The Wandering Jew — Complete
yellow. His thighs were gathered under him, and his thick mane served
entirely to conceal his head. But by the tension and movement of the
muscles of his loins, and the curving of his backbone, it was easy to
perceive that he was making violent efforts with his throat and his
forepaws. The Prophet approached the cage with same uneasiness, fearing
that, notwithstanding his orders, Goliath had given the lion some bones
to gnaw. To assure himself of it, he said in a quick and firm voice:
"Cain!"
The lion did not change his position.
"Cain! come here!" repeated Morok in a louder tone. The appeal was
useless; the lion did not move, and the noise continued.
"Cain! come here!" said the Prophet a third time; but, as he pronounced
these words, he applied the end of the glowing bar to the haunch of the
lion.
Scarcely did the light track of smoke appear on the reddish hide of
Cain, when, with a spring of incredible agility, he turned and
threw himself against the grating, not crouching, but at a single
bound--upright, superb, terrifying. The Prophet being at the angle of
the cage, Cain, in his fury, had raised himself sideways to face his
master, and, leaning his huge flank against the bars, thrust between
them his enormous fore leg, which, with his swollen muscles, was as
large as Goliath's thigh.
"Cain! down!" said the Prophet, approaching briskly.
The lion did not obey immediately. His lips, curling with rage,
displayed fangs as long, as large, and as pointed as the tusks of a wild
boar. But Morok touched those lips with the end of the burning metal;
and, as he felt the smart, followed by an unexpected summons of his
master, the lion, not daring to roar, uttered a hollow growl, and his
great body sank down at once in an attitude of submission and fear.
The Prophet took down the lantern to see what Cain had been gnawing. It
was one of the planks from the floor of his den, which he had succeeded
in tearing up, and was crunching between his teeth in the extremity of
his hunger. For a few moments the most profound silence reigned in the
menagerie. The Prophet, with his hands behind his back, went from one
cage to the other, observing the animals with a restless contemplative
look, as if he hesitated to make between them an important and difficult
choice.
From time to time he listened at the great door of the shed, which
opened on the court-yard of the inn. At length this door turned on its
hinges, and Goliath appeared, his clothes dripping with water.
"Well! is it done?" said the Prophet.
"Not without trouble. Luckily, the night is dark, it blows hard, and it
pours with rain."
"Then there is no suspicion?"
"None, master. Your information was good. The door of the cellar opens
on the fields, just under the window of the lasses. When you whistled to
let me know it was time, I crept out with a stool I had provided; I put
it up against the wall, and mounted upon it; with my six feet, that made
nine, and I could lean my elbows on the window-ledge; I took the shutter
in one hand, and the haft of my knife in the other, and, whilst I broke
two of the panes, I pushed the shutter with all my might."
"And they thought it was the wind?"
"Yes, they thought it was the wind. You see, the 'brute' is not such a
brute, after all. That done, I crept back into my cellar, carrying my
stool with me. In a little time, I heard the voice of the old man; it
was well I had made haste."
"Yes, when I whistled to you, he had just entered the supper-room. I
thought he would have been longer."
"That man's not built to remain long at supper," said the giant,
contemptuously. "Some moments after the panes had been broken, the old
man opened the window, and called his dog, saying: 'Jump out!'--I went
and hid myself at the further end of the cellar, or that infernal dog
would have scented me through the door."
"The dog is now shut up in the stable with the old man's horse."
"Go on!"
"When I heard them close shutter and window, I came out of my cellar,
replaced my stool, and again mounted upon it. Unfastening the shutter,
I opened it without noise, but the two broken panes were stopped up with
the skirts of a pelisse. I heard talking, but I could see nothing; so I
moved the pelisse a little, and then I could see the two lasses in bed
opposite to me, and the old man sitting down with his back to where I
stood."
"But the knapsack--the knapsack?--That is the most important."
"The knapsack was near the window, on a table, by the side of a lamp; I
could have reached it by stretching out my arm."
"What did you hear said?"
"As you told me to think only of the knapsack, I can only remember what
concerns the knapsack. The old man said he had some papers in it--the
letter of a general--his money--his cross."
"Good--what next?"
"As it was difficult for me to keep the pelisse away from the hole, it
slipped through my fingers. In trying to get hold of it again, I put
my hand too much forward. One of the lasses saw it, and screamed out,
pointing to the window."
"Dolt!" exclaimed the Prophet, becoming pale with rage, "you have ruined
all."
"Stop a bit! there is nothing broken yet. When I heard the scream, I
jumped down from my stool, and got back into the cellar; as the dog was
no longer about, I left the door ajar, so that I could hear them open
the window, and see, by the light, that the old man was looking out with
the lamp; but he could find no ladder, and the window was too high for
any man of common size to reach it!"
"He will have thought, like the first time, that it was the wind. You
are less awkward than I imagined."
"The wolf has become a fox, as you said. Knowing where the knapsack was
to be found with the money and the papers, and not being able to do more
for the moment, I came away--and here I am."
"Go upstairs and fetch me the longest pike."
"Yes, master."
"And the red blanket."
"Yes, master."
"Go!"
Goliath began to mount the ladder; half-way up he stopped. "Master,"
said he, "may I not bring down a bit of meat for Death?--you will see
that she'll bear me malice; she puts it all down to my account; she
never forgets, and on the first occasion--"
"The pike and the cloth!" repeated the Prophet, in an imperious tone.
And whilst Goliath, swearing to himself, proceeded to execute his
instructions, Morok opened the great door of the shed, looked out into
the yard, and listened.
"Here's the pike and the cloth," said the giant, as he descended the
ladder with the articles. "Now what must I do next?"
"Return to the cellar, mount once more by the window, and when the old
man leaves the room--"
"Who will make him leave the room?"
"Never mind! he will leave it."
"What next?"
"You say the lamp is near the window?"
"Quite near--on the table next to the knapsack."
"Well, then, as soon as the old man leaves the room, push open the
window, throw down the lamp, and if you accomplish cleverly what remains
to do--the ten florins are yours--you remember it all?"
"Yes, yes."
"The girls will be so frightened by the noise and darkness, that they
will remain dumb with terror."
"Make yourself easy! The wolf turned into a fox; why not a serpent?"
"There is yet something."
"Well, what now?"
"The roof of this shed is not very high, the window of the loft is easy
of access, the night is dark--instead of returning by the door--"
"I will come in at the window."
"Ay, and without noise."
"Like a regular snake!" and the giant departed.
"Yes!" said the Prophet to himself, after a long silence, "these means
are sure. It was not for me to hesitate. A blind and obscure instrument,
I know not the motives of the orders I have received: but from the
recommendations which accompany them--but from the position of him who
sends them--immense interests must be involved--interests connected with
all that is highest and greatest upon earth!--And yet how can these
two girls, almost beggars, how can this wretched soldier represent such
interests?--No matter," added he, with humility; "I am the arm which
acts--it is for the head, which thinks and orders, to answer for its
work."
Soon after the Prophet left the shed, carrying with him the red cloth,
and directed his steps towards the little stable that contained Jovial.
The crazy door, imperfectly secured by a latch, was easily opened. At
sight of a stranger Spoil-sport threw himself upon him; but his teeth
encountered the iron leggings of the Prophet, who, in spite of the
efforts of the dog took Jovial by his halter, threw the blanket over
his head to prevent his either seeing or smelling, and led him from the
stable into the interior of the menagerie, of which he closed the door.
CHAPTER X. THE SURPRISE.
The orphans, after reading the journal of their father, remained for
some moments silent, sad, and pensive, contemplating the leaves yellowed
by time. Dagobert, also plunged in a reverie, thought of his wife and
son, from whom he had been so long separated, and hoped soon to see
again.
The soldier was the first to break the silence, which had lasted for
several minutes. Taking the leaves from the hand of Blanche, he folded
them carefully, put them into his pocket, and thus addressed the
orphans:
"Courage, my children! you see what a brave father you have. Think only
of the pleasure of greeting him, and remember always the name of the
gallant youth, to whom you will owe that pleasure--for without him your
father would have been killed in India."
"Djalma! we shall never forget him," said Rose.
"And if our guardian angel Gabriel should return," added Blanche, "we
will ask him to watch over Djalma as over ourselves."
"Very well, my children; I am sure that you will forget nothing that
concerns good feeling. But to return to the traveller, who came to visit
your poor mother in Siberia, he had seen the general a month after the
events of which you have read, and at a moment when he was about to
enter on a new campaign against the English. It was then that your
father entrusted him with the papers and medal."
"But of what use will this medal be to us, Dagobert?"
"And what is the meaning of these words engraved upon it?" added Rose,
as she drew it from her bosom.
"Why it means, my children, that on the 13th of February, 1832, we must
be at No. 3, Rue Saint Francois, Paris."
"But what are we to do there?"
"Your poor mother was seized so quickly with her last illness, that she
was unable to tell me. All I know is, that this medal came to her from
her parents, and that it had been a relic preserved in her family for
more than a century."
"And how did our father get it?"
"Among the articles which had been hastily thrown into the coach,
when he was removed by force from Warsaw, was a dressing-case of your
mother's, in which was contained this medal. Since that time the general
had been unable to send it back, having no means of communicating with
us, and not even knowing where we were."
"This medal is, then, of great importance to us?"
"Unquestionably; for never, during fifteen years, had I seen your mother
so happy, as on the day the traveller brought it back to her. 'Now,'
said she to me, in the presence of the stranger, and with tears of joy
in her eyes, 'now may my children's future be brilliant as their life
has hitherto been miserable. I will entreat of the governor of Siberia
permission to go to France with my daughters; it will perhaps be thought
I have been sufficiently punished, by fifteen years of exile, and the
confiscation of my property. Should they refuse, I will remain here; but
they will at least allow me to send my children to France, and you must
accompany them, Dagobert. You shall set out immediately, for much time