The Secret Of The Night(Fiscle Part 3) by Gaston Leroux (best business books of all time txt) 📖
- Author: Gaston Leroux
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Poured Directly Into The Glasses By A Person Who Was In The Kiosk!
Now, There Were Only Four Persons In The Kiosk: The Two Who Were
Poisoned And Natacha And Himself, Rouletabille. And That Kiosk
Was So Perfectly Isolated That It Was Impossible For Any Other
Persons Than The Four Who Were There To Pour Poison Upon The Table.
"But It Is Not Possible!" He Cried.
"It Is So Possible That It Is So. Pere Alexis Dedared That There
Is No Poison In The Flask, And I Ought To Tell You That An Analysis
I Had Made After His Bears Him Out. There Was No Poison, Either,
In The Small Bottle You Took To Pere Alexis And Into Which You
Yourself Had Poured The Contents Of Natacha's Glass And Yours; No
Trace Of Poison Excepting In Two Of The Four Glasses, Arsenate Of
Soda Was Found Only On The Soiled Napkins Of Trebassof And His Wife
And In The Two Glasses They Drank From."
"Oh, That Is Horrible," Muttered The Stupefied Reporter; "That Is
Horrible, For Then The Poisoner Must Be Either Natacha Or Me."
"I Have Every Confidence In You," Declared Koupriane With A Great
Laugh Of Satisfaction, Striking Him On The Shoulder. "And I Arrest
Natacha, And You Who Love Logic Ought To Be Satisfied Now."
Rouletabille Hadn't A Word More To Say. He Sat Down Again And Let
His Head Fall Into His Hands, Like One Sleep Has Seized.
"Ah, Our Young Girls; You Don't Know Them. They Are Terrible,
Terrible!" Said Koupriane, Lighting A Big Cigar. "Much More
Terrible Than The Boys. In Good Families The Boys Still Enjoy
Themselves; But The Girls - They Read! It Goes To Their Heads.
They Are Ready For Anything; They Know Neither Father Nor Mother.
Ah, You Are A Child, You Cannot Comprehend. Two Lovely Eyes, A
Melancholy Air, A Soft, Low Voice, And You Are Captured - You
Believe You Have Before You Simply An Inoffensive, Good Little
Girl. Well, Rouletabille, Here Is What I Will Tell You For Your
Instruction. There Was The Time Of The Tchipoff Attack; The
Revolutionaries Who Were Assigned To Kill Tchipoff Were Disguised
As Coachmen And Footmen. Everthing Had Been Carefully Prepared
And It Would Seem That No One Could Have Discovered The Bombs In
The Place They Had Been Stored. Well, Do You Know The Place Where
Those Bombs Were Found? In The Rooms Of The Governor, Of Wladmir's
Daughter! Exactly, My Little Friend, Just There! The Rooms Of
The Governor's Daughter, Mademoiselle Alexeieiv. Ah, These Young
Girls! Besides, It Was This Same Mademoiselle Alexeieiv Who, So
Prettily, Pierced The Brain Of An Honest Swiss Merchant Who Had The
Misfortune To Resemble One Of Our Ministers. If We Had Hanged That
Charming Young Girl Earlier, My Dear Monsieur Rouletabille, That
Last Catastrophe Might Have Been Avoided. A Good Rope Around The
Neck Of All These Little Females - It Is The Only Way, The Only
Way!"
A Man Entered. Rouletabille Recognized The Driver Of The Telega.
There Were Some Rapid Words Between The Chief And The Agent. The
Part 1 Chapter 14 (The Marshes) Pg 186Man Closed The Shutters Of The Room, But Through The Interstices
They Would Be Able To See What Went On Outside. Then The Agent Left;
Koupriane, As He Pushed Aside The Table That Was Near The Window,
Said To The Reporter:
"You Had Better Come To The Window; My Man Has Just Told Me The Boat
Is Drawing Near. You Can Watch An Interesting Sight. We Are Sure
That Natacha Is Still Aboard. The Yacht, After The Explosion At
The Datcha, Took Up Two Men Who Put Off To It In A Canoe, And Since
Then It Has Simply Sailed Back And Forth In The Gulf. We Have Taken
Our Precautions In Finland The Same As Here And It Is Here They Are
Going To Try To Disembark. Keep An Eye On Them."
Koupriane Was At His Post Of Observation. Evening Slowly Fell.
The Sky Was Growing Grayish-Black, A Tint That Blended With The
Slate-Colored Sea. To Those On The Bank, The Sound Of The Men
About To Die Came Softly Across The Water. There Was A Sail Far
Out. Between The Strand And The Touba Where Koupriane Watched, Was
A Ridge, A Window, Which, However, Did Not Hide The Shore Or The Bay
From The Prefect Of Police, Because At The Height Where He Was His
Glance Passed At An Angle Above It. But From The Sea This Ridge
Entirely Hid Anyone Who Lay In Ambush Behind It. The Reporter
Watched Fifty Moujiks Flat On Their Stomachs Crawling Up The Ridge,
Behind Two Of Their Number Whose Heads Alone Topped The Ridge. In
The Line Of Gaze Taken By Those Two Heads Was The White Sail,
Looming Much Larger Now. The Yacht Was Heeled In The Water And
Glided With Real Elegance, Heading Straight On. Suddenly, Just
When They Supposed She Was Coming Straight To Shore, The Sails Fell
And A Canoe Was Dropped Over The Side. Four Men Got Into It; Then
A Woman Jumped Lightly Down A Little Gangway Into The Canoe. It
Was Natacha. Koupriane Had No Difficulty In Recognizing Her Through
The Gathering Darkness.
"Ah, My Dear Monsieur Rouletabille," Said He, "See Your Prisoner Of
The Nihilists. Notice How She Is Bound. Her Thongs Certainly Are
Causing Her Great Pain. These Revolutionaries Surely Are Brutes!"
The Truth Was That Natacha Had Gone Quite Readily To The Rudder And
While The Others Rowed She Steered The Light Boat To The Place On
The Beach That Had Been Pointed Out To Her. Soon The Prow Of The
Canoe Touched The Sands. There Did Not Seem To Be A Soul About,
And That Was The Conclusion The Men In The Canoe Who Stood Up
Looking Around, Seemed To Reach. They Jumped Out, And Then It Was
Natacha's Turn. She Accepted The Hand Held Out To Her, Talking
Pleasantly With The Men All The Time. She Even Turned To Press The
Hand Of One Of Them. The Group Came Up Across The Beach. All This
Time The Watchers In The Little Eating-House Could See The False
Moujiks, Who Had Wriggled On Their Stomachs To The Very Edge Of The
Ridge, Holding Themselves Ready To Spring.
Behind His Shutter, Koupriane Could Not Restrain An Exclamation Of
Triumph; He Gradually Identified Some Of The Figures In The Group,
And Muttered:
Part 1 Chapter 14 (The Marshes) Pg 187
"Eh! Eh! There Is Priemkof Himself And The Others. Gounsovski Is
Right And He Certainly Is Well-Informed; His System Is Decidedly A
Good One. What A Net-Full!"
He Hardly Breathed As He Watched The Outcome. He Could Discern
Elsewhere, Beside The Bay, Flat On The Ground, Concealed By The
Slightest Elevation Of The Soil, Other False Moujiks. The Wood Of
Sestroriesk Was Watched In The Same Way. The Group Of
Revolutionaries Who Strolled Behind Natacha Stopped To Confer. In
Three - Maybe Two - Minutes, They Would Be Surrounded - Cut Off,
Taken In The Trap. Suddenly A Gunshot Sounded In The Night, And
The Group, With Startled Speed, Turned In Their Tracks And Made
Silently For The Sea, While From All Directions Poured The Concealed
Agents And Threw Themselves Into The Pursuit, Jostling Each Other
And Crying After The Fugitives. But The Cries Became Cries Of Rage,
For The Group Of Revolutionaries Gained The Beach. They Saw Natacha,
Who Was Held Up By Priemkof Himself, Reject The Aid Of The Nihilist,
Who Did Not Wish To Abandon Her, In Order That He Might Save Himself.
She Made Him Go And Seeing That She Was Going To Be Taken, Stopped
Short And Waited For The Enemy Stoically, With Folded Arms.
Meanwhile, Her Three Companions Succeeded In Throwing Themselves
Into The Canoe And Plied The Oars Hard While Koupriane's Men, In
The Water Up To Their Chests, Discharged Their Revolvers At The
Fugitives. The Men In The Canoe, Fearing To Wound Natacha, Made
No Reply To The Firing. The Yacht Had Sails Up By The Time They
Drew Alongside, And Made Off Like A Bird Toward The Mysterious
Fords Of Finland, Audaciously Hoisting The Black Flag Of The
Revolution.
Meantime, Koupriane's Agents, Trembling Before His Anger, Gathered
At The Eating-House. The Prefect Of Police Let His Fury Loose On
Them And Treated Them Like The Most Infamous Of Animals. The
Capture Of Natacha Was Little Comfort. He Had Planned For The Whole
Bag, And His Men's Stupidity Took Away All His Self-Control. If He
Had Had A Whip At Hand He Would Have Found Prompt Solace For His
Mined Hopes. Natacha, Standing In A Corner, With Her Face Singularly
Calm, Watched This Extraordinary Scene That Was Like A Menagerie In
Which The Tamer Himself Had Become A Wild Beast. From Another
Corner, Rouletabille Kept His Eyes Fixed On Natacha Who Ignored Him.
Ah, That Girl, Sphinx To Them All! Even To Him Who Thought A While
Ago That He Could Read Things Invisible To Other Vulgar Men In Her
Features, In Her Eyes! The Impassive Face Of That Girl Whose Father
They Had Tried To Assassinate Only A Few Hours Before And Who Had
Just Pressed The Hand Of Priemkof, The Assassin! Once She Turned
Her Head Slightly Toward Rouletabille. The Reporter Then Looked
Towards Her With Increased Eagerness, His Eyes Burning, As Though
He Would Say: "Surely, Natacha, You Are Not The Accomplice Of Your
Father's Assassins; Surely It Was Not You Who Poured The Poison!"
But Natacha's Glance Passed The Reporter Coldly Over. Ah, That
Mysterious, Cold Mask, The Mouth With Its Bitter, Impudent Smile,
An Atrocious Smile Which Seemed To Say To The Reporter: "If It Is
Not I Who Poured The Poison, Then It Is You!"
Part 1 Chapter 14 (The Marshes) Pg 188
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