Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 193 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

4 pn. The Man in Red. was thinking of something pleasant; for he entered the open doorway, was challenged by smiled as he rode.” Gabriel finished his toilet and said to his wife as he went out: ‘** You may not see me to-night. His majesty has no escort, and I may have to stand guard for the nonce.” She ponted a little, but submitted. | the wooden-legged invalid. ‘* Ah! itis you, Monsieur le Comte, I thought it might be the ghost.” ‘*Has any thing passed you?” ** Nothing but the air, monsieur.” Gabriel went up-stairs. At the top of the grand staircase he met Casse Tete, who said in **T wish he would not take these sudden fan- | a low voice: cies, or at Jeast let the Governor of Paris know | ‘Ah! itis you,mygeneral. That 1am glad! beforehand, so that he might send an escort. | I like not this guard duty in these musty old But I suppose you must go. A soldier’s wife has no rights.” He hurried off to the other end of the hugs old-fashioned palace, and met Roustan, who | said to him: ‘**I was coming for you, Monsieur le Comte. His majesty wishes to see you.” | | | corridors.” ‘‘ Has any thing passed you?” ‘*Nothing, my general, but I have heard noises in the wall, and steps pattering aH round _one. Parbleu, I do not like this at all. One cannot see in this cursed dark hole.” ‘*Pshaw, Casse Tete, only the.rats. This is Gabriel followed him up the dingy echoing an old palace, remember.” staircase, so deserted now. The little squad of invalids that had charge of the palace had organized a hasty guard ser- vice, and a veteran with a wooden leg was stumping up and down at the foot of the stair- case, with his musket as bright as ever. *“Good-evening, monsieur,” he said as Gabriel passed. ‘*‘ His majesty has not even brought a | | | cook with him, and we are making a ragout of | rabbit, down in the kitchen. I hope he will excuse us, in memorv of old times at Marengo.” “T fancy he will, Frappelin. Did he say he was hungry ?” ‘*No, my general, but we know him of old. He used to be careless in Italy, and I have seen the time when he was glad to take half my bread, because he had forgotten to eat all hen Gabriel went up-stairs and found the emperor in his cabinet alone pacing up and €own the room and looking thoughtful. “* Ha, count,” he cried, stopping, ‘“‘ on time, as of old. Do you remember how you were al- ways ready to do anything except get killed, when I told you? Seriously I have some work for you to-night.” **T know it, your majesty.” ** How—you know it?” “Yes, sire. I was riding home to-day from the forest, when I remembered that this was the Fourth of July.” “Exactly. Yes. SodidI. I had forgotten it till I was out on a ride and I said to myself, I will go to Fontainebleau. It may be this jt a will oe his promise and come here again. If so, I will see that he does not escape 80 easily.” “The very thought that crossed my mind, sire. Shall I take measures to catch him?’ ‘Do, count. How many men have you?” * By calling in the forest guards, sire, I can d of twenty young, active men, gend- armes—not soldiers. If your majesty has not e a * **T have not, count. I am famished.” “Then my jpvife shall attend to your majesty at once.” And Gabriel left the room to attend to his duties, as promised. CHAPTER III. THE MAN IN RED COMES AGAIN THE night of the fourth of July, 1810, unlike that of the previous year, was bright and clear with the full moon in the sky. At the moment the clocks of Paris struck midnight, the moon shone in the zenith, and the stillness was so in- tense that one in the forest might hear the dis- tant clang. ‘Not a leaf stirred in the woods, and the hares, rastling among the ferns, oe over the soft, = Rog noiselessly as spirits. Ip the midst of the forest lies the little village, @ mefo appan to the palace, and around the — that night, a score of mén were lying idden about in the bushes, under trees, in grot- toes, in all sorts of places, watching with loaded carbines to see if any one would come. Aus they heard the last faint echo of the clocks in Muris, every man stirred and glared round him into the moonlight, hoping to discover something. They were Gabriel’s louvetiers and the forest guards waiting for The Man in Red, should he CONTA. Presently one of them called out in a hoarse whisper: ” Do you see anything, Martin?” ** Not I,” retorts the man addressed, ‘If this be the time he cores, he’s not coming.” ‘*Hollo! what’s that?’ cries a third, and as he speaks something gray scutters across the garden. The other men laugh. **Only a rabbit, man.” ‘Gros Pierre thought it was the ghost,” ** Look how pale he is.” And then they are silent and watcbful again, tor they hear a footstep on the walk which they know well, and presently the Count of Friedland comes by, asking: ‘* Well, have you seen anything?” ‘‘ Nothing, monsieur,” is the answer ‘‘If it’s aman, he’s a deep one, Not a soul has passed this way.” The count went on. to the palace, and, as he a ea ee a eee ee ** Rats don’t laugh, my general, and I’ll swear I heard a laugh a little while ago that might have come from the devil or one of his imps. Feel my band.” Gabriel found it bathed in sweat, and said in surprise: ‘Why, Casse Tete, I believe you are actually afraid of nothing at all.” “| am,” was the frank admission. ‘ Give me anything I can see, my general, and I’ll face it; but the devil take these dark holes and rats that laugh.” , ‘* When did you hear this laugh?’ asked the count quickly. ‘* Not ten minutes ago, my general. I only wish I'd dared strike a light; but it was against the orders.” ‘* Whence came the laugh?” ‘From behind me, general.” ‘*Where were you standing?” ‘‘Here, my general: looking down-stairs to catch a glimpse of the moonlight for a bit of wae es And when I looked round, there was nothing but the bare wall. IL prodded it with my sword, and brought down a lot of plaster.’ ‘“ Very well. Remain on your post. .If you | wish now to strike a light, you can smoke a ipe.” Then the count went toward the suit of rooms occupied by the emperor and found them lighted up. n the ante-room, Roustan, looking as quiet and impassive as ever, sat on a sofa, his legs crossed in the old Egyptian fashion, and smoked sedately at a short chibouque that he was never without. ‘Has anything passed, Roustan?”’ asked the count of the grave Mameluke. : Roustan shook his head. | Then Gabriel went on through two more rooms, till he came to the emperor’s own cabinet, where he found the first man in France quietly reading Ossian. He looked up and smiled: ** Well, count?’ Nothing has been seen, sire. One of the sentries, to be sure, heard a laugh, but that I os to be his imagination.” he emperor tranquilly closed his book, ‘*He has been here, after all,” ‘Here, sire? Impossible!” ‘*' So I should have said, bad I not seen him with my owneyes. He was here and he came through the very door by which you entered.” ‘Then there must be secret passages in the thickness of the walls, of which we do not st So and this fellow is acquainted with them. : The emperor shrugged his shoulders. ‘* After all, it is but a small matter. Ihavea curiosity to know who he is, on account of his very boldness and skill. I have a mind to set Fouche on him, only—” “Only what, sire?” ** Only that I fear he is at the bottom of the trick now, in some way,” said the emperor, dryly. ‘He loves to mystify, this Dukes of Otranto. I was foolish to come here, I might have known— Never mind. Good-night, count,” And the emperor threw himself back on the sofa on which he was sitting, and closed his eyes with his usual brusque disregard of eti- uette. 4 As for Gobriel, he did not Aare to ask what The Red Man had said. Enough for bim that he had been there, in spite of all the guards. He was deeply and sincerely mortified at first, and was about to retire, when the emperor opened bis eyes and said: “ By-the-by. count, it is not necessary to speak of this to any one.” ‘No, sire. I have only one consolation.” “* And what is that?” ‘‘ That 1 have a clew to this man at last.” The emperor looked interested. **How? in what way?” ‘* Your majesty says be came through that doorway?” ‘But he did not pass Roustan, who is in the third room from this.” “IT see. So he must have entered through the wall of one of them, for they have no side doors.” ‘‘But the corridor is on one side, sire. So there is probably a door hidden in one of those rooms. The laugh which Casse Tete beard in the corridor must bave come from him, so that we have found sc much about him. He was im the corridor. How came he there? He did not come through the garden or my men would bave seen him in the moonlight. He must have entered therefore by an underground passage which opened into the palace. ‘* Wel reasoned, count,” said the empero:. smiling. ‘ But I know nothing of such a pas- sare.” ‘* Nor I, sire; but if such a passage exists-— aud jt is more than prot able it does—the only peop’ likely to know anything about it would e members of the old court, whose families. bave lived here since it was built three hun- dred years ago.” The emperor looked thoughtful. ‘‘ You think it is some Chouan, then?” ‘‘T do, sire. It is strange that the soldiers of the Guard say that it is the ghost of the Duke of Enghien.” The emperor’s face clouded. ** Who says so?” ‘* A mere rumor, sire.” ‘*‘An absurd one, count, most absurd. The Duke of Enghien was a fair, rather stout young man, this is a tall, cadaverous creature, thinner than even your Casse Tete. If I thought some one were playing the fool at my expense, mas- querading as the dead duke, I would—” He broke off, and said, after a pause: ‘‘ Besides, I fancy he is only a madman. He does not attempt to harm me, though I have a pair of pistols ready for him if he does, He only vents his spleen in prophecies. What do you suppose he said to-night?” | **T cannot fancy, sire.” The emperor smiled, ‘* He told me again that he would meet me at Moscow, and warned me that I had only ten years more to live, of which five should be passed in prison.” Gabriel could not help a Jaugh, ‘‘The man is a wild lunatic, sire; but I will find him out yet, if your majesty gives me leave to try.” ‘Try and welcome. I may makea duke of you, if you do it soon.” a CHAPTER IV. A NIGHT STROLL IN PARIS. Tue streets of Paris were all aglitter with lamps, and the trees on the Boulevards were hung with Chinese lanterns, while the crowds that crushed to and fro showed that a public holiday was on foot. Fireworks were going off, guns booming, bands playing, lemonade men c g th wares, children screaming for their mothers, mothers for their children, lost in the crowd and over all, ia the gardens of the eries, rose up a grand flery legend, that read: WAGRAM., It was the night of the fifth of July, arid they were celebrating the anniversary of the battle, which had, for one result, the gift of a new empress to France. In the midst of the crowd that gazed on the fireworks and moved about among the people, were two tall, shabbily-dressed men, one of whom might have been handsome, but for g black patch over his right eye, while the other was rendered as grim and ugly as it was ible to be, by two huge scars, that seamed face on each side of the nose, and parted the — of his long — ren get bey went sidling about among the crow if leaking for some one, and the dae presently whispered: ‘‘There’s nota man in the crowd as tal] as ourselves, my general. He is not here,” ‘Don’t be impatient,” was the answer of the man with the patch over his eye, “TE takes time to find out anything in such a crowd. Any time you see a tall man, getnear him, I should a the face ge eait ce ere’s a tall m ere,” rejoined Ca Tete. ‘Standing by the chestnut stall teyine a measure of hot ones. He’s tall enough, in a ee. - a = ‘hey edge roug @ crowd tow tall man who was bargaifing for the ot Bre and found, when they got near, that he was a sapper, with a beard like that of a bull buffalo and a voice of such ponderous base, that Count Gabriel had to smother a laugh as the sapper growled to the timid little chestnut woman: ‘Three sous! Gracious heavens! ousan thunders! Thousand bombsneliat ie is ws much for a half-pint of ch-’-uts! You are an extortionate old usurer. catch your soul and fr tor your avaricious dealiug. Do you not reucct that I am a poor soldier that lives on two sous a day, and that you are rolling in riches?” ‘Rolling in riches! oh, mon Dieu!” timidly bleated the little chestnut woman, looking up at the huge bulk of the sapper. ‘Please, mon- sicur, give me my three sous.” ‘‘Here they sre, accursed Jewess, blood- sucker of the ‘oulevards, with thy stockings at home bursting, with gold. Here they are. the Evil One will comicbooks com 4 ; @ - =--”©6h