The Three Musketeers (The Modern Library) - Alexandre Dumas [285]
“Now,” he said, “will you come?”
“I am ready.”
Milady mounted on a chair and passed the upper part of her body through the window. She saw the young officer suspended above the abyss on a rope-ladder. For the first time a feeling of terror reminded her that she was a woman. The yawning emptiness frightened her.
“I expected this,” Felton said grimly.
“No, never mind, it’s nothing at all,” Milady assured him. “I will go down with my eyes shut.”
“Do you trust me?” asked Felton.
“What a question!”
“Put your two hands together. Cross them. That’s right.”
Felton bound her wrists together with his handkerchief, then knotted a cord around the handkerchief.
“What are you doing?”
“Put your arms around my neck and fear nothing!”
“But I shall make you lose your balance and we will both be dashed to pieces.”
“Don’t be afraid. I am a sailor.”
There was not a second to lose. Milady clasped her arms around Felton and slipped out of the window.
Felton began to descend the ladder slowly, rung by rung. Despite the weight of their bodies, the blast of the hurricane swung them in the air. Suddenly Felton stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Quiet!” Felton warned. “I hear footsteps.”
“We are lost!”
For several seconds all was silent.
“No,” said Felton, “it is nothing.”
“But what is that noise?”
“The patrol making its rounds.”
“Which way does it pass?”
“Directly below us.”
“They will surely discover us!”
“Not if there is no lightning.”
“They will run into the bottom of the ladder.”
“Luckily it is six feet too short.”
“There they are! Oh, my God!”
“Hush!”
Both remained suspended, motionless and breathless within fifty feet of the ground while the soldiers passed below, laughing and talking. It was a horrible moment for the fugitives.
The patrol passed. The noise of retreating footsteps growing fainter, the murmur of voices died gradually away.
“Now,” said Felton, “we are safe!”
Milady heaved a sigh of relief and fainted.
Felton continued to descend. Near the bottom of the ladder when he felt there was no support left for his feet, he clung on with his hands, his legs dangling in the void. Presently he reached the last rung. Hanging on by the strength of his wrists, he touched ground. Stooping down, he picked up the bag of gold and placed it between his teeth. Then he took Milady in his arms and set off briskly in the direction opposite to that which the patrol had taken. He soon left the path under patrol, climbed down across the rocks, and reaching the sea, emitted a swift, shrill whistle.
A similar signal replied. Five minutes later a boat appeared, rowed by four men. The boat approached as close as it could to the shore but the water was not deep enough for it to touch land. Felton walked into the water up to his waist, unwilling to entrust his precious burden to anyone.
Fortunately the storm began to subside though the sea was still choppy. The little boat bounded over the waves like a nutshell.
“To the sloop!” Felton ordered, “and row smartly!”
The four men bent their oars but the sea was too high for them to make much headway. However, inch by inch, they were leaving the castle behind; that was the main thing. It was almost pitch dark. Already they could barely see the shore from the boat; it seemed even less likely that those ashore could possibly distinguish them.
A black dot was floating on the sea. It was the sloop. While the boat was advancing with all the strength its four rowers could muster, Felton unknotted the cord and untied the handkerchief which bound Milady’s hands together. When her hands were free he cupped up some sea-water and sprinkled it over her face. Milady heaved a sigh, opened her eyes, and:
“Where am I?” she asked.
“You are safe!” the young officer told her.
“Oh, safe! safe!” she exclaimed. “Yes, there is the sky, here is the sea! This air I breathe is the air of liberty. Oh, thank you, Felton, thank you and God bless you!”
The young man pressed her close against his heart.
“But what is the matter with my hands?” cried Milady. “It feels as if my wrists had been crushed