The priest from Brechy was there, and two other priests from his parish. They were waiting for a bier to have him carried to his house.""Poor man!" murmured M. Daubigeon.
"But I heard a great deal more," Mechinet said, "from the watchman who was on guard last night. He told me that when the trial was over, and it became known that Count Claudieuse was likely to die, the priest from Brechy came there, and asked to be allowed to offer him the last consolations of his church. The countess refused to let him come to the bedside of her husband. The watchman was amazed at this; and just then Miss Chandore suddenly appeared, and sent word to the countess that she wanted to speak to her.""Is it possible?"
"Quite certain. They remained together for more than a quarter of an hour. What did they say? The watchman told me he was dying with curiosity to know; but he could hear nothing, because there was the priest from Brechy, all the while, kneeling before the door, and praying. When they parted, they looked terribly excited. Then the countess immediately called in the priest, and he stayed with the count till he died."M. Daubigeon and M. Galpin had not yet recovered from their amazement at this account, when somebody knocked timidly at the door.
"Come in!" cried Mechinet.
The door opened, and the sergeant of gendarmes appeared.
"I have been sent here by the attorney-general," he said; "and the servant told me you were up here. We have just caught Trumence.""That man who had escaped from jail?"
"Yes. We were about to carry him back there, when he told us that he had a secret to reveal, a very important, urgent secret, concerning the condemned prisoner, Boiscoran.""Trumence?"
"Yes. Then we carried him to the court-house, and I came for orders.""Run and say that I am coming to see him!" cried M. Daubigeon. "Make haste! I am coming after you."But the gendarme, a model of obedience, had not waited so long: he was already down stairs.
"I must leave you, Galpin," said M. Daubigeon, very much excited. "You heard what the man said. We must know what that means at once."But the magistrate was not less excited.
"You permit me to accompany you, I hope?" he asked.
He had a right to do so.
"Certainly," replied the commonwealth attorney. "But make haste!"The recommendation was not needed. M. Galpin had already put on his boots. He now slipped his overcoat over his home dress, as he was; and off they went.
Mechinet followed the two gentlemen as they hastened down the street;and the good people of Sauveterre, always on the lookout, were not a little scandalized at seeing their well-known magistrate, M. Galpin, in his home costume,--he who generally was most scrupulously precise in his dress.
Standing on their door-steps, they said to each other,--"Something very important must have happened. Just look at these gentlemen!"The fact was, they were walking so fast, that people might well wonder; and they did not say a word all the way.
But, ere they reached the court-house, they were forced to stop; for some four or five hundred people were filling the court, crowding on the steps, and actually pressing against the doors.
Immediately all became silent; hats were raised; the crowd parted; and a passage was opened.
On the porch appeared the priest from Brechy, and two other priests.
Behind them came attendants from the hospital, who bore a bier covered with black cloth; and beneath the cloth the outlines of a human body could be seen.
The women began to cry; and those who had room enough knelt down.
"Poor countess!" murmured one of them. "Here is her husband dead, and they say one of her daughters is dying at home."But M. Daubigeon, the magistrate, and Mechinet were too preoccupied with their own interests to think of stopping for more reliable news.
The way was open: they went in, and hastened to the clerk's office, where the gendarmes had taken Trumence, and now were guarding him.
He rose as soon as he recognized the gentlemen, and respectfully took off his cap. It was really Trumence; but the good-for-nothing vagrant did not present his usual careless appearance. He looked pale, and was evidently very much excited.
"Well," said M. Daubigeon, "so you have allowed yourself to be retaken?""Beg pardon, judge," replied the poor fellow, "I was not retaken. Icame of my own accord."
"Involuntarily, you mean?"
"Quite by my own free will! Just ask the sergeant."The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,--"That is the naked truth. Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner. I wish to speak to the commonwealth attorney, and give importance evidence.' "The vagabond drew himself up proudly,--
"You see, sir, that I did not lie. While these gentlemen were galloping all over the country in search of me, I was snugly ensconced in a garret at the Red Lamb, and did not think of coming out from there till I should be entirely forgotten.""Yes; but people who lodge at the Red Lamb have to pay, and you had no money."Trumence very quietly drew from his pocket a handful of Napoleons, and of five-and-twenty-franc notes, and showed them.
"You see that I had the wherewithal to pay for my room," he said. "But I surrendered, because, after all, I am an honest man, and I would rather suffer some trouble myself than see an innocent gentleman go to the galleys.""M. de Boiscoran?"
"Yes. He is innocent! I know it; I am sure of it; and I can prove it.
And, if he will not tell, I will tell,--tell every thing!"M. Daubigeon and M. Galpin were utterly astounded.
"Explain yourself," they both said in the same breath.
But the vagrant shook his head, pointing at the gendarmes; and, as a man who is quite cognizant of all the formalities of the law, he replied,--"But it is a great secret; and, when one confesses, one does not like anybody else to hear it but the priest. Besides, I should like my deposition to be taken down in writing."Upon a sign made by M. Galpin, the gendarmes withdrew; and Mechinet took his seat at a table, with a blank sheet of paper before him.
