The Secret Of The Night(Fiscle Part 3), Gaston Leroux [best pdf ebook reader TXT] 📗
- Author: Gaston Leroux
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Herds? They Made A Noise Like Thunder In The Marsh. Here Were A
Thousand Unkempt Haunches Undulating In The Marsh Like The Ocean As
A Storm Approaches. The Stark-Naked Men Jumped Along The Route,
Waving Their Clubs, Crying Gutturally In A Way The Beasts Seemed
To Understand. They Worked Their Way Out From The Marsh And Turned
Toward The City, Leaving Behind, To Swathe The View Of Them A While
And Then Fade Away, A Pestilential Haze That Hung Like An Aura About
The Naked, Long-Haired Men. It Was Terrible And Magnificent. In
Order Not To Be Shoved Into The Water, Rouletabille Had Climbed A
Small Rock That Stood Beside The Route, And Had Waited There As
Though Petrified Himself. When The Barbarians Had Finally Passed
By He Climbed Down Again, But The Route Had Become A Bog Of
Trampled Filth.
Happily, He Heard The Noise Of A Primitive Conveyance Behind Him.
It Was A Telega. Curiously Primitive, The Telega Is Four-Wheeled,
With Two Planks Thrown Crudely Across The Axle-Trees. Rouletabille
Gave The Man Who Was Seated In It Thee Roubles, And Jumped Into
The Planks Beside Him, And The Two Little Finnish Horses, Whose
Manes Hung Clear To The Mud, Went Like The Wind. Such Crude
Conveyances Are Necessary On Such Crude Roads, But It Requires A
Strong Constitution To Make A Journey On Them. Still, The Reporter
Felt None Of The Jolting, He Was So Intent On The Sea And The Coast
Of Lachtka Bay. The Vehicle Finally Reached A Wooden Bridge, Across
A Murky Creek. As The Day Commenced To Fade Colorlessly,
Rouletabille Jumped Off Onto The Shore And His Rustic Equipage
Crossed To The Sestroriesk Side. It Was A Corner Of Land Black And
Somber As His Thoughts That He Surveyed Now. "Watch The Bay Of
Lachtka!" The Reporter Knew That This Desolate Plain, This
Impenetrable Marsh, This Sea Which Offered The Fugitive Refuge In
Innumerable Fords, Had Always Been A Useful Retreat For Nihilistic
Adventurers. A Hundred Legends Circulated In St. Petersburg About
The Mysteries Of Lachtka Marshes. And That Gave Him His Last Hope.
Maybe He Would Be Able To Run Across Some Revolutionaries To Whom
He Could Explain About Natacha, As Prudently As Possible; He Might
Even See Natacha Herself. Gounsovski Could Not Have Spoken Vain
Words To Him.
Between The Lachtkrinsky Marsh And The Strand He Perceived On The
Edge Of The Forests Which Run As Far As Sestroriesk A Little Wooden
House Whose Walls Were Painted A Reddish-Brown, And Its Roof Green.
It Was Not The Russian Isba, But The Finnish Touba. However, A
Russian Sign Announced It To Be A Restaurant. The Young Man Had To
Take Only A Few Steps To Enter It. He Was The Only Customer There.
An Old Man, With Glasses And A Long Gray Beard, Evidently The
Proprietor Of The Establishment, Stood Behind The Counter, Presiding
Over The Zakouskis. Rouletabille Chose Some Little Sandwiches Which
He Placed On A Plate. He Took A Bottle Of Pivo And Made The Man
Understand That Later, If It Were Possible, He Would Like A Good Hot
Supper. The Other Made A Sign That He Understood And Showed Him
Into An Adjoining Room Which Was Used For Diners. Rouletabille Was
Quite Ready Enough To Die In The Face Of His Failures, But He Did
Not Wish To Perish From Hunger.
Part 1 Chapter 14 (The Marshes) Pg 182
A Table Was Placed Beside A Window Looking Out Over The Sea And
Over The Entrance To The Bay. It Could Not Have Been Better And,
With His Eye Now On The Horizon, Now On The Estuary Near-By, He
Commenced To Eat With Gloomy Avidity. He Was Inclined To Feel Sorry
For Himself, To Indulge In Self-Pity. "Just The Same, Two And Two
Always Make Four," He Said To Himself; "But In My Calculations
Perhaps I Have Forgotten The Surd. Ah, There Was A Time When I
Would Not Have Overlooked Anything. And Even Now I Haven't
Overlooked Anything, If Natacha Is Innocent!" Having Literally
Scoured The Plate, He Struck The Table A Great Blow With His Fist
And Said: "She Is!"
Just Then The Door Opened. Rouletabille Supposed The Proprietor Of
The Place Was Entering.
It Was Koupriane.
He Rose, Startled. He Could Not Imagine By What Mystery The Prefect
Of Police Had Made His Way There, But He Rejoiced From The Bottom
Of His Heart, For If He Was Trying To Rescue Natacha From The Hands
Of The Revolutionaries Koupriane Would Be A Valuable Ally. He
Clapped The Prefect On The Shoulder.
"Well, Well!" He Said, Almost Joyfully. "I Certainly Did Not Expect
You Here. How Is Your Wound?"
"Nitchevo! Not Worth Speaking About; It's Nothing."
"And The General And -! Ah, That Frightful Night! And Those Two
Unfortunates Who -?"
"Nitchevo! Nitchevo!"
"And Poor Ermolai!"
"Nitchevo! Nitchevo! It Is Nothing."
Rouletabille Looked Him Over. The Prefect Of Police Had An Arm In
A Sling, But He Was Bright And Shining As A New Ten-Rouble Piece,
While He, Poor Rouletabille, Was So Abominably Soiled And Depressed.
Where Did He Come From? Koupriane Understood His Look And Smiled.
"Well, I Have Just Come From The Finland Train; It Is The Best Way."
"But What Can You Have Come Here To Do, Excellency?"
"The Same Thing As You."
"Bah!" Exclaimed Rouletabille, "Do You Mean To Say That You Have
Come Here To Save Natacha?"
"How - To Save Her! I Come To Capture Her."
"To Capture Her?"
Part 1 Chapter 14 (The Marshes) Pg 183
"Monsieur Rouletabille, I Have A Very Fine Little Dungeon In Saints
Peter And Paul Fortress That Is All Ready For Her."
"You Are Going To Throw Natacha Into A Dungeon!"
"The Emperor's Order, Monsieur Rouletabille. And If You See Me
Here In Person It Is Simply Because His Majesty Requires That The
Thing Be Done As Respectfully And Discreetly As Possible."
"Natacha In Prison!" Cried The Reporter, Who Saw In Horror All
Obstacles Rising Before Him At One And The Same Time. "For What
Reasons, Pray?"
"The Reason Is Simple Enough. Natacha Feodorovna Is The Last Word
In Wickedness And Doesn't Deserve Anybody's Pity. She Is The
Accomplice Of The Revolutionaries And The Instigator Of All The
Crimes Against Her Father."
"I Am Sure That You Are Mistaken, Excellency. But How Have You
Been Guided To Her?"
"Simply By You."
"By Me?"
"Yes, We Lost All Trace Of Natacha. But, As You Had Disappeared
Also, I Made Up My Mind That You Could Only Be Occupied In Searching
For Her, And That By Finding You I Might Have The Chance To Lay My
Hands On Her."
"But I Haven't Seen Any Of Your Men?"
"Why, One Of Them Brought You Here."
"Me?"
"Yes, You. Didn't You Climb Onto A Telega?"
"Ah, The Driver."
"Exactly. I Had Arranged To Have Him Meet Me At The Sestroriesk
Station. He Pointed Out The Place Where You Dropped Off, And Here
I Am."
The Reporter Bent His Head, Red With Chagrin. Decidedly The
Sinister Idea That He Was Responsible For The Death Of An Innocent
Man And All The Ills Which Had Followed Out Of It Had Paralyzed His
Detective Talents. He Recognized It Now. What Was The Use Of
Struggling! If Anyone Had Told Him That He Would Be Played With
That Way Sometime, He, Rouletabille! He Would Have Laughed Heartily
Enough - Then. But Now, Well, He Wasn't Capable Of Anything Further.
He Was His Own Most Cruel Enemy. Not Only Was Natacha In The Hands
Of The Revolutionaries Through His Fault, By His Abominable Error,
Part 1 Chapter 14 (The Marshes) Pg 184But Worse Yet, In The Very Moment When He Wished To Save Her, He
Foolishly, Naively, Had Conducted The Police To The Very Spot Where
They Should Have Been Kept Away. It Was The Depth Of His
Humiliation; Koupriane Really Pitied The Reporter.
"Come, Don't Blame Yourself Too Much," Said He. "We Would Have
Found Natacha Without You; Gounsovski Notified Us That She Was Going
To Embark In The Bay Of Lachtka This Evening With Priemkof."
"Natacha With Priemkof!" Exclaimed Rouletabille. "Natacha With The
Man Who Introduced The Two Living Bombs Into Her Father's House! If
She Is With Him, Excellency, It Is Because She Is His Prisoner, And
That Alone Will Be Sufficient To Prove Her Innocence. I Thank The
Heaven That Has Sent You Here."
Koupriane Swallowed A Glass Of Vodka, Poured Another After It, And
Finally Deigned To Translate His Thought:
"Natacha Is The Friend Of These Precious Men And We Will See Them
Disembark Hand In Hand."
"Your Men, Then, Haven't Studied The Traces Of The Struggle That
'These Precious Men' Have Had On The Banks Of The Neva Before They
Carried Away Natacha?"
"Oh, They Haven't Been Hoodwinked. As A Matter Of Fact, The Struggle
Was Quite Too Visible Not To Have Been Done For Appearances' Sake.
What A Child You Are! Can't You See That Natacha's Presence In The
Datcha Had Become Quite Too Dangerous For That Charming Young Girl
After The Poisoning Of Her Father And Step-Mother Failed And At The
Moment When Her Comrades Were Preparing To Send General Trebassof A
Pleasant Little Gift Of Dynamite? She Arranged To Get Away And Yet
To Appear Kidnapped. It Is Too Simple."
Rouletabille Raised His Head.
"There Is Something Simpler Still To Imagine Than The Culpability
Of Natacha. It Is That Priemkof Schemed To Pour The Poison Into
The Flask Of Vodka, Saying To Himself That If The Poison Didn't
Succeed At Least It Would Make The Occasion For Introducing His
Dynamite Into The House In The Pockets Of The 'Doctors' That They
Would Go To Find."
Koupriane Seized Rouletabille's Wrist And Threw Some Terrible Words
At Him, Looking Into The Depths Of His Eyes:
"It Was Not Priemkof Who Poured The Poison, Because There Was No
Poison In The Flask."
Rouletabille, As He Heard This Extraordinary Declaration, Rose,
More Startled Than He Had Ever Been In The Course Of This Startling
Campaign.
If There Was No Poison In The Flask, The Poison Must
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