THE MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS.
Having played his little comedy with consummate skill, Coucon hastened
to the carriage he had kept waiting, and drove to the Hotel de
Monte-Cristo. He was in such haste to inform Goutran that he had
successfully fulfilled his mission, that he forgot to disembarrass
himself of his fancy costume, so that when he appeared before Madame
Caraman, the good woman uttered a cry of terror.
"It is only I--Coucon."
Madame protested against his selecting a time like this to indulge in a
masquerade.
"It is nothing of the kind," answered Coucon, impatiently. "Where is
Monsieur Goutran?"
"I have not seen the gentlemen since you went out."
"Then they must be in Miss Jane's room still?"
"I suppose so."
"We will go there at once, then."
But the Zouave was interrupted by a strange sound like that made by a
heavy hammer at some distance.
Madame turned pale.
"You know, Coucon, that I am not a coward, but I tell you I can't make
out that sound. I have heard it now for some time."
"It seems to come from the cellar."
"Yes, that is what I think. But let us tell the friends."
They by this time had reached Jane's door, on which they knocked. No
reply. Then, after knocking and listening, Madame said:
"We must go in!"
She opened the door, and both uttered a cry on finding the chamber
empty. The iron panel had closed, and no one would have suspected its
existence.
Coucon could not believe his eyes. He ran through every room, but those
they sought had vanished. They had not gone out of the hotel, for Madame
had guarded it.
"Well!" cried Coucon, "vanished like Miss Jane, like the Vicomte
Esperance!"
Hark! Again they heard the strange noise.
Coucon, born and bred in Paris, had read many novels and seen many
plays. He at once announced that the house they were in had subterranean
passages.
"But there are no doors."
"What of that!"
He dashed from the room, and came back with hammer and chisel!
"What are you going to do?"
"Demolish the house, if necessary."
Madame wrung her hands.
"We shall be forgiven if we make mistakes," said Coucon. "We can do only
our best."
And Coucon began to tear up the carpet, and then to sound the boards.
"Above," he said, looking up, "are the bath rooms, and I think we had
best begin by pulling down the hangings on the wall."
"Oh! that is wicked!"
It was of no use to argue, the Zouave had made up his mind, and he
ripped off the silk as if it had been old cotton. Madame, fired by his
example, went to work also. While they were thus frantically busy, the
door-bell rang.
"It is Miss Carmen," cried Coucon. "She may be able to tell us
something."
He hastened to the door. It was Carmen, as he had supposed.
"My friends," she said, "where is Goutran?"
"I do not know," was the reply.
"I will tell you, then. He, with Monsieur Fanfar are prisoners in this
house."
"What did I tell you!" shouted Coucon. "And now, listen--the noise has
begun again."
Seizing the hammer, Coucon struck three hard blows on the walls at
regular intervals. He waited and listened. Three blows answered him. He
struck again, varying the number, which were immediately repeated.
"Yes, it is plain. Our friends hear us, and wish to communicate with us.
But hark! they have begun." Twenty-five blows were struck, one after the
other, in quick succession. The three looked at each other, greatly
troubled.
"The twenty-five letters of the alphabet!" cried Madame.
"Yes," said Carmen, "repeat, to prove that you understand."
After repeated experiments it was found that communication was easy, and
Carmen spelled out:
"There is an iron door under the silk."
"I knew it!" Coucon exclaimed, "I had began to tear it off when you
came."
They pulled off the silk, and suddenly Coucon exclaimed:
"Here is the door!" Without well knowing what he was doing, Coucon
pressed the knob, and the panel flew open so quickly that Coucon was
nearly knocked over. "Take the light and come!" he shouted.
Carmen snatched the candelabra, and they passed through the door.
It will be remembered what happened when Goutran and his friends entered
the passage. When their feet touched the stairs the panel closed. In
fact, a secret mechanism connected the first stair with the iron door.
Those who did not know it became prisoners at once, while others simply
stepped over this stair, and so left the iron panel open. But neither
Coucon nor the others knew this. Down went Coucon's foot in the wrong
place, and the panel swung to. At the same moment Fanfar, Goutran and
Bobichel appeared. They had been guided by the light.
"Goutran!" cried Carmen, running toward him.
"What! is it you who has delivered us?"
They went back all together, to find themselves prisoners? No, for
Coucon had dropped the hammer, which accidentally fell in the aperture,
thus preventing the door from closing entirely when the spring on the
stair was touched. They were saved!
In Jane's room they held a consultation. Carmen communicated what she
had heard, and showed the note she had taken from Laisangy.
"But where is the place he speaks of?" asked Fanfar.
"I can show you," she said, quietly.
Coucon ran to the stables, and in ten minutes the carriage stood at the
door.
"Heaven grant that we arrive in time!" said Fanfar.
Alas! it was a vain hope. Much time had been lost while the three men
had been shut up. Their candles had burned out. Fanfar tore a rail from
the stairs and began to sound the wall, and suddenly they heard
themselves answered, but all the time they were at a loss to understand
how they had been able to establish such prompt communication. But this
was no time for explanation. All they now thought of was Esperance. The
carriage was driven at full speed toward Courberrie.