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

Thaddeus Struck Lightly On The Piano.

"Quickly,  Madame,  The Second Attempt," Said Rouletabille,  Who Was

Aking Hasty Notes On His Cuff,  Never Ceasing,  Meanwhile,  To Watch

The Convivial Group And Listening With Both Ears Wide Open To

Matrena.

"The Second Happened Still In Moscow.  We Had Had A Jolly Dinner

Because We Thought That At Last The Good Old Days Were Back And

Good Citizens Could Live In Peace; And Boris Had Tried Out The Guzla

Singing Songs Of The Orel Country To Please Me; He Is So Fine And

Sympathetic.  Natacha Had Gone Somewhere Or Other.  The Sleigh Was

Waiting At The Door And We Went Out And Got In.  Almost Instantly

There Was A Fearful Noise,  And We Were Thrown Out Into The Snow,

Both The General And Me.  There Remained No Trace Of Sleigh Or

Coachman; The Two Horses Were Disemboweled,  Two Magnificent Piebald

Horses,  My Dear Young Monsieur,  That The General Was So Attached To.

As To Feodor,  He Had That Serious Wound In His Right Leg; The Calf

Was Shattered.  I Simply Had My Shoulder A Little Wrenched,

Practically Nothing.  The Bomb Had Been Placed Under The Seat Of The

Unhappy Coachman,  Whose Hat Alone We Found,  In A Pool Of Blood.

From That Attack The General Lay Two Months In Bed.  In The Second

Month They Arrested Two Servants Who Were Caught One Night On The

Landing Leading To The Upper Floor,  Where They Had No Business,  And

After That I Sent At Once For Our Old Domestics In Orel To Come And

Serve Us.  It Was Discovered That These Detected Servants Were In

Touch With The Revolutionaries,  So They Were Hanged.  The Emperor

Appointed A Provisional Governor,  And Now That The General Was

Better We Decided On A Convalescence For Him In The Midi Of France.

We Took Train For St. Petersburg,  But The Journey Started High Fever

In My Husband And Reopened The Wound In His Calf.  The Doctors

Ordered Absolute Rest And So We Settled Here In The Datcha Des Iles.

Since Then,  Not A Day Has Passed Without The General Receiving An

Anonymous Letter Telling Him That Nothing Can Save Him From The

Revenge Of The Revolutionaries.  He Is Brave And Only Smiles Over

Them,  But For Me,  I Know Well That So Long As We Are In Russia We

Have Not A Moment's Security.  So I Watch Him Every Minute And Let

No One Approach Him Except His Intimate Friends And Us Of The Family.

I Have Brought An Old Gniagnia Who Watched Me Grow Up,  Ermolai,  And

The Orel Servants.  In The Meantime,  Two Months Later,  The Third

Attempt Suddenly Occurred.  It Is Certainly Of Them All The Most

Frightening,  Because It Is So Mysterious,  A Mystery That Has Not

Yet,  Alas,  Been Solved."

But Athanase Georgevitch Had Told A "Good Story" Which Raised So

Much Hubbub That Nothing Else Could Be Heard.  Feodor Feodorovitch

Was So Amused That He Had Tears In His Eyes.  Rouletabille Said To

Himself As Matrena Talked,  "I Never Have Seen Men So Gay,  And Yet

They Know Perfectly They Are Apt To Be Blown Up All Together Any

Moment."

General Trebassof,  Who Had Steadily Watched Rouletabille,  Who,  For

That Matter,  Had Been Kept In Eye By Everyone There,  Said:

"Eh,  Eh,  Monsieur Le Journaliste,  You Find Us Very Gay?"

"I Find You Very Brave," Said Rouletabille Quietly.

"How Is That?" Said Feodor Feodorovitch,  Smiling.

"You Must Pardon Me For Thinking Of The Things That You Seem To

Have Forgotten Entirely."

He Indicated The General's Wounded Leg.

"The Chances Of War! The Chances Of War!" Said The General.  "A Leg

Here,  An Arm There.  But,  As You See,  I Am Still Here.  They Will

End By Growing Tired And Leaving Me In Peace.  Your Health,  My

Friend!"

"Your Health,  General!"

"You Understand," Continued Feodor Feodorovitch,  "There Is No

Occasion To Excite Ourselves.  It Is Our Business To Defend The

Empire At The Peril Of Our Lives.  We Find That Quite Natural,  And

There Is No Occasion To Think Of It.  I Have Had Terrors Enough In

Other Directions,  Not To Speak Of The Terrors Of Love,  That Are

More Ferocious Than You Can Yet Imagine.  Look At What They Did To

My Poor Friend The Chief Of The Surete,  Boichlikoff.  He Was

Commendable Certainly.  There Was A Brave Man.  Of An Evening,  When

His Work Was Over,  He Always Left The Bureau Of The Prefecture And

Went To Join His Wife And Children In Their Apartment In The Ruelle

Des Loups.  Not A Soldier!  No Guard!  The Others Had Every Chance.

One Evening A Score Of Revolutionaries,  After Having Driven Away

The Terrorized Servants,  Mounted To His Apartments.  He Was Dining

With His Family.  They Knocked And He Opened The Door.  He Saw Who

They Were,  And Tried To Speak.  They Gave Him No Time.  Before His

Wife And Children,  Mad With Terror And On Their Knees Before The

Revolutionaries,  They Read Him His Death-Sentence.  A Fine End That

To A Dinner!"

As He Listened Rouletabille Paled And He Kept His Eyes On The Door

As If He Expected To See It Open Of Itself,  Giving Access To

Ferocious Nihilists Of Whom One,  With A Paper In His Hand,  Would

Read The Sentence Of Death To Feodor Feodorovitch.  Rouletabille's

Stomach Was Not Yet Seasoned To Such Stories.  He Almost Regretted,

Momentarily,  Having Taken The Terrible Responsibility Of Dismissing

The Police.  After What Koupriane Had Confided To Him Of Things That

Had Happened In This House,  He Had Not Hesitated To Risk Everything

On That Audacious Decision,  But All The Same,  All The Same - These

Stories Of Nihilists Who Appear At The End Of A Meal,  Death-Sentence

In Hand,  They Haunted Him,  They Upset Him.  Certainly It Had Been

A Piece Of Foolhardiness To Dismiss The Police!

"Well," He Asked,  Conquering His Misgivings And Resuming,  As Always,

His Confidence In Himself,  "Then,  What Did They Do Then,  After

Reading The Sentence?"

"The Chief Of The Surete Knew He Had No Time To Spare.  He Did Not

Ask For It.  The Revolutionaries Ordered Him To Bid His Family

Farewell.  He Raised His Wife,  His Children,  Clasped Them,  Bade

Them Be Of Good Courage,  Then Said He Was Ready.  They Took Him

Into The Street.  They Stood Him Against A Wall.  His Wife And

Children Watched From A Window.  A Volley Sounded.  They Descended

To Secure The Body,  Pierced With Twenty-Five Bullets."

"That Was Exactly The Number Of Wounds That Were Made On The Body

Of Little Jacques Zloriksky," Came In The Even Tones Of Natacha.

"Oh,  You,  You Always Find An Excuse," Grumbled The General.  "Poor

Boichlikoff Did His Duty,  As I Did Mine.

"Yes,  Papa,  You Acted Like A Soldier.  That Is What The

Revolutionaries Ought Not To Forget.  But Have No Fears For Us,

Papa; Because If They Kill You We Will All Die With You."

"And Gayly Too," Declared Athanase Georgevitch.

"They Should Come This Evening.  We Are In Form!"

Upon Which Athanase Filled The Glasses Again.

"None The Less,  Permit Me To Say," Ventured The Timber-Merchant,

Thaddeus Tchnitchnikof,  Timidly,  "Permit Me To Say That This

Boichlikoff Was Very Imprudent."

"Yes,  Indeed,  Very Gravely Imprudent," Agreed Rouletabille.  "When

A Man Has Had Twenty-Five Good Bullets Shot Into The Body Of A

Child,  He Ought Certainly To Keep His Home Well Guarded If He

Wishes To Dine In Peace."

He Stammered A Little Toward The End Of This,  Because It Occurred

To Him That It Was A Little Inconsistent To Express Such Opinions,

Seeing What He Had Done With The Guard Over The General.

"Ah," Cried Athanase Georgevitch,  In A Stage-Struck Voice,  "Ah,  It

Was Not Imprudence!  It Was Contempt Of Death!  Yes,  It Was Contempt

Of Death That Killed Him!  Even As The Contempt Of Death Keeps Us,

At This Moment,  In Perfect Health.   To You,  Ladies And Gentlemen!

Do You Know Anything Lovelier,  Grander,  In The World Than Contempt

Of Death?  Gaze On Feodor Feodorovitch And Answer Me.  Superb!  My

Word,  Superb!  To You All!  The Revolutionaries Who Are Not Of The

Police Are Of The Same Mind Regarding Our Heroes.  They May Curse

The Tchinownicks Who Execute The Terrible Orders Given Them By

Those Higher Up,  But Those Who Are Not Of The Police (There Are

Some,  I Believe) - These Surely Recognize That Men Like The Chief

Of The Surete Our Dead Friend,  Are Brave."

"Certainly," Endorsed The General.  "Counting All Things,  They Need

More Heroism For A Promenade In A Salon Than A Soldier On A

Battle-Field."

"I Have Met Some Of These Men," Continued Athanase In Exalted Vein.

"I Have Found In All Their Homes The Same - Imprudence,  As Our Young

French Friend Calls It. A Few Days After The Assassination Of The

Chief Of Police In Moscow I Was Received By His Successor In The

Same Place Where The Assassination Had Occurred.  He Did Not Take

The Slightest Precaution With Me,  Whom He Did Not Know At All,  Nor

With Men Of The Middle Class Who Came To Present Their Petitions,

In Spite Of The Fact That It Was Under Precisely Identical

Conditions That His Predecessor Had Been Slain.  Before I Left I

Looked Over To Where On The Floor There Had So Recently Occurred

Such Agony.  They Had Placed A Rug There And On The Rug A Table,

And On That Table There Was A Book.  Guess What Book.  'Women's

Stockings,' By Willy!  And - And Then -  Your Health,  Matrena

Petrovna.  What's The Odds!"

"You Yourselves,  My Friends," Declared The General,  Prove Your Great

Courage By Coming To Share The Hours That Remain Of My Life With Me."

"Not At All,  Not At All!  It Is War."

"Yes,  It Is War."

"Oh,  There's No Occasion To Pat Us On The Shoulder,  Athanase,"

Insisted Thaddeus Modestly.  "What Risk Do We Run?  We Are Well

Guarded."

"We Are Protected By The Finger Of God," Declared Athanase,  "Because

The Police - Well,  I Haven't Any Confidence In The Police."

Michael Korsakoff,  Who Had Been For A Turn In The Garden,  Entered

During The Remark.

"Be Happy,  Then,  Athanase Georgevitch," Said He,  "For There Are Now

No Police Around The Villa."

"Where Are They?" Inquired The Timber-Merchant Uneasily.

"An Order Came From Koupriane To Remove Them," Explained Matrena

Petrovna,  Who Exerted Herself To Appear Calm.

"And Are They Not Replaced?" Asked Michael.

"No.  It Is Incomprehensible.  There Must Have Been Some Confusion

In The Orders Given."  And Matrena Reddened,  For She Loathed A Lie

And It Was In Tribulation Of Spirit That She Used This Fable