Under the Red Robe | Page 4

brazier which his men were just kindling outside. 'You are a very

bold man, or a very foolhardy one, to come here again. The old
business, I suppose?'
'Yes, but he is not dead,' I answered coolly. 'He has a trifle --a mere
scratch. It was behind the church of St Jacques.'
'He looked dead enough, my friend,' the guardsman interposed. He had
not yet left us.
'Bah!' I answered scornfully. 'Have you ever known me make a mistake
When I kill a man I kill him. I put myself to pains, I tell you, not to kill
this Englishman. Therefore he will live.'
'I hope so,' the lieutenant said, with a dry smile. 'And you had better
hope so, too, M. de Berault, For if not--'
'Well?' I said, somewhat troubled. 'If not, what, my friend?'
'I fear he will be the last man you will fight,' he answered. 'And even if
he lives, I would not be too sure, my friend. This time the Cardinal is
determined to put it down.'
'He and I are old friends,' I said confidently.
'So I have heard,' he anwered, with a short laugh. 'I think that the same
was said of Chalais. I do not remember that it saved his head.'
This was not reassuring. But worse was to come. Early in the morning
orders were received that I should be treated with especial strictness,
and I was given the choice between irons and one of the cells below the
level. Choosing the latter, I was left to reflect upon many things; among
others, on the queer and uncertain nature of the Cardinal, who loved, I
knew, to play with a man as a cat with a mouse; and on the ill effects
which sometimes attend a high chest-thrust however carefully delivered.
I only rescued myself at last from these and other unpleasant reflections
by obtaining the loan of a pair of dice; and the light being just enough
to enable me to reckon the throws, I amused myself for hours by
casting them on certain principles of my own. But a long run again and

again upset my calculations; and at last brought me to the conclusion
that a run of bad luck may be so persistent as to see out the most
sagacious player. This was not a reflection very welcome to me at the
moment.
Nevertheless, for three days it was all the company I had. At the end of
that time, the knave of a jailor who attended me, and who had never
grown tired of telling me, after the fashion of his kind, that I should be
hanged, came to me with a less assured air.
'Perhaps you would like a little water?' he said civilly.
'Why, rascal?' I asked.
'To wash with,' he answered.
'I asked for some yesterday, and you would not bring it,' I grumbled.
'However, better late than never. Bring it now. If I must hang, I will
hang like a gentleman. But depend upon it, the Cardinal will not serve
an old friend so scurvy a trick.'
'You are to go to him,' he announced, when he came back with the
water.
'What? To the Cardinal?' I cried.
'Yes,' he answered.
'Good!' I exclaimed; and in my joy and relief I sprang up at once, and
began to refresh my dress. 'So all this time I have been doing him an
injustice,' I continued. 'VIVE MONSEIGNEUR! Long live the little
Bishop of Luchon! I might have known it, too.'
'Don't make too sure!' the man answered spitefully. Then he went on, 'I
have something else for you. A friend of yours left it at the gate,' and he
handed me a packet.
'Quite so!' I said, leading his rascally face aright. 'And you kept it as
long as you dared--as long as you thought I should hang, you knave!

Was not that so? But there, do not lie to me. Tell me instead which of
my friends left it.' For, to confess the truth, I had not so many friends at
this time and ten good crowns--the packet contained no less a
sum--argued a pretty staunch friend, and one of whom a man might
reasonably be proud.
The knave sniggered maliciously. 'A crooked dwarfish man left it,' he
said. 'I doubt I might call him a tailor and not be far out.'
'Chut!' I answered--but I was a little out of countenance, nevertheless. 'I
understand. An honest fellow enough, and in debt to me! I am glad he
remembered. But when am I to go, friend?'
'In an hour,' he answered sullenly. Doubtless he had looked to get one
of the crowns; but I was too old a hand for that. If I came back I could
buy his services; and if I did