The Secret Of The Night(Fiscle Part 3), Gaston Leroux [best pdf ebook reader TXT] 📗
- Author: Gaston Leroux
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Repose Now. Good Luck!"
But Koupriane Had Seized His Hand.
"Listen."
With A Little Attention They Detected A Light Stroke On The Water.
If A Boat Was Moving At This Time For This Bank Of The Neva And
Wished To Remain Hidden, The Right Moment Had Certainly Been Chosen.
A Great Black Cloud Covered The Moon; The Wind Was Light. The Boat
Would Have Time To Get From One Bank To The Other Without Being
Discovered. Rouletabille Waited No Longer. On All-Fours He Ran
Like A Beast, Rapidly And Silently, And Rose Behind The Wall Of The
Villa, Where He Made A Turn, Reached The Gate, Aroused The Dvornicks
And Demanded Ermolai, Who Opened The Gate For Him.
"The Barinia?" He Said.
Ermolai Pointed His Finger To The Bedroom Floor.
"Caracho!"
Rouletabille Was Already Across The Garden And Had Hoisted Himself
By His Fingers To The Window Of Natacha's Chamber, Where He Listened.
He Plainly Heard Natacha Walking About In The Dark Chamber.
Part 1 Chapter 10 (A Drama In The Night) Pg 127Back Lightly Onto His Feet, Mounted The Veranda Steps And Opened The
Door, Then Closed It So Lightly That Ermolai, Who Watched Him From
Outside Not Two Feet Away, Did Not Hear The Slightest Grinding Of
The Hinges. Inside The Villa Rouletabille Advanced On Tiptoe. He
Found The Door Of The Drawing-Room Open. The Door Of The
Sitting-Room Had Not Been Closed, Or Else Had Been Reopened. He
Turned In His Tracks, Felt In The Dark For A Chair And Sat Down,
With His Hand On His Revolver In His Pocket, Waiting For The Events
That Would Not Delay Long Now. Above He Heard Distinctly From Time
To Time The Movements Of Matrena Petrovna. And This Would Evidently
Give A Sense Of Security To Those Who Needed To Have The Ground-Floor
Free This Night. Rouletabille Imagined That The Doors Of The Rooms
On The Ground-Floor Had Been Left Open So That It Would Be Easier
For Those Who Would Be Below To Hear What Was Happening Upstairs.
And Perhaps He Was Not Wrong.
Suddenly There Was A Vertical Bar Of Pale Light From The Sitting-Room
That Overlooked The Neva. He Deduced Two Things: First, That The
Window Was Already Slightly Open, Then That The Moon Was Out From
The Clouds Again. The Bar Of Light Died Almost Instantly, But
Rouletabille's Eyes, Now Used To The Obscurity, Still Distinguished
The Open Line Of The Window. There The Shade Was Less Deep.
Suddenly He Felt The Blood Pound At His Temples, For The Line Of The
Open Window Grew Larger, Increased, And The Shadow Of A Man Gradually
Rose On The Balcony. Rouletabille Drew His Revolver.
The Man Stood Up Immediately Behind One Of The Shutters And Struck
A Light Blow On The Glass. Placed As He Was Now He Could Be Seen
No More. His Shadow Mixed With The Shadow Of The Shutter. At The
Noise On The Glass Natacha's Door Had Opened Cautiously, And She
Entered The Sitting-Room. On Tiptoe She Went Quickly To The Window
And Opened It. The Man Entered. The Little Light That By Now Was
Commencing To Dawn Was Enough To Show Rouletabille That Natacha
Still Wore The Toilette In Which He Had Seen Her That Same Evening
At Krestowsky. As For The Man, He Tried In Vain To Identify Him;
He Was Only A Dark Mass Wrapped In A Mantle. He Leaned Over And
Kissed Natacha's Hand. She Said Only One Word: "Scan!" (Quickly).
But She Had No More Than Said It Before, Under A Vigorous Attack,
The Shutters And The Two Halves Of The Window Were Thrown Wide, And
Silent Shadows Jumped Rapidly Onto The Balcony And Sprang Into The
Villa. Natacha Uttered A Shrill Cry In Which Rouletabille Believed
Still He Heard More Of Despair Than Terror, And The Shadows Threw
Themselves On The Man; But He, At The First Alarm, Had Thrown
Himself Upon The Carpet And Had Slipped From Them Between Their
Legs. He Regained The Balcony And Jumped From It As The Others
Turned Toward Him. At Least, It Was So That Rouletabille Believed
He Saw The Mysterious Struggle Go In The Half-Light, Amid Most
Impressive Silence, After That Frightened Cry Of Natacha's. The
Whole Affair Had Lasted Only A Few Seconds, And The Man Was Still
Hanging Over The Balcony, When From The Bottom Of The Hall A New
Person Sprang. It Was Matrena Petrovna.
Warned By Koupriane That Something Would Happen That Night, And
Part 1 Chapter 10 (A Drama In The Night) Pg 128Foreseeing That It Would Happen On The Ground-Floor Where She Was
Forbidden To Be, She Had Found Nothing Better To Do Than To Make
Her Faithful Maid Go Secretly To The Bedroom Floor, With Orders To
Walk About There All Night, To Make All Think She Herself Was Near
The General, While She Remained Below, Hidden In The Dining-Room.
Matrena Petrovna Now Threw Herself Out Onto The Balcony, Crying In
Russian, "Shoot! Shoot!" In Just That Moment The Man Was Hesitating
Whether To Risk The Jump And Perhaps Break His Neck, Or Descend Less
Rapidly By The Gutter-Pipe. A Policeman Fired And Missed Him, And
The Man, After Firing Back And Wounding The Policeman, Disappeared.
It Was Still Too Far From Dawn For Them To See Clearly What Happened
Below, Where The Barking Of Brownings Alone Was Heard. And There
Could Be Nothing More Sinister Than The Revolver-Shots Unaccompanied
By Cries In The Mists Of The Morning. The Man, Before He
Disappeared, Had Had Only Time By A Quick Kick To Throw Down One Of
The Two Ladders Which Had Been Used By The Police In Climbing; Down
The Other One All The Police In A Bunch, Even To The Wounded One,
Went Sliding, Falling, Rising, Running After The Shadow Which Fled
Still, Discharging The Browning Steadily; Other Shadows Rose From
The River-Bank, Hovering In The Mist. Suddenly Koupniane's Voice
Was Heard Shouting Orders, Calling Upon His Agents To Take The
Quarry Alive Or Dead. From The Balcony Matrena Petrovna Cried Out
Also, Like A Savage, And Rouletabille Tried In Vain To Keep Her
Quiet. She Was Delirious At The Thought "The Other" Might Escape
Yet. She Fired A Revolver, She Also, Into The Group, Not Knowing
Whom She Might Wound. Rouletabille Grabbed Her Arm And As She
Turned On Him Angrily She Observed Natacha, Who, Leaning Until She
Almost Fell Over The Balcony, Her Lips Trembling With Delirious
Utterance, Followed As Well As She Could The Progress Of The
Struggle, Trying To Understand What Happened Below, Under The Trees,
Near The Neva, Where The Tumult By Now Extended. Matrena Petrovna
Pulled Her Back By The Arms. Then She Took Her By The Neck And
Threw Her Into The Drawing-Room In A Heap. When She Had Almost
Strangled Her Step-Daughter, Matrena Petrovna Saw That The General
Was There. He Appeared In The Pale Glimmerings Of Dawn Like A
Specter. By What Miracle Had Feodor Feodorovitch Been Able To
Descend The Stairs And Reach There? How Had It Been Brought About?
She Saw Him Tremble With Anger Or With Wretchedness Under The Folds
Of The Soldier's Cape That Floated About Him. He Demanded In A
Hoarse Voice, "What Is It?"
Matrena Petrovna Threw Herself At His Feet, Made The Orthodox Sign
Of The Cross, As If She Wished To Summon God To Witness, And Then,
Pointing To Natacha, She Denounced His Daughter To Her Husband As
She Would Have Pointed Her Out To A Judge.
"The One, Feodor Feodorovitch, Who Has Wished More Than Once To
Assassinate You, And Who This Night Has Opened The Datcha To Your
Assassin Is Your Daughter."
The General Held Himself Up By His Two Hands Against The Wall, And,
Looking At Matrena And Natacha, Who Now Were Both Upon The Floor
Before Him Like Suppliants, He Said To Matrena:
Part 1 Chapter 10 (A Drama In The Night) Pg 129
"It Is You Who Assassinate Me."
"Me! By The Living God!" Babbled Matrena Petrovna Desperately.
"If I Had Been Able To Keep This From You, Jesus Would Have Been
Good! But I Say No More To Crucify You. Feodor Feodorovitch,
Question Your Daughter, And If What I Have Said Is Not True, Kill
Me, Kill Me As A Lying, Evil Beast. I Will Say Thank You, Thank
You, And I Will Die Happier Than If What I Have Said Was True. Ah,
I Long To Be Dead! Kill Me!"
Feodor Feodorovitch Pushed Her Back With His Stick As One Would
Push A Worm In His Path. Without Saying Anything Further, She Rose
From Her Knees And Looked With Her Haggard Eyes, With Her Crazed
Face, At Rouletabille, Who Grasped Her Arm. If She Had Had Her
Hands Still Free She Would Not Have Hesitated A Second In Wreaking
Justice Upon Herself Under This Bitter Fate Of Alienating Feodor.
And It Seemed Frightful To Rouletabille That He Should Be Present
At One Of Those Horrible Family Dramas The Issue Of Which In The
Wild Times Of Peter The Great Would Have Sent The General To The
Hangman Either As A Father Or As A Husband.
The General Did Not Deign Even To Consider For Any Length Of Time
Matrena's Delirium. He Said To His Daughter, Who Shook With Sobs
On The Floor, "Rise, Natacha Feodorovna." And Feodor's Daughter
Understood That Her Father Never Would Believe In Her Guilt. She
Drew Herself Up Towards Him And Kissed His Hands Like A Happy Slave.
At This Moment Repeated Blows Shook The Veranda Door. Matrena, The
Watch-Dog, Anxious To Die After Feodor's Reproach, But Still At Her
Post, Ran Toward What She Believed To Be A New Danger. But She
Recognized Koupriane's Voice, Which Called On Her To Open. She Let
Him In Herself.
"What Is It?" She Implored.
"Well, He Is Dead."
A Cry Answered Him. Natacha Had Heard.
"But Who - Who - Who?" Questioned Matrena Breathlessly.
Koupriane Went Over To Feodor And Grasped His Hands.
"General," He Said, "There Was A Man Who Had Sworn Your Ruin And
Who Was Made An Instrument By Your Enemies. We Have Just Killed
That Man."
"Do I Know Him?" Demanded Feodor.
"He Is One Of Your Friends, You Have Treated Him Like A Son."
"His Name?"
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