“ ‘Vorski’s wife shall perish on the cross.’
“Which wife? Elfride.
“So his dear, devoted accomplice is to perish. It’s terrible for Vorski; it breaks his heart. But the god Moloch must be obeyed; and, considering that Vorski, to accomplish his task, decided to sacrifice his son Raynold, it would be inexcusable if he refused to sacrifice his wife Elfride. So all will be well.
“But, suddenly, a dramatic incident occurs. While pursuing the sisters Archignat, he sees and recognizes Véronique d’Hergemont!
“A man like Vorski could not fail to behold in this yet another favour vouchsafed by the powers above. The woman whom he has never forgotten is sent to him at the very moment when she is to take her place in the great adventure. She is given to him as a miraculous victim which he can destroy … or conquer. What a prospect! And how the heavens brighten with unexpected light! Vorski loses his head. He becomes more and more convinced that he is the Messiah, the chosen one, the apostle, missionary, the man who is ‘obeying destiny.’ He is linked up with the line of the high-priests, the guardians of the God-Stone. He is a Druid, an arch-druid; and, as such, on the night when Véronique d’Hergemont burns the bridge, on the sixth night after the moon, he goes and cuts the sacred mistletoe with a golden sickle!
“And the siege of the Priory begins. I will not linger over this. Véronique d’Hergemont has told you the whole story, Stéphane, and we know her sufferings, the part played by the delightful All’s Well, the discovery of the underground passage and the cells, the fight for François, the fight for you, Stéphane, whom Vorski imprisoned in one of the torture-cells called ‘death-chambers’ in the prophecy. Here you are surprised with Madame d’Hergemont. The young monster, Raynold, hurls you into the sea. François and his mother escape. Unfortunately, Vorski and his band succeed in reaching the Priory. François is captured. His mother joins him. And then … and then the most tragic scenes ensue, scenes upon which I will not enlarge: the interview between Vorski and Véronique d’Hergemont, the duel between the two brothers, between Cain and Abel, before Véronique d’Hergemont’s very eyes. For the prophecy insists upon it:
“ ‘Before his mother’s eyes, Abel kills Cain.’
“And the prophecy likewise demands that she shall suffer beyond expression and that Vorski shall be subtle in doing evil. ‘A cruel prince,’ he puts marks on the two combatants; and, when Abel is on the point of being defeated, he himself wounds Cain so that Cain may be killed.
“The monster is mad. He’s mad and drunk. The climax is close at hand. He drinks and drinks; for Véronique d’Hergemont’s martyrdom is to take place that evening:
“ ‘By thousand deaths and lingering agony,
His wedded wife one night of June hath slain.’
“The thousand deaths Véronique has already undergone; and the agony will be lingering. The hour comes. Supper, funeral procession, preparations, the setting up of the ladder, the binding of the victim and then … and then the ancient Druid!”
Don Luis gave a hearty laugh as he uttered the last words:
“Here, upon my word, things begin to get amusing! From this moment onward, tragedy goes hand in hand with comedy, the gruesome with the burlesque. Oh, that ancient Druid, what a caution! To you, Stéphane, and you, Patrice, who were behind the scenes, the story is devoid of interest. But to you, Vorski, what exciting revelations! … I say, Otto, just put the ladder against the trunk of the tree, so that your employer can rest his feet on the top rung. Is that easier for you, Vorski? Mark you, my little attention does not come from any ridiculous feeling of pity. Oh, dear, no! But I’m afraid that you might go phut; and besides I want you to be in a comfortable position to listen to the ancient Druid’s confession.”
He had another burst of laughter. There was no doubt about it: the ancient Druid was a great source of entertainment to Don Luis.
“The ancient Druid’s arrival,” he said, “introduces order and reason into the adventure. What was loose and vague becomes more compact. Incoherent crime turns into logical punishment. We have no longer blind obedience to Brother Thomas’ doggerel, but the submission to common sense, the rigorous method of a man who knows what he wants and who has no time to lose. Really, the ancient Druid deserves all our admiration.
“The ancient Druid, whom we may call either Don Luis Perenna or Arsène Lupin—you suspect that, don’t you?—knew very little of the story when the periscope of his submarine, the Crystal Stopper, emerged in sight of the coast of Sarek at midday yesterday.”
“Very little?” Stéphane Maroux cried, in spite of himself.
“One might say, nothing,” Don Luis declared.
“What! All those facts about Vorski’s past, all those precise details about what he did at Sarek, about his plans and the part played by Elfride and the poisoning of Maguennoc?”
“I learnt all that here, yesterday,” said Don Luis.
“But from whom? We never left one another?”
“Believe me when I say that the ancient Druid, when he landed yesterday on the coast of Sarek, knew nothing at all. But the ancient Druid lays claim to be at least as great a favourite of the gods as you are, Vorski. And in fact he at once had the luck to see, on a lonely little beach, our friend Stéphane, who himself had had the luck to fall into a pretty deep pool of water and thus to escape the fate which you and your son had prepared for him. Rescue-work, conversation. In half an hour, the ancient Druid had
