Lord Tonys Wife | Page 5

and lust of vengeance most readily where they lay dormant, or would fan them into greater vigour where they smouldered.
'For thee this scythe, Hector Lebrun,' he would say to a tall, lanky youth whose emaciated arms and bony hands were stretched with longing toward the bright piece of steel; 'remember last year's harvest, the heavy tax thou wert forced to pay, so that not one sou of profit went into thy pocket, and thy mother starved whilst M. le duc and his brood feasted and danced and shiploads of corn were sunk in the Loire lest abundance made bread too cheap for the poor!'
'For thee this pick-axe, Henri Meunier! Remember the new roof on thy hut, which thou didst build to keep the wet off thy wife's bed who was crippled with ague --and the heavy impost levied on thee by the tax-collector for this improvement to thy miserable hovel.'
'This pole for thee, Charles Blanc! Remember the beating administered to thee by the duc's bailiff for daring to keep a tame rabbit to amuse thy children!'
'Remember! Remember, mes amis!' he added exultantly, 'remember every wrong you have endured, every injustice, every blow! remember your poverty and his wealth, your crusts of dry bread and his succulent meals, your rags and his silks and velvets, remember your starving children and ailing mother, your care-laden wife and toil-worn daughters! Forget nothing, mes amis, to-night, and at the gates of the chateau de Kernogan demand of its arrogant owner wrong for wrong and outrage for outrage.'
A deafening cry of triumph greeted this peroration, scythes and sickles and axes and poles were brandished in the air and several scores of hands were stretched out to Pierre and clasped in this newly-found bond of vengeful fraternity.
III
Then it was that with vigorous play of the elbows Jean Adet, the miller, forced his way through the crowd till he stood face to face with his son.
'Unfortunate!' he cried, 'what is all this? What dost thou propose to do? Whither are ye all going?'
'To Kernogan!' they all shouted in response.
'En avant, Pierre! we follow!' cried some of them impatiently.
But Jean Adet --who was a powerful man despite his years-- had seized Pierre by the arm and dragged him to a distant corner of the barn:
'Pierre!' he said in tones of command, 'I forbid thee in the name of thy duty and the obedience which thou dost owe to me and to thy mother, to move another step in this hot-headed adventure. I was on the high-road, walking homewards, when that conflagration and the senseless cries of these poor lads warned me that some awful mischief was afoot. Pierre! my son! I command thee to lay that weapon down.'
But Pierre -- who in his normal state was a dutiful son and sincerely fond of his father -- shook himself free from Jean Adet's grasp.
'Father!' he said loudly and firmly, 'this is no time for interference. We are all of us men here and know our own minds. What we mean to do to-night we have thought on and planned for weeks and months. I pray you, father, let me be! I am not a child and I have work to do.'
'Not a child?' exclaimed the old man as he turned appealingly to the lads who had stood by, silent and sullen during this little scene. 'Not a child? But you are all only children, my lads. You don't know what you are doing. You don't know what terrible consequences this mad escapade will bring upon us all, upon the whole village, aye! and the country-side. Do you suppose for one moment that the chateau of Kernogan will fall at the mercy of a few ignorant unarmed lads like yourselves? Why! four hundred of you would not succeed in forcing your way even as far as the courtyard of the palace. M. le duc has had wind for some time of your turbulent meetings at the auberge: he has kept an armed guard inside his castle yard for weeks past, a company of artillery with two guns hoisted upon his walls. My poor lads! you are running straight to ruin! Go home, I beg of you! Forget this night's escapade! Nothing but misery to you and yours can result from it.'
They listened quietly, if surlily, to Jean Adet's impassioned words. Far be it from their thoughts to flout or to mock him. Paternal authority commanded respect even among the most rough; but they all felt that they had gone too far now to draw back: the savour of anticipated revenge had been too sweet to be forgone quite so readily, and Pierre with his vigorous personality, his glowing eloquence, his compelling power had more influence over them than the sober counsels of prudence and the wise admonitions of old Jean