The Secret Of The Night(Fiscle Part 3) by Gaston Leroux (best business books of all time txt) 📖
- Author: Gaston Leroux
Book online «The Secret Of The Night(Fiscle Part 3) by Gaston Leroux (best business books of all time txt) 📖». Author Gaston Leroux
Greatest Precaution Across The Lawn. Screened By The Wooden Steps
Part 1 Chapter 13 (The Living Bombs) Pg 170Leading To The Veranda And By The Vine-Clad Balustrade, They Got
Near Enough To Hear Them. Koupriane Gave Eager Ear To The Words
Of These Two Young Men, Who Might Have Been So Rich In The Many
Years Of Life That Naturally Belonged To Them, And Who Were About
To Die So Horrible A Death In Destroying All About Them. They
Spoke Of What Time It Was, Of The Softness Of The Night And The
Beauty Of The Sky; They Spoke Of The Shadows Under The Birch-Trees,
Of The Gulf Shining In The Late Evening's Fading Golden Light, Of
The River's Freshness And The Sweetness Of Springtime In The North.
That Is What They Talked About. Koupriane Murmured, "The Assassins!"
Now It Was Necessary To Decide On Action, And That Necessity Was
Horrible. A False Movement, An Awkwardness, And The "Doctors"
Would Be Warned, And Everything Lost. They Must Have The Bombs
Under Their Coats; There Were Certainly At Least Two "Living Bombs."
Their Chests, As They Breathed, Must Heave To And Fro And Their
Hearts Beat Against An Impending Explosion.
Above On The Bedroom Floor, They Heard The Rapid Arranging Of The
Room, Steps On The Floor And A Confusion Of Voices; Shadows Passed
Across The Window-Space. Koupriane Rapidly Interrogated Ermolai
And Learned That All The General's Friends Were There. The Two
Doctors Had Arrived Only A Couple Of Minutes Before The Prefect Of
Police And The Reporter. The Little Doctor Of Vassili-Ostrow Had
Already Gone, Saying There Was Nothing More For Him To Do When Two
Such Celebrated Specialists Had Arrived. However, In Spite Of Their
Celebrity, No One Had Ever Heard The Names They Gave. Koupriane
Believed The Little Doctor Was An Accomplice. The Most Necessary
Thing Was To Warn Those In The Room Above. There Was Immediate
Danger That Someone Would Come Downstairs To Find The Doctors And
Take Them To The General, Or That The General Would Come Down
Himself To Meet Them. Evidently That Was What They Were Waiting
For. They Wished To Die In His Arms, To Make Sure That This Time
He Did Not Escape Them! Koupriane Directed Ermolai To Go Into The
Veranda And Speak In A Commonplace Way To Them At The Threshold Of
The Drawing-Room Door, Saying That He Would Go Upstairs And See If
He Might Now Escort Them To Madame Trebassof's Room. Once In The
Room Above, He Could Warn The Others Not To Do Anything But Wait
For Koupriane; Then Ermolai Was To Come Down And Say To The Men,
"In Just A Moment, If You Please."
Ermolai Crept Back As Far As The Lodge, And Then Came Quite
Normally Up The Path, Letting The Gravel Crunch Under His
Countrified Footsteps. He Was An Intelligent Man, And Grasped With
Extraordinary Coolness The Importance Of The Plan Of Campaign.
Easily And Naturally He Mounted The Veranda Steps, Paused At The
Threshold Of The Drawing-Room, Made The Remark He Had Been Told To
Make, And Went Upstairs. Koupriane And Rouletabille Now Watched
The Bedroom Windows. The Flitting Shadows There Suddenly Became
Motionless. All Moving About Ceased; No More Steps Were Heard,
Nothing. And That Sudden Silence Made The Two "Doctors" Raise
Their Faces Toward The Ceiling. Then They Exchanged An Aroused
Glance. This Change In The Manner Of Things Above Was Dangerous.
Koupriane Muttered, "The Idiots!" It Was Such A Blow For Those
Part 1 Chapter 13 (The Living Bombs) Pg 171Upstairs To Learn They Walked Over A Mine Ready To Explode That
It Evidently Had Paralyzed Their Limbs. Happily Ermolai Came
Down Almost Immediately And Said To The "Doctors" In His Very Best
Domestic Manner:
"Just A Second, Messieurs, If You Please."
He Did It Still With Utter Naturalness. And He Returned To The
Ledge Before He Rejoined Koupriane And Rouletabille By Way Of The
Lawn. Rouletabille, Entirely Cool, Quite Master Of Himself, As Calm
Now As Koupriane Was Nervous, Said To The Prefect Of Police:
"We Must Act Now, And Quickly. They Are Commencing To Be Suspicious.
Have You A Plan?"
"Here Is All I Can See," Said Koupriane. "Have The General Come
Down By The Narrow Servants' Stairway, And Slip Out Of The House
From The Window Of Natacha's Sitting-Room, With The Aid Of A Twisted
Sheet. Matrena Petrovna Will Come To Speak To Them During This
Time; That Will Keep Them Patient Until The General Is Out Of Danger.
As Soon As Matrena Has Withdrawn Into The Garden, I Will Call My Men,
Who Will Shoot Them From A Distance."
"And The House Itself? And The General's Friends?"
"Let Them Try To Get Away, Too, By The Servants' Stairway And Jump
From The Window After The General. We Must Try Something. Say That
I Have Them At The Muzzle Of My Revolver."
"Your Plan Won't Work," Said Rouletabille, "Unless The Door Of
Natacha's Sitting-Room That Opens On The Drawing-Room Is Closed."
"It Is. I Can See From Here."
"And Unless The Door Of The Little Passage-Way Before That Staircase
That Opens Into The Drawing-Room Is Closed Also, And You Cannot See
It From Here."
"That Door Is Open," Said Ermolai.
Koupriane Swore. But He Recovered Himself Promptly.
"Madame Trebassof Will Close The Door When She Speaks To Them."
"It's Impracticable," Said The Reporter. "That Will Arouse Their
Suspicions More Than Ever. Leave It To Me; I Have A Plan."
"What?"
"I Have Time To Execute It, But Not To Tell You About It. They
Have Already Waited Too Long. I Shall Have To Go Upstairs, Though.
Ermolai Will Need To Go With Me, As With A Friend Of The Family."
"I'll Go Too."
Part 1 Chapter 13 (The Living Bombs) Pg 172
"That Would Give The Whole Show Away, If They Saw You, The Prefect
Of Police."
"Why, No. If They See Me - And They Know I Ought To Be There - As
Soon As I Show Myself To Them They Will Conclude I Don't Know
Anything About It."
"You Are Wrong."
"It Is My Duty. I Should Be Near The General To Defend Him Until
The Last."
Rouletabille Shrugged His Shoulders Before This Dangerous Heroism,
But He Did Not Stop To Argue. He Knew That His Plan Must Succeed
At Once, Or In Five Minutes At The Latest There Would Be Only Ruins,
The Dead And The Dying In The Datcha Des Iles.
Still He Remained Astonishingly Calm. In Principle He Had Admitted
That He Was Going To Die. The Only Hope Of Being Saved Which
Remained To Them Rested Entirely Upon Their Keeping Perfectly Cool
And Upon The Patience Of The Living Bombs. Would They Still Have
Three Minutes' Patience?
Ermolai Went Ahead Of Koupriane And Rouletabille. At The Moment
They Reached The Foot Of The Veranda Steps The Servant Said Loudly,
Repeating His Lesson:
"Oh, The General Is Waiting For You, Excellency. He Told Me To
Have You Come To Him At Once. He Is Entirely Well And Madame
Trebassof Also."
When They Were In The Veranda, He Added:
"She Is To See Also, At Once, These Gentlemen, Who Will Be Able To
Tell Her There Is No More Danger."
And All Three Passed While Koupriane And Rodetabille Vaguely Saluted
The Two Conspirators In The Drawing-Room. It Was A Decisive Moment.
Recognizing Koupriane, The Two Nihilists Might Well Believe
Themselves Discovered, As The Reporter Had Said, And Precipitate
The Catastrophe. However, Ermolai, Koupriane And Rouletabille
Climbed The Stairs To The Bedroom Like Automatons, Not Daring To
Look Behind Them, And Expecting The End Each Instant. But Neither
Stirred. Ermolai Went Down Again, By Rouletabille's Order,
Normally, Naturally, Tranquilly. They Went Into Matrena Petrovna's
Chamber. Everybody Was There. It Was A Gathering Of Ghosts.
Here Was What Had Happened Above. That The "Doctors" Still Remained
Below, That They Had Not Been Received Instantly, In Brief, That The
Catastrophe Had Been Delayed Up To Now Was Due To Matrena Petrovna,
Whose Watchful Love, Like A Watch-Dog, Was Always Ready To Scent
Danger. These Two "Doctors" Whose Names She Did Not Know, Who
Arrived So Late, And The Precipitate Departure Of The Little Doctor
Part 1 Chapter 13 (The Living Bombs) Pg 173Of Vassili-Ostrow Aroused Her Watchfulness. Before Allowing Them
To Come Upstairs To The General She Resolved To Have A Look At Them
Herself Downstairs. She Arose From Her Bed For That; And Now Her
Presentiment Was Justified. When She Saw Ermolai, Sober And
Mysterious, Enter With Koupriane's Message, She Knew Instinctively,
Before He Spoke, That There Were Bombs In The House. When Ermolai
Did Speak It Was A Blow For Everybody. At First She, Matrena
Perovna, Had Been A Frightened, Foolish Figure In The Big Flowered
Dressing-Gown Belonging To Feodor That She Had Wrapped About Her In
Her Haste. When Ermolai Left, The General, Who Knew She Only
Trembled For Him, Tried To Reassure Her, And, In The Midst Of The
Frightened Silence Of All Of Them, Said A Few Words Recalling The
Failure Of All The Previous Attempts. But She Shook Her Head And
Trembled, Shaking With Fear For Him, In Agony At The Thought That
She Could Do Nothing There Above Those Living Bombs But Wait For
Them To Burst. As To The Friends, Already Their Limbs Were Ruined,
Absolutely Ruined, In Very Truth. For A Moment They Were Quite
Incapable Of Moving. The Jolly Councilor Of Empire, Ivan Petrovitch,
Had No Longer A Lively Tale To Tell, And The Abominable Prospect Of
"This Horrible Mix-Up" Right At Hand Rendered Him Much Less Gay
Than In His Best Hours At Cubat's Place. And Poor Thaddeus
Tchitchnikoff Was Whiter Than The Snow That Covers Old Lithuania's
Fields When The Winter's Chase Is On. Athanase Georgevitch Himself
Was Not Brilliant, And His Sanguine Face Had Quite Changed, As
Though He Had Difficulty In Digesting His Last Masterpiece
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