“THA MUST NOT CRY OUT, LASS”
Humphrey Trail called himself all sorts of names as he stood in the
shadow near the side entrance to the Saint Frère house that night. The
sleet was changing into snow which gave no evidence of abating. Humphrey
tied his scarf closer about his throat and shifted from one fat leg to
the other. What a goose he was to come every evening and stand in the
shadow of such a gloomy, proud-looking house just because he was
interested in being of service to the proud boy who lived within it, and
who, perhaps, did not care a ha’penny whether he stood there in the
sleet and wind or not!
It was a fortnight since Humphrey had seen Lisle in the bakery shop and
had given him the Saint Antoine address. He had not seen him since and
he could only comfort himself with the thought that the boy knew where
to find him. It was hard for Humphrey, as he knew so little of all that
was going on and did not dare to ask questions of any one. Once he had
seen the servant Henri coming out of the bakery shop with a package, but
he had felt it wiser not to speak with him. Lisle had said that they did
not know whether or not they could trust Henri. Humphrey’s heart warmed
as he remembered how the lad had confided in him that night outside the
bakery shop. It comforted him as he stood there in the storm. He had
changed his position so that instead of facing the side of the house, he
faced the front. It was not wise as a rule to do this, or so he had
felt, because the position was too public and open, even in the
darkness, but to-night the blizzardy snow made it safe enough.
Poor Humphrey, how his heart thumped when suddenly voices caught his
ear! He had no time to be alarmed for himself or to do more than stand
close to the wall when these words reached him: “The door by the
basement steps.” Then followed a sentence or two which Humphrey could
not understand. Then he heard the words, “The girl!”
Two figures made their way down the side street, away from the house.
Humphrey watched them until they were out of sight. Then, looking back
at the great mansion, he saw that the entrance door was being opened by
some one who seemed to find the process difficult, and the next moment a
little girl peered out into the storm. She glanced up and down the
street, trying, evidently in vain, to distinguish something besides the
swirling snow. Then she went inside, and the heavy door closed behind
her.
Humphrey at all times found it difficult to think quickly, but he knew
that he must do so this one time. He could only surmise, from the few
words which he had overheard, that Lisle had been seen in the cellar, or
was to be decoyed there. The incident of the little girl’s coming to the
door, as though in search of some one, convinced him that she was
looking for Lisle. He thought he had recognized Henri in one of the men
who had passed by him, but he was not sure. He wondered why they had
gone away from the house, instead of entering it. He was thankful that
they had not done so, but the fact was borne in upon him that Lisle had
been abducted either by the men whom he had seen or by their
accomplices. He felt fairly sure that they would return for Rosanne and,
as he walked rapidly around the side of the house, he tried to think
what it was best to do.
He found to his relief that the cellar door was open, and he slipped
inside and made his way to the staircase, stumbling over the wood that
Lisle had dropped. He climbed the stairs cautiously and passed quickly
down the long corridors, pausing when he came to the great entrance
hall. A door at one side stood open, and he could see a spacious,
candle-lit room beyond. It was the salon, and as he entered it he saw
the little girl standing by the fireplace. As he started to cross the
room, he spoke so as not to startle her too much.
“Tha has nought to fear, little lady. 'Tis Humphrey Trail, and Monsieur
Lisle has spoken of tha to me!” he said.
It was wise of Humphrey to speak so to Rosanne, for, instead of fear,
she felt relief at once, and ran across the room to meet him, saying
eagerly: “Where is Lisle? Yes, he spoke of you last night. He said he
trusted you out of all Paris. He went to the cellar for wood quite
awhile ago. He said to stay here, and I did for such a long time. Then I
went to the hall and called him. He did not come, so I opened the front
door and looked out. Where is Lisle, Humphrey Trail?” Rosanne’s voice
broke as she put this question to the farmer, and she had to try very
hard not to cry.
Humphrey beamed upon her, and there was something so reassuring in his
smile that Rosanne smiled, too, through her tears. “Tha’ll be a brave
lass for his sake and the sake of those tha hold dear. I’ll give my life
to find tha lad, but now tha must come with me as quick as ever tha can.
Tha must trust Humphrey Trail. If th’art not a brave girl, I canna help
tha!”
While he was speaking Humphrey had gathered up a heavy, velvet drapery
which lay across the inlaid mother-of-pearl table near the fireplace,
and before Rosanne could think he had wrapped it around her. “The cold
is bitter. I’ll hold tha close,” he said.
He lifted Rosanne in his arms and glanced back at the shadowy doorway.
She put both her arms around him and looked up at him, her bewildered
brown eyes shining bravely.
“I’m not afraid, Humphrey Trail, and I do trust you. You’ll take me to
Lisle, won’t you? You’ll promise to find Lisle for me!” she said. He
nodded and whispered:
“I’ll try!”
He moved cautiously across the room and when he reached the hall he
paused, putting up his hand to warn Rosanne not to speak. He thought
that he had heard a sound. As he stood there, holding Rosanne closely
wrapped in the blue velvet table cover, he saw the front door open
slowly, and he knew that those who had taken Lisle away had come back
for Rosanne. He knew, too, that a great deal depended on her, and he
spoke quietly in her ear.
“Tha has nought to fear. I know well how to take tha away but tha must
not cry out, lass, not for a’ the world!” Rosanne nodded her head for
answer, and Humphrey crept with her along the hall, keeping in the
shadow until he came to the turn which took them down the long corridor.
He began to run when he had turned the corner, and he did not stop until
he reached the top of the cellar stairs. He knew that the men would find
out at once that Rosanne was not in the salon and would begin to hunt
for her. They might think that she had gone to the cellar to look for
Lisle, knowing that he had gone there for wood, and they would follow.
He was right.
It was necessary to take the steep stairs carefully, for it was very
dark, and there were deep, worn places, like holes, in the stone steps.
He nearly fell once, and had to stop to steady himself for a moment and
to get his breath before he could go on. When he reached the bottom of
the stairs, he listened intently but heard no sound except the scurry of
rats in the wall near them; so, lifting Rosanne to his shoulder and
wrapping the table cover more closely about her, he went swiftly across
the cellar and through the half-open door, out into the winter night.
He kept well in the shadow of the great house until he came to the side
street, and then he started to run. As we know, he was short and fat,
and Rosanne was not a very light weight. He kept up a sort of jogging
trot, and, finally, feeling sure now that no one was pursuing them, he
began to walk. The snow was so dense that he had little fear of being
noticed by passers-by, and every now and then he stopped to rest. Once
when he stopped Rosanne’s voice reached him from under the velvet
mantle.
“I can walk quite well in spite of the storm, Humphrey Trail,” she said,
but he answered:
“T’is wiser this way, lass. Th’art indeed a brave enough lass.”
Humphrey’s heart was sorely troubled. There was only one place that he
could take Rosanne, and that was to his lodgings in the alley! He felt
very helpless as they came into the rue Saint Antoine. The street seemed
dreary and dingy, even through the lovely falling snow. He had come to
Paris for the first holiday in all his work-a-day farmer’s life and one
after another adventures had come to him, and with them the need to
think and plan.
There was no time just then to think or plan, at least not until they
were safe indoors. Humphrey, in spite of the storm, turned the right
number of corners and reached the alley in safety. Once inside the door
of his poor abode he placed Rosanne gently on her feet.
“Listen, little lady. This is but a poor place I bring tha to, poor
indeed and cold, but it is safe and if tha can be brave and bear with
it, tha will be helping me to find Master Lisle.” Humphrey spoke very
earnestly, and Rosanne, although she could not see his face in the
darkness of the chill hall, knew that he was waiting anxiously for her
answer.
“I shall try to be brave so that you can find Lisle, Humphrey Trail,”
she answered, and, putting her hand in his broad hard one, mounted the
rickety staircase with him.
Humphrey opened the door on the first landing and called “Vivi.” A voice
answered eagerly:
“Yes, yes!”
Humphrey came into the room with Rosanne’s hand in his. He closed the
door and walked with Rosanne over to the window where Vivi was standing
with Minuit in her arms. The two girls stared at each other. Vivi looked
the longest, but it was not because she was any more surprised than
Rosanne; it was only because Rosanne had been taught that it was not
right to show one’s surprise too much, or to stare too openly at any
one.
“Who is that?” Vivi asked, pointing at Rosanne over the dark curve of
Minuit’s lean body.
Before he could answer Rosanne looked up at Humphrey and exclaimed:
“She’s a little like Marie Josephine! It’s odd, but she is!”
When Rosanne said this Humphrey felt a sudden great relief. Little Vivi
would help him. He had not thought of that before. The two girls would
help each other, each in her own way, lonely Vivi and lonely Rosanne,
and in his big heart Humphrey vowed that he would take care of both of
them.
“This is a new friend for you and Minuit, Vivi,” he answered. “She is
cold and tired and she is lonely, too. Sit close by her here on the cot
while I make up the fire. You should not have let it go out for I left
you plenty of wood!”
Vivi and Rosanne sat down on the cot, glancing shyly at each other.
Minuit sat on Vivi’s knee and looked distrustfully at Rosanne, who
stroked his bony back timidly.
Humphrey went over to the rude fireplace, and after some puffing of his
fat cheeks, and shoving of paper here and there, started a good blaze.
When the wood was burning nicely he put a very small shovelful of coal
on top of it. Then he came back and spoke to the two children on the
cot.
“Listen well to what I say, please, tha in particular, Miss Rosanne, as,
perhaps, I’d best be calling tha. Vivi does not understand much that I
say. I am going abroad now for food. I may be back within a half hour.
Th’art to bolt the door after me when I go, and th’art not to let any
one in but me. Tha will know me because I’ll say 'Buns’ very loud
outside the door. Tell Vivi what I have said to thee. Tell her she must
na open to any one!”
Rosanne promised. “I’ll not let any one in who does not say 'Buns,’” she
assured him, and again, to his relief, he saw that she was smiling. He
went out and waited on the top stair until he heard the bolt turn.
Because of the unusual and exciting turn of events, Humphrey for once
had not brought food to Vivi. He would buy the food now and go back with
it to the girls. Then he would go up to his own room and think. He must
have an hour to think, to consider, to plan. Rosanne de Soigné would be
safe enough that night with Vivi, and they both would be warm and fed.
He thought Rosanne might be safe there for some time. The next all
important problem was Lisle Saint Frère, the boy with the proud face,
who had told him that he trusted him out of all Paris! To find out who
were his captors, to find where they had hidden him, to rescue him, and
to bring him to safety—these were the things above all others that he
must do. He would think out what was the best thing to do during the
snowy night, while the rats scudded back and forth in the walls of the
dark alley and the two girls slept cuddled close together in the room
below, covered with the blue velvet table cover and the piece of torn
sacking.
Rosanne would wake in the morning to find herself in the cold gloom of a
poor tenement, but that night she had been too dazed and tired to take
stock of her surroundings. She had eaten the bread which Humphrey had
brought, and with it a piece of cheese. She had sat close to the fire
with Vivi, and she had seen Vivi looking at her with the big, astonished
black eyes that somehow were like Marie Josephine’s. The whole event of
the evening had taken place so suddenly and unexpectedly. She and Lisle
had been cosily roasting chestnuts by the fire one moment, and the next
moment, so it seemed, he was gone, and Humphrey Trail had come and
carried her off! It all seemed like a dream to her that evening, and she
felt as though she would wake up at any moment. The dirty, dark room and
the quiet, staring little girl did not seem real. But she liked Vivi and
after the two girls had smiled at each other, they felt somehow like
friends. Rosanne was very glad indeed that Vivi was there. She put her
arm around Vivi, who sleepily did the same. Then she fell asleep and
dreamt that she was running along the south terrace at Les Vignes with
Marie Josephine and that the lilies were in bloom all along the way.