A Conspiracy of the Carbonari | Page 7

conspiring, that their treacherous designs are directed toward
robbing France of her sovereign, who was summoned to his authority
by the will of the French nation. But they, like all who venture to rebel
against me, must learn that God has placed in my hand the sword of
retribution and of vengeance, and that it will crush those who
blasphemously seek to conspire against me and dispute my power.
Austria has done this, Prussia would fain attempt it, but I will deter
Prussia by chastising Austria. To work, gentlemen! In six weeks, at

latest, we must give Austria a decisive battle which will make it depend
solely on my will whether I permit the house of Hapsburg to reign
longer or bury it in the nonentity of inglorious oblivion!"
After the emperor, standing among his silent generals, had spoken in a
voice which rose louder and louder till it finally echoed like menacing
thunder through the hall, he nodded a farewell, by a haughty bend of
the head, and returned to his office, whose door he now not merely left
ajar, but closed with a loud bang.
With his hands behind his back, an angry expression upon his face, and
a frowning brow, the emperor paced up and down his room, absorbed
in gloomy thought. Sometimes a flash of indignation illumined his face,
and he raised his arm with a threatening gesture, as if, like a second
Jupiter, to hurl back into the depths the Titans who dared to rise to his
throne.
"To appoint a successor," he muttered in a fierce, threatening tone,
"they dare to think, to busy themselves with that. The ingrates! It is I
who gave them fame, honor, titles, wealth; they are already cogitating
about my death--my successor! It is a conspiracy which extends
throughout the whole army. I know it. I was warned in Spain against
the plots of the Carbonari, and the caution has been repeated here. And
I must keep silence. I cannot punish the traitors, for that would consign
the majority of my generals to the ax of the executioner. But I will give
them all a warning example. I will intimidate them, let them have an
intimation that I am aware of their treacherous plans."
He sank down into the armchair which stood before his writing-desk,
took a pen-knife and began to mark and cut the arm of the chair with as
much zeal and perseverance as if the object in view was to accomplish
some useful and urgent task. Then, when the floor was covered with
tiny chips, and the black, delicately carved wood of the old-fashioned
armchair was marked with white streaks and spots, the emperor hurled
the knife down and rose hastily from his seat.
"This Colonel Oudet must die," he said, each word falling slowly and
impressively from his lips. "I cannot crush all the limbs, but I will make

the head fall, and that will paralyze them. Yes, this Colonel Oudet must
die!"
Then, as if the sentence of death which he had just uttered had relieved
his soul of an oppressive burden, and lightened his heart, the gloomy
expression vanished from his face, which was now almost brightened
by a ray of joy.
Seizing the silver hand-bell, he rang it violently twice. Instantly the
door leading into his sleeping-room opened and Roustan, gliding in,
stood humbly and silently awaiting the emperor's orders.
Napoleon, with a slight nod, beckoned to him to approach, and when
Roustan, like a tiger-cat, noiselessly reached his side with two swift
bounds, the emperor gazed with a long, searching look into the crafty,
smiling face of his Mameluke.
"So you listened to the conversation between the generals?" asked the
emperor.
"I don't know, sire," said Roustan, shaking his head eagerly. "I
probably did not understand everything, for they spoke in low tones,
and sometimes I lost the connection. But I heard them talking about my
illustrious emperor and master, so, as your majesty meanwhile had
awaked, I thought it advisable to inform you that the generals were
having a conversation in the drawing-room, because your majesty
might perhaps desire to take part in it."
"You did right, Roustan," said the emperor, with the pleasant smile that
won every heart; "yes, you did right, and I will reward you for it. You
can go to Bourrienne and have him pay you a hundred gold pieces."
"Oh, sire," cried Roustan, "then I shall be very happy, for I shall have a
hundred portraits of my worshiped emperor."
"Which you will doubtless scatter to the four winds quickly enough,
you spendthrift," exclaimed Napoleon. "But listen, you rogue: besides
my hundred gold portraits, I'll give you a bit of advice which is worth

more than the gold coins. Forget everything that you have heard to-day,
beware of