the stranger who had remained standing before the musketeer, starte back in affright, and refused. Athos then drew from his pocket a small paper, on which two lines and a signature were written, accompanied by a sead, and presented it to him who had so prematurely shown these signs of repugnance. The tall man had scarcely read the two lines, and seen the signa- ture, andr ized the seal, before he bowed his head as a token that he had no longer had any objection to make, and g@iat he was ety to obe Athos demanded nothi more; he arose, left the house, returned by the road he h bs and re-entering the hotel, shut himself up in his own At daybreak, d’Artagnan entered his room, and asked him what they were to do. ** Wait,’ replied Athos. A few moments after, the superior of the convent sent to inform the musketeers that the funeral would take place at mid-day. As for the murderess, no tidings of her had been heard. It was, however, clear, that she must have fled the garden, on the gravel-paths of which the traces of her steps could be discerned, and the door of which had been found locked, and the key missing. At the appointed hour, Lord de Winter and the four friends proceeded the convent. The bells were sounding, the chapel was open, and the grating of the choir alone was closed. In the midst of the choir the body of the victim, clothed in the dress of a novice, lay exposed. On every side of the choir, and behind the grating leading to the convent, the whole community of the Carmolites was assembled, lis- tening to the sacred service, and mingling their strains with the songs of the priests, without seeing thé profane, or being seen by them. At the door of the chapel d’Artagnan felt his resolution yorering sgetn. and turned to look for Athos; but he had a . Faithful to his mission of vengeance, Athos had been shown intothe garden, and there, on the gravel, fel- lowing the light steps of that woman who had left a track of plood wherever she had passed, he proceeded on until he reached the door which opened on the wood. He had this door unclosed, and plunged into the forest. But, there, all his suspicious were confirmed, The road by which the car- riage had disappeared, skirted the wood. Athos followed the road for some distance, with his eyes fixed upon the ground. Slight spots of blood, which proceeded from a wound inflicted either on the courier or one of the horses, were perceptible on the About three quarters of a league off, and fifty paces from Festubert, a large spot of blood was visible, and the ground was trodden by horses, Between the wood and this denunciatory spot, and rather behind the trampled earth, traces of the same small steps as those in the garden were yep tpt The carriage, therefore, had waited ae and here her ladyship had left the wood, and got n . Satisfied with this discovery, which confirmed all his con- jJectures, Athos returned to the hotel, where he found Planchet. impatiently awaiting him. Everything had hap- pened exactly as Athos had foreseen. Planchet had 2 he the marks of blood, like Athos, too, he had discerned the spot wheres the carriage stopped. But he had gone on further than Athos; so that, in the village of Festubert whilst drinki in a tavern, he had, without the trouble of inquiry, learned that, at half-past eight on the vious even- ing, a wounded man, who attended a lady traveli in a rriage, had been obliged to stop, from Inability to pro- 2cod further. The accident had been imputed to robbers, who had stopped the carriage in the wood. The man had remained in the village, but the woman had exchanged horses, and proceeded on her journey. Planchet huhted out the postilion who had driven'the car- riage, and found him, He had taken the lady to Fontenelles, an m Fontenelles she had gone on towards Armentieres, Planchet had taken a cross-road, and at half-past seven in the morning he was at Armentieres. There was only one ho- tel there, and Planchet presented himself at itas a servant who was looking ont for a situation. He had not talked ten minutes with the servants of the inn, before he ascertained that a Woman had arrived alone at ten o’clock the night be- fore, had taken a room, had sent for the landlord and had gold him that she wished to remain for some time in the neighborhood, Plaochet wanted to know nothing more, He Ee nn TT ty THE THREE GUARDSMEN. hastened to the place of appointment found the three other valets at their posta, placed them as sentinels at all the out- lets from the hotel, and returned to Athos, who had fin- ished receiving this information from Planchet when his friends returned. All their faces were indicative of gloom—even the gentle countenance of Aramis. **What must we do?” said d’Artagnan. “Wait!” replied Athos. Fach retl to his own chamber. At eight o'clock in the evening, Athos ordered the horses to be saddled, and soon Lord de Winter and his friends prepar- ed for the expedition. Inan instant all the five were ready. Each looked at his arms, and put them in order. Athos came down the last, and found d’Artagnan already mounted, and impatient. * Patience,” sald Athos; “* there 1s still some one want ing.” Tie four horsemen looked around themin astonishment, for they sought in vain in their owp minda, who could be the one still wanting. 7 At this moment Planchet bed OP Athos’s horse, The mus- keteer le lightty into the e. * Wait for me,” said be; “I sball be back directly.”” And he went off at a gallop, A quarter of an bour afterwards, he returned, accompanied by a man who wore a mask, and was wrapped ina cloak. Lord de Winter and the three musketeers questioned one an- other by their glances, but none ofthem could give any tn- formation to the others, tor al) were ignorant t this man. And ie they concluded that it was aa it ought to be, since it was Athos who had so arranged it. _At nine o'clock, ded by Planchet, the little cavalcade its march, taking the same road that the carri had followed. There was something mournful in the sight of these six men, riding in silence, each buried in his own thoughts, melancholy as despair, gloomy as revenge, CHAPTER LXIL THE JUDGMENT. Ir was a dark and stormy night, Large clouds careered along the heavens, vailing the brightness ofthe stars. The moon would not arise till midnight. Sometimes, by the light of a flash that shone upon the horizon, the road became per- ceptible, stretching itself, white, and solitary, before them, and then, the flash extinguished, everything again was gloom At every Instant Athos was obliged tocheck d'A - nan, who was always at the head of the little troop, and to compel him to take his place inthe rank, which, a moment afterwards, he quitted again. He had only one thonght— to go forward—and he went. They passed in silence through the yillage of Festubert, where the wounded servant had been left, and then they skirted the village of Richebourg. Having reached Herlier, Planchet, who guided the party, turned to the left, On several occasions, either Lord de Winter or Porthos, or Aramis, had endeavored to address some remark to the man in the red cloak, but, at each saneurognsset he had bowed his head without reply. The travelers had thas comprehend. ed that there was some reason for the stranger's silence, and they had ceased to speak to him. The storm, too, became more violent: flashes rapidly suc- eded one another; the thunder began to roll; and the wind, the precursor of the hurricane, whietled through the feathers and the hair of the horsemen. The cavalcade broke into a fast trot. A little way beyond Fromelies the storm burst forth. There were still three leagues to travel; and they went them amidst torrents of rain. DA an had taken off his hat and did not wear hie cloak. He found some pleasure in letting the water flow over oe burning brow and over his body, agitated by the heats of ever. At the moment that the little troop had passed beyond Goskal, and was just arriving at the post-house, a man who, in the darkness, had been confounded with the trunk of a tree under which he had sheltered himself, advanced into the middle of the road, placing his finger on his lips. Athos nized Grimaud. “What is the matter now ?” exclaimed d'Artagnan, ‘Can she have quitted Armentieres ?”” Grimaud gave an affirmative nod of the head. D’Artagnan ground his teeth. **Silence! d’Artagnan,’’ said Athos: “‘T have taken charge of everything, and it is my business, therefore, to question Grimaud.”’ ** Where is she?’ demanded Athos. Grimaud stretched forth his hand in the direction of the ys. ** Ts it far from here ?” Grimaud presented his forefinger bent, ** Alone ?” demanded Athos, Grimaud made a sign that she was. ** Gentlemen,” said Athos, “she is half a league from this this place, in the direction of the river.” “Good!” said d’Artagnan: “lead us on, Grimand,”’ Grimaud took a cross-road, and guided the cavalcade, At the end of about five hundred yards they found a stream which they forded. By the light of a, flash, they perceive the village of Erquinheim. **Is it there!’ demanded d’Artagnan. Grimand shook his head negatively. ** Silence there!’’ said Athos. The troop proceeded on its way. Another flash blazed forth: and, by the bluish light of the serpentine flame, a small solitary house waa perceptible on the bank of the river, not far from a ferry. There was a light at one window. ** We are there,” said Athos. At that moment a man, who was lying down in a ditch, arose, It was Mousqueton. He pointed with his finger to the window with the light. ‘She is there,” said he. ‘And Bazin?’ demanded Athos. “ Whilst | watched the window, he watched the door.” “Good! said Athos; “ you are all faithful servants.” Athos leaped from his horse, of which he gave the bridle into the hands of Grimaud, and advanced in the direction of the window, after having made a sign to the remainder of the troop to proceed towards the door, The small house was surrounded by a quickset hedge of two or three feet in hei ght, Athos sprang over the hedge, and went,up to the window which had no shutters on the outside, opt of which the short curtains were closely drawn. He climbed upon the ledge of the stone, that his eye might be above the level of the cur- tains. By the light of a lamp, he could perceive a woman, covered by a dark-colored cloak, seated on a stool before an expiring fire. Her elbows were placed upon a wretched table, and she rested her head on her hands which were as white as ivory. Her face was not visible, but an inauspicious smile arose upon the lips of Athos. Hewasnot mistaken, He had, in truth, found the woman that he sought. At this moment a horse neighed. Her ladyship raised her head, saw the pale face of Athos staring through the window, and screamed out. Perceiving that he had been seen, Athos pushed the win- dow with his hand and knee: it gave way; the panes were broken, and Athos, like a spectre of vengeance, leaped into the room, Her ladyship ran toThe door and openedit. Pater, and more threatening than even Athes himself, d'Artagnan was standing on the aill. Her ladyship started back, and screamed. D’Artagnan, eo that she had some means of flight, and fearing that she might escape them, drew out ® pistol from his belt. But Athos raised hjs band. ‘Replace your weapon, d’Artagnan,¥ said he; “ It is im- perative that this woman should be ju and not assassi- nated. Wait awhile, d’Artagnan, and you shall be satisfied. Come in, gentlemen,"’ ; D'Artagnan obeyed; for Athos bad the solemn voice and the authoritative air of a judge commissioned by the Deity himself, Behind d'Artagnan there came Porthos, Aramis, Lord de Winter, and the man in the red cloak. The four valeta watched at the door and window. Her ladyship had sunk upon her seat, with her bands stretched out, as if to ex- orcise this terrible apparition, On seeing her brother-in-‘aw, she uttered a fearful scream. * What do you want ?”’ demanded her ladyship. ‘We seek,’ said Athos, ‘Anne de Breull, who was called, first, the Countess de la Fere, then Lady de Winter, baronness of Shetfield.”’ ; “T am that person,’ murmured she, overwhelmed with’ surprise. “ What do you want with me?’ ‘We want Lo judge you according to your crimes,”’ said Athos. *“* You will ce ree todefend yourself; and to ey rour conduct, if youcan. M. d’Artagnan, you must the t accuser.’’ " D’Artagnan came forward. ‘ Before God and men,’ said he, “I accuse this woman of having poisoned Constance Bo- nancieux,who died last night.” He turned towards Aramis and Porthos. “‘Wecan bear witness to it,” said the two musketeers at the same time, D'Artagnan continued: ** Before God and before men, I accuse this woman of hav- ing wished to poison me with some wine, which she sent me from Villeroi, with ote letter, as if the wine had come from my frienda. preserved me; but a man named Brisemont was killed instead of me.”’ ‘*We bear witness to this,” said Porthos and Aramls, as with one voice. ** Before God and before men,” continued ac Drea ee, re! accuse this woman of having urged me to the murder of the Baron de Wardes; and, as no one is present to bear witness to it, I myself will attest it. I have done.’’ And d’Artagnan ye over to the other side of the room, with Porthos and amis, ‘* It is now for you to speak, my lord,"’ said Athos. The baron came forward in histurn. ‘“ Before God and be- fore men,’’ said he, ‘‘I accuse this woman of having caused the Duke of Buckingham to be assassinated,”’ “The Duke of Buckingham assassinated!’’ exclaimed all, with one accord. ‘** Yes,’ sald the baron, “assassinated. From the warnin letter which you sent me, I caused this woman to be and put her under the custody of a faithful follower, corrupted that man; she placed the dagger in his hand; she made him kill the duke; and at this moment, perhaps, Fel- ton has paid with his head for the crimes of this fury.’ A shudder ran through the company at the re these hitherto unknown crimes. ‘This is not all,” resumed Lord de Winter. ‘ My brother, who had made you his heiress, died in three hours of a str malady, which left livid spots on his body. Sister, how your huaband die?” **Oh, horror!’ exclaimed Porthos and Aramis. * Assassinator of Buckingham; assassinator of Felton; aa sassinator of my brother, I demand justice on you; an clare, that, if it be not accorded to me, I will execute it my- Lord de Winter ranged himself by the side of d’Artagnan, leaving his place open to another accuser, ler ladyship’s head sank upon her hands, and ahe endeav- ored to recall her thoughts, which were confounded by a deadly giddiness, *“Itis now my turn,” said Athos, trembling as the lio trembles at the aspect of aserpent: “it la now my tu married this woman when she was a young girl. I married in spite of all my family. I gave her my BOOnerty I gave her my name; and one day I discovered that this woman was branded—this woman bore the mark of a fleur-de-lis upon the lett shoulder. **Oh!” said her ladyship, rising, *“‘ I defy you to find the t bunal which pronounced on me that infamous sentence— defy you to find the man who executed it.”’ ‘Silence!’ exclaimed the voice. ‘It is for me to answer that.’’ And the man in the red cloak came forward. “Who is that man? What is that man?’ cried out her ladyship, suffocated with terror, and with her hair raising itself up on her head, as if it had been endowed with life, Every eye was turned towards that man, for he was un- known to all except Athos. And even Athos looked at him with as much astonishment as the ornate Desert Bes how he could be connected with the horrible drama which was at that moment enacting there. After slowly and sol- emnly approaching her ladyship, till the table alone separa- ted them, the stranger took off his mask. Her ladyship looked for some time with increasing terror at that pale countenance, begirt with black hair, of which the only expression was that of a stern and frozen insensibility; then, suddenly rising, and retreating towards the wall: ‘Oh! no, no,’’ exclaimed she, “it is an Infernal apparition? it is not he. Help! help!"’ she screamed out, In a hoarse, still pressing towards the wall, as if she could open &@ passage through it with her hands. ‘But who are you?” exclaimed all the witnesses of this scene. * Ask this woman,” said the man in the red cloak, “for you see plainly that she has recognized me.” ‘The executioner of Lille] the executioner of Lille!” ‘eried her ladyship, overcome by wild affright, and clinging to