ESCAPED PENITENCIERS.
The horses were to be taken out of the carriage to have a thorough
rest, once in the course of the day, so we halted for that purpose
between twelve and one o'clock. We were then exactly at the head of
one of the long narrow valleys I have already mentioned. It was a
wild desolate spot, where not a habitation was to be seen, nor any
human being except ourselves. The view before us consisted of the sky
overhead, and of two steep hillsides--at some places appearing to be
barely a gunshot apart--which converged from the entrance of the
valley to the point where we were. These were clothed from top to
bottom with a dense mass of trees and _maquis_, whose sombre
green tints, were only broken by a sharply-cut, thin, yellowish line,
which marked, on one hand, the road we had just traversed, and, on
the other, that by which we should presently continue the journey.
The sun had quite sufficient power to make shade acceptable, so we
seated ourselves under an _ilex_ by the side of a clear bubbling
spring of water, and ate the lunch that we had brought with us from
Zicavo.
We were not long over the meal, and as soon as it was finished the
driver was asked when he would be ready to resume the journey. He
answered that the horses ought to have more than an hour longer of
rest, and that then they would go on quite fresh to the end of the
day. On hearing this Mrs. Rollin sent me to the carriage to fetch a
couple of cushions, with which she established herself comfortably on
the ground, and then opened one of Xavier de Montepin's novels.
Meanwhile Kitty had got out her drawing materials.
"I think that I'll walk on, and see if I can't find a sketch
somewhere," she said. "As there's only one road, I can't possibly
lose my way; then you can pick me up when you overtake me in the
carriage." But her aunt was not prepared to assent readily to this
proposal.
"Oh, you'd better not go on all by yourself, my dear," she said
uneasily. "Do try and find something to draw near here--a cloud or a
tree, or a bit of the road, or something. It's not the thing for a
girl of your age to be seen walking about the roads alone, you know."
"I don't think that need trouble us in these solitudes," answered
Kitty laughing. "There's nothing except kites and crows to see what I
do, and I don't imagine that _they_ will be much shocked at my
proceedings."
"Don't you be too sure of there being only kites and crows," returned
Mrs. Rollin; "people often turn up so unexpectedly! There _might_ be
some acquaintance of ours travelling here now; and if so, he or she
would be sure to meet us just when we didn't want to be met, and then
go home and say that I let you go about alone just as you pleased,
and that I took no care whatever of you! Besides, supposing your
sketching were to take you off the road, perhaps we should not see
where you were, and go past without knowing it. I should be in such a
fidget for fear of that happening, that I know I shouldn't enjoy the
drive _a bit_ till I had you all safe with me again."
"You needn't be uneasy on that score," said Kitty, looking at her
watch; "the jingling of the horses' bells could hardly fail to inform
me of your approach; but I won't trust only to that. I'll keep an eye
on the time, and as I can reckon certainly on your not leaving here
for another hour, I can calculate when to return to the road if I
should turn off it anywhere. I assure you I haven't the least
intention of doing anything so silly as to let myself be left behind,
so you can drive along with a perfectly tranquil mind, and an
absolute certainty that I am somewhere on ahead, until you see me
waiting for you."
Here I took the liberty of joining in their conversation. Having been
sitting still and cramped up on the box for some time, I felt much
disposed to stretch my legs; so I said,
"I shall be very glad to accompany Miss Mervyn if she has no
objection. Then I could stay on the road near where she is, if she
happens to leave it; and that would make it quite impossible for the
carriage to go past her by mistake."
"Of _course_, that's the way to manage it," exclaimed Mrs. Rollin;
"how stupid of me not to have thought of it at first! Yes, Kitty--you
take Jill with you; it will look so much better than for you to be
wandering on by yourself; and then my mind will be quite easy about
not passing you by accident."
"Very well," returned Kitty; "I'm afraid it'll be rather dull for her
dawdling about at my heels--only I daresay it won't be very lively to
stay here with nothing to do either, so she may as well come. We'll
start at once, Jill, please; for I want to have as much time as
possible for sketching before the carriage overtakes us."
Accordingly she and I walked off briskly along the road which led
towards our destination, leaving Mrs. Rollin, the driver, and
carriage, to follow in course of time when the horses should be
sufficiently refreshed. We must have tramped, I should think, about
two miles before Kitty came to a place which inspired her with a
desire to make a sketch. Of course the next thing to be done was to
discover the most satisfactory point of view from which the sketch
was to be taken. After a little reconnoitring she found a spot that
was to her mind. It was a short distance below the road, and in
order to get to it we had to scramble down through a mass of arbutus,
and of an immense kind of heath, growing taller than our heads--which
two shrubs constituted the chief part of the scrub (or _maquis_) at
that place.
Having accompanied Kitty to the spot she had selected, and seen her
comfortably settled down to her drawing, I looked at my watch. This
showed me that there was still a long while to elapse before the
carriage would be in motion again, and that, therefore, there was no
need for me to be in a hurry about getting back to the road yet.
Watching Kitty sketch was not particularly amusing, so I left her and
wandered off through the bushes. About fifty yards from where she was
I came to a bit of broken rocky ground, somewhat resembling a tiny
quarry, and completely overgrown by arbutus. Here I tucked myself
away snugly into a corner under one of these bushes, and lay lazily
contemplating its splendid red and yellow berries, which were as big
as good-sized plums. They looked most delicious; and as I knew the
arbutus is not poisonous, I gathered a berry to ascertain whether the
taste at all corresponded to the appearance; I was disappointed to
find, however, that this was not the case, as the flavour, though
rather sweet, was insipid, watery, and vapid.
My curiosity respecting arbutus fruit being thus satisfied, and I
having nothing particular to do, I next began amusing myself by
endeavouring to work out a rule-of-three sum in my head. But before
my calculations had advanced far they were interrupted by a crackling
rustling noise that issued from the bushes growing above, between me
and the road. It sounded as if some heavy body were making its way
through them; and the noise approached nearer and nearer, till it
reached quite close to the recess in which I was ensconced. Then the
crackling ceased, and I heard a male voice speaking in low and
cautious tones. A bit of rock, on which grew the bush under which I
was seated, intervened between me and the speaker, so that I could
not see him; but he was near enough for every one of his words to
be distinctly audible to me. He spoke in Italian--that being the
language which the people of the country almost always use amongst
themselves when they do not talk Corsican, though French is the
official tongue, and the one generally employed in communications
with foreigners.
"But where are they, César?" said the voice, with a somewhat
impatient accent. "You say that from the top of the hill you plainly
saw two of them who left the carriage to repose itself, and went on
alone. Is it not droll how those English always desire to walk? In
that case they ought to be somewhere about here now, yet we have
looked both up and down the road, and they are not there. What then
has become of them? May be that they have turned and gone back
again."
"_Diavolo_! that would be too provoking," answered César. "It was
unlucky that I lost sight of them as I descended the hill, but it
could not possibly be helped, for the bushes were too thick to see
through."
"Well, there is sure to be fine spoil to be had out of these rich
English," said the first speaker, "and we must try to get hold of it
somehow. If we fail to find these two by themselves, I suppose we
must do what we thought of at first--manage to upset the carriage at
that sharp corner of the road further on, and attack when all is in
confusion."
"But what if the carriage should not upset after all?" objected
César; "or what if the driver should carry arms and show fight? Then
perhaps we should be wounded, captured, and shut up again in prison.
Bah! I hate that prison! Have we not been used like dogs there, and
compelled to beat the _maquis_ near Chiavari for _sangliers_, when
some English milord wanted a _chasse_? And is it not an altogether
detestable place? Truly I have no fancy to go there again, and I much
prefer this second plan to the first one that we thought of. We shall
have no danger to fear in dealing with only two women. Let us on no
account be foolhardy, Napoleon."
"Certainly not," answered Napoleon; "I have no more wish than you
have either to go back to prison or to encounter needless peril!
Still, it will be a pity if we cannot secure the golden prize that
destiny throws in our way. Those two must be somewhere not far off at
this very moment, unless by bad luck they should have turned back
just after you first saw them. Do you think they can have gone off
from the road?" "It is possible," returned César; "anyhow, it is too
soon yet to despair of finding them. Do you, Napoleon, go and watch
on the road, whilst I search the _maquis_ on each side, first below
and then above. Whichever of us discovers them can summon the other
by a whistle."
"Good," replied Napoleon. And with that the two men separated and
went off in different directions, as I knew by the rustling of the
bushes.
Here, then, were two villains in search of Kitty and me, with evil
intentions towards us, and we were quite defenceless. Truly, a
pleasant predicament to be in! What was I to do now?
Had I been able to reason out at leisure what course a person ought
to pursue in such a situation, I feel sure that my answer to the
above question would have been: Take care of your own safety, keep
out of the men's clutches the best way you can, and do not bother
yourself about any one else. But when the situation actually
occurred, I acted on the impulse of the moment, because there was
no time to think the matter over carefully, and take counsel with
reason. And the consequence of being in such a hurry was, that I did
not behave with that prudent regard to my own interests which was
generally characteristic of me. I was frightened I must candidly
confess, and I desired ardently to be anywhere in security, and to
avoid meeting either Napoleon or César. Yet, strange to say, I was
influenced at that moment by something else than care for myself. My
predominant anxiety--the one object on which my mind was fixed--was,
to get to Kitty as quickly as possible, to warn her of the danger, to
stand by her, to try to save her. It was certainly very unlike
me to have felt like that, and I do not know what occasioned so
extraordinary a departure from my usual sentiments. However, there
the feeling was, and "_c'était plus fort que moi_." Consequently, I
only waited where I was till the men were far enough off for me to
leave my hiding-place without danger of being discovered, and then
instantly set out to rejoin her. Taking the utmost pains to move
quietly, lest the shaking of the bushes should betray my presence,
I crept through the _maquis_. Meanwhile I mentally reviewed the
situation, and considered how we could extricate ourselves from it.
I inferred, from what the men had said, that they were not particularly
brave, and would probably not venture to attack the carriage if they
found its occupants prepared to receive them. Therefore, if we could
get safely back to our driver and put him on his guard, there would
not be much to fear from the rascals. But then the question was,
_could_ we get back safely? could we, by crawling through bushes,
dodging behind trees, and keeping out of sight as much as possible,
retrace our steps to the carriage unperceived? On the whole, I
thought it was to be managed--provided, of course, that I could
reach Kitty and get her away before either of our enemies had found
her. As they did not know that they were detected, they would expect
to meet us going about carelessly and openly, without the least
attempt at concealment. This was all in our favour, as it would
prevent them from looking for us as closely as they would otherwise
have done. Besides, if they did not find us in that immediate
neighbourhood, they would discontinue the search, under the
impression that we must have returned to the carriage almost directly
after leaving it. Therefore it would be only necessary for us to keep
in hiding till we had got some distance from where we then were;
after that, we could leave the _maquis_, and take to the road, where
we should be able to run along at full speed, without troubling to
keep out of sight.
As I thought of all this, it seemed to me that we had a very
reasonable prospect of escape--unless, by bad luck, I should fail
to get to Kitty before one of the men had found her--everything
appeared to me to depend upon that.
I had left her on a small open space which jutted out a little from
the hillside, so as to form a sort of diminutive plateau. Great was
my relief, when I came to the edge of this place, to see her still
sketching happily, and evidently without a suspicion of danger. She
glanced towards me for an instant, and then at once resumed her work,
thinking that I was come to fetch her away, and that she must make
the most of every remaining moment. Thus her eyes were upon the
drawing, and so she did not see the gesture which I made to her to be
silent, lest an enemy should be within hearing.
"Is it time to go, already?" she said, speaking out loud, as it was
natural she should do. "Isn't your watch--"
By that time I was within reach of her, and stopped further utterance
forcibly by covering her mouth with my hand. Looking up in surprise
and wrath at so unceremonious a proceeding on the part of her maid,
she saw by my face that there was something seriously amiss. I began
to tell her in a whisper, as fast as I could, what was the state of
affairs.
Unluckily the few words she had spoken had wrought the mischief I
feared, and showed our whereabouts to one of the villains who were
hunting for us. Consequently, I had hardly commenced my hurried
communication in her ear, when a low whistle sounded close by, and
next moment a man with a gun in his hand stepped out of the bushes,
and on to the little plateau where we were. This, then, was no doubt
the rogue named César, whom I had heard undertake to explore the
_maquis_ for us. As I looked at him, I recognised him to be one of
the two men whom I had noticed inquiring about us two or three hours
before, at the inn where the horses had been watered. That at once
made the whole matter clear to me.
I have already mentioned that the nature of the ground was such as
to enable a pedestrian to travel from point to point as fast as a
carriage could do. Knowing this, César and his companion must have
made up their minds to hurry on in front, and lie in wait for us at
some spot which we had not yet reached, and which they deemed
especially favourable for an attack on the carriage. But on their way
to the place that they had chosen for an ambush, they had evidently
caught sight of Kitty and me leaving the carriage, and been diverted
from their first scheme by the hope of securing the coveted booty
in a less hazardous manner than the one they had originally
contemplated. It was all as plain as a pike-staff to me now.
César accosted us in French, saying, in the regular beggar's whine,
"Will the ladies have the goodness to give something to a poor man?"
Though I had not had time fully to explain things to Kitty, she had
picked up enough to know that we were in danger from two escaped
_penitenciers_, and when she saw César she guessed that he was one
of them.
This sudden confronting with peril, however, produced in her no
trepidation, sign of cowardice, or inclination to quail. She was too
proud for that. Her compressed lips, flashing eyes, and hard,
resolute, disdainful, undaunted expression, showed a nature that
would set its back to the wall (not that there was one handy on the
present occasion, however), and fight to the last gasp, but would
never flinch an atom, come what might.
"I have nothing for you," she replied, speaking as haughtily as
though we had been in no way in the man's power.
"But I feel sure that Madame deceives herself," insisted César, who
apparently did not wish to proceed to extremities till the arrival of
his comrade Napoleon; "if she will have the complaisance to seek, she
will without doubt discover money, a watch, rings, brooches, chains,
or some such little thing that would keep a poor man from dying of
hunger."
At this point in the conversation, it occurred to me that a good loud
scream for help might be introduced with singular appropriateness;
and I proceeded to put my idea into execution. César, however, was of
a different opinion, and evidently considered the interruption an
untimely one; for no sooner did I uplift my voice, than he aimed his
gun at me, exclaiming savagely, "Silence at once, or I'll kill you!"
I had no option about obeying this order, because just at that
moment, Napoleon--who was hastening up in obedience to his companion's
summons--came through the bushes behind where I stood, and clapped
his hand roughly over my mouth.
César grinned mockingly when he saw me thus reduced to silence, and
lowered his gun again.
"That was an atrocious noise!" he remarked. "Permit me to inform you,
madame--first, that screams cannot assist you, since there is no one
but us within hearing; secondly, that my friend and myself have
inconceivably tender hearts and sensitive nerves. Consequently we
cannot endure the least sound of distress; and if you should
utter another cry in our presence, we should be compelled, most
reluctantly, to cut your throat in order to spare the exquisite
sensibility of our natures. And having given you this caution, let us
return to the more pleasing subject of the little _souvenirs_ which
you generous ladies are going to bestow upon us. Will you like us to
save you trouble by helping ourselves to them?"
Kitty was as composed as though she had been seated in her father's
drawing-room in Eaton Square, and now said to me in English:
"I'm afraid he's right about there being no one in hearing to help
us, Jill, so it's no good screaming. As resistance is useless, we may
as well give up our purses and trinkets quietly." Then she continued
in French, replying to what the man had said last: "No--you need not
help yourselves. We will hand over to you all we have."
Accordingly we pulled out our money, and took off the few things of
any value we happened to be wearing--such as watches, chains, and
collar and sleeve studs. These, however, were worth but little, all
put together. People do not take valuable jewellery with them on a
rough driving-tour; and as Mrs. Rollin was our treasurer, Kitty and I
had barely ten francs between us in our purses. The two robbers,
therefore, who had been reckoning confidently on making a large haul,
were greatly dissatisfied and disappointed at the insignificance
of the booty they had secured.
"This won't do _at all_," grumbled César; "the idea of capturing a
couple of the rich English, and then not getting more than _this_ out
of them! It is ridiculous! Let us see what is to be done--only first
they must be kept from running away."
And then, after making fast our hands and feet, they drew a few steps
aside, and proceeded to confer together in a low voice.
Though they had spoken to us in French, yet in their communications
to one another they used Italian. Noticing this, it occurred to me
that if they were to suppose us both to be ignorant of that tongue,
they would probably talk more freely before us than they would do if
they thought we understood what was said; in this way we might,
perhaps, pick up valuable information; or at least _I_ might--for
Kitty's knowledge of Italian was very limited. I at once imparted my
idea to her, and suggested we should pretend that we understood only
French. I expected she would assent to this as a matter of course;
but, to my surprise, she hesitated, and her face showed that the
proposition was distasteful to her.
"Well--I don't know," she replied, after a minute's consideration,
"I can't allow a couple of scamps to make me degrade myself by
telling a lie. If they ask me whether I understand them or not, I
shall most certainly tell them the truth."
I was dismayed at this clinging to principles of scrupulous honour in
dealing with the two rogues who had us in their power. Her sentiments
were very chivalrous and noble, no doubt; but they appeared to me
both uncalled-for and out of place at the present moment, and I
endeavoured to combat them. "Surely," I said, "you don't deny the
truth of the old saying that all is fair in love and war?"
Her lip curled scornfully as she replied, "That has nothing to do
with it. To my mind a lie would be none the less _mean_ because it
might be _fair_. I should lose my self-respect if I were to tell
one."
Even whilst smarting at the reproof which was thus conveyed to me for
having advocated lying, I could not help admiring the indomitable
pride which was unaffected by considerations of expediency, and would
under no circumstances consent to do what was contrary to its sense
of dignity. The hankering after her good opinion which I always felt
made me wonder uneasily what she would think of me if she knew how
many untruths my self-respect had managed to put up with during my
existence. And then I felt half-disgusted with my past conduct, and
it flashed upon me that I had a great mind to turn over a new leaf in
the matter in future, and behave more according to the principles
which she approved of and practised. That, however, should be
reserved for further consideration, as the present was obviously not
a favourable occasion for inaugurating any reform of the kind. Having
arrived at which conclusion, I silently resolved to carry out my plan
for deceiving our captors, if possible, in spite of her objection.
Consequently, when one of them, speaking in Italian, asked which of
us two ladies was the most important one, I affected to be utterly
unconscious of having been addressed. Kitty, fortunately, was seated
farther off from the man than I was, and did not hear what he said,
or discover that he was not still continuing the conversation with
his comrade.
The man repeated his question a second time in Italian. Finding that
we both remained mute, he asked in French how long it would be before
he had an answer. I hastened to reply to this, speaking quickly and
in a low tone, lest Kitty should hear what I said, and be prompted by
her inconveniently high-flown sentiments to contradict me flatly. I
made believe to be quite astonished to find he had been speaking to
us, and most anxious to deprecate his wrath--assuring him that we
neither of us understood Italian, and begging him to excuse us,
therefore, for the involuntary rudeness of which we had been
guilty in not responding to his question. Luckily my precaution of
speaking indistinctly, and the fact of Kitty's being a few yards
off, prevented her from catching what passed between me and my
interlocutor. The two men then came and stood in front of us, and
Napoleon said in French, "We want to know which of you two ladies is
of the most importance--the chief one?"
"I am," answered Kitty.
"Good," he returned; "then it is to you that I will speak. We know
that you cannot be travelling about with no more money than 10
francs, and that you English are always rolling in gold. It follows,
therefore, that your riches must be in the keeping of that other lady
who stayed with the carriage. Now, those riches we must and will
have, and we propose that you shall earn your liberty by helping us
to get them. Will you do this?"
"Tell me what you want me to do, first," answered Kitty; "then I will
tell you whether I will do it or not."
"Very reasonable!" replied Napoleon. "Our plan is this. You must
write to your friend in the carriage such a note as will induce her
to follow the bearer at once, in order to join you. The note will be
entirely in French, and contain not a word of English, so as to make
sure that you say nothing in it that we do not approve of. One of us
will take it to her; then he will conduct her to a safe spot, and
relieve her of the money and trinkets that she has. Should the worth
of these be sufficient to satisfy our just expectations, you will
none of you be detained any longer."
"And supposing the spoil is less than you anticipate," inquired
Kitty, "what then?"
"Ah--but that cannot be, I feel sure!" he returned; "our expectations
are most moderate; it cannot be that three ladies would travel about
so far from their own country without having with them as much money
as would satisfy us!"
"Still I repeat my question," she said; "what would you do if _not_?
And, in any case, what certainty have I that you would keep your word
and release us afterwards?"
"If madame will not rely on our word of honour," answered he, smiling
disagreeably, "I fear she will have to content herself without that
certainty which she desires. _She_ is hardly in the position to
enforce any other guarantee of good faith; and _we_ shall not insult
ourselves by assuming such a thing to be necessary. And as for the
quite unlikely event of your friend's purse being insufficient to
meet our wants--why--ahem! when the case arises, it will be then
ample time to settle what is to be done. Here are paper and a pencil.
There is no time to lose. Will madame be so good as to write?"
Kitty looked at him steadily, without attempting to take the writing
materials he proffered. "And do you suppose, then," she said, "that I
shall consent to bait a trap to bring my aunt to be robbed? If so,
you are very greatly mistaken. And what inducement have you to offer
that should make me do so vile a thing? The mere chance that your
thirst for plunder might then be satiated, and that you might think
fit to set us free! I do not trust to your honour, nor will I do what
you wish. I believe that the plan is merely a _ruse_ to enable you to
secure a fresh victim, and that if you could get my aunt also into
your hands, you would keep us all three prisoners."
This accusation was met with vehement denials; and our captors
again endeavoured to persuade her to assist them by assuring her it
would be to her advantage to do so, and threatening her with evil
consequences if she persisted in her refusal. Finding, however, that
she remained unmoved by whatever they said, they bethought them that
perhaps _I_ might be made to write such a letter as they required,
and applied to me accordingly. Kitty, on this, gave me peremptory
orders that I was on no account to comply with their request; and I
obeyed her in the matter all the more willingly because I had very
little doubt that her surmise was correct as to the treachery which
the scoundrels had in contemplation.
But however much Mrs. Rollin might benefit from our refusal to lend
ourselves to their designs, it certainly did not help us in any way.
The two men had made up their minds that they were going to get
enormous spoils out of "these rich English," and had no idea of
resigning their hopes merely because Kitty and I would not aid them
to execute their first scheme. Therefore, when they saw they had no
chance of carrying their point about that, they determined to adopt
another line of action, which was announced to us by César.
People so unaccommodating and perverse as we were, he said angrily,
deserved to be got rid of altogether; and in such a case as this,
most gentlemen of the road would not be troubled with us any longer,
but cut our throats without ceremony, and so make an end of the
business at once. He and his friend, however, being of so gentle a
disposition as never to resort to violence _if it could be helped_,
would give us a chance of escape. It was their intention to
communicate with our friends, and offer to restore us uninjured on
payment of a specified sum, which would have to be handed over with
such precautions as would ensure the safety of the recipients. Till
that was received we should reside under their care in the hills.
"But," added the ruffian menacingly, and addressing himself
especially to Kitty, "we cannot wait for ever for the answer, you
know, so we shall tell your friends that if the ransom is not
forthcoming pretty quickly, we shall try to hasten its arrival by
sending some little reminder, such as an ear, a nose, a hand, or a
foot; and of course these souvenirs would, in the first place, be
furnished by you, since you are of more consequence than your
companion. Hers would come later."
When I heard this I could not repress a shudder at the peril awaiting
my cherished members--though, as those of Kitty were destined to be
sacrificed first, the danger to mine was only a reversionary one.
She, however, who was more immediately threatened than I was, neither
trembled, changed colour, nor gave any other indication of emotion,
but remained as unmoved and haughtily composed as before.
I did not forget that she had been affected by some feeling too
strong to be concealed when I had suddenly showed her the photograph
of Captain Norroy. And the difference between her demeanour then
and now made me wonder more than ever what the feeling could have
been which had had power to upset the self-command of a person
so high-couraged, strong, and proudly imperturbable as she most
certainly was.
END OF VOL. I.
_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh._
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Obvious printing errors have been silently corrected throughout.
Otherwise, inconsistencies and possible errors have been preserved.