Ninety-Three. Victor HugoЧитать онлайн книгу.
leaf; at first he took no notice of it, but as it continued, persisted, one might almost say, he finally turned. It was really a leaf, – a leaf of paper. The wind was struggling to tear off a large placard that was pasted on the milestone above his head. The placard had but just been pasted; for it was still moist, and had become a prey to the wind, which in its sport had partly detached it.
The old man had not perceived it, because he had ascended the dune on the opposite side.
He stepped up on the stone where he had been sitting, and placed his hand on the corner of the placard that fluttered in the wind. The sky was clear; in June the twilight lasts a long time, and although it was dark at the foot of the dune, the summit was still light. A part of the notice was printed in large letters; it was yet sufficiently light to read it, and this was what he read: —
We, Prieur of the Marne, representative of the people, in command of the army on the coast of Cherbourg, give notice, That the ci-devant Marquis of Lantenac, Viscount of Fontenay, calling himself a Breton prince, and who has secretly landed on the coast of Granville, is outlawed. A price has been set upon his head. Whoever captures him dead or alive will receive sixty thousand livres. This sum will be paid in gold, and not in paper money. A battalion of the army of the coast guards of Cherbourg will be at once despatched for the apprehension of the former Marquis of Lantenac. The inhabitants of the parishes are ordered to lend their aid.
Given at the Town Hall of Granville the second of June, 1793.
Signed:
Below this name there was another signature written in smaller characters, which the fading light prevented him from deciphering. Pulling his hat down over his eyes, and muffling himself in his sea-cape up to his chin, the old man hastily descended the dune. Evidently it was not safe to tarry any longer on this lighted summit.
Perhaps he had stayed there too long already. The top of the dune was the only point of the landscape that still remained visible.
When he had descended and found himself in the darkness he slackened his pace.
He took the road leading to the farm which he had traced out, evidently believing himself safe in that direction. It was absolute solitude. There were no passers-by at this hour.
Stopping behind a clump of bushes, he unfastened his cloak, turned his waistcoat with the hairy side out, refastened his cloak, that was but a rag held by a string around his neck, and resumed his journey.
It was bright moonlight.
He came to a place where two roads forked, and on the pedestal of the old stone cross which stood there a white square could be distinguished, – undoubtedly another placard like the one he had lately read. As he drew near to it he heard a voice.
"Where are you going?" it said; and turning he beheld a man in the hedge-row, tall like himself, and of about the same age, with hair as white and garments even more ragged than his own, – almost his very double.
The man stood leaning on a long staff.
"I asked you where you were going? he repeated.
"In the first place, tell me where I am," was the reply, uttered in tones of almost haughty composure.
And the man answered, —
"You are in the seigneury of Tanis, of which I am the beggar and you the lord."
"I?"
"Yes, you, – monsieur le marquis de Lantenac."
IV
THE CAIMAND
The Marquis de Lantenac (henceforth we shall call him by his name) replied gravely, —
"Very well. Then deliver me up."
The man continued, —
"We are both at home here, – you in the castle, I in the bushes."
"Let us put an end to this. Do what you have to do. Deliver me to the authorities," said the Marquis.
The man went on, —
"You were going to the farm Herbe-en-Pail, were you not?"
"Yes."
"Don't go there."
"Why not?"
"Because the Blues are there."
"How long have they been there?"
"These three days past."
"Did the inhabitants of the farm and village resist?"
"No; they opened all the doors."
"Ah!" said the Marquis.
The man indicated with his finger the roof of the farm, which was visible in the distance above the trees.
"Do you see that roof, Marquis?"
"Yes."
"Do you see what there is above it?"
"Something waving?"
"Yes."
"It is a flag."
"The tricolor," said the man.
It was the object that had attracted the attention of the Marquis when he stood on the top of the dune.
"Isn't the tocsin ringing?" inquired the Marquis.
"Yes."
"On what account?"
"Evidently on yours."
"But one cannot hear it?"
"The wind prevents it from being heard."
The man continued, —
"Did you see that notice about yourself?"
"Yes."
"They are searching for you."
Then glancing towards the farm, he added, —
"They have a demi-battalion over there."
"Of republicans?"
"Of Parisians."
"Well," said the Marquis, "let us go on."
And he made a step in the direction of the farm. The man seized him by the arm.
"Don't go there!"
"Where would you have me go?"
"With me."
The Marquis looked at the beggar.
"Listen to me, Marquis: My home is not a fine one, but it is safe, – a hut lower than a cellar, seaweed for a floor, and for a ceiling a roof of branches and of grass. Come. They would shoot you at the farm, and at my house you will have a chance to sleep; you must be weary. To-morrow the Blues start out again, and you can go where you choose."
The Marquis studied the man.
"On which side are you, then?" asked the Marquis. "Are you a royalist, or a republican?"
"I am a beggar."
"Neither royalist nor republican?"
"I believe not."
"Are you for or against the king?"
"I have no time for that sort of thing."
"What do you think of what is transpiring?"
"I think that I have not enough to live on."
"Yet you come to my aid."
"I knew that you were outlawed. What is this law, then, that one can be outside of it? I do not understand. Am I inside the law, or outside of it? I have no idea. Does dying of hunger mean being inside the law?"
"How long have you been dying of hunger?"
"All my life."
"And you propose to save me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I said to myself, 'There is a man who is poorer than I, for he has not even the right to breathe.'"
"True.