The Eight Strokes of the Clock Maurice Leblanc (android e book reader .txt) đ
- Author: Maurice Leblanc
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There was not much said on the journey. At four oâclock Hortense and RĂ©nine reached Rouen. But here RĂ©nine changed his road.
âAdolphe, take the left bank of the Seine.â
He unfolded a motoring-map on his knees and, tracing the route with his finger, showed Hortense that, if you draw a line from Le Havre, or rather from Quillebeuf, where the road crosses the Seine, to Dreux, where the stolen car was found, this line passes through Routot, a market-town lying west of the forest of Brotonne:
âNow it was in the forest of Brotonne,â he continued, âaccording to what I heard, that the second part of The Happy Princess was filmed. And the question that arises is this: having got hold of Rose AndrĂ©e, would it not occur to DalbrĂšque, when passing near the forest on the Saturday night, to hide his prey there, while his two accomplices went on to Dreux and from there returned to Paris? The cave was quite near. Was he not bound to go to it? How should he do otherwise? Wasnât it while running to this cave, a few months ago, that he held in his arms, against his breast, within reach of his lips, the woman whom he loved and whom he has now conquered? By every rule of fate and logic, the adventure is being repeated all over againâ ââ ⊠but this time in reality. Rose AndrĂ©e is a captive. There is no hope of rescue. The forest is vast and lonely. That night, or on one of the following nights, Rose AndrĂ©e must surrenderâ ââ ⊠or die.â
Hortense gave a shudder:
âWe shall be too late. Besides, you donât suppose that heâs keeping her a prisoner?â
âCertainly not. The place I have in mind is at a crossroads and is not a safe retreat. But we may discover some clue or other.â
The shades of night were falling from the tall trees when they entered the ancient forest of Brotonne, full of Roman remains and medieval relics. RĂ©nine knew the forest well and remembered that near a famous oak, known as the Wine-cask, there was a cave which must be the cave of the Happy Princess. He found it easily, switched on his electric torch, rummaged in the dark corners and brought Hortense back to the entrance:
âThereâs nothing inside,â he said, âbut here is the evidence which I was looking for. DalbrĂšque was obsessed by the recollection of the film, but so was Rose AndrĂ©e. The Happy Princess had broken off the tips of the branches on the way through the forest. Rose AndrĂ©e has managed to break off some to the right of this opening, in the hope that she would be discovered as on the first occasion.â
âYes,â said Hortense, âitâs a proof that she has been here; but the proof is three weeks old. Since that time.â ââ âŠâ
âSince that time, she is either dead and buried under a heap of leaves or else alive in some hole even lonelier than this.â
âIf so, where is he?â
RĂ©nine pricked up his ears. Repeated blows of the axe were sounding from some distance, no doubt coming from a part of the forest that was being cleared.
âHe?â said RĂ©nine, âI wonder whether he may not have continued to behave under the influence of the film and whether the man of the woods in The Happy Princess has not quite naturally resumed his calling. For how is the man to live, to obtain his food, without attracting attention? He will have found a job.â
âWe canât make sure of that.â
âWe might, by questioning the woodcutters whom we can hear.â
The car took them by a forest-road to another crossroads where they entered on foot a track which was deeply rutted by wagon-wheels. The sound of axes ceased. After walking for a quarter of an hour, they met a dozen men who, having finished work for the day, were returning to the villages near by.
âWill this path take us to Routot?â ask RĂ©nine, in order to open a conversation with them.
âNo, youâre turning your backs on it,â said one of the men, gruffly.
And he went on, accompanied by his mates.
Hortense and RĂ©nine stood rooted to the spot. They had recognized the butler. His cheeks and chin were shaved, but his upper lip was covered by a black moustache, evidently dyed. The eyebrows no longer met and were reduced to normal dimensions.
Thus, in less than twenty hours, acting on the vague hints supplied by the bearing of a film-actor, Serge RĂ©nine had touched the very heart of the tragedy by means of purely psychological arguments.
âRose AndrĂ©e is alive,â he said. âOtherwise DalbrĂšque would have left the country. The poor thing must be imprisoned and bound up; and he takes her some food at night.â
âWe will save her, wonât we?â
âCertainly, by keeping a watch on him and, if necessary, but in the last resort, compelling him by force to give up his secret.â
They followed the woodcutter at a distance and, on the pretext that the car needed overhauling, engaged rooms in the principal inn at Routot.
Attached to the inn was a small café from which they were separated by the entrance to the yard and above which were two rooms, reached by a wooden outer staircase, at one side. DalbrÚque occupied one of these rooms and Rénine took the other for his chauffeur.
Next morning he learnt from Adolphe that DalbrĂšque, on the previous evening, after all the lights were out, had carried down a bicycle from his room and mounted it and had not returned until shortly before sunrise.
The bicycle tracks led RĂ©nine to the uninhabited ChĂąteau des Landes, five miles from the village. They disappeared in a rocky path which ran beside the park down to the
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