Robert Tournay: A Romance of the French Revolution

by William Sage

  CHAPTER XX

  UNCLE MICHELET

  One April day a wave of excitement swept through the entire prison. Itwas repeated in every cell and whispered in every ear.

  "The lion has been taken in the mesh! The great Danton is a prisoner inthe Luxembourg!"

  At first Tournay could not believe the report. It seemed as if thosegiant arms need but to be extended to break the bonds that held them,and allow their owner to walk out into the air a free man.

  Yet it was indeed true, and one day, for a few moments only, Tournay hadan opportunity to see and converse with the fallen chieftain as he stoodin the door of his cell, talking in a loud voice to all who were nearenough to hear him.

  As Danton saw Colonel Tournay he ceased speaking and held out his hand.In his eyes there was a peculiar look which the latter understood.

  "You see, it has come at last even to me," said Danton quietly.

  "Ah, why did you not crush the snake before it entwined you with itscoils?" asked Tournay sadly.

  "I did not think he would dare do it," replied Danton. "Robespierre isrushing to his ruin. What will they do without me? They are all mad."

  "You should have distrusted their madness, even if you did not fear it,"was the rejoinder.

  "The end is near," answered Danton. "It is fate. Yet if I could leave mybrains to Robespierre and my legs to Couthon, the Revolution might stilllimp along for a short time," and he laughed roughly. "Good-by,Tournay," he said in a tone of kindliness. "You are a brave man and atrue Republican; such men as you might have saved the Republic, but itwas not to be." He entered his cell, and Tournay never saw him again.

  The next day Danton was taken to the conciergerie and to his trial, andthe day following to the guillotine. The lion head was parted from thegiant trunk, and the Revolution swept on.

  The weeks dragged on monotonously to Colonel Tournay and St. Hilaire inthe Luxembourg. The trees in the gardens beyond their prison walls hadput forth their leaves, and the song of birds was borne sometimes eveninto the recesses of their cell.

  "Why are we left to rot here in this stifling place?" exclaimed ColonelTournay for the thousandth time. "Why are we not even called for trial?Has Robespierre forgotten our existence?"

  "Let us hope that he has," rejoined St. Hilaire. "As long as we areoverlooked we shall get into no worse trouble. We are not so veryuncomfortable here," and St. Hilaire sprang upon the table to put hisnose out between the window bars, like a fox in a cage, to get what airthere was stirring and to look at the little patch of blue sky.

  Tournay smiled sadly. He envied St. Hilaire his cheerfulness andadaptability, while he felt his own spirit breaking under the longconfinement.

  He sat down upon the edge of the bed and wondered what had happened inthe world since he had been cut off from it. His thoughts werefrequently of Gaillard, and he wished he could learn something about hisfriend. As he was sitting thus, oppressed by the warmth of a Juneafternoon, the turnkey entered the cell.

  "There is an old man come to see you," he said, addressing Tournay."Your uncle from the provinces, I believe. You may see him outside herein the corridor."

  "I wonder who this visitor may be," thought Tournay as he followed theturnkey. "Had I not received word of my poor father's death two monthsago I should expect to find him."

  An old man stood leaning on his cane at the end of the corridor. Heseemed quite feeble, and the jailer, moved to compassion by hisinfirmity, placed a stool for him to sit upon.

  "My nephew!" exclaimed the old man in tremulous accents as Tournay madehis appearance.

  Apparently the old man had made some mistake. To Colonel Tournay's eyeshe was an entire stranger; but being aware that the slightest suspicionaroused in the mind of the prison authorities sometimes led to veryserious consequences, he determined to wait until the turnkey was out ofhearing before undeceiving the mild-eyed old gentleman.

  "My uncle," he answered, taking the venerable citizen by theoutstretched hand, "how did your old legs manage to"--

  The septuagenarian squeezed the colonel's hand until the fingerscracked.

  "My old legs would have brought me here long before," said the voice ofGaillard in guarded tones, "but it took me two weeks to get thisdisguise!"

  "Gaillard! In heaven's name can it be you?"

  "'Tis I! I may have aged since we last met, my colonel, but my heart isas young as ever."

  "My dear Gaillard, how did you manage to leave this prison? What are youdoing? Is this not dangerous?" asked Tournay, putting the questions inrapid succession.

  "Gaillard's liberty would not be worth a brass button if he should comehere," replied the actor, "but old Michelet has nothing to fear. I havebeen playing hide and seek with the police for the past fortnight. I amnow living at 15 Rue des Mathurins."

  Even Tournay, who knew his friend so well, started.

  "It is a very long story, and I can only give you an outline of it,"said Gaillard, seating himself on the stool and leaning heavily on hiscane, while he turned his face so that he could see from one corner ofhis eye every motion the turnkey might make.

  "I escaped from my dungeon below the ground; I will tell you how when wehave more leisure. The first thing I thought of, when I was once out inthe free air, was a bath. I wanted to drown out the recollection ofassassins and dirty straw, vile air and counterfeiters with whom I hadbeen on such intimate terms for so many weeks.

  "I was afraid to go to any bath houses lest I should be seen andrecognized; besides, I had no money, so I finally concluded to try theriver. I therefore skulked in unfrequented byways until nightfall, whenI went swimming in the Seine by starlight, and I can assure you I neverbefore appreciated the kindly properties of water to such an extent. Mynext desire, after I had slept in the arches of the bridge St. Micheland broken my fast with a crisp roll, was to see you."

  "My dear old uncle!" exclaimed Tournay aloud, placing his handaffectionately on Gaillard's shoulder.

  "I knew that I should be safe if I could procure a good disguise, butthat it would be folly to attempt it without one," continued Gaillard."The want of money was still an obstacle. 'Among the costumes in mychest at home,' thought I, 'is material to disguise a whole race ofGaillards.' Ah, but how to reach them? That was the matter that requiredcareful study. Those annoying little red seals that the governmentplaces on the doors of all arrested persons are terribly dangerous tomeddle with. Yet within were clothing and disguises, and a very littlesum of money stowed away for an emergency. Meanwhile, in the evening, Ipromenaded down the Rue des Mathurins to look the ground over. There,planted in front of the house, staring up at the windows of ourapartment, was a great hulking gendarme.

  "That night I slept again under the St. Michel bridge,--commodious andairy enough, but a little damp in the morning hours. Before daylight Iwas up and off to the Rue des Mathurins, drawn like a criminal to thescene of his misdeeds, to inspect the enemy unseen by him.

  "There is a certain mouselike gratification in watching from afar thecat, which, with claws extended, is lying in wait, ready to pounce uponyou as soon as you show your nose." And Gaillard stopped to take a pinchof snuff and blink at the light with a pair of mild blue eyes. Then,after applying a colored handkerchief to his nose, he resumed hisnarrative.

  "At all hours of the day, late at night, or early in the morning, therewas always some officer of police staring persistently at my windows asif he expected me, furnished with a pair of wings, to come flying in orout of a fourth story. 'Not yet, my fine fellow,' said I, and vanishedaround the corner.

  "One night it rained dismally; a cold mist was rising from the river.The St. Michel bridge had little attraction as a bedroom for me at thatmoment, I can assure you. Muffling myself in my cloak, I directed mysteps toward my old abode, hoping that owing to the inclemency of theweather the officers of the law might be less vigilant. For I hadresolved, the opportunity offering, to make an attempt to enter my owndomicile that very night. Imagine my disgust when, upon arriving, I sawtwo genda
rmes sheltered in the entrance of the house opposite. Both ofthem were obtrusively wide-awake and alert.

  "I do not know whether one of them noticed me, lurking by the corner,but he immediately started to walk in my direction, and not wishing torun any chances I darted into an alley blacker than a whole calendar ofnights, scaled a wall, and found myself in the narrow court which flanksour own building. Here I resolved to wait until I could safely ventureout upon the street once more.

  "The rain had almost ceased, but I could still hear the gurgle of thewater coming down the spout from the roof. You know that water spout, mylittle colonel? It is made to carry off the water from three houses, isunusually large, and is held firmly in place a few inches from the housewall by iron braces at intervals of five to six feet. I placed my handon one of these braces, and instantly the thought flashed through mybrain, 'It can be done.'"

  "You are not going to tell me that you attempted to climb up by thewater pipe?" demanded Tournay incredulously.

  "I divested myself of my cloak, coat, and waistcoat, removed my heavy,rain-soaked shoes, and began the ascent as bravely as any seamanordered to the foretop," replied Gaillard.

  "I could reach the brace above while standing on the one beneath, andpartly using my knees and partly drawing myself up by the arms, I madequicker progress than I had deemed possible. In fact, I went up sovigorously that on reaching the third story I struck my knee against apiece of loose stucco which was clinging to the wall, waiting for thefirst strong wind to blow it to the ground.

  "Crash! the plaster fell to the courtyard pavement, where it wasshivered into a thousand fragments.

  "The blow on my kneecap made me shiver with pain, and I rested on thebrace just outside the window of the little soubrette, clinging tightlywith both hands to the spout.

  "'Thank heaven that it was the stucco that fell, not I,' I whispereddevoutly, just as a window opened on the floor above, and our oldneighbor Avarie appeared. He is always on the lookout for robbers, andkeeps at his bedside a big blunderbuss, with a muzzle like aspeaking-trumpet.

  "'Thieves,' I heard him mutter. I kept perfectly quiet, not giving venteven to a breath.

  "'Who's there?'

  "I clung close to the shelter of my friendly water pipe.

  "'Speak, or I'll fire!'

  "I knew he could not see me, and if he did fire his old cannon, I feltsure that it would explode and blow him into atoms; but the noise wouldalarm the neighborhood, and I had a vision of a score of lightsflashing; night-capped heads appearing in all the surrounding windows;gendarmes running up with their lanterns, and poor Gaillard, clinginglike a frightened cat to the water spout.

  "That gave me an idea.

  "'Miauw!' answered I plaintively.

  "'It's a cat!' exclaimed old Avarie in disgust.

  "'Mew--mew--mew,' cried I.

  "'What is it?' said a woman's voice, evidently his wife's.

  "'Nothing but a cat,' growled Avarie. 'But I think I will let drive ather just because she disturbed my sleep.'

  "I stopped my mewing on the instant.

  "'Don't,' pleaded the woman, 'the gun may kick.'

  "'Bah, do you think I can't handle a gun?' And I heard a click.

  "'Good-by to thee, old Avarie,' I said under my breath.

  "'Don't be a fool, husband, and awake the whole neighborhood just for acat!' exclaimed his wife.

  "Almost at my window another window was thrown open and the littlesoubrette's head appeared. She is very fond of cats.

  "'Here puss, puss, puss,' she cried.

  "'Is that your cat, citizeness?' asked old Avarie.

  "'It must be; he has stayed out all night, the naughty fellow. Kitty,kitty, poor kitty, come in out of the wet.'

  "My teeth were chattering with cold and fatigue and that was just what Imost desired, but I did not dare to risk it.

  "'You ought to keep the animal at home, and not let him out to disturbeverybody's sleep,' called out the testy old man as he closed his windowwith a bang.

  "Luckily for me the little soubrette's attention was all directed towardthe roof of the lower extension on the left where her pet evidently hada habit of straying. She did not see me, crouched behind the pipe sonear as to almost be able to touch her by putting out one hand. By theway, she looked very pretty in her little white nightcap edged withlace. I was not very sorry, however, to see her close the window and tobe left alone with my water spout. A few minutes later I had pushed openthe window of my kitchen and wriggled into the room.

  "I dared not strike a light for fear of its reflection on the wallopposite, and groped my way about the room in the dark. My heart leapedwith joy when I had assured myself that no seal had been placed on thewindows nor upon any of the inside doors; the one seal on the outer doorevidently having been deemed sufficient. The dust was an inch thick overeverything, and I moved about in ghostly stillness, struggling torepress a sneeze. Nothing appeared to have been touched since the nightof my enforced departure.

  "I hugged myself with a childish glee at being alone in my little homein the dead of night. The thought of the gendarmes outside in the rainmade my sides ache with suppressed laughter.

  "First, I unearthed my little economies of last winter. Thirteen francs,five sous. 'Gaillard you're a prodigal fellow,' I said to myself as Idropped them into my pouch, 'but it is better than nothing.' Then Icollected a few necessities. My beautiful wig of silver hair, and asuitable dress to go with it. I handled lovingly a few other costumes,but had the strength of mind to return them to the chest. I should liketo have appeared before you as the 'Spanish outlaw' but it would havebeen too dangerous. The character of the English 'milord' would havebeen congenial but equally hazardous. So I sensibly adhered to my soberselection, and tied up all my effects in a neat bundle.

  "When all was completed I took one last, longing survey of my rooms,went to the casement, and, dropping the bundle, held my breath. Thud! itreached the bottom and lay there innocently in the court. Not a soundwas heard. Old Citizen Avarie, in the adjoining apartment, was snoringin a way that would put his blunderbuss to shame, and the littlecitizeness below had evidently retired into the recess of herlace-trimmed nightcap to dream of her missing pet.

  "Sliding silently from the window I found the iron brace with my toes,and grasped the clammy water pipe with both hands. I could not closethe casement. 'Never mind, they will think it was the wind that openedit,' I said, and I descended to the ground with an agility born ofpractice.

  "In the early morning hours I retired to my bridge, put on my silver wigand old man's dress, sunk my other clothes to the river bottom, andappeared in the light of day as an old man.

  "I now walk the streets in safety under the very noses of my oldenemies, the police; I come to you and I ask, 'How do you like your olduncle?'"

  "You deceived me completely, my Gaillard," Tournay confessed; "but tellme this. You said you were still residing at 15 Rue des Mathurins. May Iask in what capacity? As cat?"

  "Having little money, I must earn some more in order to live. I went tomy dear friend, the theatre director, just as I am, and asked him toemploy me about the theatre in any capacity. He did not recognize me,and putting his hand in his pocket, brought out a piece of forty sous."

  "'Sorry, my poor fellow, but I have no place for you. Take this.'"

  "I would trust my manager with my life, so I leaned forward to his ear.'I am Gaillard, hunted, proscribed, but always your old friend Gaillard.Call me Citizen Michelet.' He gave me a look for which I could havetaken him to my heart, there in his bureau, and hugged him.

  "'Citizen Michelet,' he said, 'there is a place of a doorkeeper whichyou can have. The pay is small, fifteen francs the week, but it maysuffice your needs.' I knew it was five francs more than old Gaspardreceived,--the doorkeeper who drank himself to death,--and I took theplace gladly. When one is old, my nephew, one does not despise evenfifteen francs," and Gaillard looked pathetically into Tournay's face."Now I sit every evening at the stage door of the theatre and
see thefamiliar faces pass in and out. They do not recognize me; but they arebeginning to address kindly nods and occasional words to old Michelet.

  "I found a vacant room to let on the ground floor of No. 15 Rue desMathurins, so I took the lodging and live there quietly. I am on thebest of terms with the gendarmes, and I talk with them out of my window,where we exchange pinches of snuff and other like civilities."

  "My dear friend"--began Tournay.

  "You might as well call me uncle," interrupted Gaillard, "to accustomyourself to it, for under this guise I shall visit you again."

  "My dear _uncle_, it is like a draught of wine to a thirsty man to hearyou talk. It is like a ray of sunshine to see your wrinkled old face."

  "I hope to be the ray of sunshine to light you out of this prison," saidGaillard.

  "I'm afraid that will be a difficult matter," replied Tournay. "I am notso clever as you in wearing disguises."

  "You will wear no disguise," answered Gaillard. "Are you in a cell byyourself?" he asked in the next breath.

  "No, strange to say I have a companion, Citizen St. Hilaire."

  "That is not so bad; only we shall have to include him in our plans,"replied Gaillard. "You can trust him?"

  "Implicitly."

  "When I lean forward over my stick," said Gaillard, "run your handstealthily up the back of my head under my long hair. Now."

  Tournay did as he was bid.

  "Do you feel it?"

  "I feel something hard, like a little file."

  "Good! You could not expect a chest of tools; the jailer searched methoroughly. Untie that little file from the hair. Can you do it?"

  "I think so."

  "I tied it quite firmly for fear it would fall out. Do not be afraid ofpulling my hair, but do not pull the wig off. You may take bothhands,--the turnkey is not paying any attention,--as if you werearranging your old uncle's coat collar."

  "I'll have it in a moment. There!"

  "Slip this up your sleeve, my colonel. Now a few questions and remarks.How many bars has your window?"

  "Four."

  "How long will it take you to file them all?"

  Tournay considered. "We could only work in any safety in the middle ofthe night, perhaps four hours in the twenty-four."

  "How long do you think it will take you to cut through the four bars?"

  Tournay thought for a moment. "We can work only at intervals in thedead of night," he replied, "so it may take several days."

  "Good! In four days I will bring you a rope."

  "In God's name, Gaillard, how can you manage to bring a rope into thisplace?"

  "I am not certain of that point yet, but I shall manage it," was thecool rejoinder.

  "My dear Gaillard, I believe you. If you were to promise me to bring aspire of Notre Dame wrapped up in gold paper I should expect to see itat the appointed hour. With a rope in our possession and the bars cut,we can get down the forty feet to the yard beneath. But there is thesentry, and the difficulty of escape from the yard!"

  "I will take care of the sentry and the escape," replied Gaillard, "andin four days I shall be here again. Meanwhile cut through the bars sothat you can push them out of place at any moment. Attention; here comesthe turnkey.

  "Good-by, my nephew. Be of good cheer. A good patriot need have nofear," said Gaillard in a quavering voice.

  "Good-by, my uncle," rejoined Tournay as he went back to his cell. "Ishall see you then next week at the same hour," he called out throughthe bars of the door.

  "Yes."

  "Well, then, good-by again. Mind the step. Be careful lest my uncletrip, citizen turnkey; he is old and rather venturesome for one of hisyears."