XVIII. A SINGULAR EXPERIENCE
The five minutes ticked away and the watch commenced to strike thehour's seven strokes. Did it sound the death of Rouletabille? Perhapsnot! For at the first silver tinkle they saw Rouletabille shake himself,and raise his head, with his face alight and his eyes shining. They sawhim stand up, spread out his arms and cry:
"I have found it!"
Such joy shone in his countenance that there seemed to be an aureolearound him, and none of those there doubted that he had the solution ofthe impossible problem.
"I have found it! I have found it!"
They gathered around him. He waved them away as in a waking dream.
"Give me room. I have found it, if my experiment works out. One, two,three, four, five..."
What was he doing? He counted his steps now, in long paces, as indueling preliminaries. And the others, all of them, followed him insilence, puzzled, but without protest, as if they, too, were caught inthe same strange day-dream. Steadily counting his steps he crossedthus the court, which was vast. "Forty, forty-one, forty-two," he criedexcitedly. "This is certainly strange, and very promising."
The others, although they did not understand, reframed from questioninghim, for they saw there was nothing to do but let him go ahead withoutinterruption, just as care is taken not to wake a somnambulist abruptly.They had no mistrust of his motives, for the idea was simply untenablethat Rouletabille was fool enough to hope to save himself from them byan imbecile subterfuge. No, they yielded to the impression hisinspired countenance gave them, and several were so affected that theyunconsciously repeated his gestures. Thus Rouletabille reached the edgeof the court where judgment had been pronounced against him. There hehad to mount a rickety flight of stairs, whose steps he counted. Hereached a corridor, but moving away from the side where the door wasopening to the exterior he turned toward a staircase leading to theupper floor, and still counted the steps as he climbed them. Some of thecompany followed him, others hurried ahead of him. But he did not seemaware of either the one or the other, as he walked along living onlyin his thoughts. He reached the landing-place, hesitated, pushed open adoor, and found himself in a room furnished with a table, two chairs,a mattress and a huge cupboard. He went to the cupboard, turned the keyand opened it. The cupboard was empty. He closed it again and put thekey in his pocket. Then he went out onto the landing-place again. Therehe asked for the key of the chamber-door he had just left. They gave itto him and he locked that door and put that key also in his pocket. Nowhe returned into the court. He asked for a chair. It was brought him.Immediately he placed his head in his hands, thinking hard, took thechair and carried it over a little behind the shed. The Nihilistswatched everything he did and they did not smile, because men do notsmile when death waits at the end of things, however foolish.
Finally, Rouletabille spoke:
"Messieurs," said he, his voice low and shaken, because he knew thatnow he touched the decisive minute, after which there could only be anirrevocable fate. "Messieurs, in order to continue my experiment I amobliged to go through movements that might suggest to you the idea of anattempt at escape, or evasion. I hope you don't regard me as fool enoughto have any such thought."
"Oh, monsieur," said the chief, "you are free to go through all themaneuvers you wish. No one escapes us. Outside we should have youwithin arm's reach quite as well as here. And, besides, it is entirelyimpossible to escape from here."
"Very well. Then that is understood. In such a case, I ask you now toremain just where you are and not to budge, whatever I do, if you don'twish to inconvenience me. Only please send someone now up to the nextfloor, where I am going to go again, and let him watch what happens fromthere, but without interfering. And don't speak a word to me during theexperiment."
Two of the revolutionaries went to the upper floor, and opened a windowin order to keep track of what went on in the court. All now showedtheir intense interest in the acts and gestures of Rouletabille.
The reporter placed himself in the shed, between his death-stool and hishanging-rope.
"Ready," said he; "I am going to begin"
And suddenly he jumped like a wild man, crossed the court in a straightline like a flash, disappeared in the touba, bounded up the staircase,felt in his pocket and drew out the keys, opened the door of the chamberhe had locked, closed it and locked it again, turned right-about-face,came down again in the same haste, reached the court, and this timeswerved to the chair, went round it, still running, and returned at thesame speed to the shed. He no sooner reached there than he uttered a cryof triumph as he glanced at the watch banging from a post. "I have won,"he said, and threw himself with a happy thrill upon the fatal scaffold.They surrounded him, and he read the liveliest curiosity in all theirfaces. Panting still from his mad rush, he asked for two words apartwith the chief of the Secret committee.
The man who had pronounced judgment and who had the bearing of Jesusadvanced, and there was a brief exchange of words between the twoyoung men. The others drew back and waited at a distance, in impressivesilence, the outcome of this mysterious colloquy, which certainly wouldsettle Rouletabille's fate.
"Messieurs," said the chief, "the young Frenchman is going to be allowedto leave. We give him twenty-four hours to set Natacha Feodorovna free.In twenty-four hours, if he has not succeeded, he will return here togive himself up."
A happy murmur greeted these words. The moment their chief spoke thus,they felt sure of Natacha's fate.
The chief added:
"As the liberation of Natacha Feodorovna will be followed, the youngFrenchman says, by that of our companion Matiew, we decide that, ifthese two conditions are fulfilled, M. Joseph Rouletabille is allowed toreturn in entire security to France, which he ought never to have left."
Two or three only of the group said, "That lad is playing with us; it isnot possible."
But the chief declared:
"Let the lad try. He accomplishes miracles."