The Crystal Stopper [64]
while I listen... All right... They're asleep... give me the ladder."
Lupin lowered it and asked:
"Must I come down?"
"No... . I feel a little weak... but I shall manage.
Indeed, he reached the window of the embrasure pretty quickly and crept along the passage in the wake of his rescuer. The open air, however, seemed to make him giddy. Also, to give himself strength, he had drunk half the bottle of wine; and he had a fainting-fit that kept him lying on the stones of the embrasure for half an hour. Lupin, losing patience, was fastening him to one end of the rope, of which the other end was knotted round the bars and was preparing to let him down like a bale of goods, when Daubrecq woke up, in better condition:
"That's over," he said. "I feel fit now. Will it take long?"
"Pretty long. We are a hundred and fifty yards up."
"How was it that d'Albufex did not foresee that it was possible to escape this way?"
"The cliff is perpendicular."
"And you were able to... "
"Well, your cousins insisted... And then one has to live, you know, and they were free with their money."
"The dear, good souls!" said Daubrecq. "Where are they?"
"Down below, in a boat."
"Is there a river, then?"
"Yes, but we won't talk, if you don't mind. It's dangerous."
"One word more. Had you been there long when you threw me the letter?"
"No, no. A quarter of an hour or so. I'll tell you all about it... Meanwhile, we must hurry."
Lupin went first, after recommending Daubrecq to hold tight to the rope and to come down backward. He would give him a hand at the difficult places.
It took them over forty minutes to reach the platform of the ledge formed by the cliff; and Lupin had several times to help his companion, whose wrists, still bruised from the torture, had lost all their strength and suppleness.
Over and over again, he groaned:
"Oh, the swine, they've done for me!... The swine!... Ah, d'Albufex, I'll make you pay dear for this!... "
"Ssh!" said Lupin.
"What's the matter?"
"A noise... up above... "
Standing motionless on the platform, they listened. Lupin thought of the Sire de Tancarville and the sentry who had killed him with a shot from his harquebus. He shivered, feeling all the anguish of the silence and the darkness.
"No," he said, "I was mistaken... Besides, it's absurd... They can't hit us here."
"Who would bit us?"
"No one... no one... it was a silly notion... "
He groped about till he found the uprights of the ladder; then he said:
"There, here's the ladder. It is fixed in the bed of the river. A friend of mine is looking after it, as well as your cousins."
He whistled:
"Here I am," he said, in a low voice. "Hold the ladder fast." And, to Daubrecq, "I'll go first."
Daubrecq objected:
"Perhaps it would be better for me to go down first."
"Why?"
"I am very tired. You can tie your rope round my waist and hold me... Otherwise, there is a danger that I might... ."
"Yes, you are right," said Lupin. "Come nearer.
Daubrecq came nearer and knelt down on the rock. Lupin fastened the rope to him and then, stooping over, grasped one of the uprights in both hands to keep the ladder from shaking:
"Off you go," he said.
At the same moment, he felt a violent pain in the shoulder:
"Blast it!" he said, sinking to the ground.
Daubrecq had stabbed him with a knife below the nape of the neck, a little to the right.
"You blackguard! You blackguard!"
He half-saw Daubrecq, in the dark, ridding himself of his rope, and heard him whisper:
"You're a bit of a fool, you know!... You bring me a letter from my Rousselot cousins, in which I recognize the writing of the elder, Adelaide, but which that sly puss of an Adelaide, suspecting something and meaning to put me on my guard, if necessary, took care to sign with the name of the younger sister, Euphrasie Rousselot. You see, I tumbled to it! So, with a little reflection... you are Master Arsene Lupin, are you not? Clarisse's protector, Gilbert's saviour... Poor Lupin,
Lupin lowered it and asked:
"Must I come down?"
"No... . I feel a little weak... but I shall manage.
Indeed, he reached the window of the embrasure pretty quickly and crept along the passage in the wake of his rescuer. The open air, however, seemed to make him giddy. Also, to give himself strength, he had drunk half the bottle of wine; and he had a fainting-fit that kept him lying on the stones of the embrasure for half an hour. Lupin, losing patience, was fastening him to one end of the rope, of which the other end was knotted round the bars and was preparing to let him down like a bale of goods, when Daubrecq woke up, in better condition:
"That's over," he said. "I feel fit now. Will it take long?"
"Pretty long. We are a hundred and fifty yards up."
"How was it that d'Albufex did not foresee that it was possible to escape this way?"
"The cliff is perpendicular."
"And you were able to... "
"Well, your cousins insisted... And then one has to live, you know, and they were free with their money."
"The dear, good souls!" said Daubrecq. "Where are they?"
"Down below, in a boat."
"Is there a river, then?"
"Yes, but we won't talk, if you don't mind. It's dangerous."
"One word more. Had you been there long when you threw me the letter?"
"No, no. A quarter of an hour or so. I'll tell you all about it... Meanwhile, we must hurry."
Lupin went first, after recommending Daubrecq to hold tight to the rope and to come down backward. He would give him a hand at the difficult places.
It took them over forty minutes to reach the platform of the ledge formed by the cliff; and Lupin had several times to help his companion, whose wrists, still bruised from the torture, had lost all their strength and suppleness.
Over and over again, he groaned:
"Oh, the swine, they've done for me!... The swine!... Ah, d'Albufex, I'll make you pay dear for this!... "
"Ssh!" said Lupin.
"What's the matter?"
"A noise... up above... "
Standing motionless on the platform, they listened. Lupin thought of the Sire de Tancarville and the sentry who had killed him with a shot from his harquebus. He shivered, feeling all the anguish of the silence and the darkness.
"No," he said, "I was mistaken... Besides, it's absurd... They can't hit us here."
"Who would bit us?"
"No one... no one... it was a silly notion... "
He groped about till he found the uprights of the ladder; then he said:
"There, here's the ladder. It is fixed in the bed of the river. A friend of mine is looking after it, as well as your cousins."
He whistled:
"Here I am," he said, in a low voice. "Hold the ladder fast." And, to Daubrecq, "I'll go first."
Daubrecq objected:
"Perhaps it would be better for me to go down first."
"Why?"
"I am very tired. You can tie your rope round my waist and hold me... Otherwise, there is a danger that I might... ."
"Yes, you are right," said Lupin. "Come nearer.
Daubrecq came nearer and knelt down on the rock. Lupin fastened the rope to him and then, stooping over, grasped one of the uprights in both hands to keep the ladder from shaking:
"Off you go," he said.
At the same moment, he felt a violent pain in the shoulder:
"Blast it!" he said, sinking to the ground.
Daubrecq had stabbed him with a knife below the nape of the neck, a little to the right.
"You blackguard! You blackguard!"
He half-saw Daubrecq, in the dark, ridding himself of his rope, and heard him whisper:
"You're a bit of a fool, you know!... You bring me a letter from my Rousselot cousins, in which I recognize the writing of the elder, Adelaide, but which that sly puss of an Adelaide, suspecting something and meaning to put me on my guard, if necessary, took care to sign with the name of the younger sister, Euphrasie Rousselot. You see, I tumbled to it! So, with a little reflection... you are Master Arsene Lupin, are you not? Clarisse's protector, Gilbert's saviour... Poor Lupin,