In the Name of Liberty: A Story of the Terror

  X

  UNRELENTING IN DEATH

  Placing Nicole in safety in the Maison Talaru, a privileged jail,of which the keeper, Schmidt, was his friend, Dossonville, pickingup Le Corbeau and Sans-Chagrin, returned to the court, now packedwith excited women. Forcing his way through the press, heedless ofquestions, he mounted the stairs, to find the room of the Marseillaisblack with the curious crowd, who shouted advice or sobbed hystericallyas they strove forward. Raising his voice, Dossonville thundered:

  "Silence!"

  There was a lull, and a hasty turning of heads.

  "In the name of the Nation I summon all citoyens to depart! The Nationtakes possession."

  Then followed a ludicrous sidling, shifting rush for the door as each,fearing to be marked for arrest, strove to depart unnoticed. All atonce the long arm of Dossonville shot out and barred the way.

  "Remain!"

  Boudgoust fell back. Again, as Cramoisin sought to escape in theshelter of a fat woman, the prohibition rang out:

  "Remain!"

  Jambony next presenting himself, the arm of Dossonville again deniedthe way. In the room there remained at last but the wounded man,unconscious on the bed, a bundle of humanity crouching at the head, adoctor, and the three Tapedures huddling together against the wall.

  From the doorway, the solemn face of Le Corbeau peered in, flanked bythe mocking smirk of Sans-Chagrin. Dossonville, master of the quietroom, strode up and down in indecision, with glowing eyes fastened onthe frightened three, who dared not meet the menace of his glance.

  After five minutes of this torture, during which all awaited the orderof arrest, Dossonville suddenly halted, extended his hand, and cried:

  "Pass out!"

  Sans-Chagrin, fearing to misinterpret the command, checked theforemost, asking:

  "Citoyen, are we to arrest them?"

  "Not now."

  Confident that the menace would rid the city of the three, Dossonvilleturned anxiously to the doctor.

  "Well, citoyen, what's your verdict?"

  "Nothing to be done."

  "Will he regain consciousness?"

  "It is possible--probable."

  Dossonville frowned.

  "How long will he live?"

  "Not beyond the day."

  Desiring to prevent all communication with the outer world, Dossonvillesaid, with a quick resolve:

  "Then I shall be forced to establish a guard. The Citoyen Javogues isunder arrest."

  Turning to Sans-Chagrin, he gave orders to allow no one to enter--acommand which had the desired effect of hastening the departure of thedoctor. Approaching the bed, Dossonville became aware of the figure atits side, drooped over an arm of the invalid that hung down.

  "Mordieu! what's this?" he cried; and placing his hand on the shoulder,he shook it.

  The bundle resolved itself into the wild figure of a girl.

  "Genevieve!"

  At the next moment the girl, recognizing him, flew at him with a cry ofhatred. Avoiding the blind rush, Dossonville caught her by the arm,crying:

  "Eh, Le Corbeau, take her! Sans-Chagrin, go to his aid!"

  Feeling herself overpowered, the girl became suddenly quiet,calculating, and dissimulating; but from her eyes murder looked out.

  "Take her below!"

  The wild light died out in the girl, who, bursting into tears, cried:

  "No, no! Let me stay! Let me stay!"

  "Diable! what a complication!" Dossonville thought. Then, aloud, hecried roughly: "Impossible! She must go!"

  Genevieve, breaking away, clasped his knees, imploring pity.

  "Let me stay, good, kind Dossonville. See, I kiss your hands. I'll bequiet. Let me stay. I love him. I adore him. Don't take me away fromhim now. I know he's going to die. I'll be quiet. I'll bless you."

  "Stay, then!" Dossonville cried angrily. "I am a fool to do it."

  The girl, released, flew to the bed and crouched down, laying her cheekagainst the shaggy arm, while the big eyes looked up with frightened,thankful appeal.

  "Go and eat," Dossonville said, turning to Sans-Chagrin and LeCorbeau. Accompanying them to the hall, he added in a whisper: "Minglewith the crowd; convey the idea of an assault. Nicole was defendingherself, you know. Return in an hour."

  He shut the door, straddled a chair, and folding his arms on the back,with a glance at Genevieve, who continued motionless, entered on hisvigil.

  In the room the only sound was from the troubled breathing of thewounded man. The girl did not even shift her head; while on his chairDossonville, like a statue of melancholy, waited the ebbing of life,musing at this end to their conflict, marveling the while at thestrange antipathies that set men at each other's throats from theirfirst glance.

  All at once Javogues, raising himself on the bed, opened his eyes andstared at Dossonville, who matched the delirious glance with a quietgaze. Javogues, without deviating, stared stupidly, then as suddenlyfell back into apparent insensibility again; while Genevieve, draggingher body along the floor, wound her arms about the bull-neck andwhispered in his ear.

  Again the Marseillais rose and fastened his uncomprehending stare uponDossonville. Suddenly, extending his hand, he cried:

  "Who's that?"

  Falling back, he almost immediately exclaimed:

  "It's Dossonville! Ah, Dossonville! Dossonville! Spy! I have you atlast!"

  "He is still delirious," Dossonville muttered, drawing breath. "Ithought he saw me."

  "I know it by the look in his eyes!" Javogues cried from the bed. "I'llnot give my hand to a spy! Boudgoust, Cramoisin, Jambony, watch him,follow him! Maillard, if he is acquitted, I swear I'll cut his throat!"

  At times he was at the siege of the Tuileries, again in the court ofthe Abbaye, or again back in the cabaret of the Bonnet Rouge on thenight of their first encounter. The flash burned itself out again andhe dropped into further insensibility.

  A knock was heard on the door. Dossonville, shifting slightly, said:

  "Come in."

  Le Corbeau and Sans-Chagrin tiptoed in and, at a sign, noiselesslytook their places against the wall. Slight as was the interruption, itcaught the senses of the wounded man and seemed to clear his vision. Heopened his eyes and recognized the room. A moment he remained frowning;then, turning to the girl, he said with a note of tenderness:

  "Ah, Genevieve!"

  A sob escaped from the girl.

  "What's the matter with you?" he cried, but immediately added: "Ah, Iremember."

  Presently he said roughly:

  "Tell me, child; what is it?" Then, as the girl buried her face in thebed to choke the sobs, he answered himself: "It is death."

  His eyes fixed themselves on the foot of the bed, and a great breathpassed through his body. Presently a movement of Sans-Chagrin's crossedhis vision, and he raised his glance to Dossonville.

  "You are here to see there's no slip," he said scornfully.

  "Javogues," Dossonville said impulsively, "I bear you no hatred."

  "But I do!" Javogues cried fiercely. "I have never compromised withyou. I'll not do it now." Turning to Genevieve, he regarded her amoment, and then said softly: "Kiss me, mignonne; I know you love me."For a moment pain checked his breathing. "Take my hand. That's it.Don't let go of it."

  "Javogues, as a mere formality," Dossonville broke in, "do you wish apriest?"

  "A priest! Yes, a priest!" Javogues cried, with a laugh of scorn. "Spy,you would make me out a hypocrite!"

  "Man, have you no terror of God?"

  "There is no God!" With the cry, the Javogues of the mob rose up,carrying Genevieve to her feet.

  "Have you no doubts?"

  "Bah!"

  "And if there be a God?"

  "And if there be a God, I do not fear him!" he cried; and in the Titanthe unconquerable revolt of the Jacobin flamed out. "If there be a God,he shall answer to me for what he has done! In the name of the slaveand the harlot, I'll accuse him; in th
e name of the galleys and theprison, in the name of those who grind out their lives with the laborof beasts, in the name of the famished and the leper, in the name ofthose who groan under kings and aristocrats, in the name of the poor,who fight for breath, for food, for sleep--in the name of all misery,I'll accuse him! If there be a God, he shall answer that!"

  The effort exhausted him; he collapsed. The listeners, struck withterror at the audacity of the atheist, composed themselves with longbreaths.

  Dossonville transferred his glance to Genevieve bending over the handshe never quitted. A half-hour passed without a movement from thegirl. It began to grow dark, and on the quieter air the sound of voicesreached them.

  Suddenly Dossonville, waiting patiently, saw the girl raise her headand begin to rub the hand she held. Then she stopped, sank back, andpressed the hand against her heart.

  Presently she raised her head and gazed in perplexity at Javogues. Shehalf rose, and dragging her body forward, seized the head between herhands, calling anxiously:

  "Javogues, Javogues!"

  Almost immediately she recoiled, bounding to her feet, her hands to hertemples, staring aghast, while the cry was torn from her heart:

  "He's dead!"

  With a scream she rushed past them out of the room, and fleddown-stairs. Dossonville, approaching the bed, looked down upon thebody that was Javogues's. He looked and looked, forgetting all else,until Sans-Chagrin impatiently touched his arm. Then, with a start, hecame to himself and led the way from the empty room.