The Secret Of The Night(Fiscle Part 3) by Gaston Leroux (readera ebook reader txt) 📕

It Seemed To Him,  At A Very Critical Moment.)

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* As Told In "The Lady In Black."

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"I Was Returning From Balakani In A Drojki," Said Thaddeus

Tchitchnikoff,  "And I Was Drawing Near Bakou After Having Seen The

Debris Of My Oil Shafts That Had Been Burned By The Tartars,  When

I Met Gounsovski In The Road,  Who,  With Two Of His Friends,  Found

Themselves Badly Off With One Of The Wheels Of Their Carriage Broken.

I Stopped.  He Explained To Me That He Had A Tartar Coachman,  And

That This Coachman Having Seen An Armenian On The Road Before Him,

Could Find Nothing Better To Do Than Run Full Tilt Into The

Armenian's Equipage.  He Had Reached Over And Taken The Reins From

Him,  But A Wheel Of The Carriage Was Broken." (Rouletabille Quivered,

Because He Caught A Glance Of Communication Between Prince Galitch

And Natacha,  Who Was Leaning Over The Edge Of Her Box.)  "So I

Offered To Take Gounsovski And His Friends Into My Carriage,  And

We Rode All Together To Bakou After Gounsovski,  Who Always Wishes

To Do A Service,  As Athanase Georgevitch Says,  Had Warned His Tartar

Coachman Not To Finish The Armenian."  (Prince Galitch,  At The

Moment The Orchestra Commenced The Introductory Music For

Annouchka's New Number,  Took Advantage Of All Eyes Being Turned

Toward The Rising Curtain To Pass Near Natacha's Seat.  This Time

He Did Not Look At Natacha,  But Rouletabille Was Sure That His Lips

Had Moved As He Went By Her.)

Thaddeus Continued: "It Is Necessary To Explain That At Bakou My

Little House Is One Of The First Before You Reach The Quay.  I Had

Some Armenian Employees There.  When Arrived,  What Do You Suppose

I Saw?  A File Of Soldiers With Cannon,  Yes,  With A Cannon,  On My

Word,  Turned Against My House And An Officer Saying Quietly,  'There

It Is.  Fire!'"  (Rouletabille Made Yet Another Discovery - Two,

Three Discoveries.  Near By,  Standing Back Of Natacha's Seat,  Was

A Figure Not Unknown To The Young Reporter,  And There,  In One Of

The Orchestra Chairs,  Were Two Other Men Whose Faces He Had Seen

That Same Morning In Koupriane's Barracks.  Here Was Where A Memory

For Faces Stood Him In Good Stead.  He Saw That He Was Not The Only

Person Keeping Close Watch On Natacha.)  "When I Heard What The

Officer Said," Thaddeus Went On,  "I Nearly Dropped Out Of The

Drojki.  I Hurried To The Police Commissioner.  He Explained The

Affair Promptly,  And I Was Quick To Understand.  During My Absence

One Of My Armenian Employees Had Fired At A Tartar Who Was Passing.

For That Matter,  He Had Killed Him.  The Governor Was Informed And

Had Ordered The House To Be Bombarded,  For An Example,  As Had Been

Done With Several Others.  I Found Gounsovski And Told Him The

Trouble In Two Words.  He Said It Wasn't Necessary For Him To

Interfere In The Affair,  That I Had Only To Talk To The Officer.

'Give Him A Good Present,  A Hundred Roubles,  And He Will Leave Your

House.  I Went Back To The Officer And Took Him Aside; He Said He

Wanted To Do Anything That He Could For Me,  But That The Order Was

Positive To Bombard The House.  I Reported His Answer To Gounsovski,

Who Told Me: 'Tell Him Then To Turn The Muzzle Of The Cannon The

Other Way And Bombard The Building Of The Chemist Across The Way,

Then He Can Always Say That He Mistook Which House Was Intended.'

I Did That,  And He Had Them Turn The Cannon.  They Bombarded The

Chemist's Place,  And I Got Out Of The Whole Thing For The Hundred

Roubles.  Gounsovski,  The Good Fellow,  May Be A Great Lump Of Fat

And Be Like An Umbrella Merchant,  But I Have Always Been Grateful

To Him From The Bottom Of My Heart,  You Can Understand,  Athanase

Georgevitch."

"What Reputation Has Prince Galitch At The Court?" Inquired

Rouletabille All At Once.

"Oh,  Oh!" Laughed The Others.  "Since He Went So Openly To Visit

Tolstoi He Doesn't Go To The Court Any More."

"And - His Opinions?  What Are His Opinions?"

"Oh,  The Opinions Of Everybody Are So Mixed Nowadays,  Nobody Knows."

Ivan Petrovitch Said,  "He Passes Among Some People As Very Advanced

And Very Much Compromised."

"Yet They Don't Bother Him?" Inquired Rouletabille.

"Pooh,  Pooh," Replied The Gay Councilor Of Empire,  "It Is Rather He

Who Tries To Mix With Them."

Thaddeus Stooped Down And Said,  "They Say That He Can't Be Reached

Because Of The Hold He Has Over A Certain Great Personage In The

Court,  And It Would Be A Scandal - A Great Scandal."

"Be Quiet,  Thaddeus," Interrupted Athanase Georgevitch,  Roughly.

"It Is Easy To See That You Are Lately From The Provinces To Speak

So Recklessly,  But If You Go On This Way I Shall Leave."

"Athanase Georgevitch Is Right; Hang Onto Your Mouth,  Thaddeus,"

Counseled Ivan Petrovitch.

The Talkers All Grew Silent,  For The Curtain Was Rising.  In The

Audience There Were Mysterious Allusions Being Made To This Second

Number Of Annouchka,  But No One Seemed Able To Say What It Was To

Be,  And It Was,  As A Matter Of Fact,  Very Simple.  After The

Whirl-Wind Of Dances And Choruses And All The Splendor With Which

She Had Been Accompanied The First Time,  Annouchka Appeared As A

Poor Russian Peasant In A Scene Representing The Barren Steppes,

And Very Simply She Sank To Her Knees And Recited Her Evening Prayers.

Annouchka Was Singularly Beautiful.  Her Aquiline Nose With Sensitive

Nostrils,  The Clean-Cut Outline Of Her Eyebrows,  Her Look That Now

Was Almost Tender,  Now Menacing,  Always Unusual,  Her Pale Rounded

Cheeks And The Entire Expression Of Her Face Showed Clearly The

Strength Of New Ideas,  Spontaneity,  Deep Resolution And,  Above All,

Passion.  The Prayer Was Passionate.  She Had An Admirable Contralto

Voice Which Affected The Audience Strangely From Its Very First

Notes.  She Asked God For Daily Bread For Everyone In The Immense

Russian Land,  Daily Bread For The Flesh And For The Spirit,  And She

Stirred The Tears Of Everyone There,  To Which-Ever Party They

Belonged.  And When,  As Her Last Note Sped Across The Desolate

Steppe And She Rose And Walked Toward The Miserable Hut,  Frantic

Bravos From A Delirious Audience Told Her The Prodigious Emotions

She Had Aroused.  Little Rouletabille,  Who,  Not Understanding The

Words,  Nevertheless Caught The Spirit Of That Prayer,  Wept.

Everybody Wept.  Ivan Petrovitch,  Athanase Georgevitch,  Thaddeus

Tchitchnikoff Were Standing Up,  Stamping Their Feet And Clapping

Their Hands Like Enthusiastic Boys.  The Students,  Who Could Be

Easily Distinguished By The Uniform Green Edging They Wore On Their

Coats,  Uttered Insensate Cries.  And Suddenly There Rose The First

Strains Of The National Hymn.  There Was Hesitation At First,  A

Wavering.  But Not For Long.  Those Who Had Been Dreading Some

Counter-Demonstration Realized That No Objection Could Possibly

Be Raised To A Prayer For The Tsar.  All Heads Uncovered And The

Bodje Taara Krari Mounted,  Unanimously,  Toward The Stars.

Through His Tears The Young Reporter Never Gave Up His Close Watch

On Natacha.  She Had Half Risen,  And,  Sinking Back,  Leaned On The

Edge Of The Box.  She Called,  Time And Time Again,  A Name That

Rouletabille Could Not Hear In The Uproar,  But That He Felt Sure

Was "Annouchka!  Annouchka!"  "The Reckless Girl," Murmured

Rouletabille,  And,  Profiting By The General Excitement,  He Left The

Box Without Being Noticed.  He Made His Way Through The Crowd Toward

Natacha,  Whom He Had Sought Futilely Since Morning.  The Audience,

After Clamoring In Vain For A Repetition Of The Prayer By Annouchka,

Commenced To Disperse,  And The Reporter Was Swept Along With Them

For A Few Moments.  When He Reached The Range Of Boxes He Saw That

Natacha And The Family She Had Been With Were Gone.  He Looked On

All Sides Without Seeing The Object Of His Search And Like A Madman

Commenced To Run Through The Passages,  When A Sudden Idea Struck His

Blood Cold.  He Inquired Where The Exit For The Artists Was And As

Soon As It Was Pointed Out,  He Hurried There.  He Was Not Mistaken.

In The Front Line Of The Crowd That Waited To See Annouchka Come

Out He Recognized Natacha,  With Her Head Enveloped In The Black

Mantle So That None Should See Her Face.  Besides,  This Corner Of

The Garden Was In A Half-Gloom.  The Police Barred The Way; He Could

Not Approach As Near Natacha As He Wished.  He Set Himself To Slip

Like A Serpent Through The Crowd.  He Was Not Separated From Natacha

By More Than Four Or Five Persons When A Great Jostling Commenced.

Annouchka Was Coming Out.  Cries Rose: "Annouchka!  Annouchka!"

Rouletabille Threw Himself On His Knees And On All-Fours Succeeded

In Sticking His Head Through Into The Way Kept By The Police For

Annouchka's Passage.  There,  Wrapped In A Great Red Mantle,  His Hat

On His Arm,  Was A Man Rouletabille Immediately Recognized.  It Was

Prince Galitch.  They Were Hurrying To Escape The Impending Pressure

Of The Crowd.  But Annouchka As She Passed Near Natacha Stopped Just

A Second - A Movement That Did Not Escape Rouletabille - And,

Turning Toward Her Said Just The One Word,  "Caracho."  Then She

Passed On.  Rouletabille Got Up And Forced His Way Back,  Having

Once More Lost Natacha.  He Searched For Her.  He Ran To The

Carriage-Way And Arrived Just In Time To See Her Seated In A

Carriage With The Mourazoff Family.  The Carriage Started At Once

In The Direction Of The Datcha Des Iles.  The Young Man Remained

Standing There,  Thinking.  He Made A Gesture As Though He Were

Ready Now To Let Luck Take Its Course.  "In The End," Said He,  "It

Will Be Better So,  Perhaps," And Then,  To Himself,  "Now To Supper,

My Boy."

He Turned In His Tracks And Soon Was Established In The Glaring

Light Of The Restaurant.  Officers Standing,  Glass In Hand,  Were

Saluting From Table To Table And Waving A Thousand Compliments With

Grace That Was Almost Feminine.

He Heard His Name Called Joyously,  And Recognized The Voice Of Ivan

Petrovitch.  The Three Boon Companions Were Seated Over A Bottle Of

Champagne Resting In Its Ice-Bath And Were Being Served With Tiny

Pates While They Waited For The Supper-Hour,  Which Was Now Near.

Rouletabille Yielded To Their Invitation Readily Enough,  And

Accompanied Them When The Head-Waiter Informed Thaddeus That The

Gentlemen Were Desired In A Private Room.  They Went To The First

Floor And Were Ushered Into A Large Apartment