ESCAPED
Before Robeckal had gone with Simon, he had hurried to Rolla and told
her that he was going to Remiremont now to get some policemen.
"Our score will be settled now on one board," he said, with a wink.
The fat woman had looked at him with swimming eyes, and in a maudlin
voice replied:
"That--is--right--all--must--suffer--Caillette--also!"
"Certainly, Caillette, too," replied Robeckal, inwardly vowing to follow
his own ideas with respect to this last, and then he hurried after the
steward.
Caillette and Rolla slept in the same room; when the young girl entered
it she saw the Cannon Queen sitting in an intoxicated condition at the
table surrounded by empty bottles. The horrible woman greeted the young
girl with a coarse laugh, and as Caillette paid no attention to her,
Rolla placed her arms upon the table, and threateningly exclaimed:
"Don't put on such airs, you tight-rope princess; what will you do when
they take your Fanfaro away?"
"Take Fanfaro away? What do you mean?" asked Caillette, frightened,
overcoming her repulsion, and looking at Rolla.
"Ha! ha! ha! Now the pigeon thaws--yes, there is nothing like love,"
mocked the drunken woman. "Ah, the policemen won't let themselves be
waited for; Robeckal and the others will look out for that."
Caillette, horror-stricken, listened to the virago's words. Was she
right, and were her father and Fanfaro in danger?
"I am going to sleep now," said Rolla, "and when I wake up Fanfaro and
Girdel will have been taken care of."
Leaning back heavily in the chair, the woman closed her eyes. Caillette
waited until loud snoring told her Rolla was fast asleep, and then she
silently slipped out of the room, locked it from the outside, and
tremblingly hurried to wake her father.
As she reached Girdel's door, a dark form, which had been crouching near
the threshold, arose.
"Who's there?" asked Caillette softly.
"I, little Caillette," replied Bobichel's voice. "I am watching, because
I do not trust Robeckal."
"Oh, Bobichel, there is danger. I must waken father at once."
"What is the matter?"
"Go, wake father and tell him I must speak to him; do not lose a
minute," urged Caillette.
The clown did not ask any more questions. He hurried to wake Girdel and
Fanfaro, and then called Caillette. The young girl hastily told what she
had heard. At first Girdel shook his head doubtingly, but he soon became
pensive, and when Caillette finally said Rolla even muttered in her
sleep about an important conspiracy and papers, he could no longer
doubt.
"What shall we do?" he asked, turning to Fanfaro.
"Fly," said the young man quickly. "We owe our lives and our strength to
the fatherland and the good cause; to stay here would be to put them
both rashly at stake. Let us pray to God that it even now may not be too
late."
"So be it, let us fly. We can leave the wagon go, and take only the
horses. Is Robeckal at home?" asked Girdel, suddenly turning to
Bobichel.
"No, master, he has gone."
"Then forward," said the athlete firmly. "I will take Caillette on my
horse and you two, Fanfaro and Bobichel, mount the second animal."
"No, master, that won't do," remarked the clown, "you alone are almost
too heavy for a horse; Fanfaro must take Caillette upon his and I shall
go on foot. Do not say otherwise. My limbs can stand a great deal, and I
won't lose sight of you. Where are we going?"
"We must reach Paris as soon as possible," said Fanfaro. "Shall we wake
the landlord?"
"Not for any money," said Girdel; "we would only bring him into
trouble."
"You are right," replied Fanfaro; "we must not open the house door
either, we must go by way of the window."
"That won't be very difficult for such veterans as we are," laughed
Girdel. "Bobichel, get down at once and saddle the horses. You will find
the saddles in the large box in the wagon. But one minute--what will
become of my wife?"
The others remained silent, only Fanfaro said:
"Her present condition is such that we cannot take her along; and,
besides, there is no danger in store for her."
Girdel scratched his head in embarrassment.
"I will look after her," he finally said, and hurried out.
In about two minutes he returned.
"She is sleeping like a log," he said; "we must leave her here. Schwan
will take care of her."
In the meantime Bobichel had tied the bedclothes, opened the window, and
fastened the clothes to the window hinges. He then whispered jovially:
"Good-evening, ladies and gentlemen," and let himself slide down the
improvised rope. Caillette followed the clown, then came Girdel, and
finally Fanfaro.
"Let the clothes hang," ordered Girdel.
They all crept softly to the stable and in about five minutes were on
the street.
Bobichel ran alongside Girdel. Suddenly he stopped and hurriedly said:
"I hear the sound of horses' hoofs; we escaped just in time."
The noise Bobichel heard really came from the policemen, who had hurried
from Remiremont to Sainte-Ame and were now surrounding the Golden Sun.
Robeckal and Simon were smart enough to keep in the background. The
brigadier, a veteran soldier, knocked loudly at the house-door, and soon
the host appeared and asked what was the matter.
"Open in the name of the king," cried the brigadier impatiently.
"Policemen, oh my God!" groaned Schwan, more dead than alive. "There
must be a mistake here."
"Haven't arrested any one yet who didn't say the same thing," growled
the brigadier. "Quick, open the door and deliver up the malefactors."
"Whom shall I deliver?" asked Schwan, terror-stricken.
"Two acrobats, named Girdel and Fanfaro," was the answer.
"Girdel and Fanfaro? Oh, Mr. Brigadier, you are mistaken. What are they
accused of?"
"Treason! They are members of a secret organization, which is directed
against the monarchy."
"Impossible; it cannot be!" groaned Schwan.
"I will conduct the gentlemen," said Robeckal, coming forward.
"Scoundrel!" muttered the host, while Robeckal preceded the policemen up
the stairs, and pointed to Girdel's room.
"Open!" cried the brigadier, knocking at the door with the hilt of his
sword.
As no answer came, he burst open the door, and then uttered an oath.
"Confound them--they have fled!" exclaimed Robeckal.
"Yes, the nest is empty," said the brigadier; "look, there at the
window, the bed-sheets are still hanging with which they made their
escape."
"You are right," growled Robeckal; "but they cannot be very far off
yet."
"No; quick--to horse!" cried the brigadier to his men; and while they
got into the saddle, Robeckal looked in the stables and discovered the
loss of the two horses. The tracks were soon found, and the pursuers,
with Robeckal at the head, quickly gained the forest. But here
something singular happened. The brigadier's horse stumbled and fell,
the horse of the second policeman met with the same accident, and before
the end of two seconds two more horses, together with their riders, lay
on the ground. All four raged and cried in a horrible manner; one of
them had broken a leg, the brigadier's sword had run into his left side,
and two horses were so badly hurt that they had to be killed on the
spot.
"The devil take them!" cried Robeckal, who was looking about with his
lantern to discover the cause of these accidents, "the scoundrels have
drawn a net of thin cords from one tree to the other."
"Yes, the scoundrels happened to be smarter than other people," came a
mocking voice from the branch of an oak-tree, and looking up, Robeckal
saw the clown, who, with the quickness of an ape, had now slid down the
tree and disappeared in the bush.
"Villain!" exclaimed Robeckal, angrily, and taking a gun from one of the
policemen he fired a shot at Bobichel.
Did the shot take effect?