"Are you sure of the way?"

"Yes. We are near the terrace."

"And then?"

"I remember that, on the left, at a place where the river terrace rises to the level of the ground-floor windows, there is a shutter which closes badly and which can be opened from the outside."

They found, when they came to it, that the shutter yielded to pressure. Valmeras removed a pane with a diamond which he carried. He turned the window-latch. First one and then the other stepped over the balcony. They were now in the castle, at the end of a pa.s.sage which divided the left wing into two.

"This room," said Valmeras, "opens at the end of a pa.s.sage. Then comes an immense hall, lined with statues, and at the end of the hall a staircase which ends near the room occupied by your father."

He took a step forward.

"Are you coming, Beautrelet?"

"Yes, yes."

"But no, you're not coming-What's the matter with you?"

He seized him by the hand. It was icy cold and he perceived that the young man was cowering on the floor.

"What's the matter with you?" he repeated.

"Nothing-it'll pa.s.s off-"

"But what is it?"

"I'm afraid-"

"You're afraid?"

"Yes," Beautrelet confessed, frankly, "it's my nerves giving way-I generally manage to control them-but, to-day, the silence-the excitement-And then, since I was stabbed by that magistrate's clerk-But it will pa.s.s off-There, it's pa.s.sing now-"

He succeeded in rising to his feet and Valmeras dragged him out of the room. They groped their way along the pa.s.sage, so softly that neither could hear a sound made by the other.

A faint glimmer, however, seemed to light the hall for which they were making. Valmeras put his head round the corner. It was a night-light placed at the foot of the stairs, on a little table which showed through the frail branches of a palm tree.

"Halt!" whispered Valmeras.

Near the night-light, a man stood sentry, carrying a gun.

Had he seen them? Perhaps. At least, something must have alarmed him, for he brought the gun to his shoulder.

Beautrelet had fallen on his knees, against a tub containing a plant, and he remained quite still, with his heart thumping against his chest.

Meanwhile, the silence and the absence of all movement rea.s.sured the man. He lowered his weapon. But his head was still turned in the direction of the tub.

Terrible minutes pa.s.sed: ten minutes, fifteen. A moonbeam had glided through a window on the staircase. And, suddenly, Beautrelet became aware that the moonbeam was shifting imperceptibly, and that, before fifteen, before ten more minutes had elapsed, it would be shining full in his face.

Great drops of perspiration fell from his forehead on his trembling hands. His anguish was such that he was on the point of getting up and running away-But, remembering that Valmeras was there, he sought him with his eyes and was astounded to see him, or rather to imagine him, creeping in the dark, under cover of the statues and plants. He was already at the foot of the stairs, within a few steps of the man.

What was he going to do? To pa.s.s in spite of all? To go upstairs alone and release the prisoner? But could he pa.s.s?

Beautrelet no longer saw him and he had an impression that something was about to take place, something that seemed foreboded also by the silence, which hung heavier, more awful than before.

And, suddenly, a shadow springing upon the man, the night-light extinguished, the sound of a struggle-Beautrelet ran up. The two bodies had rolled over on the flagstones. He tried to stoop and see. But he heard a hoa.r.s.e moan, a sigh; and one of the adversaries rose to his feet and seized him by the arm:

"Quick!-Come along!"

It was Valmeras.

They went up two storys and came out at the entrance to a corridor, covered by a hanging.

"To the right," whispered Valmeras. "The fourth room on the left."

They soon found the door of the room. As they expected, the captive was locked in. It took them half an hour, half an hour of stifled efforts, of m.u.f.fled attempts, to force open the lock. The door yielded at last.

Beautrelet groped his way to the bed. His father was asleep.

He woke him gently:

"It's I-Isidore-and a friend-don't be afraid-get up-not a word."

The father dressed himself, but, as they were leaving the room, he whispered:

"I am not alone in the castle-"

"Ah? Who else? Ganimard? Shears?"

"No-at least, I have not seen them."

"Who then?"

"A young girl."

"Mlle. de Saint-Veran, no doubt."

"I don't know-I saw her several times at a distance, in the park-and, when I lean out of my window, I can see hers. She has made signals to me."

"Do you know which is her room?"

"Yes, in this pa.s.sage, the third on the right."

"The blue room," murmured Valmeras. "It has folding doors: they won't give us so much trouble."

One of the two leaves very soon gave way. Old Beautrelet undertook to tell the girl.

Ten minutes later, he left the room with her and said to his son: