'It may be so,' Harry agreed; 'but I could not bring myself to do it.'
Jacques was silent, but not convinced. It seemed to him an act of the extremest folly to leave so dangerous an enemy alive.
'He would hunt us all down,' he said to himself, 'Elise and I, this poor lad and the girl, to say nothing of the Englishman and the girl's sisters. Well, we shall see. I am risking my head in this business, and I mean to have my say.'
Having made all his arrangements, Harry returned to his attic and lay down there until evening, having before he went in purchased a sword. At seven o'clock he placed his pistols in his bosom, girded on his sword, which would attract no attention, for half the rabble of Paris carried weapons, and then set out for the Place de Carrousel. At half-past seven his friend the coachman drew up.
'Ah, here you are!' he said. 'You had better take this big cape of mine; you will find it precious cold on the box; besides he would notice at once that you are not the coachman he hired if you are dressed in that blouse.'
Harry took off his sword and placed it on the seat, wrapped himself in the great cape, wound a muffler round the lower part of his face, and waited. A few minutes after the clock had struck eight Lebat came along.
'Here we are, citizen,' Harry said in a rough voice, 'I am glad you have come, for it's no joke waiting about on such nights as this. Where am I to drive you to?'
'The prison of La Force,' Lebat said, taking his seat in the coach.
Harry's heart beat fast as he drove towards the prison. He felt sure that success would attend his plans; but the moment was an exciting one. It did not seem that anything could interpose to prevent success, and yet something might happen which he had not foreseen or guarded against. He drove at a little more than a footpace, for the streets a short distance from the centre of town were only lighted here and there by a dim oil lamp, and further away they were in absolute darkness, save for the lights which gleamed through the casements. At last he reached the entrance to the prison. Lebat jumped out and rang at the bell.
'What is it, citizen?' the guard said looking through a grille in the gate.
'I am Citizen Lebat of the Committee of Public Safety, and I have an order here, signed by Citizen Robespierre, for the release of the female prisoner known as Marie Caux.'
'All right, citizen!' the man said, opening the gate. 'It is late for a discharge; but I don't suppose the prisoner will grumble at that.'
Ten minutes later the gate opened again and Lebat came out with a cloaked female figure. She hesitated on the top step, and then refusing to touch the hand Lebat held out to assist her, stepped down and entered the coach.
'Rue Fosseuse No. 18,' Lebat said as he followed her.
Harry drove on, and was soon in the Rue Montagnard. It was a dark narrow street; no one seemed stirring, and Harry peered anxiously through the darkness for the figure of Jacques. Presently he heard a low whistle, and a figure appeared from a doorway. Harry at once checked the horse.
'What is it?' Lebat asked, putting his head out of the window.
Harry got off the box, and going to the window said in a drunken voice:
'I want my fare. There is a cabaret only just ahead, and I want a glass before I go further. My feet are pretty well frozen.'
'Drive on, you drunken rascal,' Lebat said furiously, 'or it will be worse for you.'
'Don't you speak in that way to me, citizen,' Harry said hoarsely. 'One man's as good as another in these days, and if you talk like that to me I will break your head in spite of your red sash.'
With an exclamation of rage Lebat sprang from the coach, and as his foot touched the ground Harry threw his arms round him; but as he did so he trod upon some of the filth which so thickly littered the thoroughfare, and slipped. Lebat wrenched himself free and drew his sword, and before Harry could have regained his feet he would have cut him down, when he fell himself in a heap from a tremendous blow which Jacques struck him with his sword.
'Jump inside,' Jacques said to Harry. 'We may have some one out to see what the noise is about. He will be no more trouble.'
He seized the prostrate body, threw it up on the box, and taking his seat drove on.
'Marie,' Harry said as he jumped in, 'thank God you are safe!'
'Oh, Harry, is it you? Can it be true?' And the spirit which had so long sustained the girl gave way, and leaning her head upon his shoulder she burst into tears. Harry soothed and pacified her till the vehicle again came to a stop.
'What is it, Jacques?' Harry asked, putting his head out of the window.
'Just what we agreed upon,' the man said. 'Here are the empty houses. You stop where you are. I will get rid of this trash.'
Harry, however, got out.
'Is he dead?' he asked in a low voice.
'Well, considering his head's cut pretty nigh in two, I should think he was,' Jacques said. 'It could not be helped, you know; for if I hadn't struck sharp it would have been all over with you. Anyhow it's better as it is a hundred times. If you don't value your neck, I do mine. Now get in again. I sha'n't be two minutes.
He slipped off the red sash and coat and waistcoat of the dead man, emptied his trouser pockets and turned them inside out, then lifting the body on his shoulder he carried it to one of the empty houses and threw it down.
'They will never know who he is,' he said to himself 'In this neighbourhood the first comer will take his shirt and trousers. They will suppose he has been killed and robbed, no uncommon matter in these days, and his body will be thrown into the public pit, and no one be any the wiser. I will burn the coat and waistcoat as soon as I get back.'
CHAPTER XI
Marie and Victor
'Are you taking me to the girls, Harry?'
'No,' Harry said. 'It would not be safe to do so. There are already suspicions, and they have been denounced.'
Marie gave a cry of alarm.
'I have managed to suppress the document, Marie, and we start with them in a day or two. Still it will be better for you not to go near them. I will arrange for you to meet them to-morrow.'
'Where am I going, then?'
'You are going to the house of a worthy couple, who have shown themselves faithful and trustworthy by nursing a friend of mine, who has for nearly six months been lying ill there. You will be perfectly safe there till we can arrange matters.'
'But if Robespierre has signed my release, as they said, I am safe enough, surely, and can go where I like.'
'I think you will be safe from re-arrest here in Paris, Marie, because you could appeal to him; but outside Paris it might be different. However, we can talk about that to-morrow, when you have had a good night's rest.'
Harry did not think it necessary to say, that when Lebat was missed it would probably be ascertained that he was last seen leaving La Force with her, and that if inquiries were set on foot about him she might be sought for. However, Marie said no more on the subject, quite content that Harry should make whatever arrangements he thought best, and she now began to ask all sorts of questions about her sisters, and so passed the time until they were close to the Place de Carrousel; then Harry called Jacques to stop.
'Will you please get out, Marie, and wait with our good friend here till I return. I shall be back in five minutes. I have to hand the coach over to its owner.
Jacques threw Lebat's clothes over his arm and got down from the box. Harry took his seat and drove into the Place, where he found the coachman awaiting him.
'Have you managed the job?'
'That we have,' Harry said. 'He has a lesson, and Isabel has gone off to her friends again. Poor little girl, I
