The Companions of Jehu by Alexandre Dumas (red scrolls of magic .txt) 📕

“Will you undertake to execute my sentence, Coeur-de-Roi?”

“I will, general.”

“Go then, Coeur-de-Roi. Take the number of men you need; devise what stratagem you please, but reach the man, and strike.”

“If I die, general—”

“Fear not; the curate of Leguerno shall say enough masses in your behalf to keep your poor soul out of purgatory. But you will not die, Coeur-de-Roi.”

“That’s all right, general. Now that I am sure of the masses, I ask nothing more. I have my plan.”

“When will you start?”

“To-night.”

“When will he die?”

“To-morrow.”

“Go. See that three hundred men are ready to follow me in half an hour.”

Coeur-de-Roi went out as simply as he had entered.

“You see,” said Cadoudal, “the sort of men I command. Is your First Consul as well served as I, Monsieur de Montrevel?”

“By some, yes.”

“Well, with me it is not some, but all.”

Bénédicité entered and questioned Georges with a look.

“Yes,” replied Georges, with voice and nod.

Bénédicité went out.

“Did you see any one on your way here?” asked Cadoudal.

“Not one.”

“I asked for three hundred men in half an hour, and they will be here in that time. I might have asked for five hundred, a thousand, two thousand, and they would have responded as promptly.”

“But,” said Roland, “you have, in number at least, a limit you cannot exceed.”

“Do you want to know my effective? It is easily told, I won’t tell you myself, for you wouldn’t believe me. Wait. I will have some one tell you.”

He opened the door and called out: “Branche-d’Or!”

Two seconds later Branche-d’Or appeared.

“This is my major-general,” said Cadoudal, laughing. “He fulfils the same functions for me that General Berthier does for the First Consul. Branche-d’Or—”

“General.”

“How many men are stationed along the road from here to La Roche-Bernard, which the gentleman followed in coming to see me?”

“Six hundred on the Arzal moor, six hundred among the Marzan gorse, three hundred at Péaule, three hundred at Billiers.”

“Total, eighteen hundred. How many between Noyal and Muzillac?”

“Four hundred.”

“Two thousand two hundred. How many between here and Vannes?”

“Fifty at Theix, three hundred at the Trinité, six hundred between the Trinité and Muzillac.”

“Three thousand two hundred. And from Ambon to Leguerno?”

“Twelve hundred.”

“Four thousand four hundred. And in the village around me, in the houses, the gardens, the cellars?”

“Five to six hundred, general.”

“Thank you, Bénédicité.”

He made a sign with his head and Bénédicité went out.

“You see,” said Cadoudal, simply, “about five thousand. Well, with those five thousand men, all belonging to this country, who know every tree, every stone, every bush, I can make war against the hundred thousand men the First Consul threatens to send against me.”

Roland smiled.

“You think that is saying too much, don’t you?”

“I think you are boasting a little, general; boasting of your men, rather.”

“No; for my auxiliaries are the whole population. None of your generals can make a move unknown to me; send a despatch without my intercepting it; find a retreat where I shall not pursue him. The very soil is royalist and Christian! In default of the inhabitants, it speaks and tells me: ‘The Blues passed here; the slaughterers are hidden there!’ For the rest, you can judge for yourself.”

“How?”

“We are going on an expedition about twenty-four miles from here. What time is it?”

Both young men looked at their watches.

“Quarter to twelve,” they said together.

“Good!” said Georges, “our watches agree; that is a good sign. Perhaps some day our hearts will do the same.”

“You were saying, general?”

“I was saying that it was a quarter to twelve, colonel; and that at six o’clock, before day, we must be twenty miles from here. Do you want to rest?”

“I!”

“Yes; you can sleep an hour.”

“Thanks; it’s unnecessary.”

“Then we will start whenever you are ready.”

“But your men?”

“Oh! my men are ready.”

“Where?”

“Everywhere.”

“I should like to see them.”

“You shall.”

“When?”

“Whenever agreeable to you. My men are very discreet, and never show themselves till I make the signal.”

“So that whenever I want to see them—”

“You will tell me; I shall give the signal and they’ll appear.”

“Let us start, general.”

“Yes, let us start.”

The two young men wrapped themselves in their cloaks and went out. At the door Roland collided against a small group of five men. These five men wore Republican uniforms; one of them had sergeant stripes on his sleeve.

“What is all this?” asked Roland.

“Nothing,” replied Cadoudal, laughing.

“But who are these men?”

“Coeur-de-Roi and his party; they are starting on that expedition you know of.”

“Then they expect by means of this uniform—”

“Oh! you shall know all, colonel; I have no secrets from you.” Then, turning to the little group, Cadoudal called: “Coeur-de-Roi!”