The sound of the wheels and the tramp of the horses grew fainter and fainter on the paved road that leads to Fontainebleau; the cracking of whips, the clink of chains, and the shouts of the populace as they wished the galley-slaves a prosperous journey, all died away. And for them this was only the beginning.
What was it my counsel said to me?
The galleys!
Ah, yes, death a thousand times sooner than that. Annihilation rather than hell. Sooner give my head to the knife of Guillotine, than my neck to the galley-slaves collar. The galleys, just Heaven, never!
CHAPTER XV
Unfortunately I was not ill; the next day I had to leave the hospital, and once more I was relegated to my cell. Not ill! In point of fact, I am young, vigorous, and healthy. The blood flows freely in my veins, my limbs are under perfect control, I am strong in body and in intellect, made for a long life, and yet I am suffering from a mental disease, a disease the work of mens hands.
Since I left the hospital, an idea has crept into my brainan idea which, when I think of it, almost drives me mad. It is, that if they had left me there I might have managed to escape. The doctors and the Sisters of Mercy seemed to take a great interest in me; I was so young for such a terrible death. One would have said that they pitied me, so eager were they to crowd round my bed. Bah! it was mere curiosity; and though these people would cure you of a fever, yet they would not cure a judicial sentence of death. And yet how easy it would be!just an open door; and what harm would it do them? No more chance for me now; my appeal will be rejected, for everything has been done according to rule: the witnesses have testified correctly, the counsel have pleaded well, and the judges have done their part as they should. I cannot calculate on anything, unlessNo! it is madness, there is no more ground for hope. An appeal is a cord by which you are suspended over an abyss; you can hear it cracking a long time before it breaks and lets you fall. It is as though the knife of the guillotine took six weeks in which to fall.
If I could only gain my pardongain my pardon; but how, and for what reason? It is impossible for them to pardon me. All say that an example must be made.
I have but three steps to takeBicêtre, the Conciergerie, and the Grêve.
CHAPTER XVI
Oh, if I could only escape, how I would fly across the fields! Ah, but I must not runthat would draw attention and make people suspicious. On the contrary, I must walk slowly, with my head up, humming a tune. I ought to have an old handkerchief round the lower part of my face, a blue one with a pattern in red on it. It is a capital disguise, all the market-gardeners in the suburbs wear them. I know of a little clump of trees near Arcueil, by the side of a marsh. Once when I was at school I came there with my playmates to fish for frogs; I would hide myself there until night.
When it grew dark I would recommence my journey. I would go to Vincennes; no, the river is in the way, I will go to Arpajon. Perhaps it would be better to go by St. Germain, and get to Hâvre,from thence I could embark for England. Well, I come to Longjumeau; a policeman passes me, he asks for my passportI am lost!
Ah! hapless dreamer, first break through the three-foot wall that surrounds you. Death! Death!
I recollect when I was quite a child they brought me to Bicêtre to see the great wall, and the mad people.
CHAPTER XVII
Whilst I am writing this my lamp has grown dim; the day is breaking, and the chapel clock has just struck six.
What does this meanthe warder has come into my cell, he has taken off his cap, and, softening his rough voice as best he can, has asked me what I should like for my breakfast?
A shiver runs through me.
Is it to be done to-day?
CHAPTER XVIII
Yes, it is for to-day. The governor of the prison has been here, and has expressed his desire to serve me; has asked if I have any complaints to make about him or his subordinates; has inquired with much interest after my health, and how I have passed the night, and on leaving me called me Sir! It is for to-day.
CHAPTER XIX
This gaoler does not believe that I can have any fault to find with him or with his subordinates. He is right; it would be ungracious of me to complainthey have but done their duty. They have guarded me well, and they have been courteous on my arrival, and on my departure. Ought I not to be satisfied? This good gaoler, with his calm smile and soothing words, with an eye that flatters whilst it watches, with his large and powerful hands, he is the incarnation of a prisona Bicêtre transformed into a man. Everything around me reminds me of a prison; I recognize it in everything, in the human figure, as in the iron bars and bolts: this wall is a prison in stone, this door a prison in wood, these turnkeys are prisoners in flesh and bone. The prison is a kind of horrible being complete and indivisible, half building and half man. I am its victim; it grasps me, it wraps me in its folds, it shuts me up in its granite walls, it padlocks me with its iron bolts, and it watches me through the eyes of its gaolers.
Ah! unhappy wretch that I am, what is to become of me, what are they going to do with me?
CHAPTER XX
I am calm again. All is over, and well for me that it is so. I am relieved from the terrible weight of suspense by the visit of the governor. For I confess it freely, I had hopednow I hope no longer.
This is what has taken place.
Just as half-past six struckno, it was a quarter to seventhe door of my cell opened, and an old white-haired man appeared on the threshold; he threw open his great-coat, and I saw from his gown that he was a priest.
This priest was not the chaplain of the prison, and this looked bad for me.
He sat down opposite to me, shook his head, and raised his eyes to heaventhat is, towards the roof of my cell. I understood what he meant.
My son, said he, are you prepared?
In a feeble voice I replied, I am not prepared, but I am ready.
But my sight grew dim; a cold sweat burst out upon me. I felt my temples swell, and there was a loud murmuring sound in my ears.
Whilst I swayed backwards and forwards in my chair like a man asleep, the good old man was talkingat least I suppose that he was, for I could see his lips move, his hands wave, and his eyes shine.
The door opened for the second time; the sound of the withdrawal of the bolts roused me from my stupor. This time it was the governor accompanied by a gentleman in a black coat, who bowed to me on entering; he held a roll of papers in his hands, and had about him that false air of sorrow which we see amongst undertakers.
Sir, said he, I am one of the ushers of the Courts of Justice: I have the honour to be the bearer of a message from the Public Prosecutor.
The first shock was over; all my presence of mind came back to me.
The Public Prosecutor demands my head at onceis it not so? asked I. What an honour for me that he should write to me! I trust that my death will give him great pleasure, for he worked with too much ardour for it to have been a matter of indifference to him. Then in a calmer tone I added, Read, sir.
Then he began a long rigmarole, intoning the last word in each sentence. This was the rejection of my appeal.
The sentence will be executed on the Place de Grêve, added he, as he finished, without raising his eyes to mine. We leave at half-past seven precisely for the Conciergerie, my good sir; will you have the extreme kindness to follow me?